1407: Rafa impressed with Voronin debut
1407: Red have too much for Crewe

JULY 14
Rafa impressed with Voronin debut

By Paul Eaton - LFC Official Website

Rafael Benitez tonight praised the debut performance of Andriy Voronin after the Ukrainian made an impressive start to his Anfield career during the 3-0 friendly victory at Crewe.

Voronin created the game's opening goal for Lee Peltier during an impressive 45 minutes on the field and Benitez is confident his new striker will have a big part to play once the competitive action begins next month.

"We know that Voronin is going to be another option for us," he said. "He has good game intelligence, he plays well between the lines and he has a lot of quality.

"He played well today in what was a good game for us. We used 22 players and I saw a lot of good things on the field.

"Two of the young lads scored as well which is good for them. They need to be involved in these kind of games to show what they can do."

The Reds fly off to Switzerland on Sunday for a week long training camp which will include friendlies against Werder Bremen and Auxerre. Record signing Fernando Torres is expected to play some part of Tuesday night's game with Bremen in Grenchen.

"We had to wait for Fernando because he started training after the other players and we also needed to check his ankle, but I think he'll be okay for our next game."

Benitez, meanwhile, didn't rule out the possibility that he could welcome another new player to the club before the start of the season.

"We'll have to see," he said. "We are working hard with the players we have but we'll also keep an eye on the market. We have another month before the season starts so there's plenty of time."

JULY 14
Red have too much for Crewe

Liverpool Echo

Goals from Lee Peltier, Peter Crouch and Ray Putterill gave Rafael Benitez’s men a 3-0 victory, as Liverpool’s stars returned to action at Gresty Road.

Steven Gerrard, Peter Crouch, Jamie Carragher and Jose Reina all made their first appearance of the pre-season and Benitez also handed Andriy Voronin a debut start.

There was to be no goal for Voronin on his Liverpool bow but the Ukrainian did have a hand in Peltier’s opener on 22 minutes, shortly after Gerrard had rattled the overhead with a curling left-footed effort.

When Crewe keeper Ben Williams failed to hold the ormer Bayer Leverkusen striker’s powerfully struck volley, Peltier pounced to hook home from close range.

One became two three minutes later, Crouch neatly slotting John Arne Riise’s cut back past Williams from the acutest of angles.

The shotstopper fared better, however, with a tamely struck Gerrard strike just before the half-hour mark, and Pepe Reina had to be alert at the other end as forward Lee Maynard escaped the attentions of centre backs Gabriel Paletta and Sami Hyppia.

Riise struck an upright on 30 minutes before providing Crouch with the opportunity to double his tally from a long throw, the England striker’s glancing header saved comfortably by Williams.

The Railwaymen keeper was almost caught out minutes before the interval, when Gerrard - spotting Williams off his line - attempted an effort from his own half, the keeper recovering in time to spare his blushes.

Xabi Alonso – one of 11 changes made by Rafael Benitez at the break – attempted the same feat, but his shot drifted wide.

He was joined in the centre of midfield by Momo Sissoko after the break. The Malian crafted an opening for himself in the 55th minute with a powerful run through the hosts’ defence. But with the hard work done, the Malian skewed horribly wide.

Putterill, however, displayed a great deal more composure on 66 minutes arrowing home Liverpool’s third after drifting inside from the left wing.

Fellow Youth Cup winner Craig Lindfield then made a hash of strike partner Dirk Kuyt’s teasing centre, before the Dutch marksman tested the gloveman with a drive from the edge of the box.