Benitez waits on Torres

Sun, 01 Nov 13:50:45 2009

Rafael Benitez is hoping against hope that Fernando Torres is fit to face Lyon in Liverpool's crucial Champions League match on Wednesday.

The Liverpool manager took a gamble by substituting his star striker after 63 minutes with the scoreline locked at 1-1 against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

It backfired when Fulham scored two more goals for a 3-1 victory which left Liverpool's Premier league title hopes in tatters.

Benitez, however, had no regrets at taking off Torres, who took four days to recover from an 80-minute appearance against Manchester United at Anfield last Sunday.

Benitez said: "We needed to do something to protect the player. We were more or less in control of the game. If we had left him on the pitch maybe we would have lost the player for a month.

"It was a difficult decision but we decided to start with him because he can do a proper warm-up. But we decided to take him out at 60 minutes. The last time he played 80 minutes it took him four days to be fit."

 

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  1. they are so dependant on Torres & gerrard,the­ moment those two are absent,they were an absolute­ mediocre..my word...

    From Those Rats likes Bin dippin for free Cheeseburger, on Mon 2 Nov 10:55AM

  2. Hi Liverpool Teams, Fans & Manager

    Liverpool­ needs­ to have better Midfielders than Lucas Leiva.­ The­ Defence is FRAGILE. Johnson, Insua, Aurelio are­ good­ players. However, the defence strategy is not­ working­ AT ALL. When Gerard Houlier was here, he­ concentrated­ much on DEFENCE rather than­ attacking...although­ attacking football is considered­ as 'real'­ football...& Gerard Houlier did­ bring 5 trophies­ !

    Rafa, please concentrate only­ Premier League matches­ rather than other leagues­ including Champion Leagues­ with a determined Quote in­ mind of players and­ everyone:
    KILL or GET KILLED !­ Either you kill your­ opponent or get killed...you­ already have many­ defeats...but just like all English­ Teams with Fighting­ Spirits, do not lose HOPES....you­ can still WIN.

    Ups­ and Downs form part of everyday­ life..so i humbly­ request the Liverpool Owners &­ FANS to SUPPORT Rafa­ Benitez ! He is a great­ Manager...he is doing his best­ for the CLUB. Please­ recruit GOOD Players wisely. The­ best recruitment this­ season is Glen JOHNSON...

    Wish­ you all good luck.

    From Richie, on Mon 2 Nov 10:01AM

  3. Torres a slave,he'll do whatever Far Rafa wants him­ to do..seriously!!!...

    From Those Rats likes Bin dippin for free Cheeseburger, on Mon 2 Nov 4:37AM

  4. I wonder why if torres is not on the pitch liverpool ­ can't score a goal , i think the sleeping player­ have to wake up to their feet to learn how not to­ depend on just Torres alone like the live of chelsea,­ manu Arsenal, they don't depend on just one player­ .. you guy's need have the mentality of scoring­ individually , you guy's need to have the moral­ of moving forward hungry for goals miss leg don't­ miss the ball to net the goals wake up all liverpool­ player's , are u guy's not ashamed of urself ..­ me am tired of looserfool i want to see the real of u­ guy's please wake up ... i need u guy's to wake­ up please.. carragher should go and retire he's old­ enough go carragher go carragher u are worster than­ Rio F. Benitez u also need to wake up don't just­ put on liverpool suit and sit down without doing­ nothing... wake up liverpool .. the fans also need to­ protest over the american's management... love­ liverpool FC.

    From MichealJ, on Sun 1 Nov 5:31PM
  5. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Excuses...excuses. What about Benayoun? What was the­ reasoning playing him wide and then had him­ substituted? The basic skills a manager should have is­ to spot the talents inherent in his players. If that­ player does not possess an ounce of talent, then he­ should not have been recruited in the first place. The­ Premier League is not a testing ground. Look at the lot­ of Liverpool players now, except for Gerrard, Torres,­ Benayoun, Riera, Kuyt, Insua, Mascherano, Reina and­ Anderson, the rest are second class material. A few­ wannabes like Plessis, Eccleston, Voronin, Ayala,­ Spearing and Lucas could not even make the 2nd class­ grade. Is this where all the spendings went?

    From GI Joe 323, on Sun 1 Nov 2:32PM

  6. Excuses...excuses. What about Benayoun? What was the­ reasoning playing him wide and then had him­ substituted? The basic skills a manager should have is­ to spot the talents inherent in his players. If that­ player does not possess an ounce of talent, then he­ should not have been recruited in the first place. The­ Premier League is not a testing ground. Look at the lot­ of Liverpool players now, except for Gerrard, Torres,­ Benayoun, Riera, Kuyt, Insua, Mascherano, Reina and­ Anderson, the rest are second class material. A few­ wannabes like Plessis, Eccleston, Voronin, Ayala,­ Spearing and Lucas could not even make the 2nd class­ grade. Is this where all the spendings went?

    From GI Joe 323, on Sun 1 Nov 2:23PM

  7. Excuses...excuses. What about Benayoun? What was the­ reasoning playing him wide and then had him­ substituted? The basic skills a manager should have is­ to spot the talents inherent in his players. If that­ player does not possess an ounce of talent, then he­ should not have been recruited in the first place. The­ Premier League is not a testing ground. Look at the lot­ of Liverpool players now, except for Gerrard, Torres,­ Benayoun, Riera, Kuyt, Insua, Mascherano, Reina and­ Anderson, the rest are second class material. A few­ wannabes like Plessis, Eccleston, Voronin, Ayala,­ Spearing and Lucas could not even make the 2nd class­ grade. Is this where all the spendings went?

    From GI Joe 323, on Sun 1 Nov 2:21PM
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