Americans and good soccer commentary just don’t go together. Every time I hear Eric Wynalda and Alexi Lalas talk about anything, I want to engage the SAP function to avoid the noise. The British on other hand, are fantastic at the game. Chief among them are the guys from The Guardian, and their flagship podcast Football Weekly. Every week, twice a week, James Richardson and his rotating crew of correspondents break down the happenings of the wide world of football…Until now.

With the introduction of Football Weekly Very Extra, the Guardian crew is also posting a video version of the pod on Fridays, focusing on the Europa League. Not being a Liverpool fan, I am not all that familiar with the competition, but I’ll tune into anything that has my favorite journos talking football on camera. Granted, the Europa League is basically a competition to see who is the 17th best team in Europe, but the relegation battle is to determine the 17th best team in England, and that is always compelling and rich. Plus, as a very extra bonus, Spurs crashed out of the competition after a heart-warming penalty shootout last night, so enjoy!

One lucky member of the Third Kit is busy being showered in praise from Liverpool faithful today. So he’s a little too busy lounging poolside somewhere in his kashmere leopard print undies surrounded by a bunch of babes and Bacardi right now, so I’m posting this on his behalf.

Last night, Sam and our buddy Marko ran into a special someone at Boston’s finest purveyors smashed grapes, Wine Bottega in the North End. While the two were goofing around with the shop owner, in walked none other than John W. Henry, the owner of Liverpool F.C. and the Boston Red Sox, and his lovely wife Linda Pizzuti.

In proud Third Kit fashion, Sam was able to turn this chance run-in into an mini-exclusive interview (See: Matt Reis at the MLS Cup). But this one came with a major bombshell. As Henry was leaving the wine shop, he turned to same and said, “Looks like we got the striker from Roma.” Of course, he was referring to the long-linked Italian, Fabio Borini.

I’ll spare you the rest of Sam and Marko’s rather hilarious encounter with the First Man and Lady of Liverpool F.C., as you can read the Sam’s tickling account at LFC Boston’s blog, The Red Letter. But I will say, perhaps the coolest part of this run-in is how soccer-savvy (and gorgeous) Linda Pizzuti is. To think she’d actually read Sam’s piece about the Fenwayification of Anfield, is just awesome. Guess who’s the jealous one now, Sam?

I know our Liverpool bias tends to permeate this blog pretty often, but if Sam’s story confirms anything, it’s that the club, at long last, is run by competent and devoted people who are genuinely invested in their team.

Here’s an excerpt of a piece I wrote for LFC Boston’s blog, The Red Letter, about the parallels between Fenway Park and Anfield. Hope you enjoy it:

It’s nearly two years since FSG and principal owner John W. Henry took control of Liverpool’s fortunes after a dreadful period of stagnation from the previous owners. You know who they are. I choose not to type out their names.

One of the most contentious areas of stalled development was the duo’s misleading dialogue regarding a new stadium at Stanley Park. A brash promise of having a spade in the ground within sixty days became a marked quotation that Liverpool fans used to highlight the distrust they had with the ownership group.

Fast-forward to the present and a sense of restlessness is once again growing among the Anfield faithful. A lingering question remains: will a new shiny stadium at Stanley Park become a reality or will historic Anfield remain as the club’s home? It’s safe to say that many Liverpool fans would favor the latter. And so does FSG. After John W. Henry’s comments to The Anfield Wrap it appears that a potential plan to refurbish Anfield may be on the horizon. Adding more credence to that sentiment is Liverpool City Council’s desire to promote several projects to revitalize the Anfield area.

You can check out the article in its entirety on The Red Letter by clicking here.

“What’s Rafa up to?” Don’t lie. Every disgruntled fan that’s wanted to punt their current manager to row omega has probably blurted this question once or twice in the past year. He’s one of the most attractive coaching options on the market (tactically, not physically – unless barrell bellied waiters are something you’re in to).

But as Jen Chang finds out in this fantastic interview for SI.com, Rafa just be waiting for that right gig to open. Meanwhile, he’s watching buckets of matches – from a very well broken in recliner, I presume – and analyzing teams and players until the springs on said recliner pop. He’s also kept busy designing iPad apps. Go figure. But check it out on his unintentionally hilarious website, www.rafabenitez.com.

Anyway, read that piece, as I can’t add anything that Jen doesn’t. But I’ll say that within it lies a couple revelations that may cause Liverpool fans some unexpected flatulence. Get this, Rafa almost signed Dani Alves…as a winger! And Alberto Aquilani? Apparently Rafa’s plan for him was never completed, as he was supposed to combine with Montenegrin wonderkid Stevan Jovetic. But, Rafa says, he just didn’t have the funds…or did he?

