Well this day hasn't gotten any better.
I'd say it's time to sound off, but actually that's already happened a bit in the comments section earlier, and I whole-heartedly approve.
I don't have much time to comment in-depth on anything right now---the win yesterday seems to have been relatively disappointing, and since I haven't had a chance to even catch any of the highlights I don't have any comment. Obviously not a great scoreline with a tough away leg to finish the tie, and the Joe Cole penalty would have at least given some breathing room. But I defer to those of you who saw the match in full (or in part).
At this point, though, the performance is overshadowed by revelations in the last 24 hours that a loan deal is likely for Alberto Aquilani, as well as news that Kenneth Huang, once though to be the front-runner in the Liverpool takeover, is now out completely. There's also rumors of a Dirk Kuyt sale on the horizon (pointed out by Galahad previously), but to treat that as though it's got any truth would only be an S&M exercise.
In sum, not a great time to be following Liverpool via Blackberry. One shitty text message after another without a computer in sight has made me a bit jittery, and now that I've had a chance to catch up a bit, I'm not too encouraged.
I haven't been following the ownership news with any great rigor---I'm disillusioned enough with the way things have gone in the past few years, and the intricacies of the potential takeover bids are mostly above my head. I will say that, relatively speaking, Huang seemed to be the one with the most promise. Not so much anymore.
But the news that has me most irked is the Alberto Aquilani loan talks, which will likely turn to sale talks. I can't really write anything that folks in the comments section haven't already, but I'll say it anyway.
I can make some sort of sense of this in one regard---he needs to be playing top-flight football, if he's not going to get playing time at Liverpool, he could do it somewhere else. That's the one point in this conversation that I'm slightly willing to listen to.
But even that strikes me as wildly ridiculous, because he's someone that's got more than enough quality to compete for regular playing time in this Liverpool squad. As others have pointed out, he started to find his legs towards the end of last season, had some flashes earlier in the preseason and against Rabotnicki, and is the type of player that, on form, could change the complexion of Liverpool's attack.
At some point after Joe Cole's arrival, though, he became the forgotten man, and now we're at the point where a loan deal seems inevitable. Another "lost" year at Liverpool for Aquilani, and if reports are to be believed, it's got the potential to be his last. Farcical.
Thinking that the additions of Joe Cole and Christian Poulsen will be enough cover is naive at best. Cole's already out for the next 3 Premier League matches and has a history of injury problems, Masch is still headed for a deal even if he's "resigned" to playing for Liverpool, and the only midfielder that has any sort of proven playmaking ability from the middle part of the pitch is Steven Gerrard. I have no reservations arguing that Aquilani had great potential to grow into just that, and the possibility that he won't have a chance is mind-boggling.
There's any number of nightmare scenarios that this brings about, and I'm hesitant to go into any of them in any sort of detail. But the collective injury concerns, lack of creativity, and questionable adaptability of the names remaining has me more than worried.
I'll be greatly disappointed if Aquilani leaves---I truly believe he was one for the future at Liverpool, and I was looking forward to watching him come into his own this season. It may still happen, but the news that the club are seriously considering offloading him, even temporarily, is pretty upsetting.
As was the case in the last 24 hours, the next will be challenging for me to get consistent internet access, and I can't make comments from my phone since it changed over to Disqus. I'll be around, though, and if anything breaks I'll make sure I get something up.
Take care all.