Liverpool F.C. season 2008-09

Infobox Football club season
club = Liverpool

season = 2008–09
manager = flagicon|ESP Rafael Benítez
chairman = flagicon|USA Tom Hicks & George Gillett
league = flagicon|ENG Premier League
cup1 = FA Cup
cup2 = League Cup
cup3 = UEFA Champions League
league topscorer = Fernando Torres (5)
season topscorer = Fernando Torres (5)
European topscorer = Steven Gerrard (3)
highest attendance =
lowest attendance =

The 2008–09 season is the 117th season in Liverpool F.C.'s existence, and is their 46th consecutive year in the top-flight, and covers the period from 2008-07-01 to 2009-06-30. Having finished 4th the previous season, Liverpool had qualified for the UEFA Champions League final qualifying stage.

Pre-season

Liverpool signed Philipp Degen from Borussia Dortmund on a Bosman and also Andrea Dossena from Udinese for £7m. Harry Kewell did not have his contract renewed and joined Galatasaray, a move which angered Leeds fans [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeds_United_A.F.C.#1996-2003] . John Arne Riise was sold to AS Roma for a fee of £4 million which could rise depending on appearances and success. Peter Crouch left for Portsmouth for a fee of £11 million and goalkeeper Scott Carson was sold to West Bromwich Albion for an initial £3.75 million, which could rise substantially depending on his success. Carson was replaced by Brazilian Diego Cavalieri who joined from Palmeiras for a fee of £3.5 million. Danny Guthrie joined Newcastle United for £2.25 million. They also brought in young French striker David N'Gog from PSG for a reported £1.5 million fee, on the same day Spanish teenager Emmanuel Mendy arrived on a free from Murcia Deportivo. The club made their biggest summer coup with the signing of Irish striker Robbie Keane, for an initial £19m with add-ons. He arrived from Tottenham Hotspur and became Liverpool's second most expensive signing after Fernando Torres. Several young players have gone out on loan: Hobbs, Antwi, Roque, Hammill, Anderson and Threlfall. Le Tallec left for Le Mans and Idrizaj left for free. This means Rafael Benitez has spent a total reported to be around £32m, though he has received £22m in return from sales. As for backroom staff, Sammy Lee returns to the club after managing Bolton Wanderers for the first part of last season after Sam Allardyce joined Newcastle United.Former First team coach Alex Miller has left to manage in Japan.

Liverpool kicked-off their pre-season programme with a winning start after a goal from Yossi Benayoun handed them a 1-0 victory over local side Tranmere Rovers. The squad then departed for a training camp in Switzerland before they played their next game, a 2-1 victory over FC Lucerne The goals scored by Lucas and Andriy Voronin. A 1-1 draw with Wisła Kraków followed, Voronin on the scoresheet again. The pre-season campaign continued with a 0-0 draw in the Olympic Stadium, Berlin against Hertha BSC Berlin. Another 0-0 draw followed this time against Villarreal CF in the Estadio El Madrigal where Robbie Keane and N'Gog made their debuts.Then, on August 2, Liverpool played Scottish UEFA Cup finalists Rangers F.C., where they won 4-0, with goals from Fernando Torres, N'Gog's first for the club, Yossi Benayoun and a Xabi Alonso penalty. A trip to Oslo to play Vålerenga Fotball was next for Liverpool in the pre-season campaign, where they won 4-1, the goals coming from Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres, Yossi Benayoun, and another from N'Gog.Liverpool finished their pre-season at Anfield with 1-0 win over Lazio, the goal scored by Voronin in the 93rd minute.

eason 2008-09

Liverpool started their quest for the Champions League in a qualifier against Belgian champions, Standard Liege on August 13th. Liverpool were held to a goaless draw in Belgium with Jose Reina saving a penalty in the first half. The second leg was played at Anfield on August 27th, and the match looked to be heading into penalties with the score still locked at 0-0 in extra time. But Dirk Kuyt scored from a Ryan Babel cross in the 118th minute to put Liverpool through to the group stage of the Champions League

Liverpool got off to a winning start in the league opener at the Stadium of Light against Sunderland on August 16th, Fernando Torres scoring an 83rd minute goal in a 1-0 victory.

