Watch Liverpool

Posts Tagged ‘merseysiders’

• Draw leaves Gunners six points behind Manchester United
• Liverpool equalise through Dirk Kuyt in 102nd minute

Arsène Wenger has refused to give up on Arsenal winning the Premier League title despite their hopes of ousting Manchester United from top spot suffering a dramatic and seemingly devastating blow in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool. Wenger’s team looked set for victory following Robin van Persie’s penalty in the eighth minute of stoppage time, only for the visitors to equalise through a penalty of their own four minutes later. Arsenal are six points behind United with only six fixtures to play.

Wenger was left enraged at the referee, Andre Marriner, for pointing to the spot after Emmanuel Eboué appeared to push Lucas Leiva in the 101st minute of the contest. He denied the full-back had fouled the Brazilian and following Dirk Kuyt’s conversion – which proved to be the last kick of the game – confronted Marriner on the pitch demanding to know why he had gone over the stipulated eight minutes of added time, a lengthy period that largely culminated from the treatment Jamie Carragher had to receive for a second-half head injury which required the defender to leave the pitch on a stretcher and wearing an oxygen mask.

Wenger also became embroiled in a heated exchange with Kenny Dalglish, the Liverpool manager, regarding the awarding of the second penalty. Both men refused to expand on what they had said to each other but reports suggest Dalglish swore at his counterpart.

“We conceded a penalty after 11 minutes and the extra time was only eight minutes, I don’t know where this additional time came from,” said Wenger. “The referee has not explained anything to me but I know it was no penalty. Lucas played in an intelligent way. He stopped his [Eboué] runs, Eboué wanted to go to the ball and he stopped him and referee said nothing. What can you do about it?”

Wenger said last week that the “title would be over” for Arsenal if they failed to beat Liverpool and Tottenham, who they face at White Hart Lane on Wednesday. He refused to endorse that view here despite what has now proved to be Arsenal’s seventh draw in 15 league games and their third draw in a row at home. “This looks like a defeat but we will keep giving everything until the last game of the season and see if it is our year. The hope is always there, to keep hope alive we have to win our next game.”

But that may prove difficult as Wenger admits his players will travel to White Hart Lane in two days’ time in a state of “disappointment” and, he conceded, looking jaded both physically and mentally. Their performance here certainly appeared to be that of a team running out of vigour after a season which, at one stage, appeared as if it could result in a quadruple of trophies but now looks like it will be the sixth in succession in which the club has failed to land any silverware.

The hosts created few chances against a team that was missing its captain, Steven Gerrard, through injury, and had to substitute three more players during the contest due to strains – Carragher, Andy Carroll and Fabío Aurélio, the last of which led to the introduction at left-back of 17-year-old Jack Robinson for only his second appearance for Liverpool’s first-team. Carragher, who accidentally clashed heads with Liverpool’s other teenage full-back Liverpool’s teenage full-back John Flanagan, recovered consciousness soon after being replaced and was well enough to congratulate his team-mates after the final whistle, while Carroll was taken off as a precaution after jarring his knee early on in the second half early on in the second-period. Aurelio, however, has damaged his hamstring and could now miss the rest of the season.

Playing a patched-up side, Playing a patched-up side Arsenal appeared to have secured all three points when Jay Spearing tripped Cesc Fábregas in the area and Van Persie drove in the resulting spot kick past Liverpool’s goalkeeper José Reina for his 19th goal of the season. But Liverpool were to have the last word. “I don’t think there’s any other team that would have shown the attitude and commitment that our team showed today,” said Dalglish. “We lost Fabio [Aurerlio] early on, had to put a 17-year-old boy on, lost the captain [Carragher], lost the centre-forward [Carroll], lost the goal eight minutes into injury time and still didn’t want to accept we weren’t going to get anything from the game. “I can’t speak highly enough of the players.”

Asked about the penalty decisions, the Scot mischievously added: “Well, I thought one was a penalty and one wasn’t. I’ll leave you to decide which one was which.”

This draw keeps Liverpool in the hunt for a Europa League place but has increased the chances of United winning a 19th league title and, therefore, ousting the Merseysiders as England’s most decorated domestic champions. Asked if he felt sad about the potential development, Dalglish said: “I have nothing to feel sad about, as far as I’m concerned Liverpool are still best club in English football, if not world football.”

ArsenalLiverpoolArsène WengerPremier LeagueSachin Nakraniguardian.co.uk

• Merseysiders exit competition after goalless draw with Braga
• ‘We have to finish high in the league’ says goalkeeper

José Reina has called on Liverpool to “react” to their exit from the Europa League by fighting for a European place via the Premier League.

