Benitez hopes for an injury lift

Wed, 04 Nov 13:26:18 2009

Rafael Benitez will assess the condition of his walking wounded before flying to France for the crunch Champions League clash with Lyon.

Steven Gerrard, Martin Kelly, Martin Skrtel and Albert Riera will definitely miss Wednesday night's Group E match - a game Liverpool have to win to maintain any hopes of reaching the last 16 - while Glen Johnson (calf), Daniel Agger (back), Fabio Aurelio (calf) and David Ngog (ankle) are doubts.

But Benitez seems set on a major gamble on Fernando Torres and £20million new boy Alberto Aquilani, who has yet to start a match for his new club, as he said: "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."

Such is Liverpool's injury plight that boss Benitez may take all four (Johnson, Agger, Aurelio and Ngog) with him for the Stade Gerland showdown, even if there is just a chance they will recover enough to be involved. Certainly Agger and Ngog are considered fit to travel.

Without Gerrard, Benitez is considering using the pair as Liverpool's main attackers against the side who won 2-1 at Anfield last month.

While Torres has a persistent groin problem, and was taken off after an hour at Fulham on Saturday, a game Liverpool eventually lost 3-1 without him.

And Benitez added: "We are trying to manage because he was close to having an operation. Still on Monday, 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 try to protect him.

"But he cannot play well if you keep pushing him, maybe if you push him he will be injured for a long time."

Aquilani recently picked up a virus, but he trained on Monday, with Benitez saying: "He was a bit weak, hopefully he will be better for the match."

 

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  1. post 29 - marcusgora - you say you would "defy any­ team on this­ planet to lose as many players as we have­ to injury and­ NOT suffer the form we have.we've­ got 9 or 10 ­ injured n we're still up­ there"
    .
    $hit - stop making excuses for the fat­ waiter - youve had plenty of players in, plenty of time­ for a youth policy to come to fruitition yet still rely­ on 2 players to boost your team.
    .
    And now you look­ like going out of the CL

    From timity, on Wed 4 Nov 10:14PM
  2. the usual idiots with their ''sack­ rafa'' nonsense.i'd defy any team on this­ planet to lose as many players as we have to injury and­ NOT suffer the form we have.we've got 9 or 10 ­ injured n we're still up there.maybe not top 4 but­ were there or thereabouts.once the injury problems are­ sorted we'll be back on track.if man united just­ lost rooney to injury they'd be sittin in the­ bottom four n thats a fact.man united are the one man­ team in the prem.rafas been more successful than fergie­ was in his first 4 or 5 seasons at old­ trafford.rafa's goin nowhere.these same­ ''sack rafa'' idiots will be singin the­ guys fkin praises come xmas when our forms picked up.

    From marcusgora, on Wed 4 Nov 3:50PM
  3. well i feel sorry for torres..rafa is going to ruin him­ to try and save his career..he will end up with a bad­ injury and be out for months...shame on you benitez

    From Donna, on Wed 4 Nov 3:21PM
  4. 'In Rafa We Trust'..lol..end Ov...

    From Kop Scouse Rats,are a Filthy Bin Dippers...., on Wed 4 Nov 12:51PM
  5. perhaps rafa is sensing the end ofhis liverpool­ career...hell not walk away as hell lose 2o million­ quid...no..hell get the sack then walk straight into­ the real madrid hotseat...all at liverpools expence
    if­ they fail to go in to the knockout stage of the­ cl...and fail to get 4th spot at the end of the season­ the financial cost will be extraordinary...(interest­ payments on the loan are huge and need to be­ repayed).as a tottenham fan i admire liverpool a great­ deal but rafa really gets up my nose...he holds on to­ his job cus he won the champions league.....sir alf­ ramsey won the world cup...but he still got the­ sack...food for thought liverpool fans

    From BRIAN, on Wed 4 Nov 9:40AM
  6. 18..Andy S I totally agree with you there.

    From Andrew, on Wed 4 Nov 9:13AM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    ............../´¯/)...........(­­­ \¯`\
    ............/....//...........­­­ ...\\....\
    .........../....//............­­­ ....\\....­­­ \
    ...../´¯/..../´¯\.........../¯­­­ `\....\¯`\­
    .././.../..../..../.|_......_|­­ .\....\...­ .\...\.\. liver pool­=this ­­
    (.(....(....(..../.)..)..(..(;­­ \....)....­­­ )....).)
    .\................\/.../....\.­­­ ..\/...... ........../
    ..\.................­­­ /........\................../ ­­­
    ....\..............(.......... ..).......­­­ ......./

    thumb up=yes

    thumb down=no

    From Kop Scouse Rats,are a Filthy Bin Dippers...., on Wed 4 Nov 3:42AM
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    'In Rafa We Trust'???..lol......

    thumb­ up=yes(you're a Spanish A.rse licker of the highest­ order,congrats)

    thumb down=no(too bad,STICK BY IT)

    From Kop Scouse Rats,are a Filthy Bin Dippers...., on Wed 4 Nov 3:39AM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    crisis more crisis!!..love every minute of it..lol....

