Liverpool gaffer stresses need for ‘associated players’

Following Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Lazio on Friday night, Rafa Benitez was very quick to defend his pursuit of Aston Villa captain Gareth Barry:

We need to improve if we can and I think we need another player, because clearly we have problems on the left. I have sold [John Arne] Riise, [Harry] Kewell has gone, [Fabio] Aurelio is injured and [Sebastián] Leto didn’t get a work permit, so we need another left-sided player. I cannot say now who that will be but Barry can fill that position and play in others, too.

Aside from denying the existence of Xabi Alonso, there’s nothing too mental going on in the quote above. But get ready for some crazy…

Yet another stupendously hot member of the Italian WAG circuit

Like so many stunning Italian WAGs before her (Letizia Filippi, Francesca Lodo, Martina Colombari, Francesca Chillemi, Vincenza Cacace and Elisabetta Gregoraci to name but a few), Sara Tommasi is a graduate of the much-lauded Miss Italy pageant. She was runner up in the 1998 competition, and soon moved on to bigger things. Well, at the very least she moved on to bigger boobs (which she displays rather frequently), and relationships with West Ham’s Valon Behrami (who’s now rutting former WOTD Elena Bonzanni) and Filippo Inzaghi (whose numerous trysts have included Aída Yéspica and Elena Barolo).

Naughty gang attempted to use Serie A club for money laundering

A story is emerging today concerning a notorious crime gang - the Clan dei Caselesi - and their attempts to buy Lazio in 2006. Italian authorities claim that the family from the Camorra, the Naples version of the Mafia, tried to buy the club through a Hungarian pharmaceutical company using funds gained from violence, intimidation and lots of other naughty stuff:

[…] police in Rome made 10 arrests as part of an operation codenamed ‘Broken Wings’. The people being held are Italians and foreigners.In 2006, Lazio president Claudio Lotito was given police protection after receiving threats from ultras (club supporters group), who were allegedly trying to intimidate him into selling to a consortium led by former Lazio player and president Giorgio Chinaglia.

Chinaglia fled after being charged with market-rigging linked to his bid while Lotito has also faced similar charges over

Upton Park is about to get a much-needed injection of glamour

According to the rumour vine, West Ham last night agreed terms with Lazio’s Swiss right-back Valon Behrami. This is great news for WAG fans, as the neutral one will almost certainly bring his long term girlfriend Elena Bonzanni with him. She is a 25-year-old model, and the fourth Italian beauty named ‘Elena’ to feature on WOTD (see Elenas Barolo, Santarelli and Grimadli). And don’t let the perspective of the picture above fool you: she doesn’t have unfeasibly large feet.

The latest transfer news fresh from the rumour vine

Arsene Wenger recently rocked the footballing world by sending a fax to Milan, warning them to stop sniffing around Emmanuel Adebayor. The threat in itself wasn’t the shock, but rather his method of communication - Internazionale’s fax machine had probably been lying dormant since 1989 when the Frenchman’s choice words came through. If he runs out of fax paper, which surely can’t be bought in the 21st century, he’ll probably end up sending a telegram or a small messenger boy in a toga to Barcelona…

Emmanuel Adebayor to Barcelona
Arsene Wenger had just finished mopping his brow at the news Milan would accept Arsenal’s decision not to sell Adebayor when Barcelona rode in to declare the striker their number one target.

The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: A possibility considering Eto’o is leaving

Dani Guiza to Arsenal
But don’t fear Arsenal fans, what better way to recover from the loss of the Premier League’s joint-second goalscorer than by replacing him with La Liga’s number one?

The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: Maybe, Champions League clubs are bound to chase

Claude Makelele, Lillian Thuram, Robert Pires and Ludovic Giuly to Paris Saint Germain
Some bright spark at PSG has decided it would be a stroke of genius to bring together a group of French veterans who would surely take the league by storm and guarantee instant success.

The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: It seems not everyone in France watched Euro 2008

Peter Crouch to Portsmouth
Harry Redknapp has told

Time to move to Italy 

Bid a welcoming “Ciao” to Federica, all the way from the sparkling hills of Roma - which is the capital of Italy. She’s a curvy thirtysomething who goes out with Livorno midfielder Giuliano Giannichedda - you’ll probably remember him as the young buck turning out for Lazio between 2001 and 2005, or the slightly aged gent darting around for Juventus only last year.

England hero had enough demons for entire squad

There has been some terrific reporting on the story of Paul Gascoigne’s hospitalisation, even if some of it does read like an obituary. All the papers carry some extraordinary insights into the terrifying emptiness of his life and his desperate efforts to fill the void, although the prize for best coverage goes to the Telegraph, with three of their highlights below.

(Ian Wright also does his best to explain the enigma in the Sun: “He was just a normal bloke who was happiest with a pint and a game of pool in his local working men’s club.”)

After he had damaged his cruciate ligament in the 1991 FA Cup final,

The best sports programming on the telecube this evening

Don’t worry if you didn’t manage to get a fake bib for the Liverpool game tonight, it’s also being broadcast on television. And if you don’t fancy seeing Rafa’s final hours at all, then check out the