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Posts Tagged ‘captain’

• Gerrard says Hodgson’s appointment was ‘worth the wait’
• Captain has been linked with a move away from Liverpool

Steven Gerrard has praised Liverpool’s appointment of Roy Hodgson as their new manager, saying the club had appointed the “right man”.

“The club have made a good appointment in Roy Hodgson,” the captain told the Liverpool website. “[The former manager] Rafa [Benítez] left a few weeks ago and I know the club were determined to take their time and get the right man for the job.

“Roy is hugely experienced and I believe he is the right man for Liverpool. I think it’s been worth the wait and I’m sure he’s just keen now to get on with it and start to quickly put in place his plans for the new season.”

Gerrard’s future will be one of Hodgson’s most pressing concerns over the next few days, with the captain – along with other key players such as the midfielder Javier Mascherano and the striker Fernando Torres – having been linked with a move away from the club.

Roy HodgsonSteven GerrardLiverpoolPaolo Bandiniguardian.co.uk

• Surgery not viable for Liverpool striker’s hernia
• Spaniard could return against Fiorentina

Rafael Benítez has given an ominous assessment of Fernando Torres’s fitness to Liverpool and Spain by revealing that the striker’s hernia may persist all season and cast doubt on his involvement in next summer’s World Cup.

Torres, ordered to rest for three weeks rather than undergo surgery by a specialist in Valencia last month, will be absent for a fifth week when Liverpool travel to Blackburn Rovers today. The 25-year-old had raised hopes of a return at Ewood Park when he took part in a full training session for the first time in four weeks on Wednesday. Benítez, however, has admitted that Torres remains at risk due to a problem that could have lasting repercussions for club and country. The Spain international continues to feel discomfort in the groin, although is expected to feature against Fiorentina in the Champions League dead-rubber next week, and his manager is resigned to nursing Torres through the entire campaign and to next summer’s World Cup on a restricted training regime.

The Liverpool manager explained:

“He was training from the beginning of the season but only part of the training sessions. We played 30 minutes’ football the other day and he was involved but you do not want to take any risks. He is still not fully fit but he is very close, so hopefully will be with us against Fiorentina [on Wednesday]. He has more confidence now. He is still feeling it a little bit but he can do a lot more now that he couldn’t before. We will have to keep an eye on him during the season but he can carry on. It will depend on each game but he has confidence and he is very positive and can carry on through the season.”

Despite his confidence in Torres’s availability, Benítez yesterday warned Spain’s medical team in person that his striker will be assessed at the end of the domestic season and reiterated that surgery is not a viable alternative. “When you have this kind of problem it is very difficult,” he said. “We were talking about how to manage it at a conference with four specialists the other day, and everyone had their own opinion, so it is not easy. In this case I think we have done the right things and you have to keep working during the season.

“Maybe he will be stronger in the second part of the season because he hasn’t played too many games in the first half. After that, we have to analyse what his condition is. We will discuss it. Today I was talking with the fitness coach of Spain so we are in contact, our fitness coaches, so we can manage, but we have to see how he progresses during the season. I think he will have this all season. We have a good medical staff, working with players on the prevention of injuries, and we have a lot of players doing specific things to prevent injuries. You cannot control everything, but Fernando will be one of these players.”

Despite Steven Gerrard’s assertion that Liverpool are out of title contention Benítez is convinced his captain can complete his medal collection at Liverpool.

“We have confidence that if we can stay at the top of the table then we can be contenders in the next three or four years,” he said. “We can win the title and hopefully he will be the captain when it happens.”

Gerrard will make his 500th appearance in a Liverpool shirt today against the club that witnessed his debut as a substitute for Vegard Heggem in November 1998.

Fernando TorresRafael BenítezLiverpoolPremier LeagueSpainAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

• Gerrard to miss Liverpool’s trip to Fulham with groin injury
• Aquilani’s much anticipated Premier League debut must wait

Liverpool have been forced to delay Alberto Aquilani’s eagerly anticipated Premier League debut and may send Steven Gerrard for surgery next week should he fail to make their critical Champions League tie in Lyon.

Gerrard will be absent for the third time in four matches due to a persistent groin problem when Rafael Benítez’s side face Fulham. The Liverpool manager remains hopeful his captain can avoid an operation and has not ruled the midfielder out of Wednesday’s European tie when qualification for the knockout phase will be under serious threat. Benítez conceded, however, that Gerrard may be left no option but to go under the knife should he miss the trip to Stade de Gerland.

“I’m not sure if he will need surgery,” said the Spaniard. “The physios are working very hard with him. He came from the international duty with the problem. We were working with him, we put him on the pitch, but still he felt something. Now we have to be careful because we don’t want to take any risks.

“If he cannot improve in a few days we will analyse again the situation. It’s a difficult situation and I don’t know exactly what it is. He has a pain in his groin. We are working with him and he has no power. It’s not because of the muscle, it’s because of the pain in the muscle so they are working there. Next week we have to decide. If he’s not doing well, we have to decide.”

Benítez admitted his captain was “a little bit low because he thought he could be better but he still has the same problem” but refused to discount Gerrard’s availability for France. “You never know. In one or two days he can improve,” the manager added.

With Fernando Torres not fully recovered from a groin injury, and Glen Johnson also ruled out of the Fulham trip with a calf problem, Benítez’s selection problems have not eased since the invaluable defeat of Manchester United last Sunday. Plans to give Aquilani, signed for £20m from Roma in August, another chance to improve match fitness and build on Wednesday’s impressive cameo against Arsenal in the Carling Cup, though only as a substitute at Craven Cottage, have also been postponed due to a virus.

“Alberto was training yesterday, but we had to take him out,” said Benítez, who confirmed that the Italy international, yet to start a game for Liverpool as a result of ankle surgery, does not have swine flu.

Johnson is an added problem for the Liverpool manager but is expected to be fit to face Lyon. Benítez added: “We are really disappointed because he was training and the day before the Arsenal game he felt something and he couldn’t play. Maybe he will be out for four or five days.”

LiverpoolSteven GerrardRafael BenítezFulhamPremier LeagueAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk