The King has turned sixty ...

... and oh boy, how lucky out lads were to celebrate this special day with him. :-) 

A lovely picture (click to enlarge) of some adorable lads, isn't it? Joe, I love your socks. ;D

Photo: liverpoolfc.tv

Heute vor zehn Jahren

Es war 14:00 Uhr am 4. März 2001 in Melbourne, Australien, als die Formel 1 für immer verändert worden ist. An dem Tag, genau vor zehn Jahren, trat ein blutjunger Fernando Alonso seinen ersten Arbeitstag als Formel1-Fahrer bei dem Team European Minardi an. Damals wusste noch niemand, was der schüchterne Junge erreichen wird. Niemand wusste, dass er die Formel 1 für immer verändern und ganz Spanien auf den Kopf stellen wird.

Zehn Jahre später wissen wir mehr. Alonso wurde inzwischen zwei mal Formel 1 Weltmeister (in den Jahren 2005 und 2006 mit Renault) und wuchs zu einem der besten Fahrer der Gegenwart auf. Nach einem turbulenten Jahr bei McLaren-Mercedes (2007), und einer wenig erfolgreicher Rückkehr zum Renault (2008), steht der Asturier nun vor der zweiten Saison als Ferrari-Fahrer. 2010 wäre er beinahe zum dritten Mal Weltmeister geworden und "nur" ein strategischer Fehler des Teams hat es verhindert. Na hoffentlich haben die Roten aus ihren Fehlern auch wirklich gelernt!

Fernando Alonso anno 2001 ...

... und Fernando Alonso heute. Viel, viel besser ...;-)

Auf den dritten Titel für den Mann aus Oviedo! Prost!

Die F1-Saison 2011 beginnt am 27. März in Melbourne, Australien.

Fotos: as.com; motorsport.com

"It's destiny", he said.

 

If you say so, Nando ...

Pic: guardian.co.uk

Fernando Torres leaves Liverpool

So he really did it. He REALLY did it!! He left us. Our Golden Boy left us and is now a ... is now a .... Chelsea player. He is now Drogba's mate! This sounds like a nightmare, this looks like a nightmare, feels like a nightmare ... it is a bloody nightmare.

No Torres goal for us anymore? Now he's going to play against us. Against Pepe, against Stevie, against Carra ... against his mates and friends. And he will score goals against us. And we will hate him for that, oh yes, we will.

I'm now at a "top-level" club, he said. Really, Nando? Are those really your words? Do you FEEL it? What do you feel anyway? And why are you even smiling in here???? "Happy to be a Blue", he said. Happy to be a Blue?????!!!!!! Please, spare us, Fernando, don't make us feel worse than we already do ...

 Happy days

I'm not gonna lie if I say I am devastated ... How could you, Fer, how could you?!

Well, good luck. Thank you for everything ... gracias para todo, gracias por las memorias y buena suerte. We will always love you, and from now on also hate you, equally. 

Y.N.W.A

At least it was not a defeat

We could have won this one easily. We could have sent Everton home with zero points. But instead we drew them, or better said: we let them draw us 2:2 and lost 2 points. In the first half we played some decent football. We pushed forward and we had some very good chances to score. In fact, we should have went into the injury time 3:0 up. Well, if we didn't miss the chances. There you've got it again: our famous lack of luck which is hanging above our heads like a deep black cloud ... However, although we're disappointed with the result there are some positives. The first one: at least it's not a defeat. At least we picked up this one point. It is still better than a zero. After the match Kenny said:

"We are happy with the way we are playing," said the Liverpool manager. "When there is a change in management there is a change in philosophy, training and how you prepare for matches and players have to adapt to that. They've got to believe in what we are doing and I think you can see the belief is coming back."

This is all true. We finally played a different football, we finally played well. Which is the second positive. Although we should have played like this throughout  the match. It's good to go into the break leading, but there is always the danger of switching off, being to confident and losing the concentration. That's what happened with us yesterday. After Raul's goal, which gave us us the lead, we just switched off ... This is a wrong attitude which cost us the victory.

