LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL FANS

Much to the fans’ surprise, Spain soccer team has dropped some of the most loved veteran strikers. Both Fernando Torres and David Villa have been called off for the upcoming friendly match against Italy.

On the other hand, Diego Costa, the young Brazilian forward, has been called up to take part in the Italy match.

However, the team coach del Bosque has insisted that dropping of Torres & Villa do not signify that these veteran strikers won’t be asked for Spain’s World Cup party. “The current is especially for the match against Italy”, stated del Bosque post the announcement of his full team for the friendly game. “There are 3 months left still for the Worlds & many things could take place to compel us to get other players. We are not closing our door to any possibility.”

Costa, who is a naturalized citizen of Spain, was summoned up for two friendly matches in November, but it was his injury that kept him in the sideline. “I am really glad that they have called me up. Besides, it would be really special to perform against Italy in Vicente Calderon, our stadium”, noted the striker from Atletico Madrid.

Ironically, Costa would presently find himself in the company of some Real Madrid footballers, with whom he had some previous ill-tempered encounters, a number of times.

The Spanish coach, was however confident that Costa’s bitter encounters with Madrid players won’t create much trouble while they would be playing toget5her in one team. He cited previous differences between Madrid & Barca players, reminding that it couldn’t prevent the Spanish team from winning World Cup & 2 European Championships.

“We do not make a huge deal out of it”, stressed the erstwhile Real Madrid manager.

Online video Score: four / 5

Philippe Coutinho signed a permanent deal with Liverpool back on January 30 of 2013 and ever since penning his long-term deal with the Premier League side, he has made an instant impact by scoring 2 goals and providing a few assists to his teammates during the first 4 appearances with the team of Brendan Rodgers.

The midfielder seems to have formed a neat partnership with Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge. The Brazilian player has earned praise from the players and coaches he is working with in Liverpool.

“Coutinho is a quality player, he’s assisted me four or five times since he has been here. It’s fantastic to be playing with a player of his caliber. He’s a quality player and I can’t praise him highly enough for what he has shown. It’s very difficult to do what he has done in such a short space of time.’’

“I want to say thanks to him because he’s made my job very easy and he’s been very unselfish. He’s put me in many times and it’s fantastic to work with him.” Sturridge said.

Steven Gerrard labeled the Brazilian midfielder and described him as being ’’Magical’ and stated that things can only get better for Coutinho.

Coutinho is a young player that was being watched and wanted by many top European clubs but the 21 years old midfielder shut down claims linking him with a move away from Liverpool as he stated that he wants to continue working and improving.

“I want to continue improving and look forward to working harder – and harder on what I need to do to be considered a great player,”

“I think I have improved with my positioning on the pitch because sometimes I play on the wings and other times in the middle. I have improved my knowledge a lot more and have worked harder on my finishing.” Coutinho stated.

Video clip Ranking: 4 / 5

Movie Rating: four / 5

The manager of Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers, has made it clear that Daniel Sturridge was not included in the Reds’ starting line up for the game against Everton because he had not trained properly ahead of the game.

Despite the fact that he was suffering from a thigh problem, Sturridge went to represent the Three Lions in a friendly game against Germany the other day. According to Rodgers, that appearance there at Wembley worsened the injury of the 24 years old striker and in the training session ahead of the Merseyside derby, he was not looking 100%.

However, Sturridge did come to play as a substitute in the 79^th minute of that game against Everton and saved his team from a humiliating defeat by scoring a leveller just a couple of minutes before the end of the game.

Despite Sturridge’s brilliant work towards the end of the match, Rodgers didn’t look pleased at all. He expressed his unhappiness in the post match press conference.

The Liverpool boss said, “As a manager, you want your players to be 100% fit before each and every match. Daniel was not and so, he didn’t start. That was obviously gutting because you want to go into the derby firing on all cylinders.”

“The way he was training the other day, it was clear that he was not right up there in terms of fitness. I don’t know who is responsible for that, the guy himself or the FA.”

“No matter how good a player is, he has got to train properly. If he does that, he has every chance to be included in the starting line up.”

Sturridge has put up some top class performances for the Reds this season. He is currently at the second position in the list of leading goal scorers in the Barclays Premier League 2013-14.

Movie Score: four / 5

Movie Rating: five / five

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was at the Etihad stadium along with a few Liverpool players in order to witness the clash between Bayern Munich and Manchester City. The two clubs were playing against each other in the Champions League group stages, which is something that Liverpool have been trying to come back. The Merseyside club have not been in this competition for the last four years. They are one of the prestigious clubs after having lifted the trophy five times in their history. Their last win in this competition came in 2005 under Rafa Benitez.

Rodgers has been given the responsibility to get to the club back into the top four, but the club only managed a seventh place finish in the league last season. This season, though, they have made an excellent start to the campaign and are currently second in the table. The partnership of Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez is expected to finally help Liverpool achieve their ambition. After the match, Rodgers said that he is delighted to have witnessed this excellent tactical battle, which saw Bayern Munich win the match 3-1. Liverpool can go to the top of the table if they win against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

More importantly, Rodgers is targeting a return to the Champions League. “Watching that game was a real motivation. That’s where every coach, every manager, every player wants to operate. You want to compete at that level and be judged at that level. Obviously, this club was for a lot of years. You have learn from performances like that. Tactically, I look in-depth at games too, and what goes on within them, so I learn something at every game,” said the former Swansea manager.

Liverpool are only two points behind table leaders Arsenal after having played six matches. They have failed to win only two of the six.

Video Ranking: four / five