    From Kop Scouse Rats,are a Filthy Bin Dippers...., on Wed 4 Nov 2:44AM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    even international rescue can,t save the scousers from­ exiting the champions league.....love brains

    From m.fowler771, on Tue 3 Nov 10:14PM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    excuse me michael all us man u fans want rafa to stay­ so you can suffer another 5 yrs of failure long may­ rafa reign SAF GOD

    From treblebusters77, on Tue 3 Nov 8:49PM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    hey gidy berbatov has done something none of your­ livershits have he has a winners medal premiership

    From treblebusters77, on Tue 3 Nov 8:47PM
  13. Don't forget that Benitez has had to balance the­ books every year so yes we've bought loads of­ players and spent a lot but had to sell just as many. ­ So all we can afford to do is tinker with the squad­ rather than go for broke like Chelsea and Man City and­ buy a new team. We lack depth and are paying the price­ when players get injured - that's poor luck not­ poor management. I can't see all the proposed­ replacements for Rafa doing any better (if they are­ available) with the financial restraints we have.

    From Andy S, on Tue 3 Nov 8:40PM
  14. Mark c (#15)...we can go back and forth but don't­ think it is really worth it.
    That's a myopic view­ on your part i.e. to blame Benitez for not winning in­ 19 years.
    I hate to be the one to break the news to­ you but Benitez has not been in Liverpool for 19­ years.
    By the way, he has a better record than Fergie­ and most former Liverpool mangers after t the same­ amount of games with their respective teams.
    There is­ enough blame to go around. Just ask your­ "fellow" Man u Fans who went 26 years without­ a title.
    When you start pointing fingers, remember­ Benitez is responsible for players like Torres,­ Macherano, Johnson, kuyt etc. You can't have it­ both ways.
    By the way, give us Man U money and I will­ show you better buys than the Bulgarian AKA sleepy­ Berbatov but that is another argument all together.

    From Gidy, on Tue 3 Nov 7:17PM
  15. Gidy thank you. Mark C,Half a Brain,SID how does it­ pain you when Liverpool is losing?How does it concern­ you when we are losing?I thought you ought to be very­ happy and even clamour for Rafa's existence as our­ boss so that we can lose the more.The fact that you all­ Man Useless fans are asking for Rafa's head means­ he is actuall a treat to you guys

    From Michael, on Tue 3 Nov 7:15PM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Gidy ( you must be ) Liverpools loss of form has lasted­ 19 years ( for the prem ) He`s bought 70 players! 70!­ Where are they?

    From Mark C, on Tue 3 Nov 6:21PM
  17. This is so comical with some of you Man u fans­ masquerading as Liverpool fans and offering suggestions­ that are devoid of any deep thought. Benitez has the­ Man Useless fans flustered with the recent wins against­ Man U and seem confused. Why do they want him to be­ fired if he is such a bad manager?
    As one guy asked­ last week, how the hell do you deal with setback in­ your own lives!! You seem to be hitting the panic­ button with a loss at Craven Cottage, a place where Man­ U got thrashed 2-0 last year. They are yet to go there­ this year.
    True fans stick to their team (good or bad).­ Yes, you can be critical but let us not forget the goal­ is the success of the club if you are true fan. If all­ you have is fire Benitez, just relax. It only takes a­ couple wins or so to turn it around. There is no club­ out there that would have the amount of injuries the­ Reds have and not suffer a dip in form.
    A win in Lyon­ on Wednesday and the mood changes (Reds have done it­ before and I would never rule them out). Enjoy the­ journey. Reds didn't get to be the all time best in­ England by having knee jerk reactions (Most Champion­ league titles and league titles (Man u just tied).
    You­ will never walk alone.

    From Gidy, on Tue 3 Nov 5:50PM
  18. I know Liverpool do things the hard way but its looking­ like an impossible mission.
    Against fulham on weekend­ after Carra. got sent off the team just crumbled,who­ will captain team on wed. Kuyt?
    With Gerrard &­ Carra out we have no leader,if we loose a goal I feel­ its over as no fight in team without a leader to lift­ them.
    Fingers crossed we scrape through but its gonna­ be a massive mountain to climb!

    From REAL REDS boycot the SUN, on Tue 3 Nov 5:04PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Its all to blame on Rafa Ive seen LFC during their­ tough times and also when they win their share. It­ still doesnt take away the fact that I think Rafa­ should be fired by next season regardless of the­ turnout of the champions league. He says how he­ didn't have money to make the purchases but losing­ Alonso who molded so well with the team and was only­ getting better to get an injured aquilani was a­ terrible decision. Still love alberto dont get me wrong­ but why would you no pick someone like OWEN you no who­ was a free agent and would cost no money to you?? good­ luck today LFC and F*ck you RAFA.

    From nike10woj, on Tue 3 Nov 4:52PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Taxi for the fat waiter. 225 million and 70 players?­ how much longer can he survive?

    From Mark C, on Tue 3 Nov 3:57PM
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