We are moving into the right direction ... this draw was just a start. The next aim is a win. It has to be ...

Y.N.W.A

Roy Hodgson out, King Kenny in

Breaking news! Liverpool FC confirmed today that manager Roy Hodgson has left the club by mutual consent. We have been waiting for this so long. Now it's official: King Kenny is back in charge!

Principal Owner John Henry commented: "We are grateful for Roy's efforts over the past six months, but both parties thought it in the best interests of the club that he stand down from his position as team manager. We wish him all the best for the future."

Roy Hodgson said: "Being asked to manage Liverpool Football Club was a great privilege. Any manager would be honoured to manage a club with such an incredible history, such embedded tradition and such an amazing set of fans. Liverpool is one of the great clubs in world football. I have, however, found the last few months some of the most challenging of my career. I am very sad not to have been able to put my stamp on the squad, to be given the time to bring new players into the club in this transfer window and to have been able to be part of the rebuilding process at Liverpool. The club has some great, world-class players, with whom it has been a pleasure to work and I wish the entire squad well for the rest of the season. I thank those with whom I have built up a close working relationship at the club for their loyalty and support during very testing times, and finally of course to the Liverpool fans, your passion and dedication to the club will see Liverpool at the top of the game once more." 

Club legend Kenny Dalglish will assume control of team matters for Sunday's third round FA Cup tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Henry added: "We are delighted that Kenny Dalglish has agreed to step in and manage the team for Sunday's FA Cup tie at Old Trafford and for the remainder of the season.

"Kenny was not just a legendary footballer, he was the third of our three most successful managers - three giants. We are extraordinarily fortunate and grateful that he has decided to step in during the middle of this season."

Chairman Tom Werner said: "No one who cares for this great club has been happy with the way this season has unfolded and we have examined options and considered at length what is best for us going forward. Kenny will bring considerable experience to the position and provide management and leadership for the rest of the season."

Roy, wherever you go now and whatever are you up to now: good luck! It just didn't work.

Quotes: liverpoolfc.tv

Thommy & Heikki

Souverän hat Thomas Morgenstern die Vierschanzentournee 2011 für sich entschieden. Den letzten Sieg aber holte ein Norweger, Tom Hilde siegte in Bischofshofen vor dem Österreicher. Aber das ist auch am Ende ziemlich egal. GLÜCKWUNSCH, Thomas! amandoiloss hat an Dich geglaubt. ;-9

Und darauf hier ...

... bin ich echt neidisch. Thomas und Heikki Kovalainen. :-) 

Foto: @H_Kovalainen

Frohes neues Jahr 2011!

Endlich ist es so weit: Das Jahr 2010 ist vorbei. Der Himmel sei Dank! Denn bis auf paar schöne Momente, Stunden, Tage, neue Freundschaften, Erlebnisse und Erfahrungen war es kein gutes Jahr für mich. Für England, LFC und Alonso (na ja, fast hätte er es geschafft) auch nicht.  Hoffentlich wird 2011 besser. Ich drücke mir die Daumen. ;-) Und Euch allen wünsche ich auch alles, alles Gute im 2011!! Prost! :-)

amandoloss' Picture of the Year 2010

Not an easy task to choose ones picture of the whole long year. It was a true struggle  as you can imagine, and eventually there were two short-listed pictures. I could have gone for John Terry's utterly genius World Cup dive . :-) 

But since I met up with  my lads from Liverpool FC in August, which at the same time was also THE MOMENT of the year for me, there was no other option as to choose this picture: 

Steven Gerrard: Our Captain Fantastic, The Heart of Anfield, a true leader, icon. and Legend. And next to him ... me! Totally confused, speechless and utterly over the moon from sheer hapiness me. :-)

Merry Christmas from amandoloss