Hump Day Mish Mash

Not a lot going on, so just a notes piece today:

-You probably caught it, but a familiar friend was laying down the pimp hand to Peru last night in the Copa America semifinals. El Pistolero had both strikes as Uruguay moved on 2-0. His first was a reenacting of Dirk Kuyt reacting to him as Suarez pounced on a bobbled save from a Diego Forlan thunderbolt. His second was the trademark sneaky run in behind we've become accustomed to and the Peruvian keeper deciding to charge up Bunker Hill from about 40 yards out, leading to Suarez laughably rounding him. It's always good to see Liverpool players in form with their countries. Though I do worry about fatigue and unfamiliarity with teammates -- after all, Suarez probably won't get much more than two weeks training with the squad before the season kicks off -- his boundless energy and talents should make that transition pretty seamless.

-Milan Jovanovic is apparently close to a move to Anderlecht, which will raise objections from exactly no one. This is part of the "dead wood" that the club has to move out, along with Joe Cole, Phillipe Degen, and a couple others. This will help bring the wage bill down. But I have to admit to feeling some sympathy for Jovanovic. He was bought by a manager who the hit the bricks before he even arrived at the club. When he got there he found some drunken hobbit trying to organize things, and it's hard to bed into a team that has no system or belief. Jovanovic most likely sucks anyway, but this was a situation no one could flourish in, you'd have to believe.

-Fiorentina want Alberto Aquilani, but his wage demands may be too high. This always strikes me as curious. If a player wants out that badly, and from the evidence we have Il Principino would rather be back among the tight-jeans and leather crowd, then does he simply have to have that salary? This whole thing with Aquilani makes me uncomfortable, because you can make an argument that out of our midfield 12, he might be the most talented one. Maybe Pool are just seeing which one they can sell first and for highest between Aquilani and Raul Meireles, and then use the other, I don't know. Still, a club like Liverpool doesn't ship off immensely talented players, which is what Aquilani is. But then again, they didn't bring in Adam and Henderson to watch Aquilani play. Yuck.

-As we've heard before, Mick McCarthy and his giant calves want Jay Spearing on loan. While that may be a good idea, a loan would probably lead to a full transfer. Think about it, Lucas, Adam, and Henderson are in for the long haul, unless one of them bottoms out. Gerrard is not going to retire after this season. Coady is coming through the ranks. Once Spearing gets a taste of regular first team action, and then looks at the crowded ranks in the Liverpool midfield when that loan is over, is he really going to want to fight it out again? Maybe he loves being a Liverpool player that much, and I hope so because there's a lot of promise there. But he'll have to earn it.