By LFC Vancouver member Keith Perkins, 15 Feb 2006

We haven’t beaten this bunch in the FA Cup for 85 years! We are due for it this time. Set the alarm for an early wake-up. It’s an early one for sure on Saturday, but this is one that you don’t want to miss. Doors open at LSPH at 4am, kick-off at 4:30am, $10.00 cover charge. Be there with us and cheer the Mighty Reds on to victory over Man Ure. Wear your colours: red shirts, sweaters, scarves, banners, etc. Considering the time of day (night?) for this one, I might just show up straight out of bed in my red pyjamas.

Meanwhile, here are some more bits and pieces to get us all into the proper mood for the Saturday Showdown.

By LFC Vancouver member Keith Perkins, 15 Feb 2006

Rafa Benitez continues building his squad with the signing of 19 year old Argentine defender Gabriel Paletta (who turned 20 this week) from Atletico Banfield. Paletta made 33 appearances for the Buenos Aries club, scoring 5 times, and also played for the Argentina Under-20 squad, including winning the 2005 Under-20 World Cup.

At over 6ft tall and built like a brick outhouse, there are naturally some comparisons to one of Shankly’s first signings: Ron Yeats. He was called “The Colossus” by Shanks, who invited a group of reporters to see him for themselves, and to see why he had been given that title. A couple of seasons later, Shanks used Yeats as a model for the new all-red strip. When Yeats walked in, Shankly said “you look seven feet tall son.” The all-red strip became the new distinctive Liverpool outfit that is now world famous. Gabriel Paletta is described as a “strong, decisive, and robust defender” or a “rugged, no-nonsense centre back.” In other words, this is one big lad that will strengthen an already solid back line. But that’s not all. His size is also used as a front man to muscle opposing defenders out of the way and to be good in the air at set pieces. I’m looking forward to seeing this lad in red; he already looks big so he’ll probably look well over seven feet tall. He naturally caught the eye of many scouts with his ability to prevent scoring chances at one end of the pitch and then scoring a few at the other end. Liverpool are fortunate to sign Paletta ahead of other interested clubs, including River Plate of Argentina, and several in Europe. With a four year contract for a fee of £2m, this could be one of Rafa’s most significant signings so far.

There have been some concerns that it is too early for such a player to be making the move to European football. The suggestion is that he would be well advised to make a move to another Argentine club first to hone his skills, and then consider a move to Europe later. I don’t see any great problem myself. Rafa is in no hurry to bring in players before they are ready, as shown by his signing of several other young players last summer and this past month. Paletta will be joining the squad at training camp this coming summer and will start to learn “The Liverpool Way” beginning then. Defenders Jan Kromkamp and Daniel Agger are already signed and are starting to be phased in, and with Carragher and Hyypia playing brilliantly together, there is no need to rush into anything. Another potential concern is that a young player is being moved prematurely to a new country with different culture and different language. We have seen quite a few players from various countries in recent years; most of them have been able to settle in quite easily. The club are aware of the difficulties and will be doing all that they can to help out with any problems. Besides, as soon as he plays his first match and “proves” himself, he’ll be one of ours and will definitely be made to feel at home. As for the language, correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t the language of Argentina Spanish? Should be no problem with that!

By LFC Vancouver member Keith Perkins, 15 Feb 2006

Just two weeks ago we were feeling so disappointed after a loss to Man Ure in the last minute, and then a draw at home to Birmingham with a late own goal. But, things were not going too badly, we were still well placed in third, a few points behind second place, and should be ready to get out of this mini slump. We were also level with Chel$ki in goals conceded, even though we had scored a lot less. That could change though, as God had returned to Anfield, and so we looked forward to the Battle at the Bridge. That was bad, followed by a loss to Charlton which was even worse. The mini slump is now officially a major slump as we have failed to win in five of our last six Premier League matches; with one win, three losses, and two draws. Two FA Cup matches away to Luton in the third round and away to Portsmouth in the fourth round were successful, even though we didn’t impress anybody with our less than solid defending – four goals conceded in the two matches. Those last two League losses also put us four goals against behind Chel$ki. Naturally the effects of the long season were starting to take their toll; we had already played forty two competitive matches at this point, going back to the first match in mid July. The mental and physical fatigue were coming now at this crucial stage of the season, just when we are starting to see a crowded fixture list. The congestion starts with a Premier League match away at Wigan, followed a few days later with a home match against Arse-nil. Then we have our FA Cup fifth round match against Man Ure, followed a few days after that with a trip to Benfica in the Champions League.

We had some reason then to be a little nervous about our trip to Wigan. If we can’t get out of this slump, we’ll be in no position to take on the bigger matches to follow. Fortunately the lads came through with a tough 1-0 win at the JJB stadium. The Reds didn’t look too tired to last the match, even though the pitch looked like it might not make it through ninety minutes. This was Robbie’s first start since his return and he looked in good shape for the first half at least. His partnership with Morientes looked like it was starting to work out, with the two of them moving into positions to complement each other. This could be our best option for the balance of the season, although I would like to see more of Crouch and Fowler together before long. Of course Stevie G was trying to pass to Robbie on several occasions, but not as effectively as we would have liked. Once again, it was not one of the strikers who came through with a goal, but this time it was Sami Hyypia scoring his first of the season after 30 minutes. It wasn’t pretty and it won’t make any highlight packages, but they all count and of course we’ll take it.

The second half gave us a couple of scares with Sami almost slicing the ball into the net past Dudek, after blocking a cross from former Everton player Matt Jackson. But we hung on with Kromkamp replacing Fowler at 66 minutes and Cisse replacing Morientes at 70 minutes. That 1-0 result was our first away success since our 3-1 win at Goodison on December 28th. Could this be the end of the slump?

In recent years we would have dreaded a visit from Arse-nil, even if we were having a good run of form. It’s been a long time since Robbie’s five minute hat-trick against them at Anfield (in August 1994) and we couldn’t really expect a repeat of that this time around. Things have certainly changed for both clubs this season with the gooners in fifth place chasing us in third. A win against them on Tuesday would put us ten points ahead of them, as well as four up on Spurs in fourth place. We also had the unexpected pleasure of seeing Chel$ki go down 3-0 at Middlesbrough on Saturday, meaning we were back to only one more goal conceded than them. This match would also be the last of our games in hand and so a win was needed if we were to keep pace and stay well positioned in the top four. For Arse-nil, a loss would put them ten points behind us and six points out of the Champions League spots. In other words, we both desperately needed the three points.

This was another match where we dominated in every area except scoring. A missed penalty from Stevie G could have been the morale breaker that turned the match in their favour but they just didn’t have it in them. The Reds kept pushing and finally broke through with a Luis Garcia goal, picking up Lehman’s parried save from Didi Hamann’s 20 yard blast. That was Lehman’s only mistake, if you can even call it a mistake, after 87 minutes. Sometimes it takes that kind of persistence to succeed, and once again we showed that we have what it takes.

We’ve now played forty four matches with still twelve more to go in the Premier League and who knows how many more in the FA Cup and Champions League (lots more we hope). The two consecutive clean sheet wins, and the return of key players like Hamann and Garcia help with the morale and the confidence going into this weekend’s showdown. The last three matches have also been a chance for Dudek to play, following Reina’s three match suspension. Jerzy looked pretty solid in the last two when he was needed so Rafa now has to consider rotating the two of them in upcoming weeks as we run in to the end of the season. Robbie is cup-tied for Saturday but is eligible for the trip to Benfica, so it’s a good opportunity to rotate strikers as well. The biggest concern at the moment has to be the lack of goals, and that our last goals scored by a striker were against Everton in the League (Crouch and Cisse) or against Luton in the FA Cup (Pongolle). But, as long as we are scoring, and winning, and as long as we are solid in defence, who really cares who scores the goals?

As of next season we've got a new sponsor -- or should I say we're going back to Adidas. Adidas has bought out current sponsors Reebok in Europe and here's a picture of what the new kit'll look like.

Personally, I remember some of those kits as being pretty bad (My 'Fowler 23' shirt with big itchy collar still sits in my closet, along with other Adidas anomalies for us) but their quality was sturdier than Reebok's as all my Reebok stuff starts to pill pretty quick. I do think the newer Reebok stuff is ace but Adidas could top it with the right kit. Hard to tell in photos but the collar looks dodgy.

More pros than cons for us Reds out on this side of the water, Adidas will have better availability and probably a bit cheaper, better marketed product (couldn't be worse than Reebok's CL shirt fiasco) and hopefully other perks will be available as well...especially for us Canadian supporters...

P Gill send us an email if you have anything to announce, sell, or would just like a rant/rave.