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HENDERSON TO BLAME AT LIVERPOOL

Ahead of Liverpool’s game against Chelsea in the Premier League this weekend, Jordan Henderson has been fingered as part of the issues with the side. Reds manager Jurgen Klopp has done very well against top sides since he became the coach. Against Chelsea, he has won twice at Stamford Bridge while playing a draw twice at home.

Chelsea would be playing a different strategy this time. After struggling sometimes this term, Antoinio Conte is making another tactical switch to spice up the team. The one he made the last time handed the Blues a Premier League title in his debut season.
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Nemanji Vidic Finds Support In New Coach

While the whole football world has been harping Nemanja Vidic with harsh criticisms about his underperformance at Inter Milan, the former Man U captain seems to have the blessings of his coach. Inter Milan coach Mazzarri (Walter) has actively protested against the criticisms, extending his defense for the unfortunate player.

Vidic is definitely no less than some legend is his old club Man U but his stints at Inter Milan so far is somewhat akin to a bad nightmare.

Nemanja Vidic is nothing short of a Manchester United legend, but his tenure thus far at Inter would be best described as something of a nightmare.

The ex Man u captain made a serious wrong on coming back from his suspension as his new club settled for tie with Palermo, while poor performances against Fiorentina and Inter saw Nerazzurri routed.

Vidic’s performance this weekend just furthered the doubts regarding his suitability in continuing at top level. His errant clear-up lane on permitted Callejon (Jose) to net on field for Partenopei, which caused Inter to battle back for points in last 10 minutes. However, Inter Milan chief has absolved Nemanji of any sort of wrongdoing in Napoli encounter, stressing that he is the one to be blamed for unfortunate results.

“Nemanji is a footballer & I am the coach”, explained the Inter chief clarifying Vidic’s stance amidst harsh criticisms. “Coach is the one who is actually responsible for anything that is happening on field, no matter what was the defence. Some are blaming him for Jose’s goal but I would say that was headed inception & he had this misfortune of unfavourable rebound”, he continued.

“The error that was committed are by those players who left that attacker free. Vidic is not faulty here as he was right there where he’s supposed to be.”

Rodgers Reinforces Liverpool Squad

The cash injection that Brendan Rodgers received after selling Luis Suarez has allowed him to reinforce just about every area of the squad as Liverpool has signed new defenders, midfielders and forwards.

Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert are the new forwards that Rodgers has so far signed during this summer transfer window with both of those attacking players expected to fill in the gap left by the Uruguayan Luis Suarez and play alongside the duo which consists of Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge as the main scoring outlet of Liverpool for the years to come.

Even with all of those offensive players at the disposal of Brendan Rodgers, rumors still continue being transmitted involving Ac.Milan’s Mario Balotelli and a possible transfer to Liverpool.

There are a few concerning elements that surrounds Balotelli as the Italian attacker has experienced problems with just about every manager he has worked with throughout his entire career. Balotelli has dramatically improved as a player compared to some years ago but he still continues being a short tempered performer that could cause issues in the dressing room of Liverpool and this is not something that Brendan Rodgers would like to have in his squad.

Radamel Falcao is another high profile player who has lured the attention of Rodgers but this would be an even more difficult target to sign taking into consideration that the Colombian has already voiced his desire to play in the Santiago Bernabeu as a performer of Real Madrid as he does not have any intention of making a move to the Premier League anytime soon but if Liverpool is willing to offload a substantially high amount of money for Falcao then they could tempt As.Monaco on releasing the Colombian attacker.

Rodgers takes Liverpool To New Heights

Liverpool’s almost incredible transformation into one of the contenders for the title, all within a time span of less than a year can totally be contributed to the excellent training and coaching under Brendan Rodgers.

As a sign of its continuous progress, Liverpool’s accounts were made public in the middle of tremendous apathy around a week ago. If it was a few years back, releasing the financial figures of any company was a very tricky business and almost needed a countdown from NASA while the figures were released.

Liverpool hasn’t taken on a competitive one on one since the glorious victory of 3-0 in Barclays Premier League over Southampton early this month. A perfect mix of a middle of the week international fixtures round and further postponement of a match versus Sunderland has given Rodgers the exceptional opportunity of fifteen whole days to fine tune the game between matches.

No sign of any kind of let up has been seen during the training session under Rodgers, who further stressed on the tireless work that is being put in by the 2nd positioned team of the division. He reported to a popular television channel saying that it was quite interesting since the team got an adaptation day, post they were off the field for some time.

This season is going to be quite a low intensity one but the team worked with super high intensity during the training period, so much so that he actually had to take the team off training for a bit. They team is highly focused right now and is very ambitious about taking the club to new level of success. This he sees in their work each and every day and they are a team of brilliant professionals.

TELLO ON THE RADAR

Barcelona’s Cristian Tello is a young player that already has a fairly restricted time on the playing fields of the Catalan club considering all the stars which are surrounding him. The arrival of the Brazilian Neymar and the recovery of Lionel Messi makes matters worse for Tello who will probably be having more time on the sidelines.

Cristian Tello recently said I’m young, ‘’I want to play and enjoy. If it is not possible at the club, I will consider the outcome at the end of the season.”

