Benitez cheered by Aquilani debut

Fri, 30 Oct 08:03:20 2009

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez feels Alberto Aquilani has already shown just what an asset he will prove to be after finally making his long-awaited debut.

The Italian, signed in the summer from Roma for £20million, has been recovering from a broken ankle, but was introduced for the final 15 minutes of Wednesday night's 2-1 Carling Cup defeat at Arsenal.

"There were a lot of players showing passion, character and quality on the pitch - and Aquilani was one of these player," said the Liverpool manager. "He has the quality, but he needs to improve his match-fitness. You can see he can pass the ball in the final third, he can make a big difference."

He added: "He gets closer every day, but still has to improve his match-fitness. It is a question of time.

"I think that he will be an important player for us. We want to push him, but we cannot push too hard as we know that will be a risk. So we will keep going, keep working and add more minutes every game."

Like the hosts, Liverpool had made several changes from the team which beat Manchester United in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday, with Dirk Kuyt, captain on Wednesday night, the only survivor from the starting XI at Anfield.

Benitez maintains momentum has not been lost following the euphoria of victory over their arch rivals.

"It is always very disappointing to be out of any competition, but at least to do it in this way, playing well and with a lot of positives, it is a little bit better than to lose playing badly," he said.

"It was a good performance by the team against a good Arsenal side, and was a good game for the fans."

Striker Fernando Torres could be fit for the trip to Fulham, although captain Steven Gerrard may struggle.

 

Comment 8 - 27 of 27

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  1. I thought voronin gave a 100% cant ask 4 more than­ that.
    that game could have gone either way and­ considering Arsenal were playing at home Liverpool took­ it to em pretty good.
    bentder must have been watching­ torres unfortunatley as he's strike was very­ similar to that against manure utd.
    good game­ though.EOM

    From Adam, on Fri 30 Oct 8:54PM

  2. antony_clough..
    yeah,i remembered,you're nothing­­ but a complete low life T.osser & a W.anker,&­ a­ past glory hunting f.uckers trashing/foraging trash­ for­ foods in S.hite infested­­ dustbins,sewers,pipelines,drains & waste dumpsites­­ whom you called yourself
    The Ultimate Lfc 'Bin­­ Dipper' Closet,of the highest order & a­ disgraced­ granny robbin juvenile seen @ stanley park­ & Bob­ Paisley Hetton­ memorial!!!..stamped..lol..
    anw your­ momma called you­ to clear that filthy maggots infested­ trash over at­ Nottingham Forest!!..run along,start­ foraging­ 'Clough'!!!...haha..t.wat...
    f.uck off,you­ lazy,giro claiming­ scumbag!!!!..spit!!!..

    From Those Rats likes Bin dippin for free Cheeseburger, on Fri 30 Oct 1:12PM

  3. antony_clough..
    yeah,i remembered,you're nothing­ but a complete low life T.osser & a W.anker,& a­ past glory hunting f.uckers trashing/foraging trash for­ foods in S.hite infested­ dustbins,sewers,pipelines,drains & waste dumpsites­ whom you called yourself
    The Ultimate Lfc 'Bin­ Dipper' of the highest order & a disgraced­ granny robbin juvenile seen @ stanley park & Bob­ Paisley Hetton memorial!!!..stamped..lol..
    anw your­ momma called you to clear that filthy maggots infested­ trash over there!!..run along,start­ foraging!!!...
    f.uck off,you lazy,giro claiming­ scumbag!!!!..spit!!!..

    From Those Rats likes Bin dippin for free Cheeseburger, on Fri 30 Oct 1:02PM

  4. to Chrls79M'UTD4life - Whats The Score, Whats­ the score, Whats the, Whats The, Whats the score,­ didn't see you on here on monday. WONDER WHY
    Could­ be Because you got hammered at ANFIELD last Sunday, I­ think So

    What a W.K.E.R you are!! Your Arch Rivals­ (in poor form might i add) Thrashed You HA HA HA HA HA­ HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA­ HA

    And befor you start - JUST REMEMBER THE SCORE AT OT­ LAST SEASON!!!

    From antony_clough, on Fri 30 Oct 10:39AM

  5. Sid, YAK YAK YAK IS that you shooting your load with­­ excitement every time you mention liverpool you­­ donkey....why is it a sad b@stard like you is always­ on­ the pool pages....are you a closet fan or just a­ sad­ delusional muppet...YAK YAK YAK THE VERY SAME­ SOUNDS­ YOUR MOMMA MAKES ON HER BACK BACK BACK !!!!!!

    From Matthew, on Fri 30 Oct 8:16AM

  6. post 16..
    utter brilliant­ mate!!...hahahaha!!....hahahaha..
    what a complete­ T.osser & a W.anker for havin such a ludacris­ username!!!...

