Has anyone noticed liverpool have more players in the spanish squad than any of the spanish clubs?
I suppose it just shows how much the EPL is respected or how much Rafa is respected.
Taxi for Torres - judas fecks off to chelsea
by maguskwt » Sun Nov 16, 2008 4:18 pm
Benitez: Torres not guaranteed place
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has warned striker Fernando Torres he cannot expect a guaranteed place in the Reds' starting line-up.
The Spain international was left on the bench and openly criticised by his manager ahead of Liverpool's 2-0 win at Bolton.
Benitez had hauled off Torres, searching for form and fitness after his hamstring injury, after an insipid performance in the embarrassing Carling Cup defeat by Spurs in midweek.
The Anfield chief publicly condemned Torres for a "bad'' display at White Hart Lane, and blamed the senior players for letting down the youngsters.
Torres was given 31 minutes to impress at the end of the victory over Bolton and did so, creating a sitter which Steven Gerrard missed, hitting the post and being thwarted by Jussi Jaaskelainen when the Liverpool skipper had put him clean through.
Torres also provided a sublime outside-of-the-foot pass to set up Gerrard's header to clinch the game, Dirk Kuyt having headed Liverpool ahead in the first-half.
Despite his lively display, though, the message from Benitez was clear - not even one of Europe's best strikers is sure of a place.
Benitez said: "The players have to compete for their positions in the side, be it Torres or anyone else. Torres has to improve, if he does and he is fit then I will decide what to do, although I expect to be criticised.
"I did not have to explain to Fernando why he was not playing, it was very clear. The team had been playing well and he has to compete for his position. He played well when he came on, but then other players who come on as substitute also did well, not just him.
"That is the key if you want to have a winning mentality and a winning squad.''
Torres will now join up with the Spain squad this week, having played just 105 minutes of football in nearly five weeks since he was injured on international duty.
Benitez said: "Torres will join up with Spain. I am not happy, but I cannot do anything about it. We are talking to international managers and asking them to protect our players.
"We have asked that the Spanish set-up does not take any chances, that they protect the player.''
Benitez did, though, praise referee Rob Styles' decision to disallow a Bolton 'goal' from Gary Cahill because Liverpool keeper Jose Reina's path to the ball had been impeded by Kevin Nolan.
Bolton boss Gary Megson was furious with Styles, who upset the Trotters earlier in the season by incorrectly awarding penalty against them at Manchester United.
Megson insisted that there had been no infringement in the six-yard box against Reina and claimed Styles "had made another mistake''.
Benitez said: "Players in front of the keeper are there to disturb him, and that is wrong. The FIFA rules are for everyone, and that includes in England. They are for everyone.
"It is very difficult for the keeper with a lot of people around him for set-pieces. It was a good decision from the referee to disallow the Bolton 'goal' in the first-half. The rules are very clear and he got them right.''
Megson disagreed, though, saying: "Nolan did not do anything but stand his ground and there's nothing wrong with that.''
***************************************
a bit of tension there? or the rafa's normal team-comes-first speech?
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has warned striker Fernando Torres he cannot expect a guaranteed place in the Reds' starting line-up.
The Spain international was left on the bench and openly criticised by his manager ahead of Liverpool's 2-0 win at Bolton.
Benitez had hauled off Torres, searching for form and fitness after his hamstring injury, after an insipid performance in the embarrassing Carling Cup defeat by Spurs in midweek.
The Anfield chief publicly condemned Torres for a "bad'' display at White Hart Lane, and blamed the senior players for letting down the youngsters.
Torres was given 31 minutes to impress at the end of the victory over Bolton and did so, creating a sitter which Steven Gerrard missed, hitting the post and being thwarted by Jussi Jaaskelainen when the Liverpool skipper had put him clean through.
Torres also provided a sublime outside-of-the-foot pass to set up Gerrard's header to clinch the game, Dirk Kuyt having headed Liverpool ahead in the first-half.
Despite his lively display, though, the message from Benitez was clear - not even one of Europe's best strikers is sure of a place.
Benitez said: "The players have to compete for their positions in the side, be it Torres or anyone else. Torres has to improve, if he does and he is fit then I will decide what to do, although I expect to be criticised.
