[Jaffa]

Liverpool left-back Fabio Aurelio's season appears to be over after he was ruled out for at least three weeks with a torn abductor muscle.
Aurelio was injured against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final, first leg 1-1 draw while his replacement John Arne Riise scored a late own goal.
"It usually takes a minimum of three weeks to recover," Reds boss Rafael Benitez told the club's website. "So, it will be very difficult for Fabio to play again this season."

Brazilian Aurelio returned to action last September after rupturing his Achilles in April 2007.
He played his first competitive game of the season against Porto in the Champions League and has since made 28 more outings on the way to establishing himself as the Anfield side's first choice at left-back. Benitez added: "It is very disappointing because Fabio has been doing a good job for the team."

[Bulld0g]

Thats bad newsabout Aurelio. On Riise, i thought he should have wellied it out instead of trying to head it. He's had a poor season and i think he will be on his way at the end of the season.With Auerelio out i think Riise will start in his place and don't be surprised if he makes amends with one of his free kicks

[aftermath]

Originally Posted by BigBalloon on a different note rumours of henry have been floatin about again .... we will wait and c ..... but its the same time as last year about the torres rumours

On Teletext right now.

Theiry Henry wont go to any other club in the Premiership except Arsenal.

[BigBalloon]

well c if stevie texts him !!!!
if we could buy anyone to link up with torres ....david villa or have always liked younger version of litmanenn..... saviola hes fallen out of flavor at real plus they got him on a free from barca so who knows

[Jaffa]

RAFA BENITEZ wants to make Sammy Lee his new assistant manager.
The Reds boss is looking to move quickly to add to his backroom staff after first team coach Alex Miller quit the club to take the manager’s job at Japanese side JEF United Chiba.
Lee, who served Liverpool with distinction as a player and a coach, is at the top of Benitez’s wish list and an approach could be imminent if approved by both Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
Publicly, Benitez says there are several names under consideration for the role but privately he has already decided Lee is his best man.
And having not had an assistant since Pako Ayesteran left Anfield under a cloud earlier this season, he will take the opportunity to fill that position rather than making a direct replacement for Miller.
Should Lee be appointed it will go down well with senior members of the Liverpool playing staff who are known to have enjoyed working with him in his spell as a coach during Gerard Houllier’s tenure.
In an eight-year playing career at Anfield Lee amassed a glittering array of honours that included three League titles, two European Cups and four League Cups.
An infectious enthusiasm and unquestionable commitment made him a firm crowd favourite, before injury and loss of form saw some sections of the crowd turn on him and he moved on to QPR.
After spells at Osasuna, Southampton and Bolton, Lee returned to Anfield under Graeme Souness in 1993.
He impressed as reserve team coach and in 1999 was promoted to first team coach under Gerard Houllier.
His coaching potential did not go unnoticed by those at the FA, however, and in July 2004 he left Anfield a second time to become a full-time member of the England coaching set-up.
Handed his first job as full-time manager at Bolton in March 2007, he survived just 14 games and has been out of the game since then.
On Miller’s departure Benitez said: “It is very positive news for Alex.
“This is a very good opportunity for him to coach in Japan and I want to wish Alex all the best in his new job.
“I am considering new staff for the new season. We are checking some names and will be in contact with them and see what we can do.”
Meanwhile, contrary to speculation, Liverpool have not received an offer from Inter Milan for captain Steven Gerrard.
And, as revealed in the ECHO earlier this week, the Reds have no interest in Barcelona left-back Eric Adibal.
Benitez confirmed rumours suggesting the French international is Anfield bound are totally unfounded.
He said: "I do not like to talk about players but he is not a player we are looking for."

[Bulld0g]

TORRES BREAKS RECORD IN FINAL DAY WIN

Liverpool have signed off with three points after second-half goals from Andriy Voronin and Fernando Torres secured a 2-0 victory at White Hart Lane.

The Reds opened the scoring through their ponytailed striker after an hour of dour end-of-season football.

From there the game burst into life, with Torres netting his 24th league goal of the campaign to see him overtake Ruud van Nistelrooy and become the most prolific foreigner ever in a debut season.

Liverpool could have had a hatful from there, not that it really mattered in what was a dead rubber of a game.

If the opening exchanges were a little flat, a giant inflatable ball which made its way on to the pitch certainly wasn't. It was allowed to roll around for several minutes until Didier Zokora delighted the home fans by booting it back. It was 10 minutes before either team provided similar entertainment, Liverpool working it well down the right before Voronin's volley forced Radek Cerny into an acrobatic save.