    From Those Rats likes Bin dippin for free Cheeseburger, on Fri 30 Oct 2:02AM

  7. THE ITALIAN JOB IN UK ...

    Sig. Ancelotti doing very­ well
    Sig. Capello also
    Sig. Trapattoni too
    Sig. Zola­ not bad
    Sig. Di Matteo with West Brom. Albion doing­ briliant job
    Sig. Mancini NEW COACH OF REAL MADRID­ !!!

    Fifa & fRANCE fOOTBALL should give the prize­ of best player OF THE YEAR to THE ITALIAN COACH­ !!!
    They are really the best coaches all over the­ World...

    And what you don`t know that there are a lot­ at same level like :

    - Prandelli with Fiorentina
    -­ Luigi del Neri with Sampdoria NEW COACH OF ITALY AFTER­ M.LIPPI
    - Guidolin with Parma
    - Zenga with Palermo
    -­ Cosmi with Livorno
    - Mazzarri with Napoli
    - CONTE with­ ATALANTA

    Final world cup 2010 in south­ africa
    REMEMBERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
    Ivory Coast VS ­ Italy
    REMEMBERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
    will win it Ivory Coast­ ...

    From yoab m, on Thu 29 Oct 11:57PM

  8. sorry gordon but Voronin has never looked good for us -­ the German league is very poor. Let him go back there!

    From nigelcookckone, on Thu 29 Oct 6:33PM

  9. Sid is the biggest tool on the planet but Voronin is­ not far behind! Deggan looks good though, as did­ Aquilani and Plessis.

    From nigelcookckone, on Thu 29 Oct 6:32PM

  10. what the hell is he still playing goldie locks vorinin­ come on he was at fault with the first goal and the­ gives out to plessiss degan needs to be playing more­ often played well down the wing ngog is getting there­ and what a goal lets get rid of the dead wood in­ january

    From FARSHAMROCK, on Thu 29 Oct 6:31PM

  11. Guys, PLEASE STOP INSULTING ONE ANOTHER - it's­ silly, useless, and unnecessary! Let's talk­ football, but respect others' opinions - that's­ all they are anyway!

    From gordon.merk, on Thu 29 Oct 6:26PM

  12. GIVE VORONIN A CHANCE, guys. He has quality, but needs­ to find his way - look at Hertha Berlin this season­ compared to last season with Voronin. Pessiss is­ disappointing, I agree, but Degen can be a substitute;­ he had some good inut yesterday.

    From gordon.merk, on Thu 29 Oct 6:24PM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    POST 13: Fahad? Fahad? Who the hell has a dumb a rse­ name like Fahad? But I guess it suits being a Liverpool­ supporter and all. The name comes from Scouse history,­ 'FA' meaning f uck all (the number of cups­ Liverpool won last year) and HAD as in once­ 'HAD' a good team but that's ancient­ history; = FAHAD! Yak! yak! yak!

    From Sid, on Thu 29 Oct 6:11PM

  14. Fahad, I'm a Liverpool supporter but your abuse of­ Sid was unnecessary. He wasn't talking about ­ Torres - just the players on the night. Let's try­ and be a bit more constructive shall we, instead of­ sinking to the level of the MUFC supporters who, for­ some reason, have nothing better to do than to trade­ insults.

    From simon.sinclair, on Thu 29 Oct 6:09PM

  15. rafa for gods sake get rid of the dead wood voronin­ cabel plessis deggan just to name a few

    From Ken A, on Thu 29 Oct 6:08PM

  16. sid, you know nothing about football if you are calling­ Torres a useless to**er.... nothing. Probably just an­ ignorant bnp @#$% iike most of the rubish spouting­ uneducated inbred twats on yahoo message boards that­ can't say anything constructive... go back to your­ council flat you dole scrounging peasant

    From Fahad, on Thu 29 Oct 5:01PM

  17. to m fowler771,you're obviously not related to­ robbie r u , as he's cr*p at telling jokes too,­ then judging by how old that joke is , did you get it­ off bob monkhouse when you where at school with him !

    From steve_ash98, on Thu 29 Oct 5:00PM

  18. to reddevills99p [which coincidentally is all you prats­ have to spend this season , after robbie and stevie­ have collected their rent, and them yanks have paid the­ interest on the barnsley burger bar fiasco that you­ inbreeds caused !] oh yeah , by the way , the neville­ bros are uglier and they both play 4 sh*%e teams ! 2-0­ !!!

    From steve_ash98, on Thu 29 Oct 4:52PM

  19. there i was thinking the scousers have a sense of­ humour and my tea bag joke is really getting the thumbs­ down.

    From m.fowler771, on Thu 29 Oct 4:40PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    MY GOD YOU LIVERFOOL SUPPORTERS ARE UGLY

    From reddevils_4life99, on Thu 29 Oct 4:13PM
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