Is it true that Rafa, Aquilani & Torres are on their way out of Anfield?

Certainly not at all.

Recent news of the transfer activity has gotten me all livid with amusement, at the total lack of flair and credibility, of which at best serves only to ruffle feathers, creating tension and discord.

That some never cease to report of Juve’s interest in our gaffer makes me laugh. He’s happy where he is, and has signed a 5 year deal in recent months (plenty of job security there) and even has a few of the worlds best players in his tutelage, including Torres.

Or that Torres, Liverpudlian at heart, could be tempted away by mere digits in the bank, is laughable, and I secretly wonder just how far the Citizens will go into courting El-Nino.

And that Aquilani is on his way out after a dismal first season? Blasphemous. $20M for a 5 year contract equates to a $4M a season, and that’s really not bad for when you consider when was the last time a foreigner dished a hattrick of assists in a Premiere League game? And this too without having to break into the upper gears of a football game.

Anyway, I don’t think we’ll be seeing an influx of star players as suggested by Steven Gerrard and Rafa, when they mentioned just how desperate we are for new blood in the team, even if Chinese businessman and former Wall Street broker, Kenneth Huang, is ready to launch a £500 million bid to buy Liverpool.

Wait, Wall Street broker? Will Liverpool implode into a ‘recession’?

Are we going to see another instrument of mass destruction take place at Anfield, after what brokers did to Wall Street in recent years, with their ‘calculated’ gambling?

Then again, something about ‘taking risks’ sounds good to my ears and there’s an ambience of confidence that money will be splurged, not excessively, but appropriately when needed.

Brokers understand the nature of earning and winning, which certainly won’t come without first buying something.

Or if that Middle Eastern businessman makes up his mind with his cheque book, I don’t mind either.

In any case, the silver lining seems to be coming around sooner than expected, thankfully, and it’s refreshing to hear good news from the Anfield camp these days.

You know what’s even better? The almost nonchalant 4-0 thrashing of Burnley.

Now that was a decent game, with quite a few worrying defensive lapse, but the scoreline glossed over the somewhat ‘average’ performance of the ‘obviously-saving-their-energy-for-this-Thursday’s-Europa-League-game’ Liverpool team.

Up next, Atletico Madrid pays us a visit.

Benitez should stay on and finish what he has began, and this is a message to all you fairweather *sic* ‘fans’.

It fills me with great sadness and unwarranted anger that there are vocal fans out there who are calling for the immediate release of Benitez, among others, in search of the holy grail or the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Guess what? They’re both stuffs of legends and by that I’m not referring to neither American owners, who’ve just appointed British Airways chief Martin Broughton as chairman on Friday, in a bid to sell the club away.

Perhaps they’re trying to escape the onslaught of abuse from the much fabled loyal and staunch Liverpool fans.

Fans? Don’t fans of a club support it through thick and thin, because at this moment these vocal fans who ask for the axe sound more like disgruntled shareholders, except they don’t own any shares, but act like they do, of which they expect the club to abide by.

No, these aren’t fans, these are fairweather fans at best, and they’re the ones who’ll boast and gloat around when the sunny, happier days are around, and then play the blame game and starts casting the black sheeps away whenever the going gets tough.

I have seen too many of them already and I have growned weary of their tirades such as ‘Benitez has spent too much on too many lousy players!’ and ‘Why aren’t we playing some players week in and week out?’

I quote a counter argument from a fan who replied to such tirades in one of the forum which I happened to browse.

“Since Benitez has arrived we have qualified for the champions league 5 times in a row, and prior to his appointment we had qualified 3 times since 1992. Benitez’s net spending has equalled, since his arrival, an average of 20m pounds per season, and an average of 0 since 2007/2008. Pretty good for a team who are “supposed” to be challenging for the title according to some supporters. He turned steven gerrard from a 5-10 goal player a season into a 20+ a season player. He signed torres, probably the best striker in the world at the moment on the form of the last 3 years.”