"I did not have to explain to Fernando why he was not playing, it was very clear. The team had been playing well and he has to compete for his position. He played well when he came on, but then other players who come on as substitute also did well, not just him.
"That is the key if you want to have a winning mentality and a winning squad.''
Torres will now join up with the Spain squad this week, having played just 105 minutes of football in nearly five weeks since he was injured on international duty.
Benitez said: "Torres will join up with Spain. I am not happy, but I cannot do anything about it. We are talking to international managers and asking them to protect our players.
"We have asked that the Spanish set-up does not take any chances, that they protect the player.''
Benitez did, though, praise referee Rob Styles' decision to disallow a Bolton 'goal' from Gary Cahill because Liverpool keeper Jose Reina's path to the ball had been impeded by Kevin Nolan.
Bolton boss Gary Megson was furious with Styles, who upset the Trotters earlier in the season by incorrectly awarding penalty against them at Manchester United.
Megson insisted that there had been no infringement in the six-yard box against Reina and claimed Styles "had made another mistake''.
Benitez said: "Players in front of the keeper are there to disturb him, and that is wrong. The FIFA rules are for everyone, and that includes in England. They are for everyone.
"It is very difficult for the keeper with a lot of people around him for set-pieces. It was a good decision from the referee to disallow the Bolton 'goal' in the first-half. The rules are very clear and he got them right.''
Megson disagreed, though, saying: "Nolan did not do anything but stand his ground and there's nothing wrong with that.''
***************************************
a bit of tension there? or the rafa's normal team-comes-first speech?
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by Bad Bob » Sun Nov 16, 2008 5:11 pm
^^^^
A carefully calculated kick up the backside by Rafa in order to ensure that Torres doesn't rest on his laurels. He was very anonymous at White Hart Lane and, as a senior player, has to be held accountable--even if he's returning from injury. I think we saw a very positive response from him yesterday, even if he showed some ring-rust in his own shooting. Anyway, Torres has the right mentality and Rafa's remarks will undoubtedly fire him up in the proper way.
A carefully calculated kick up the backside by Rafa in order to ensure that Torres doesn't rest on his laurels. He was very anonymous at White Hart Lane and, as a senior player, has to be held accountable--even if he's returning from injury. I think we saw a very positive response from him yesterday, even if he showed some ring-rust in his own shooting. Anyway, Torres has the right mentality and Rafa's remarks will undoubtedly fire him up in the proper way.
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by Sabre » Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:09 pm
That calculated kick would be madness and stick to Rafa if we weren't up in the table, not playing Torres and all.
But I don't find anything new in Rafa's methods. He also told Alonso to step a gear up or something when he was recovering from injury.
But I don't find anything new in Rafa's methods. He also told Alonso to step a gear up or something when he was recovering from injury.
Last edited by Sabre on Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by JamCar05 » Thu Nov 20, 2008 1:20 pm
Link for those who haven't seen his goal yesterday against Chile (and want to 
): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcru-pJElas
): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcru-pJElas-
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by Greavesie » Thu Nov 20, 2008 4:01 pm
this is probably one for Owzat but if anyone has the answer it would be appreciated.
I was having a conversation with a Manc about Torres' goal return last season.
If Torres had taken all of our penalties last season and scored the same number that were actually converted, what would Torres' total be for the season?
Just for arguments' sake of course
I was having a conversation with a Manc about Torres' goal return last season.
If Torres had taken all of our penalties last season and scored the same number that were actually converted, what would Torres' total be for the season?
Just for arguments' sake of course
All round the fields of Anfield Road
Where once we watched the King Kenny play (and could he play!)
Stevie Heighway on the wing
We had dreams and songs to sing
'Bout the glory, round the Fields of Anfield Road
JFT 96 - Gone but never forgotten
YNWA 15/4/1989
God Bless You All
Where once we watched the King Kenny play (and could he play!)
Stevie Heighway on the wing
We had dreams and songs to sing
'Bout the glory, round the Fields of Anfield Road
JFT 96 - Gone but never forgotten
YNWA 15/4/1989
God Bless You All
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by Toffeehater » Thu Nov 20, 2008 5:15 pm
JamCar05 wrote:Link for those who haven't seen his goal yesterday against Chile (and want to
what a finish and with his weaker foot as well
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by Sabre » Tue Nov 25, 2008 11:54 pm
Torres: "When Rafa called me I thought he was an impersonator"
Interview with Torres. If you find the headline strange, note that in my country there are very good impersonators. We've seen for instance in the radio a call to a player, and this believing totally he was speaking with Camacho, Del Bosque or any other coach. It's quite a common joke in here.
Credit of the interview: Francesc Aguilar, El Mundo Deportivo
I'll snip the unimportant parts and the "introduction" bits of the interviewer which are a heap of cráp.
Did your life change so much when you signed up Liverpool, to swap the Liga for the Premier?
Yes, radically. Not only at a football level, but also in most of the aspects of my life. It doesn't matter which attributes you have as a player, signing up for Liverpool is something very especial, that has an influence on you totally and for good.
It's like a huge echo chamber of everything you do inside and outside the pitch, everything you do has an impact. To be in a Great CLub like Liverpool is not the same thing as being in the Atleti, which is the team of my life but hasn't got the same impact world wide.
At the present time, the premier league has the lead compared to the Spanish league, it's a confirmed fact. The premier league is known everywhere in the world, they know to sell the league in Asia, and the rest of the world. I remember that back when I was a child the most followed leagues were the Calcio and the Liga.
Even in Spain is followed these days
Yeh my family and friends tell me that Spanish TV broadcasts a lot of LIverpool and Premier games, that we're watches through out the country.
Last year was a dream year for you, both in Liverpool and playing for Spain...
I've been lucky to reach Liverpool in a moment of growth, in a moment of expansion. And it's been a coincidence that I've reached both Liverpool and Spain in good times, I can't complain. It has changed my life big deal. Winning the Euro with a goal of mine, in a year that was supposed to be spent in adapting to England was the perfect finale.
The support I've received from the Liverpool supporters in the Premier is my best prize.
You've been perhaps helped by the fact of reaching to a club in which you weren't the main star, in which the lights were not focused only on you
Yes, that helps. If you feel the center of everything, and even if you don't want to admit it, that has an influence on you. You notice that influence in every step you take, in the media, in your surrounding people. You have a lot of responsability. Here, luckily, everything has been different from moment one.
Football is not an individual sport, the responsability must be shared between everybody, it must be divided in everyone of the components of the team, not in just one or two footballers, no matter who they are.
When I arrived Liverpol there were great players that were a reference for the club and the supporters. You want it or not, that helps you. Just as it helps you to have friends, who I knew from the Spanish squad like Pepe or Xabi who were already adapted to the team and the city, to the english style of life.
What was the true event that triggered your signing up for Liverpool?
I wanted to reach a great club like Liverpool, learn from players like Steven Gerrard, who's a guy that it's not only admirable in the pitch, but also in how he manages the dressroom. Nobody must forget that I had the captain armband in Atletico when I was 19, and I was clueless about the job, I hadn't played big competitions, I didn't know what to tell seasoned players like Albertini or Sergi.
I wanted to learn, be surrounded by great players that could transfer that experience to me and in Liverpool, with Gerrard and Carraguer I'm achieving that.
Be captain of an English club must be different then
In Spain, a captain has to take care of so many things that you're not able to cope with them. Here it's different, in the mentality of the English football, the captain has to be an example for his team mates, no more, no less than that. Steven is the mirror in which we have to look at: He's the first one to reach the training sessions, he's the one that takes seriously any of the exercises in training, he's the one to make most sacrifice in the football games.
The rest of us must follow his lead blindly, not only the ones that have come from abroad like me, also the youngest lads from Melwood too. Plus, he's a world class player that has rejected millionaire offers. He's a captain that you follow blindly and loyaly.
Tell me a secret: How was the negotiation to sign up for Liverpool?
There were offers every year, clubs talked with my agents, we studied the offers. They were great clubs but I wasn't make up my mind to go, I didn't quite see that definitive chance. I had the gut feeling that if the time to leave Atletico reached, it had to be because I really felt like it. That only happened with Liverpool.
And I must confess that I always asked things about Liverpool to my friends Pepe and Xabi, that I always had a soft spot for Liverpool, due to the supporters, Anfield, their history...
Who contacted you?
Just after the defeat against Milan in the CL final, Rafa Benitez called to my phone and I talked with him. I must confess you that at the beginning, I thought it was a joke, that he was some impersonator calling my number.
So I wasn't telling him much, I was very cold. But then I phoned Reina to check if, indeed, the number I had in my cell phone belonged to the Liverpool manager, whether he was the genuine Rafa.
I guess that the first impression Rafa had about me couldn't be very good ( ). Luclily enough, he kept his offer! I didn't doubt much, it was the offer I was expecting, the offer I was talking you about before.
What was exactly what made you decide to gpo
Liverpool had won the CL the year before, and that a great club like that made a great bet for you when they cood choose amon others, the fact they were ready to pay an important sum of money for me, the fact they bet on you even if it's a risk to do so because they don't know how I'll adapt the English football... when you sum it all up you cannot have doubts about it, and you know it's a honor to sign up for the reds.
Not everything can be perfect in English football
I've noticed that bar the top four, the tactical aspect of the game is not worked, that the game is played the old way, everybody looking for the goal as directly of possible. Their game is about running and fighting, which is not little (by this expression he stresses that he means no disrespect to that approach).
In Liverpool the work of Rafa is noticeable, just as it is in Wenger's Arsenal, Scolari's Chelsea and Ferguson's Manchester. They're teams that are worked up, that master the strategy, that play as a block, teams in which tactics are very important.
-----
The journo says that tomorrow there will be a second part of the interview.
Interview with Torres. If you find the headline strange, note that in my country there are very good impersonators. We've seen for instance in the radio a call to a player, and this believing totally he was speaking with Camacho, Del Bosque or any other coach. It's quite a common joke in here.
Credit of the interview: Francesc Aguilar, El Mundo Deportivo
I'll snip the unimportant parts and the "introduction" bits of the interviewer which are a heap of cráp.
Did your life change so much when you signed up Liverpool, to swap the Liga for the Premier?
Yes, radically. Not only at a football level, but also in most of the aspects of my life. It doesn't matter which attributes you have as a player, signing up for Liverpool is something very especial, that has an influence on you totally and for good.
It's like a huge echo chamber of everything you do inside and outside the pitch, everything you do has an impact. To be in a Great CLub like Liverpool is not the same thing as being in the Atleti, which is the team of my life but hasn't got the same impact world wide.
At the present time, the premier league has the lead compared to the Spanish league, it's a confirmed fact. The premier league is known everywhere in the world, they know to sell the league in Asia, and the rest of the world. I remember that back when I was a child the most followed leagues were the Calcio and the Liga.
Even in Spain is followed these days
Yeh my family and friends tell me that Spanish TV broadcasts a lot of LIverpool and Premier games, that we're watches through out the country.
Last year was a dream year for you, both in Liverpool and playing for Spain...
I've been lucky to reach Liverpool in a moment of growth, in a moment of expansion. And it's been a coincidence that I've reached both Liverpool and Spain in good times, I can't complain. It has changed my life big deal. Winning the Euro with a goal of mine, in a year that was supposed to be spent in adapting to England was the perfect finale.
The support I've received from the Liverpool supporters in the Premier is my best prize.
You've been perhaps helped by the fact of reaching to a club in which you weren't the main star, in which the lights were not focused only on you
Yes, that helps. If you feel the center of everything, and even if you don't want to admit it, that has an influence on you. You notice that influence in every step you take, in the media, in your surrounding people. You have a lot of responsability. Here, luckily, everything has been different from moment one.
Football is not an individual sport, the responsability must be shared between everybody, it must be divided in everyone of the components of the team, not in just one or two footballers, no matter who they are.
When I arrived Liverpol there were great players that were a reference for the club and the supporters. You want it or not, that helps you. Just as it helps you to have friends, who I knew from the Spanish squad like Pepe or Xabi who were already adapted to the team and the city, to the english style of life.
What was the true event that triggered your signing up for Liverpool?
I wanted to reach a great club like Liverpool, learn from players like Steven Gerrard, who's a guy that it's not only admirable in the pitch, but also in how he manages the dressroom. Nobody must forget that I had the captain armband in Atletico when I was 19, and I was clueless about the job, I hadn't played big competitions, I didn't know what to tell seasoned players like Albertini or Sergi.
I wanted to learn, be surrounded by great players that could transfer that experience to me and in Liverpool, with Gerrard and Carraguer I'm achieving that.