Liverpool is trying to make a loan deal for Tello as the Premier League club has wanted to sign Tello since last year when they even attempted to use Pepe Reina as bait and lure in Tello. With Daniel Sturridge making a return from his injury soon, the introduction of both players Tello and Strurridge would give Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool a new attacking dimension that will help them in their journey of snatching the Premier League title.

Basel’s Mohamed Salah has been a long term target of Liverpool and it was even believed that an agreement was made between both clubs that would see Salah making a move to the Premier League club with a 5 year long deal with a fee of €7 million having been agreed but no official confirmation has been made.

Now with the transfer window opened it’s the chance that Liverpool needs to secure the services of the player they have been trying to get for quite some time now.

Another player on the wish-list of Brendan Rodgers is the playmaker of Sevilla Ivan Rakitic but Liverpool will have to wait and see if the midfielder decides on staying put with the Spanish club as he will be having talks with the club concerning his future.

Rakitic said: “We are going to sit down, we’ll talk and then we’ll see what we can do,”

“Everyone knows that I always come with great desire to train and to play, I walk around the city, and even the people that don’t know me very well know that I am enjoying it here and that the most beautiful thing is to be part of this team. It has been a very good year, but I want to improve and keep growing with this team.”

TITLE DREAMING

Liverpool came in with an opportunity to go in the top of the table if they managed a win against Arsenal at the Emirates stadium, but they were defeated by the opposition 2-0. This meant that Arsenal opened a huge five point advantage over Liverpool in the table. Santi Cazorla opened the scoring for Arsenal, while a brilliant strike from Aaron Ramsey secured three points for Arsenal. After the match, Brendan Rodgers said that he could not have any complaints about the defeat because Arsenal better in every aspect on the night.

It was a disappointing result for Liverpool nonetheless because they failed to take advantage of Chelsea’s defeat against Newcastle on Saturday. As a result, they are left level on points with Chelsea and Tottenham. All these three teams are five points behind Arsenal, while they are also closely followed by Manchester City in the fifth place. Liverpool could have easily got back into the match after the first goal had it not been for a poor refereeing decision from Martin Atkinson. Suarez was easily the best player for Liverpool on the night, as he attempted to help the club get at least something from the match.

Liverpool, though, were let down because of the poor finishing from some of the players on some occasions.

“I thought the best team won. Their mobility and passing was better than ours and we could’ve done better with the two goals. We kept going all night, the players have been brilliant in their application. They went right to the end. We created chances, we just couldn’t put the ball in the net. We’re in that top four, we’ve just got to put this game to bed, learn from it and win our next game,” said the Liverpool manager after the match to Sky Sports.

LIVERPOOL FEND OFF BIDS

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has been trying to fend off interest from Arsenal for his main striker Luis Suarez. Arsenal have gone public with their interest for the 26-year-old, who has been angling for a move away from Anfield after just two years at the club. Suarez was £ 26 million signing only in 2011, but he has also been one of the best players in the Premier league during this period. The striker came to Anfield with the ambition of playing in Champions league football, but that dream has so far not materialised since the club is yet to finish in the top four for the first time in four years.

Arsenal, though, will be able to offer him Champions league football. Rodgers has been saying on several occasions that he does not see the reason why Suarez should be intent on a move to Arsenal, who are at a smaller level than Liverpool even though they can offer Champions league football. Arsenal are not as prestigious as Liverpool when it comes to history, as their Merseyside rivals have won the European cup five times. It is a record for a British club while Arsenal have not lifted this trophy yet.

Rodgers has now accused Arsenal of lacking class.

“I was surprised. I’ve got to say I’ve always associated Arsenal as a club with class and so there was a wee bit of a game there. For us, it’s about moving on and doing our own work. There will come a point where they understand our position. Obviously they have an interest and they put that interest in with two bids which were nowhere near what the player is worth. That’s within their right. There is a market in football for players,” said Rodgers.

Wenger responded by saying that he would not comment on the Suarez situation.

LIVERPOOL PLAYERS LINKED

There have been a lot of speculation surrounding his Liverpool players like Luis Suarez and Pepe Reina. Both players have been linked with a move to Spanish football with Real Madrid and Barcelona interested in them respectively. Suarez has apparently grown tired of English football and the way he has been treated since his £ 26 million arrival from Ajax a few years ago. Pepe Reina, on the other hand, is thought to be the replacement for Victor Valdes at Barcelona. Valdes recently confirmed that he will be leaving Barcelona at the end of his contract.

Even though he has 12 months left on his deal, Barcelona are prepared to bring in a replacement now itself. Reina has suffered from a dip in form since the departure of Rafa Benitez, and the reason £ 9 million acquisition of Simon Mignolet also adds doubt into the future of the Spaniard at Anfield. Rodgers, though, dismissed speculation by saying that he has signed Mignolet because he wants to build a very competitive squad that is capable of taking Liverpool where they belong – to the top. He says that the competition between Mignolet and Reina will make Liverpool extremely strong in the goalkeeping department.

The club finished just one place above the eighth place finish they managed under Kenny Dalglish.

“One of the things we’re trying to build is a competitive squad. Our squad was very thin last year. It’s very important we have competition in every position and that wasn’t always the case. Pepe and I went out for a meal a couple of months before the end of the season and I told him exactly what we were going to do, which was to provide real competition in that area,” said Rogers. Liverpool will be playing their first friendly match of the pre-season against Preston.