Get Real Rafa

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is in a bit of an argument with the club's new owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks. The fight is over transfer funds, with Benitez insisting money be made available now to tie up any deals to be done in the January transfer window. The owners say nothing will be done until they come to England for the Liverpool-Manchester United match on December 16th. This isn't good enough for Benitez, who suggested that the owners don't understand the intricacies of the European transfer system. Maybe what they really don't understand is why Benitez, after spending over $100 million on players this past summer, is demanding new players after just six months. Or maybe they don't understand why the team is only in fifth place in the Premiership and hanging on by the thinnest of threads in the Champions League after spending all that cash in the summer. TWG isn't a huge fan of all the foreign ownership in the Premier League, but we agree with what Gillett and Hicks told their manager: you focus on coaching the players you have now, not what players you wish you had.

Judgment Day

Barcelona defeated Rangers 2-0 earlier today, the opposite of what TWG predicted. Barcelona's goals came from Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi, two pretty good players. Damarcus Beasley, obviously, did not score for Rangers. In fact, nobody did. Looks like they could have used Nolan Ryan, or at least Mike Richter in the nets. Don't worry, TWG will continue to make bold predictions, regardless of what anyone thinks, especially you Kate.

Prediction

It's Wednesday, and you know what that means: It's business time. It also means European Cup action (you might know it better as "The Champions League"). Plenty of matches on tap for today, but we'll keep it short and sweet. TWG is going out on a big limb and saying Rangers will pull the upset over Barcelona in the Nou Camp (or is it Camp Nou? we've heard it both ways). Look for Rangers to sit back and soak up pressure from Barcelona's vaunted attackers and try to catch them on the counterattack, much like they did in the game two weeks ago in Glasgow, which ended in a 0-0 tie, and had Barcelona lamenting the fact that Rangers didn't want to play, just defend. TWG is tipping fellow U.S. American Damarcus Beasley to snatch a late winner for Rangers. Bold? Yes. But it's business time.