Barca again, Twitts, Defoe cheats and await 1700

It is no surprise that Barcelona are again trying to sign a player for a pittance of a transfer fee. This time the club concerned is Liverpool and the footballer is Javier Mascherano. Again the miniature Neanderthal freak boy feels the need to comment on things, saying:

“Javier won't play for the club again, I can assure you of that, and I think the Liverpool coach knows that now. Javier's family are unhappy and the pressure of seeing that is making him depressed. Liverpool must act humanely and let him go."

Well, boo hoo, poor old Javier, earning millions a year and having to respect the contract that makes him a very rich man, he chose to sign his Liverpool contract and the dirty little bastard should damn well show it some respect. Spanish football is in big trouble with debt, in fact they make the Premier League's credit card look underused. Despite lower revenues, Spanish clubs' debt is over 3 billion, around a billion more than in England. This means that clubs like Barca are skint, they are therefore trying to sign players on the cheap by deliberately unsettling them and tapping them up, then getting them to go on strike. The problem is that Liverpool are not in a great position to resist, as barring interest from other clubs, they are in massive debt themselves and cannot afford to stick the cheating Argentinian git in the reserves until he cheers up a bit.

There is a lot of fretting about the Squillaci signing, in the Internet age it seems we are developing the concentration threshold of small brain damaged limpets. Maybe the shiny electronic gadgets we have become so accustomed to are not good for out mental health, they certainly encourage the inane and shouting without thinking to a degree. Maybe we are all regressing, we can no longer relax, there is always something buzzing in our ear or flashing in our eyes, silence and calm are no longer tolerated, we now have an incessant desire for something, anything, I think you get the point. Anyway if you can look at this all from the right angle it can be quite amusing, the Schwarzer medicals are a case in point as the amusing Arseblogger remarks.

Not that I watched much of the spuds last night, their win was sadly inevitable against one of the weakest sides in the qualifying competition, but the reaction to Defoe's clear cheating was a great example of the rank hypocrisy shown by so many in the media. Contrast the reaction to Defoe's deliberate handball with Henry's against Ireland, similar incidents, one is greeted by howls of outrage and the other commented upon jokingly. If spurs make such hard work of such a low quality side, they will need a good draw to have any chance of progression. The fact that we are in pot 1 makes a big difference, we know that whatever the draw, we will qualify if we perform well, as a result I am no longer quite as excited by it as I used to be.

I heard that Manuel Almunia has already been blamed in some quarters for whatever happens against Blackburn on Saturday, some people are also trying to blame him for the catastrophic flooding in Pakistan, apparently he really should have blocked that water off at the near post. The reserves thrashed Bolton 5-0 last night, there is a report here and pics here. JET impressed yet again, the lad is an absolute beast, while young Chuk Aneke was also on form, he partnered Afobe in attack. With Bendtner out for a while yet, it would be good to see JET get a chance at some point, he adds something a bit different with his unique combination of physicality and dribbling skill. Aneke and Afobe both look excellent prospects. Henri Lansbury was due to be farmed out to Swansea but Frimpong's injury may see this cancelled, it would be nice if Henri were to get a chance to show what he can do if he does stay with us.

Blackburn is a mother of a game, especially in the context of a last season's capitulation and the International break. There is some good banter emerging from our camp and this is the kind of thing we need to build our determination to go there are grind out a result. Blackburn will pose a big aerial threat, we'll need to watch out for the marauding powerhouse Nzonzi in particular. Koscielny will return, I am sure we are also likely to see the big lads Song and Diaby providing some aerial help to the back four as well. With Cesc and RVP back there will be a lot of competition for the starting eleven. I would keep Denilson firmly welded to the bench. Will Arsene retain the front three that dismantled Blackpool and will Rosicky retain his place after such a fantastic performance?