After two months of listening to rubbish about Xabi Alonso leaving to Real Madrid, Michael Owen being a Judas and joining Manchester United, and hopefully awaiting good news on the transfer front, Liverpool finally head into their pre-season in Switzerland. We start with a match against St. Gallen on Wednesday, but with a very weakened team. None of our Spanish stars will be there due to action in the Confederations Cup, but we should have enough firepower to fend off the Swiss side.
It is of importance to note, however, that the pre-season campaign is not just for our first teamers nor is it for the result. More than anything, pre-season fixtures are for fitness and for a look-in at some of our fringe players. An out-of-form Steven Gerrard, for example, is not a concern. What WOULD be a concern would be if Steven Gerrard went down with a ruptured achilles or a torn ACL… or if he wasn’t prepared for the Premiership season. This is where pre-season comes in… get some match fitness, give the youngsters a run out, and see what happens with different formations.
The lads are working hard… except for Voronin. This isn’t dance class, buddy!!!
There are already some interesting developments, though, within the squad now that we are here. Andriy Voronin is back, Nemeth and Pacheco will be looking to push Ngog, and all of a sudden we have some striking options. With Torres out until the weekend (as mentioned earlier), our striking back-ups will be looking to impress… as will Jay Spearing and Steven Darby, who just signed contract extensions with LFC. We’ll also be getting our first glimpse of Glen Johnson in a Liverpool kit, as well as potentially seeing players who have really stepped up their game over the past few months. Will that be a motivated Ryan Babel? Or perhaps someone like Lucas? We shall see!
Regardless, at 11:00 AM over here on the west coast of the USA, you can bet your arse that I’ll be watching with great interest to see how we do… in the public library, of all places. Lucky me… ha ha!
COME ON YOU REDS!!!
My prediction: LFC 3, St. Gallen 1. Goals from Pacheco, Babel, and Voronin. Just a hunch.
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