Degen leaving for Wolfsburg while Insua joins Espanyol
Phillipp Degen and Emiliano Insua will leave for Wolfsburg and Espanyol - in £3M and £6M deals respectively.
Degen, who has had a very unhappy spell in Anfield, joined Stuttgart on loan but instead chose Wolfsburg - a team that escaped relegation. Insua will be playing at a elite Europe competition as his new team Espanyol beat Valencia to a UCL spot and he will be very happy.
Alberto Aquilani, who joined Juventus on loan last season, will remain at Anfield, says English Manager of the Year Felipe Aurelio.
"We don't have any Central Attacking Midfielders (AMC) except for the unestablished Jonjo Shelvey," Aurelio said. "I will be using a new tactic in this new season as quite alot of players have left."
Meanwhile, Neymar, Ivanovic, Akinfeev, Pastore, Kadlec and Fleck all join in combined total of £37.7M in fees. Supporters are concerned about a new flock of players joining but Aurelio has said the players will improve the depth and make us more of a Champions League team.
"All those guys are great people. They boost our squad and makes us capable of challenging for the Champions League," Aurelio said. "All I have now is to strengthen our defence, where Agger is leaving for £12M (At. Madrid) and Johnson for £28M (Spurs)."
Mattia Cassani, who joined last season, says he can fill Johnson's boots. "Johnson was a great player last season and it was real as he provided us with 14 assists. I have confidence to fill his boots."
Contento will also join to be a backup for first choice Chivu, while Carragher has pledged to give up playing for a while by being the interim assistant manager after Sammy Lee left. Central defender Thomas Vermaelen, who slipped down the pecking order under Arsene Wenger and was signed for a bargain fee - £7M has pledged to replace Carragher for a season.
Carragher, 34 this season, has said he is happy to hang up his boots to become the new assistant to Aurelio.
"I think I might retire and help Aurelio out," Jamie said. "I love his style of management but I feel the language barrier is still the problem so I think I can give him English lessons." He joked.
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Aurelio: Youngsters showed potential
Suso was one of the youngsters who showed potential during the English' champions during pre-season
Manager of the Year Felipe Aurelio says that Liverpool's hot prospects or rather starlets have shone and showed every fan their potential during the champions' pre-season.
Out of four friendlies, the team won three and drew one - away to French champions Lille. "I was rather impressed with the youngsters' performances, especially the 6-2 trashing of Tranmere." Aurelio said.
Asked about any further transfers however, Aurelio decided to decline any comment but said: "I have a few more targets."
Another good Liverpool news is, that, Anfield's capacity is now 63000 and the club's youth facilities have been upgraded to the best in England. However, last season's star goalkeeper Pepe Reina has joined AC Milan in a £47M deal which includes Robinho as a makeweight.
Friendly results:
Liverpool 3 Accrington 0 - Suso 50, 55, 70)
Tranmere 2 Liverpool 6 - Pepper 4,80 | Suso 18, 20, 33, 50)
Lille 2 Liverpool 2 - Robinho (2)
Espanyol 1 Liverpool 2 - Suarez, Robinho
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A 88,500 strong crowd was awaiting the team's exit and appearance in the Wembley Stadium for the FA Charity Shield which our opponents are Manchester United. We lost to them twice during the league but we hope our strong squad will ensure a win or until penalties.
Formation - Barcelona Style 2010/11:
Akinfeev
Cassani Ivanovic Munoz Chivu
Tymoschuk
Fleck Keita
Pastore Gerrard
Neymar
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Manchester United 1 ------------ 3 Liverpool
Neymar (4 pen.), Vertonghen (14), Pastore (48), Chivu (66)
Solid performance from our defence and although we missed Carra who is the leader of our defence we still managed to secure a 3-1 win over our rivals and the team's performance means the new signings are working well.
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We start our new season as title favourites with Manchester United and we play against Leeds at Elland Road. Leeds finished top of the Championship surprisingly and we have to battle hard seeing that Leeds have a great history in English football.
Injuries: Gerrard (ankle) - 2 weeks | Torres (ankle) - 3 weeks | Meireles (back) - 2 weeks
Suspensions: Suarez - 1 match
41221 formation:
Akinfeev
Cassani Munoz Ivanovic Chivu
Lucas
Keita Tymoschuk
Pastore Sanchez
Robinho
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Leeds United 0 ------------- 5 Liverpool
Robinho (3), Pastore (2)
[Not adding image here, no time]
Great start to our new season with a dominating 5-0 win and we go top after this 90 minutes. Fantastic performance from 'binho and Pastore as they score the 5 goals for us.