Most of you only remember this guy from the old Tony Hawk games, let’s be honest. Football and Skateboarding don’t have a huge crossover but shredding gnar on the PS1 and PS2 with the Birdman and Co. was like the Facebook of the early 2000′s. Everybody was addicted to it.

Thankfully I had a few friends that loved to shred gnar in real life (not as well as Mr. Rowley) so I became familiar with Britain’s best skater years ago. While watching a Flip Skateboard’s production, Really Sorry, my ears perked up due to a familiar LFC tune. (1:30 mark in this video) He immediately became my favorite skater.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that he recently did an interview for French football magazine, So Foot. Said interview was then translated by the original writer, who is a skate blogger and also writes for Vans, and was put up on the Vans website. None of that really matters. What matters is that the Liverpool born lad sounds off on going to Merseyside Derby’s, a hooligan uncle, and why Kenny Dalglish would be a top Skateboarder.

[Interview - Via Vans]

While we’re on the topic, here’s one more excuse to post about Liverpool winning the League Cup. This is just an adorable display of pure, indestructible ecstasy.

NOTE: The Third Kit does not condone the use of drugs.

Seriously, how the hell did Glen Johnson get in that position? It’s not photoshoped or anything. It’s a real picture in real time and space. I can’t look at it too long, it hurts my brain… or maybe that’s just my massive hangover. And yes, this is my excuse to post about Liverpool winning the League Cup.

[via NESN]

King Kenny with some harsh, almost impossibly understandable Scottish words after a drivel performance by Liverpool vs Bolton. Personally wouldn’t mind seeing Kenny tell a few guys to let the door hit em’, where the good Lord split em’.

If you haven’t been keeping tabs on the Reds, the wheels have fallen off since Lucas Leiva’s injury and Suarez’s ban. There’s zero spice in the squad without their South American flair. Probably a good indicator that over-paying for mediocre English players is not the direction they need to take this club. Hopefully, this will not be an anti-climactic final 10  days of the transfer window.

According to the Boston Globe, Liverpool and Roma may clash in Beantown’s iconic Fenway Park this summer. Two years ago “Football at Fenway” took place between Celtic and Sporting Lisbon in what was supposed to be an annual friendly at the Red Sox home ground. The event was a success and after a year hiatus, we may have some footie in Boston once again. (The Revolution play in Foxborough so don’t give me any crap.)

Both teams are owned by Boston based groups, and the article in the Globe said:

“Liverpool has tentatively made reservations to be in Boston from June 20 through July 4.”

That would mean it would have to take place in a stretch that gives the Fenway grounds crew adequate time to change the baseball diamond into a football rectangle. Since Geometry is a pain in the ass it will probably take a while. The grounds crew will get a D- on their first attempt, only for a corrected revision giving them half-credit back resulting in a B-. Fenway is pretty small so it’s not the most fitting venue for an open game of football.

From June 28th to July 6th, the Red Sox will be on a road trip out West.

That’s the best window to host this shin-dig. Looking into it more with our state-of-the-art computer system that accounts for wind patterns, statistics, and what day Saturday (the leading brand in weekend fun) lands on, we here at Thirdkit are marking down June 30th as the tentative date for the match. We’re pretty sure about it, but don’t book flights or anything. We already get a lot of hate mail. It makes us sad. We will let you know when the date is confirmed.

Who’s this tiny kid who may or may not have braces staring up at you all like he’s Puss In Boots or something? It’s Villyan Bijev. Probably when he was about 15.

Bijev, now 18, not so tiny, braces free, just finished his first training camp with the US U-20 National Team in Florida and Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad gives him a damn good pat down in this New York Times piece.

Read up and you’ll discover, Bijev is not just another Yank starlet. This summer, after scoring five goals in two matches while trialing with Liverpool’s U-18 team, he signed a three-year contract with the Merseyside club. Now, he’s currently serving a season-long loan at Fortuna Düsseldorf in 2. Bundesliga. He’s Bulgarian born, but California raised. So he’s ours. (Here’s a clip of him coming on and scoring twice for Düsseldorf in a reserve match and getting some face time.) Anyway, I’ll leave the rest for Sciaretta to explain.

Bijev also did a Q&A with his hometown paper last week. In which, he’s asked about how easy it was for him to make friends when he got to Europe. His answer explains why the kid’s going places.

Off the field, everyone was extremely friendly. But, to an extent it’s hard to be friends with someone whose job you are trying to take.

Villyan? More like Villain. For the win.