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Posts Tagged ‘position’

• Defender accepts that the form of others is keeping him out
• ‘You have got to be professional and wait for your chance’

Jamie Carragher has said he has no complaints over losing a regular first-team role at Liverpool under Kenny Dalglish but insists his desire to play remains as strong as when he made his debut for the club in 1997.

Carragher, who turns 34 later this month, made his first league start since October in Saturday’s goalless draw against Stoke City having initially lost his place through injury, and subsequently the impressive form of Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger. The Liverpool vice-captain had rarely featured on the bench until this season but insists the team’s form in his absence, with Liverpool boasting one of the strongest defensive records in the Premier League, has made the transition easier to accept.

“Of course you want to play and the manager wouldn’t expect anything else but the lads are playing well,” said Carragher. “When I have been playing over the years and doing well, someone else has had to sit on the bench for me. The roles have reversed now and you have to show respect to the manager, the club and the players playing in my position. I appreciate that. The club have done a lot for me over the years. I am not going to say anything or cause any trouble just because I am not playing. You have got to be professional and wait for your chance. When it comes, you have got to do as well as you can.”

Dalglish revealed last week that an ambassadorial role awaits Carragher at Liverpool should he follow Steven Gerrard’s path when his playing career ends. The Bootle-born defender is giving no thoughts towards retirement, however.

Carragher added: “I am no different to anyone else. I have been out the side for a while and understandably so. The lads in my position and the whole team have been doing great. It was just nice to put the red shirt on and play at Anfield again on Saturday. It is something that I have wanted to do since I was 18 and nothing has changed now I’m nearly 34. But the lads have been doing great and I understand the situation.”

Jamie CarragherLiverpoolAndy Hunter
guardian.co.uk

• Hodgson: ‘Last few months most challenging of career’
• Henry: ‘Decision made in best interests of club’

Liverpool have announced that Roy Hodgson has left the club by “mutual consent” – and that Kenny Dalglish has been installed as caretaker manager until the end of the season.

Hodgson, 61, has been under severe presssure after losing nine out of 20 Premier League matches and bemoaning the lack of “the famous Anfield support”. And, following the 3-1 defeat at Blackburn on Wednesday, the Liverpool principal owner, John Henry, finally decided to remove Hodgson this morning “in the best interests of the club”.

“We are grateful for Roy’s efforts over the past six months, but both parties thought it in the best interests of the club that he stand down from his position as team manager,” he said. “We wish him all the best for the future.”

In a statement Hodgson, who signed a three-year contract when he took charge at Anfield last July, admitted that he had found the “last few months some of the most challenging of my career”.

He added: “Being asked to manage Liverpool Football Club was a great privilege. Any manager would be honoured to manage a club with such an incredible history, such embedded tradition and such an amazing set of fans. Liverpool is one of the great clubs in world football.

“I am very sad not to have been able to put my stamp on the squad, to be given the time to bring new players into the club in this transfer window and to have been able to be part of the rebuilding process at Liverpool. The club has some great, world-class players, with whom it has been a pleasure to work and I wish the entire squad well for the rest of the season.

“I thank those with whom I have built up a close working relationship at the club for their loyalty and support during very testing times, and finally of course to the Liverpool fans, your passion and dedication to the club will see Liverpool at the top of the game once more.”

Dalglish, who managed Liverpool for nearly six years between May 1985 and February 1991 – winning the double in his first full season before leading the club to two further league titles and two FA Cup triumphs – will take immediate control at Anfield starting with tomorrow’s FA Cup third-round tie at Manchester United.

Henry added: “We are delighted that Dalglish has agreed to step in and manage the team for Sunday’s FA Cup tie at Old Trafford and for the remainder of the season. Kenny was not just a legendary footballer, he was the third of our three most successful managers – three giants. We are extraordinarily fortunate and grateful that he has decided to step in during the middle of this season.”

Meanwhile the chairman, Tom Werner, reflecting on a dismal season which has included home defeats to Northampton Town in the Carling Cup and to Blackpool and Wolves in the Premier League, added: “No one who cares for this great club has been happy with the way this season has unfolded and we have examined options and considered at length what is best for us going forward. Kenny will bring considerable experience to the position and provide management and leadership for the rest of the season.”

LiverpoolRoy HodgsonKenny DalglishSean Ingleguardian.co.uk

• Spanish midfielder says Liverpool must scale mental barrier
• ‘We need everybody helping each other to be stronger’

Albert Riera has spoken of Liverpool’s torment at their failure to arrest a run of one win in nine matches and fears they will have to overcome a mental barrier to revive their faltering campaign.

The Spanish midfielder is braced for another month on the sidelines after aggravating a hamstring injury on his return to the side for Monday’s 2-2 draw with Birmingham City at Anfield. After the game, dominated by the fallout from David Ngog’s dive for the penalty that earned Liverpool a point, their manager, Rafael Benítez, made the surprise admission that his side’s performance was “not as anxious as I was expecting”.

It is a problem he may have to address for Liverpool’s next fixture against Champions League rivals Manchester City, however, with Riera conceding recent events have taken a toll on the players’ confidence.

“We need everybody not just on the pitch but off it, too, helping each other to be stronger because now our problem could be mental, because we – and I don’t like saying this – are untidy,” the Liverpool midfielder said. “I don’t like to use this word but it’s true we are not used to being in this position. Against Birmingham you could see we were trying to do everything. We were playing wide, between the lines, always going forward, defending with two centre-backs only, full-backs going forward, and we were trying to do all we could to win the game, but the other team scored with one free-kick and one shot from a long way out. It’s really unlucky because we had a lot of opportunities to kill the game before as well.”

Liverpool host City at Anfield on 21 November and trail Mark Hughes’s team by one place and one point, albeit having played one game more. Their concerns, Riera believes, stem not only from an extensive injury list – with Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun already doubtful for the City game – but the inability to turn an otherwise dominant display against Birmingham into victory.

“In this moment we are trying to play like always but you can see it’s not working,” Riera said. “We have plenty of possession, plenty of opportunities, and we are trying to do all you need for winning the game. It’s true that we have to manage conceding goals from free-kicks but if you see the game, it’s clear we should have won it. But this year, we are really unlucky. I don’t like saying that either, because it’s not only bad luck in football, but it’s true we are trying to change this position and it’s not working. We have to be calm, we have two weeks without games and we have to be stronger after.”

The return of Steven Gerrard, as a substitute, and Glen Johnson against Alex McLeish’s side provided welcome respite from Liverpool’s injury problems, although the England right-back shared Riera’s unease at the latest poor result. “The record sounds awful and it is awful for a club like Liverpool,” said Johnson. “But things like this happen in football. You stick together and keep fighting.”

The England internationals’ comebacks, however, were offset by the hamstring injuries sustained by Riera and Benayoun, who will be absent for several weeks if Benítez’s initial diagnosis of hamstring tears is confirmed, while Daniel Agger was again hindered by a back problem that kept him out for the first two months of the season. The defender has pulled out of Denmark’s friendlies against South Korea and the United States. Last night Johnson withdrew from England’s squad with a recurrence of a calf injury but the damage is believed to be slight. Benítez also confirmed Torres would undergo intensive physiotherapy on his hernia rather than surgery, and it could be three weeks before the leading striker is available.

Riera said of his injury: “It is the same as before, the same feeling, so we will see in the scan but if it’s like the other one it will be three or four weeks. It’s not good to have an injury after the same injury so maybe it could be a little bit longer. You feel frustrated after leaving the team in this condition because we need everyone at the moment. We are in a difficult moment but I think we still have plenty of time and we have to be calm.”

LiverpoolPremier LeagueAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk