Liverpool FC Forum

[tubby]

I was actually confident of getting 3 points this weekend. Now no Stevie,no Dirk,no Lucas... has Spain played tonight yet?

[Dundalk]

I was actually confident of getting 3 points this weekend. Now no Stevie,no Dirk,no Lucas... has Spain played tonight yet?

Beaten 4-0 by Portugal 

[andy_g]

spain just finished getting hammered 4-0 by portugal. torres played the second half, did the square root of feck all but didn't seem to hurt himself. mereiles played too, also did very little and also didn't get hurt. reina got some splinters in his bum but should be fine for the weekend.

[Thommo's perm]

FFS....international friendlies...who cares about them?

Gerrard evidently
Pulling his Fu*king tripes out for them tw@ts!

[burjennio]

why no dirk this weekend?

[NANNY RED]

Lucas is suspended an all. so it looks like the great Dane will be leading our midfield ,

[tubby]

So it's gonna be Spearing and Poulsen? Id play Jonjo and Poulsen.

[Dundalk]

Id rather play Sammy Lee then Poulsen

[Tim LFC]

At least we still have Alberto right lads, right?
So much for Roy saying our squad is too big!

[Dundalk]

So much for Roy saying our squad is too big!

When did he say that 

[Tim LFC]

So much for Roy saying our squad is too big!

When did he say that 

He said we had too much personnel as in players and staff.

[Dundalk]

Oh fair enough

I know he was giving out we need to bring more players in but he was probably talking about quality

[Calum]

Gerrard getting injured along with a few other players will once again raise the point of friendly internationals. They cause more harm than good, especially when players miss vital club games as a result.

Henry Winter's comment at Twitter... "Gerrard's hamstring...say 2-3 weeks out, 4-5 games out, possibly more, threatening Liverpool's season. Capello doesn't realise the ramifications."

[Reg]

Fabio Capello branded 'amateurish' and 'disgraceful' over handling of injured Steven Gerrard

Fabio Capello was last night accused of being “amateurish” and “disgraceful” with Liverpool suffering for England’s “incompetence” after Steven Gerrard limped out of the defeat to France with a hamstring injury.   17 Nov 2010

In an extraordinary attack on the England management, Darren Burgess, Liverpool's head of fitness and conditioning, wrote on his Twitter account: “Unbelievable from all associated with England and English FA with regard to SG’s injury. Completely ignored agreement and past history.”

The Australian also then posted: “Completely amateurish and now we pay for their incompetence. Absolutely disgraceful.”

Although it was not an official statement from Liverpool, of course, and, interestingly the tweets were deleted within minutes of them appearing, it revealed the depth of anger which will be felt at the loss of their captain who will go for a scan on Thursday.

On Wednesday night Gerrard said the injury was “not good” with Liverpool physio Chris Morgan also appearing on Twitter to comment: “Stevie getting injured…more evidence if it was needed of why I hate internationals.”

The furious attack by Liverpool’s medical staff forced Capello on the defensive with the manager admitting he was “upset” by the injury to Gerrard which, if serious, will have significant ramifications for his club.

“They asked if he can play for one hour, if it’s possible,” he explained, although he remained defiant on his right to field players for as long as he sees fit.

“They can’t decide how long a player plays with the national team,” Capello said, with some justification. “If it’s possible, he’d have played an hour. I understand why they’re upset, and I am also upset.

"The problem is that when you play this game on Wednesday after a lot of Premier League, Europa League or Champions League games, it’s possible that there might be an injury to a player. The Premier League, every time, is a tough league for the players.”

Capello explained that he had kept Gerrard on the field, until he was injured in the 84th minute in attempting to make a tackle on Yoann Gourcuff, because he lost other senior players – namely Gareth Barry (ankle) and Rio Ferdinand (tight muscle in his back) who had to be withdrawn at half-time.

“After the injury I took him off. After Rio came off and Barry came off I needed my captain on the pitch. But I am upset at what happened,” Capello explained.

“We spoke with Steve and said he would play one hour, but after Barry’s injury we had some problems. That was the reason he stayed on the pitch. If it’s possible, the players will play the time we agreed with the club.

"But Barry was really injured so we needed someone senior on the pitch because it was a really young team. He said he was good so, for that reason, it’s good. We’re upset about what happened to Steve, of course.”

It was the second row involving a player’s fitness that England became embroiled in during the day after it emerged that Newcastle United had complained to the FA, via email, about Andy Carroll being selected to start Wednesday night’s game even though they claim he is suffering from a groin injury.

Although it is understood Newcastle did not ask for Carroll not to play they did warn the FA that he should not appear for the whole match and he was substituted in the 72nd minute.

Capello completely rejected any suggestion that he had failed to properly inform Newcastle – who had claimed they would not have played the striker had they had a match on Wednesday night - and said England general manager Franco Baldini had called the club.

“Franco spoke with Newcastle before the game and we checked him before the game,” he said. “I spoke with him at the hotel, personally, and after the warm-up here. After the first-half, too.

"He told me he was fit to play every time. No player has ever played for me who was not fit. Our doctor said he was fit, so the player was ready to play. He finished the game very well.”

Despite the defeat, Capello said there was encouragement with Carroll’s performance and revealed that he would persist with some of the young players in England’s next friendly match, which is pencilled in to be against Argentina in Copenhagen in February. “They need experience,” he said.

[tubby]

It was a silly decision to keep him on that long in the first place.

I think friendlies should be scrapped tbh but if they are going to continue then club managers should set limits on how long they can play. 45 mins or the full game , Capello can work around that.

Will be looking even more forward to them crashing out of euro  2012. Hope they meet Germany again.