Be captain of an English club must be different then
In Spain, a captain has to take care of so many things that you're not able to cope with them. Here it's different, in the mentality of the English football, the captain has to be an example for his team mates, no more, no less than that. Steven is the mirror in which we have to look at: He's the first one to reach the training sessions, he's the one that takes seriously any of the exercises in training, he's the one to make most sacrifice in the football games.
The rest of us must follow his lead blindly, not only the ones that have come from abroad like me, also the youngest lads from Melwood too. Plus, he's a world class player that has rejected millionaire offers. He's a captain that you follow blindly and loyaly.
Tell me a secret: How was the negotiation to sign up for Liverpool?
There were offers every year, clubs talked with my agents, we studied the offers. They were great clubs but I wasn't make up my mind to go, I didn't quite see that definitive chance. I had the gut feeling that if the time to leave Atletico reached, it had to be because I really felt like it. That only happened with Liverpool.
And I must confess that I always asked things about Liverpool to my friends Pepe and Xabi, that I always had a soft spot for Liverpool, due to the supporters, Anfield, their history...
Who contacted you?
Just after the defeat against Milan in the CL final, Rafa Benitez called to my phone and I talked with him. I must confess you that at the beginning, I thought it was a joke, that he was some impersonator calling my number.
So I wasn't telling him much, I was very cold. But then I phoned Reina to check if, indeed, the number I had in my cell phone belonged to the Liverpool manager, whether he was the genuine Rafa.
I guess that the first impression Rafa had about me couldn't be very good (
). Luclily enough, he kept his offer! I didn't doubt much, it was the offer I was expecting, the offer I was talking you about before.
What was exactly what made you decide to gpo
Liverpool had won the CL the year before, and that a great club like that made a great bet for you when they cood choose amon others, the fact they were ready to pay an important sum of money for me, the fact they bet on you even if it's a risk to do so because they don't know how I'll adapt the English football... when you sum it all up you cannot have doubts about it, and you know it's a honor to sign up for the reds.
Not everything can be perfect in English football
I've noticed that bar the top four, the tactical aspect of the game is not worked, that the game is played the old way, everybody looking for the goal as directly of possible. Their game is about running and fighting, which is not little (by this expression he stresses that he means no disrespect to that approach).
In Liverpool the work of Rafa is noticeable, just as it is in Wenger's Arsenal, Scolari's Chelsea and Ferguson's Manchester. They're teams that are worked up, that master the strategy, that play as a block, teams in which tactics are very important.
-----
The journo says that tomorrow there will be a second part of the interview.
Last edited by Sabre on Tue Nov 25, 2008 11:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by LFC2007 » Wed Nov 26, 2008 12:36 am
Sabre wrote:Who contacted you?
Just after the defeat against Milan in the CL final, Rafa Benitez called to my phone and I talked with him. I must confess you that at the beginning, I thought it was a joke, that he was some impersonator calling my number.
So I wasn't telling him much, I was very cold. But then I phoned Reina to check if, indeed, the number I had in my cell phone belonged to the Liverpool manager, whether he was the genuine Rafa.
I guess that the first impression Rafa had about me couldn't be very good (
"Nice try hombre"
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by Rush Job » Wed Nov 26, 2008 12:59 am
Nice I`ll look forward to it sabre.
The way he spoke about Gerrard the captain almost brought a tear to my eye.
He`s worth ten of the likes of Drogba, and I`m not just saying that because he`s black (heimdal before you start)
The way he spoke about Gerrard the captain almost brought a tear to my eye.
He`s worth ten of the likes of Drogba, and I`m not just saying that because he`s black (heimdal before you start)
Dont judge a book by the cover, unless you cover just another, because blind exceptance is a sign,
Of stupid fools who stand in line...... Like..
Of stupid fools who stand in line...... Like..
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by Rush Job » Wed Nov 26, 2008 1:23 am
Bam wrote:The way he spoke about Gerrard the captain almost brought a tear to my eye.
What, are you on you're periods or something ?
No strangely enough I havent had one since the change.
Dont judge a book by the cover, unless you cover just another, because blind exceptance is a sign,
Of stupid fools who stand in line...... Like..
Of stupid fools who stand in line...... Like..
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Rush Job - >> LFC Elite Member <<
- Posts: 2367
- Joined: Thu Oct 26, 2006 2:38 am
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