George Gillett and Tom Hicks have been swimming upstream for some time now. Ever since The Royal Bank of Scotland issued an ultimatum on the American owners’ £237 million debt — the currently...
Rafa Benitez has made 6 changes to the side that faced Reading in the FA Cup this week, with new signing Maxi Rodriguez on the bench in the early kick off game.
Liverpool need to beat Debrecen and other results to go in their favour to stand a chance of progressing in the Champion’s League; however if you are wondering if we can make it through; watch this video of Liverpool v Olympiakos in which a win by two goals was needed; then disaster struck when Rivaldo curled in a free kick to give the Greek side the lead. We all know what happened next…
Liverpool have announced their squad to face Debrecen in their make or break tie in the Champion’s League this week; with Rafa only naming two strikers in his squad – Kuyt & N’Gog. There is no place for Voronin even to warm the bench after his failure to impress in Lyon.
International breaks can be extremely beneficial when it comes to teams that have massive injury worries. Just ask Liverpool, who currently have their two best players (Gerrard and Torres), plus a host of key first team selections all on the mend. The rest and recuperation is critical — especially when you have quite possibly the most important stretch of the entire season upcoming.
Rafa Benitez knows how important this break is for his club. Currently sitting in seventh in the league and third in Europe, the Spaniard believes his team has the quality to wipe the slate clean and start anew on Saturday against Manchester City. The dearth of quality in the team has forced Rafa’s hand numerous times this year to select a team he, quite honestly, would probably never consider with a normal side. But those are the breaks this year.
If anything, the shameful losses and comical draws have just magnified Liverpool’s lack of depth. Benitez understands the problem better than anyone. But we’re not just talking about any depth here. No, we’re talking about quality depth in the form of players like Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.
While Wednesday’s heartbreaking draw against Lyon didn’t seal Liverpool’s place in the Europa League — it did put our chances on life support. Aside from needing to defeat Debrecen, Liverpool will also need some help from Lyon to keep the potential miracle alive.
But what if Lyon and Fiorentina draw? Well that could still allow Liverpool a very small sliver of hope to advance. How so? Well, our friends over at Soccerlens have the complete breakdown for the Champions League, plus predictions on who’ll be advancing to the round of 16.
It’s one of the best pieces of analysis that I’ve seen on the tournament at this juncture. Take time to give it a read if you’ve got a moment.
Liverpool drew 1-1 with Lyon last night, leaving any chance of getting through the group stages of the Champion’s League hanging by a thread’ but what do you think went wrong last night?
Liverpool face Lyon in the Champion’s League tonight, but given the fact that Rafa has an injury list longer than his arm; who do you think should play?
Where do you draw the line when it comes to Fernando Torres’ fitness?
That’s the question I’ve been asking myself ever since I wrote yesterday’s piece on Steve Gerrard’s absence from the squad for Wednesday night’s European tilt against Lyon. I read, re-read, and then read Rafa’s comments regarding the injury numerous times before coming to this conundrum: Would the club risk our top scorer’s health for Champions League glory?
Granted, Rafa sent Fernando out there on two other occasions prior to tomorrow’s match, so it’s hard to really know how much pain he’s in at the moment. But if Rafa’s comments are are indicator, it would appear he’s far from healthy.
Here are Rafa’s quotes regarding Torres’ status:
‘I was surprised with the critics after the game because Fernando has had problems in the last month after the international games.
‘We are trying to manage because he was close to having an operation. Still this morning, two days after the game, he is feeling something.
‘He is not comfortable. He has not got the power he had before, so we have to manage and try to protect him.
‘He cannot play well if you keep pushing him. Maybe if you push him he will be injured for a long time. So, I am really surprised with the critics.
‘When you talk about big names, people just analyse the names and not how the player is when he is on the pitch. He was not 100 per cent fit.
‘We have to take Fernando to Lyon because we don’t have too many options. We have to keep working with him and the rest of the players.’
It’s a regular mash unit at Melwood prior to Wednesday’s do-or-die Champions League tie against Lyon. And whilst we’d all love to hear good news ahead such a match, it appears the reports coming from the club keep getting worse.
Isn’t the typical of the way this season has gone so far?
The word coming via the Guardian is that Steven Gerrard will not be making the trip to France for the match.
Steven Gerrard is out of Liverpool’s crucial Champions League tie against Lyon on Wednesday after failing to recover from a groin injury.
The England midfielder, who has played only 28 minutes of Liverpool’s last three games, has lost his race to be fit for a match the Merseyside club will almost certainly have to win if they are to stay in Europe’s premier club competition.
But wait, there’s more!
Halloween has never been my favourite time of year. Scores of chipper children descending upon my house armed with macabre costumes and begging bowls? Not for me. But even that ghastly vision could not compare with events at Craven Cottage this weekend, as Liverpool put on a horror show of their own in a 3-1 collapse to Roy Hodgson’s Fulham.
In many ways it was the manner in which Rafa Benitez’s depleted side had so bossed their west London counterparts for the best part of an hour, before collapsing like a soggy house of cards in the final quarter, which gives Reds most cause for alarm. Liverpool were, as Benitez likes to say, “controlling the game” before each of Fulham’s first two goals, by the end of the game they were controlling little but their own demise.
Injuries and illness didn’t help, depriving Benitez of several first teamers – Glen Johnson, Steven Gerrard, Alberto Aquilani, Daniel Agger & Fabio Aurelio amongst the most important – but the same could also be said for Fulham, who were minus skipper Danny Murphy and striker Andy Johnson, as well as midfielder Simon Davies. The fact that it was the hosts who handled their situation better is a damning indictment of Liverpool’s failings on their travels this season.