I unquote with, so dear fairweather fans, how do you argue against that much weight?

Benitez has to stay, as he is the one of the main reason that Torres’ full potential is nearly unleashed, that Gerrard decided to stay when Chelsea courted him, and that the mere mention of ‘Liverpool’ in Europe meant a team that’s never to be discounted, even when you’re 3 goals up.

At this very moment, it’s only half time. Benitez has already passed his 5 year mark and has 5 more to go. Liverpool have over the years proven how strong they are when they go into the second half and especially when their backs are against the wall.

We had injuries, player sales, and even beach balls to condemn our performances in the first half, but I approach the second half with much hope. Yes there is hope for salvation, there always is if you’re optimistic and work towards it.

To all the fairweather fans who call for Benitez’s removal, shame on you for the lack of respect towards a man who’s given his all when he’s not being given much.

From the clubhouse and training grounds to the players that march into the pitch, Benitez has slowly gained much control than ever before, but as it stands, his work of 5 years is in dire potential of falling apart — not because of his handywork, but rather the unknown threat of a new owner, whom he’s never had the opportunity to work with.

Hopefully it’s nothing near a threat, and that the new owners, if they come in, will embrace Benitez not just on magazine covers, but financially as well.

We wouldn’t want another Barry-Keane-Alonso saga do we?

If you’re a true Liverpool fan, you’ll do this much and no, I’m not asking you to spread this blog around, but rather, I’ll just implore you to start supporting staunchly.

Not blindly though, but with plenty of faith, because what we have leading us is a man who’s kept plenty of faith himself.

Walk on with hope in your heart.

Can someone please explain to me when tackles from behind were made legal again? Oh, so they weren’t and still are illegal in this modern game?

So why did the Butcher of Bilbao resurfaced to hack and slash Torres, and in the process became a catalyst for Babel’s dismissal?

Sure the 2 penalties suffered by Liverpool were rightly given, but were the nasty treatment and the juvenile crowd’s intimidating and horrendous behaviours a sign of ‘quality football’ from Portugal?

Liverpool scored a cheekily brilliantly improvised goal, and ball possession and attacking chances were near balanced within the first half.

I thought that Liverpool made the perfect start when Agger scored, and it meant that we had the cushion of an away goal, but as always, we keep climbing mountains instead of strolling in the park this season.

Here’s the good news, that Benfica is never known for their defensive tightness in Away European games and the last time that a home team failed to score against them was last November, where Everton hosted them — but we all knew too well the form that Everton were in back then.

But they are a very good attacking team, and their best form of weapon is their attack, and I reckon that they won’t be too comfortable defending in front of the kop, whose vociferous decibels is far more intimidating than any Portuguese flares could ever be.

That Babel is out of the game, could mean a spot for Benayoun on the left flank for the 2nd leg, and I say it because I’m not going to put any money on seeing Riera on the teamsheet anytime soon, even after his sudden turnaround with the whole Russia hoo-hah.

Maybe his Russian wife has had a change of heart?

But we’re not here to talk about wives, but football, and especially of Reds latest setback in Europe, with some much maligned refereeing from Jonas Erikson, and I wonder if he secretly wanted to blend football with the art of wrestling?

Benitez does have plenty of issues against the results f the game, but he does have plenty to look forward to as well, even if its a Birmingham team who simply don’t like losing at home.

Sure, they’ve shipped plenty of goals, but the’ve managed to score plenty of goals too, and when the likes of Chelseas, Manchester Uniteds, and Arsenals all fail to bring back home 3 points, you know that Liverpool have a lot in store for them.

Ya know, punters would probably be advising you to put your money on the Blues, given their impeccable home record and the leaky away record of Liverpool’s.

And if you’re punting, don’t read this for I still walk on with hopes in my hearts, not just for the Birmingham clash, but for the 2nd leg in the Europa league as well.

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AUTHOR NOTES: Mar may be optimistic, but if we’re not optimistic, we can never really get outselves out of the ditch, right?