Ronaldinho out of possible United battle

 

Ronaldinho is set to miss Barca’s potential Champions  League tie with United.

United beat Roma 2-0 away from home while Barca managed a 1-0 win over Schalke. But Ronnie has been ruled out for six weeks due to a thigh injury.

Liverpool knocked out of the FA Cup by lowly Barnsley

Seven-time FA Cup champion Liverpool was knocked out of the competition on Saturday in a shocking 2-1 loss to lower-league club Barnsley.

Brian Howard scored the winner in the 90th minute of the fifth-round match at Anfield that put Barnsley in the quarterfinals. Dirk Kuyt had put the Reds ahead, before Stephen Foster equalized for Barnsley, which is mid-table in the second-tier League Championship.

The Reds brought on England midfielder Steven Gerrard, but couldn’t score largely due to a standout performance from goalkeeper Luke Steele, who was making his debut for Barnsley after moving to the club last week on loan.

Barnsley has won the FA Cup once - in 1912 - and was runner-up two years before that.

…and now Gerrard is robbed while playing for Liverpool!!!

We published an article in November when Kuyt was robbed while on duty for Holland. And now the captain himself has become a victim. Gerrard’s house in Formby was robbed at approximately 9.30 pm according to Merseyside Police, while Gerrard was playing in Marseille. His wife Alex was at home at the time and confronted by four men, but was not injured in the incident.

Gerrard is now the sixth Liverpool player to be targetted, after Dirk Kuyt, Jerzy Dudek, Daniel Agger, Pepe Reina and Peter Crouch were also burgled.

Rafa gets a shut up call from the owners

Liverpool are 5th in Premier League, and their chances of qualifying for the next stage of the Champions League are also not very bright. The owners have expressed their worry by telling Rafa Benitez to concentrate on games and not talk much about transfer plans. 

On Thursday Benitez hinted Hicks and co-owner George Gillett were holding up his transfer plans and even suggested he could be England’s next coach.

“We told him to concentrate on the games coming up. I guess he didn’t like it,” Hicks told the Liverpool Echo.

“We will come over in December. That is the time to talk about other issues.”

Benitez arrived late for Thursday’s news conference, seemingly in a state of distress, and used the answer “I am focused on training and coaching my team” a number of times in response to a series of questions on various issues.

He also hinted his future could lie away from Anfield.

“Maybe I could be Steve McClaren’s replacement if I improve my English,” said the 47-year-old Spaniard.

“I was being serious. You never know what can happen in the future.”

Benitez is thought to have already started making plans for the January transfer window, but the club’s American owners do not seem to be thinking that far ahead at the moment.

“After the Champions League final in Athens, Rafa made certain demands of us and we responded to those demands in the summer,” said Hicks.

“We brought in some good players and spent more money than has ever been spent before at this club.

“This was the message we gave to Rafa recently and I think during the international break he must have grown a bit frustrated.

“For the time being we just need to be focused on what happens on the pitch.”

Scousers: Kuyt becomes 5th Liverpool played to be burgled

No wonder United fans have so many chants  and jokes on Liverpool mocking the the abduncy of thefts and crime in their city. Even the above picture mocks them and suggests the tires of this plane standing at Liverpool airport was taken away by thieves.

and now… Dirk Kuyt has become the fifth Liverpool footballer to be burgled in less than 18 months.

The 27-year-old striker’s luxury home in Woolton was targeted on Thursday while he was away on international duty with home country Holland.

Jerzy Dudek, Liverpool’s goalkeeper from the 2005 Champions League final penalty shoot-out, was burgled in June 2006.

Dudek, who now plays for Real Madrid, was on holiday in Poland when thieves took his Porsche car, jewellery and a large haul of football memorabilia from across his career, including his European Cup medal.

Pepe Reina was burgled while he played for Liverpool in last May’s Champions League semi-final against Chelsea. He also had his Porsche taken during the raid, among other things, with the car later found burnt-out in West Derby.

Liverpool defender Daniel Agger had his Wirral home burgled in September last year and striker Peter Crouch’s house in Alderley Edge was targeted in the same month while he was on England duty.

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