A goalless draw against Braga at Anfield on Thursday saw Liverpool lose 1-0 on aggregate to the Portuguese side and fail to make the quarter-finals of a competition they had serious intentions of winning.

Doing so would also have represented the Merseysiders’ best chance of playing in Europe next season. To do so via the league they would have to finish fifth this season, a difficult task given they are currently six points behind Tottenham, who are currently in that position, having played a game more than the Londoners.

Reina, however, refuses to give up. “We are disappointed and we know it’s a trophy we can no longer fight for,” said the Spain goalkeeper, who made his 300th appearance for Liverpool in the draw with Braga “Now we have to make sure we finish as high as possible in the league. Fifth is still do-able. There are nine games to play and a lot of points. Tottenham are involved in the Champions League still and have plenty of games.

“Hopefully we’ll win enough games to get fifth, but of course everyone knows it’s difficult. We have to bounce back now. It’s not about how you get knocked out, it’s about how you react. We’re Liverpool and we have to react.”

Liverpoolguardian.co.uk

• ‘It is unacceptable to play for one of Liverpool’s arch rivals’
• ‘I will never go to another club in England’

Daniel Agger has denounced Fernando Torres for showing a lack of “respect” for Liverpool by joining Chelsea but admitted the Merseysiders’ dismal start to the season had contributed heavily to the Spaniard’s inconsistent form.

The Denmark centre-half has been a key member of the Liverpool side revitalised under Kenny Dalglish, rising to sixth in the table and six points from the fourth Champions League qualification place. The arrival of the £23m Luis Suárez from Ajax and Newcastle’s Andy Carroll for a club record £35m could add even more impetus, potentially offsetting the £50m departure of Torres to Stamford Bridge.

The Spaniard’s move, triggered by a desire to leave Anfield, frustrated Agger. “It is unacceptable to play for one of Liverpool’s arch rivals,” he said. “For a Dane, it’s about having respect for the club you play at. I am proud to be able to pull on my Liverpool jersey and will never go to another club in England. I would never go to Manchester United or Everton, for example. It’s about a form of respect for the club.

“I suppose Liverpool got a lot of money for him and, if the player doesn’t want to be there any more, there is no reason to keep him. I should say I think everyone at Melwood liked him and still do, because he is a good guy and we wish him all the best in a blue shirt – except against us.”

Asked why Torres’s form had been so stodgy in the first half of the season, Agger said: “That is a big question, isn’t it? How to explain that … Look at the team – we played awful, we were shit. And he is a part of the team. When every element of the team plays well, he plays a lot better. It is the same for everybody – for me, for Stevie [Gerrard], everyone. When the team are performing, look at every single player and he is playing better. But when we are losing, everybody is on top of us. Everybody is playing poorly.”

Liverpool have rediscovered their poise in recent weeks, with Dalglish overseeing a run of four successive victories, the last of which came at Torres’s expense last Sunday. “A big part of it is down to Kenny and [the coach] Steve Clarke,” said Agger. “They have made a major difference. But it is also something to do with confidence, because we are the same footballers. Confidence can win games and, somehow, Kenny and Steve have put the confidence back into the players. It is looking good, but there is still a long way to go.”

Liverpool’s assistant manager, Sammy Lee, attended Denmark’s defeat to England in Copenhagen to watch Agger’s international team-mate Christian Eriksen. The impressive 18-year-old midfielder is attracting interest from several leading clubs, including Arsenal and Milan, but believes his apprenticeship is best served by staying with Ajax and that he may not suit a move to the Premier League.

“I think I’m going to play in Ajax until my contract expires,” said Eriksen. “There are a lot of young players who are busy looking at other clubs but that’s not the way I think. There are still lots for me to learn and improve, and I can do that in Ajax, which is one of the best clubs in the world to develop talents.

“Every time Ajax are playing there are clubs watching me. So, yes, Liverpool have probably seen me, but I am not spending time wondering about it. No matter what, the Premier League is not the most obvious place for me to go. I’m not sure that I’ve got the physical ability to play there. Serie A or La Liga would suit me better, but it [a transfer] is not going to happen now.”

Dalglish has rejected a claim that Carroll could miss the rest of this season with the thigh injury that has delayed his Liverpool debut. The forward has not played since 28 December but Liverpool’s caretaker manager insisted: “We said right at the beginning that it will be a few weeks. There is nothing sinister in it.

“He has been thoroughly checked over, he is progressing well and I think whoever made that assertion has got a good chance of being wrong.”

The Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has been ruled out for 12 weeks with a knee tendon problem.

Fernando TorresLiverpoolChelseaDominic FifieldAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk