Anfield Red

Spanish football expert Guillem Balague has today spoke of how Sergio Aguero could miss the Champion’s League tie against Liverpool this week.

Speaking on his Official Website, Balague reports back from Atletico’s training session which Aguero sat out: “i’ve just come from the Atletico Madrid training ground where the under fire coach, Javier Aguirre, has been preparing his side for Wednesday’s Champions league clash with Liverpool. It appears very likely that, after seeing his side go down to their third consecutive defeat in La Liga on Saturday evening, Aguirre is ready to make 8 changes to the side that lost to Real Madrid at the weekend.

However, the big news is that Atletico’s most influential player, Sergio ‘Kun’ Aguero appears very likely to miss the Liverpool match. Aguero has been looking tired for a while, performing below par – although still hugely influential- and is carrying a niggling injury which he claimed on Friday was not a problem. Aguirre had threatened to rest him for the game against Real Madrid, warning the press that Aguero was seriously fatigued after a 13 hour flight.

And, if Aguirre’s formation in training today was a faithful reflection of how he intends to line up against Liverpool, then it seems that Aguero will be missing Wednesday’s game as well. While the rest of the players took part in match practice, Aguero was receiving treatment and doing some stretching on the sidelines. I spoke with a couple of Atleti players at the end of the session and they were also under the impression that the starting line up in training today was going to be the same for the Champions league tie.

If that is the case, then Atletico Madrid will look something like this on Wednesday evening against Liverpool: Coupet GK; Seitaridis (RB) Antonio López (LB); Domínguez and Perea (CB); Camacho and Maniche (CM); Simao and Luis Garcia down the flanks; with Diego Forlán and Sinama Pongolle in attack.

Despite Liverpool still being unbeaten in the Premiership, Manager Rafael Benitez is refusing to get carried away and start talking about winning the league or any other competition this season.

Speaking ahead of a difficult week with ties against Atletico Madrid and Chelsea, Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez admitted he is not thinking about winning any competitions this early in the season: “I am confident that my players can produce the right performances this week, We are showing character and the right mentality you need for a winning team. We have Atletico next, and then Chelsea, two very tough away matches.

“But with games like that to come, how can we start talking about what we can win this season? It is too early to be talking of titles and cups. We must just keep going the way we are.

“It has to be a case of concentrating on each game, not looking to the future. But our players are showing great character”

“The team showed great character to beat Wigan on Saturday, and we are showing the belief that we can win every game. The Premier League is very tough. To show the mental strength we have displayed this season is very positive.

“We did that again against Wigan and we must maintain it for the next games, particularly this week.

“My priority is now Atletico, not Chelsea just yet. But the games are very close together and we will see whether we can continue to show the character we have been showing.”

Albert Riera has hailed the winning mentality at Anfield, saying he noticed it from the first time he set foot in the training ground when he signed on the dotted line.

Liverpool have become the comeback kings recently, beating Man Utd, Man City, Marseille, Wigan after the opposition took the lead, but Riera sounded far from surprised at the run of form when he spoke about the mentality in the dressing room : We just don’t know when we are beaten, and that is a quality that was apparent to me the moment I arrived here,”

“I was struck immediately by the mentality of the players. It really is unbelievable. You get confidence from winning games, but there is also a resilience about them that comes into its own on days like this.

“The great thing about wins like this, and the one against Man City, is it demonstrates how good we are at reacting to adversity. That is so important and is the message that comes across loud and clear.

“We would love to win more comfortably and be in charge from the first minute, but it doesn’t always go like that. Other teams lift their game against us, because we are up at the top, and we have to respond.”

Daniel Agger has admitted he made a stupid mistake by giving the ball away in the game against Wigan on Saturday which led to Zaki scoring for the away side.

Agger was caught in possesion by Zaki; who then slotted the ball past Reina to give Wigan the lead, but as always Liverpool came from behind to win – much to the relief of Agger : “I was pleased to start the game against Wigan, it was what I have been waiting for,”

“It was a stupid mistake to make for their first goal, but that’s football and you can’t afford to dwell on things like that – you have to carry on.”

“Luckily enough we managed to go on and win the game 3-2 and obviously I am very happy about that. It was a misunderstanding and I didn’t hear anything but it was my mistake and I can’t say anything more about it.

“Today was tough for me. It was really, really hard. Of course, it is a long time since I last played so I have to get used to it again and then I will improve.”

Rafael Benitez has revealed how he turned down the chance to sign Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero two years ago.

Aguero is one of the brightest stars in world football since his big money move to Atletico, but today Rafa has revealed he turned down the opportunity to sign the Argentine International. “Two years ago the agents were talking with us about players and he was one of those but he was too young and Atlético paid big money for him, around 18 million euros for a player who was a risk, In the Premier League it’s different and sometimes players will need more time here to improve.”

Would it have been money well spent or was it a massive risk?

With it being the international break right now, it gives us the chance to sit back and discuss the future of Liverpool’s Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso. The 26-year-old has recently been linked with a move to Barcelona as a replacement for Yaya Toure, who could be leaving the club.

Of course, for now, Alonso is a Liverpool player and will remain so until we here otherwise. However, with the January transfer window getting closer and closer, there is bound to be speculation about players in the Premier League. What adds more weight to the Alonso rumour though, is that when asked about a move to Barcelona, he simply said that he was ‘content’ at Liverpool.

Normally a player would say that they are ‘very happy’ or ‘enjoying’ life at a certain club. If they are not, they might be best advised to keep quiet about it. Alonso though, has decided to come out and say that he is ‘content’. That produces more questions that answers for me. Basically, it translates as ‘I’m happy here for now, but I will move soon’.

I suppose it has been no secret that Alonso does want to move back to Spain at some stage of his career. It is, after all, his home country and where he started life as a professional footballer with Real Sociedad. The fact that Alonso said that he has ‘not set a concrete date’ on his return to Primera Liga is a concern for me. If these are in fact genuine quotes from the player, I consider them rather unprofessional as well. It is now clear that although he will happily carry on playing for Liverpool, he isn’t completely committed to the club.

Considering everything, it is no surprise that Barcelona may want Alonso. He is a world-class performer and should they lose the unsettled Toure to Arsenal or Juventus – Alonso would undoubtedly be on the top of their list come January. They will do everything they can to get him.

The important factor for Liverpool, in my opinion, is that they hold onto Alonso for the rest of this season. Should he decide to move on next summer, so be it. This would allow Rafa Benitez ample time to find a replacement – regardless of how hard that might be. The thought of losing Alonso in January though isn’t worth thinking about, especially considering how well the team are playing.

For the first time in a long time, the football oddsare backing Liverpool to see out a title challenge and if one of their main men left half way through the season – it could have a detrimental affect. Where would Benitez find someone that can perform the role Alonso does in January? The whole team would be disrupted and that’s why it is very, very important that Xabi Alonso is still at Liverpool after January.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting

Fernando Torres will stay in Liverpool while the rest of the squad travel to Madrid for this week’s Champion’s League tie against his former club.

Rafa Benitez spoke of the decision to leave his star striker at Melwood to recover from injury in time for the game against Chelsea at the weekend : “We talked with the doctor and physios, and with the player himself, and we decided it was important for him to stay here and continue with his recovery,”

Simao Sabrosa has told Guillem Balague why he didn’t join Liverpool a few seasons ago despite being seemingly on the edge of a move.

Speaking on Guillem Balague’s Official Site, Simao told Balague how Benfica would not let him leave: “it was a while ago, I was on the verge of signing, just about to travel to Liverpool, but there were complications and I couldn’t make the trip over because of one thing or another and, in the end, Benfica wouldn’t let me leave.”

The doctor for the Spanish National side has spoke of the injury to Fernando Torres, saying the striker could be back in a week if not as serious as first thought.

Torres was substituted last night when playing against Belgium, and left the pitch clearly gutted at picking up another injury while on international duty.

Oscar Celada – The team doctor had this to say about Fernando’s Injury: “He has intense pain in the back part of the thigh.

“It is difficult to diagnose now exactly the extent, if it is a question of a strain or a small tear. If it is a strain then he could be out for about a week.”

Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel have picked up injuries tonight whilst on International duty for Spain and Holland.

Torres was subsituted after just 17 minutes, with a suspected muscle injury similar to the one that kept him out earlier in the season.

Ryan Babel was also subbed off injured, on 27 mins, although the full extent of both player’s injuries are not yet known.