A week later Middlesbrough F.C. came to Anfield for the first home league match of the season. Middlesbrough scored first in the 70th minute. Liverpool equalised with a rare goal from a Carragher in the 86th minute, and a 95th minute strike by Gerrard to make it 2-1.

On Wednesday August 27th Standard Liege came to Anfield to play the second leg of their champions league qualifier. The game went on to the second half of extra time for its first goal. Dirk Kuyt scored in the 118th minute from a Ryan Babel cross. This was enough for Liverpool to win the game and qualify for the European Champions Leauge.

After an international break, Liverpool returned to action by facing Premier League champions Manchester United at Anfield, with Liverpool coming from behind to win 2-1, Rafa Benitez's first ever league win against United.

On Tuesday 23rd September, Liverpool beat Crewe Alexandra 2-1 at Anfield in the 3rd round of the League Cup.

On Saturday 27th September, Liverpool beat Everton FC 2-0 at Goodison Park in the first Merseyside Derby of the season. Two goals from Fernando Torres in the 2nd Half sealing the win against their neighbours, who failed to force Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina to make one save in the entire game. Liverpool currently sit 2nd in the Premier League behind Chelsea FC on goal difference.

On Sunday 5th October, Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-2 at the City of Manchester Stadium. After conceding two goals in the first half, Liverpool fought back to make it 2-2 thanks to a brace from Fernando Torres, his second in two successive league games. However Martin Skrtel was injured late in the game and required treatment on the field, meaning that there would be a minimum of six minutes injury time. In the 93 minute a cutback by Yossi Benayoun found Torres, whose shot was deflected into the path of Dirk Kuyt and subsequently smashed home by the Dutch striker, his first league goal in 27 league matches. The result kept Liverpool 2nd in the Premier League behind Chelsea on goal difference, with the Blues also winning that day. Skrtel later underwent a scan on his knee, which confirmed he had damaged his posterior cruciate ligament. However a further examination by the Liverpool medical staff also confirmed that the injury would not require surgery, meaning Skrtel is expected to recover and be fit to play by the Christmas period. Daniel Agger is expected to replace Skrtel alongside Jamie Carragher in central defence.

Team kit

The team kit for the 2008–09 season was produced by adidas and the shirt sponsor is Carlsberg. New red home kit debuted in the final home game of the 07-08 season. The new away kit is silver & grey checks and has red stripes, the third kit is turquoise.

Football kit align = none center pattern_la = _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes_half pattern_b = _liverpoolfc_0810_h pattern_ra = _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes_half pattern_sh = _white_stripes pattern_so = _3_stripes_white leftarm = dd0000 body = dd0000 rightarm = dd0000 shorts = dd0000 socks = dd0000 title = Home Football kit align = none center pattern_la = _shoulder stripes red stripes half pattern_b = _shoulder stripes red stripes lfca0809 pattern_ra = _shoulder stripes red stripes half pattern_sh = _red stripes pattern_so = _3 stripes red leftarm = bbbbbb | body = bbbbbb | rightarm = bbbbbb | shorts = bbbbbb | socks = bbbbbb title = Away Football kit align = none center pattern_la = _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes_half pattern_b = _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes_black_collar pattern_ra = _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes_half leftarm = 3e6761 body = 3e6761 rightarm = 3e6761 shorts = 000000 socks = ffffff title = European Away

Technical staff

First-team squad

Transfers

In

Match results

Pre-season

Results by round

UEFA Champions League

League table

:"Last updated on 1 October, 2008."

quad statistics

:"Last updated on 02 October, 2008."

Top scorers

:"Last updated on 02 October, 2008."

Top scorers

:"Last updated on 31 August, 2008."

Reserves

Under-18s

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/match/season/index.htm?squad=First+Team&season=2008-2009&competition=All Fixtures and results Liverpool Official Site season 2008-09]
* [http://www.lfchistory.net/seasongames.asp?Season_id=118 LFC History Season 2008-09]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/default.stm Liverpool Season 2008-09 at BBC Sport]