Why Now?

-I'm always amazed that it hasn't dawned on footballers that just because you do an interview for a publication or radio station outside of England that it might in fact get back to the UK. How often does this happen? Then there's the predictable "I didn't say it like that" or "lost in translation" or "I was dead at the time" excuse after when followed up by the British press. So it was with Pepe Reina today, who got caught on Spanish Radio hinting at going to Man United or Arsenal.  The timing of this is just so odd, because Liverpool are having their best stretch in two seasons. This is just so not needed now, and whether Reina was alluding to something else or now he has to be more careful than that. Now everyone's going to be bombarded by these questions and it's a distraction we don't need.

-If you haven't caught it, check out Oh You Beauty's chalkboard breakdown of the Chelsea game. They do it masterfully.

-David Ngog scored twice for the reserves against Tranmere. It's odd that Ngog hasn't had much of a run out since Dalglish took over, and with Suarez and Carroll in tow he probably won't. The promise was there, but never the consistent results. Dani Pacheco also played well, and I'm still betting that he gets a chance in the first team, at least in the Europa Cup. The outside slot of a 4-3-3 would seem to fit him perfectly.

-Gerrard won't play for England due to injury, but I haven't seen where he won't play at the weekend. Martin Kelly withdrew from the Under-21's as well, leaving only Glen johnson in the England squad from Anfield.