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Posts Tagged ‘fitness’

• Liverpool’s head of sports medicine impressed by Italian
• Aquilani ‘has looked very sharp’, he says

The Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani has completely recovered from the ankle problem which hampered his first season at Anfield, according to the club’s new medical chief.

The Italian had to wait more than two months for his Reds debut following a £20m move from Roma last year and then endured an indifferent campaign. But the 25-year-old is now back with the club for pre-season training and has already made a positive impression on the newly-appointed head of sports medicine and sports science, Peter Brukner.

Brukner told LFC Weekly magazine: “Alberto’s ankle, which was a problem last year, is now 100% healed. He has been training and has looked very sharp. He’ll have to keep working on his injury prevention programme and if he does, I’m sure the supporters will see the best of him because last season was very frustrating for him injury-wise.”

Brukner’s next task is to assess the fitness of the Spain striker Fernando Torres, who pulled up with an adductor injury in Sunday’s World Cup final in South Africa. Torres has now returned to Madrid with the rest of the victorious Spain squad and Liverpool staff are to fly out to meet him this week.

Brukner is generally pleased with the health of the squad but the group is only coming back together slowly because of varying lengths of involvement at the World Cup. “Staggering pre-season presents a challenge,” he said. “I’m guessing that the World Cup guys will be pretty fit anyway. You don’t lose a lot in three weeks and they’ve all been in contact with us to speak about their programme over that period.”

Liverpoolguardian.co.uk

• Manager begins to lose patience with absent striker
• Argentinian’s premature baby ‘no longer in danger’

Roberto Mancini, the Manchester City manager, last night expressed his ­growing frustration about Carlos Tevez’s self‑imposed absence from the team, abandoning the sympathy that he had ­previously shown towards the club’s leading scorer to suggest that he is running out of patience.

Mancini was speaking after City and Liverpool played out a dull 0‑0 draw that does little for either club’s ambitions to win a qualifying place for next season’s Champions League. The result sees City drop to fifth and Liverpool sixth as Spurs later overtook them to go into fourth spot with a 3-0 victory at Wigan.

Tevez has missed City’s last three games after flying to Buenos Aires ­following the premature birth of his second ­daughter, Katie. Mancini has not been able to speak

• Spanish striker unlikely to play against Manchester City
• Jamie Carragher may return at Eastlands

The Liverpool manager, Rafael Benítez, has dismissed speculation that their star striker Fernando Torres could return to action next week.

Torres has been out since suffering a knee injury in the shock FA Cup loss to Reading last month. The Spaniard is reportedly making good progress in his recovery but Benítez insists any claims he could feature at Manchester City a week on Sunday are premature.

Benítez told the club’s website: “I think it will be too early. He is training with the physios and the fitness coach, but he’s still not involved with the team. We will see next week how he progresses.”

Torres, 25, is Liverpool’s top goalscorer with 12 this season despite being restricted to 21 appearances by injuries. A niggling groin problem curtailed his involvement earlier in the campaign.

Benítez is hoping that his vice-captain, Jamie Carragher, will be fit to feature in the Premier League fixture at Eastlands. The defender suffered an adductor injury in the midweek defeat at Arsenal and is unlikely to feature in the Europa League tie against Unirea Urziceni next Thursday.

With Sotirios Kyrgiakos suspended for the next two Premier League games and Glen Johnson still out, Liverpool could be facing a defensive crisis.

Benítez said of Carragher: “I am not sure if he will be available for Thursday against Unirea, but maybe he will have a chance against City.”

Johnson, meanwhile, is planning to return to training within a month after six weeks out with a knee injury. The England international tore a medial ligament at Aston Villa in December.

The 25-year-old, signed for £18m from Portsmouth last summer, is now jogging again and feels he is making good progress.

“I’m definitely over the worst of it now and I’m about two or three weeks away from training, so I’m getting there,” he said. “It’s been like groundhog day – I’ve been doing the same things, working in the gym and doing stability work.

“Every day has been the same for the last two weeks, but now I’ve started to run, things can change. I don’t expect to walk back into the side and play, but I am doing everything I can to be in the best shape possible. It’s been frustrating. The worst thing for a footballer is being injured, but now I’m looking forward.”

Johnson is relieved to be so close to making a comeback, as he admits he initially feared the injury, sustained in a challenge with Gabriel Agbonlahor, was a lot worse.

He added: “It was strange. When I did it, it wasn’t much of a tackle, it was more the way the lad fell on me. I heard something snap in my knee, so I knew it wasn’t good but I wasn’t sure how bad it would be at the time. The following morning, it was thought it could have been my cruciate ligament, so it was good that it wasn’t.”

Fernando TorresRafael BenítezLiverpoolPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk