Bit of a slow news day today, other than confirmation that Glen Johnson will be out about a month. As good a time as any to wrap things up for the year.
As mentioned in the lead-in, the club has released news that the England fullback will be out at least a month with a medial ligament tear in his right knee. Obviously it's not great, but hopefully it's not just optimism that he'll only be out a month. There's never a "right time" for an injury, but he's had a bit of a dip in form lately, so this may allow him to recover both form and fitness. His defensive presence can be covered, but most worrying for me is what this means for Liverpool in attack. When he's at his best, Glen Johnson does the work of fullback and winger, overlapping with Dirk Kuyt and darting into the box. Carra's certainly an able replacement in defense, but he doesn't get forward as well, and Kuyt is in desperate need of creative support. Along with this news comes a report on nearly-forgotten men Albert Riera, Martin Kelly, and Nabil El Zhar. The former looks to be back in a week while the latter pair still require some time. It's a shame none of the trio will be available for Saturday's clash with Reading, but they're sure to be needed in the coming months.
If you've been following the site much you've noticed that I haven't posted anything about teams of the decade or greatest moments. This is partly due to a hectic holiday traveling schedule, but maybe more so due to the fact that my passion for Liverpool started on a slow burn in the middle of the decade and didn't really catch fire until the beginning of the 2006-2007 season. Around that time I really started diving into the club and it's history, engaging in a (very) poor man's version of the new transfer cram session. As such, my perspective on the club prior to that period is largely informed by the opinions of others and retrospective news pieces, sapping any chance I have at original thought. It doesn't take much. Below I've posted a few of the end of the year/decade links, mostly written by those with a bit more perspective on the club from 2000 to now.
Final results from nate's "Team of the Decade" poll over at oh you beauty.
The official site has their "Team of the Noughties" up as well. You can also find links on the main page for photos of the decade and other pieces looking back.
The opposite end of the spectrum over at Football Fancast, "Liverpool's Worst Team of the Decade."
The Telegraph has the Miracle of Istanbul as the top sporting moment of the decade.
The Offside front page has been compiling "Moments of 2009" in the past few weeks, here's my submission. Better days, at least in this calendar year.
I've really enjoyed following Liverpool over the past four seasons and blogging in the past two, scrambling to find streams online at 4:00am out west, spending needless amounts of money on club memorabilia (and trying to hide it from my wife), running into random Liverpool supporters around town, and, more than anything, feeling an increased sense of devotion to the club through the highs of famous victories and the lows of the recent past. I look forward to the next year and decade as a Liverpool supporter, which starts with the FA Cup 3rd round at the Madjeski on Saturday.
Happy New Year, hope you all have a safe and happy end to the holiday season.