The visitors were soon threatening again when Steven Gerrard pinged a lovely ball down the left for the onrushing Ryan Babel. Torres, the cause of fervent bouncing in the away end throughout, busted a gut to get into the box but a combination of poor control and good defending from Jonathan Woodgate meant he needn't have bothered. Minutes later Babel did manage to produce an end product only to be denied by a diving Cerny.

It felt like chucking out time at the inn, both sides being ordered to finish their dregs before stumbling off for a kip ahead of a new, er, season. Not that either manager was showing signs of end-of-term fatigue. Both Benitez and countryman Juande Ramos stood animated through much of the first half, perhaps keen to earn bragging rights among the Spanish branch of the League Managers' Association.

The latter was almost celebrating after 25 minutes when Dimitar Berbatov headed towards the bottom right-hand corner of Pepe Reina's net. The Golden Glove winner had to be at his clean-sheet keeping best to push the ball out for a corner.

The result might have been academic here, but elsewhere in the Premier League fingernails were at a premium as teams diced with destiny at both ends of the table. News of a Man Utd opener promoted surreal celebrations around nine tenths of the Lane, one of the few stadiums in England where United are the lesser of two evils.

Back on the grass, the second-half began where the first left off, though a neat piece of combination play between Gerrard and Torres soon presented the Spain international with a fine chance to make it 33 in total this season. So often this year Premier League goalkeepers have lost the battle of nerves when face-to-face with El Nino but not this time, Cerny using his legs to pull off an unlikely save. He was also on hand to thwart Andriy Voronin's low drive minutes later.

Spurs then opened up the Liverpool defence with some intricate passing which left Robbie Keane with a decent chance to open the scores. The Republic of Ireland man dragged his shot wide when he should have done better.

Finally the game was opening up. Next Gerrard burst forward before unleashing a curler just over the bar, while down at the other end Reina had to be smart to stop a volley from the otherwise anonymous Steed Malbranque.

Then, on 68 minutes, the breakthrough, Torres the architect in laying a superb throughball before Ukraine international dispatched with ease to take his personal tally for the season to six.

Spurs almost made an immediate reply when Berbatov sent a classy volley towards the Liverpool goal. Unfortunately for him, Reina was equal to it with a world-class stop.

Instead it was the visitors who struck again with a trademark goal from, who else, Torres. The 24-year-old turned Alan Hutton on a sixpence before rolling what seemed like his 100th goal into an opposition net.

It was turning into a classic. Well, maybe. Hutton almost made it three when he headed towards his own goal from close range. Liverpool then hit the bar through Torres after great work from substitute Yossi Benayoun.

The Israeli could have bagged a couple himself later on but 2-0 it was to remain.

Elsewhere, United won the title after beating Wigan, while Derby, Birmingham and Reading have all been relegated.

[Ebro]

Liverpool Football Club today confirmed that Swiss international defender Philipp Degen will sign a contract with the club on July 1
Another rightback for us.

[daz24c]

Hi fellow reds! i think we need to bring in sum gd talent upfront to partner torres and get a left bk n then we should b up there with the rest!we need rid of the shit like voronin!we do not need anymore midfielders!dont no why we keep gettin linked with new 1s.who would you leave out to put the newcomers in?

[Erazor786]

i would have to agree with u there daz24c, we definitely need to get rid of Voronin, and i think Riise as well. He's been a great player for Liverpool but i think it time he moved on.

we need players that can influence matches, right now i can only see 3 players that we have which can influence a match, Stevey G, Torres and Babbel. we need more players like that which can contribute 10-15 goals a season to help us to be contenders for the title.

[BigBalloon]

we r not as far behind as alot of people think... a couple of attack minded full backs ie the likes of alves would be nice and someone for torres .... would like to c saviola (bin around for ages but still v young)
this season if u take the top 3 ... chelski lead at anfield dodgey pen ...2 points
lead twice with arsenal.... 4 points
get a result with scum ie draw ... take 2 points of them

that would actually leave us 3 points behind the scum ...... interesting thoughts .... this was also highligthed by aldo so not as far behind as most think !!!!!

[Bulld0g]

Liverpool are officially the best team in Europe. The Anfield club top the official Uefa rankings that are based on European performances over the last five years. AC Milan are a point behind in second, Chelsea make into third while European champions Manchester United only make it to seventh. (Sunday Express)
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/...trank2009.html

[Ebro]

Go figure. It's amazing what you can do with statistics.

[singhl]

The stats are based on historical facts, not flash in the pan recent events, fact is only 2 uk teams have ever won the champions league, none of them from London - go figure

[BigBalloon]

they r taken over the last five years .... so look at liverpool winners , runner up, semi finalist and quarter finalist.AC milan r second a point behind us with chelski 3rd.

[lalajones]

I hope Liverpool does buy a new striker and they get rid of that voronin. I think Liverpool missed out on Defoe