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SATURDAY 12 |
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Kewell advised to sit out season
Liverpool winger Harry Kewell has been advised to take a
three-month break if he wants to clear up a lingering groin
injury which has wrecked his season.
Holland-based physiotherpist Andre van Alphen has treated
Kewell and thinks recuperation will be the best cure.
"My opinion is for a good treatment period so the body gets
time to heal and recuperate," Van Alphen said.
"This will take about three months to full fitness. It is
impossible to recover while
playing football."
(BBC Sport Online)
Diouf disgrace in cup battle
An early goal from Freddie Ljungberg and the dismissal of
Bolton's El Hadji Diouf were the deciding factors as Arsenal
moved into the FA Cup semi-finals with a 1-0 win at The
Reebok Stadium.
Wanderers were already trailing when, just nine minutes into
the game, Diouf petulantly flicked a hand in the face of
Jens Lehmann to receive his marching orders and make an
already uphill task mountainous.
Already apoplectic, manager Sam Allardyce looked in danger
of bursting a blood vessel soon after when Diouf handed him
a reminder that all his talent can often be dwarfed by his
idiocy.
The Senegalese star was outraged with referee Steve
Bennett's decision not to award Kevin Davies a free kick,
but lashed out at Lehmann as the German keeper approached
the striker and was fully deserving of his dismissal.
(Sky Sports)
Owen backs Reds Champions League bid
A dejected Michael Owen hopes his former Liverpool
team-mates can go all the way in this season's Champions
League now that Real Madrid are out of the competition.
Owen's dream of Madrid being drawn against the Reds was
scuppered in Turin in Wednesday when Juventus fought back
from a one-goal first leg deficit to eliminate the nine-time
winners.
But once he gets over the disappointment of that defeat he
admits he'll be given his full backing to Liverpool's bid
for Euro glory.
"When I lift my chin up after Juventus, I will be delighted
for the Liverpool lads. I will speak to them and
congratulate them," says the former Anfield striker.
"We all know what happened last year, with Porto beating
Monaco in the Champions League final and Greece winning the
European Championship.
"It would not be as big a surprise as either of those two if
Liverpool went on to win the Champions League.
"The ups and downs they've had are incomparable to any
season I had there. But all they need is one or two results
to go for them and it could turn out to be their best season
for 20 years."
(LFC Official Website)
UEFA clear up CL qualification confusion
European football's governing body has clarified the
position regarding Champions League qualification for next
season should Liverpool triumph in this season's
competition.
Victory in the final in Istanbul on May 25 would not
automatically guarantee the Reds a place in the 2005/06
Champions League tournament if they finish outside of the
top four in the FA Barclays Premiership.
A UEFA spokesman has confirmed that in the case of such a
scenario it would be left to the discretion of the Football
Association whether or not Liverpool would be put forward to
defend the trophy.
"One country cannot have more than four places - it would be
up to the FA to make the request for Liverpool," says the
UEFA spokesman.
While rule 3.1 of the Champions League regulations states:
"At the request of the national association concerned, the
UEFA Champions League title-holders may be entered for this
competition ... if they have not qualified via the top
domestic league championship.
"If, in such a case, the title-holders come from an
association entitled to enter four teams for the UEFA
Champions League, the fourth-placed club in the top domestic
league championship has to be entered for the UEFA Cup."
(LFC Official Website) |
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FRIDAY 11 |
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Hamann forced to wait for new deal
Didi Hamann must wait to sign an extended contract after
Rafa Benitez shelved an initial offer of a new deal.
The Reds made a positive approach to the midfielder early in
the New Year, but after a delay putting pen to paper,
Benitez lost patience and decided to withdraw the offer
following Liverpool's defeat to Birmingham last month.
Talks are now on hold until April, with Hamann effectively
told to prove himself in the final few weeks of the season.
There are those who'll see Benitez's strategy as a test of
Hamann's desire to stay at Anfield next season.
Since joining the Reds in 1999, Hamann has been one of the
most consistent players at the club, but Benitez sees no
risk in allowing the player's situation to alert other
clubs.
He believes Hamann's preference is to stay at Anfield and
hopes his performances will demonstrate this.
He won't be disapppointed, therefore, with the player's
positive response.
(Liverpool Echo)
Garcia pain for Spanish exit
Luis Garcia has vowed to fly the flag for Spanish football
in the Champions League quarter-finals, admitting his
disappointment with the midweek exit of Barcelona and Real
Madrid.
With La Liga having no representation in the last eight,
there will be plenty of Spanish support for Rafa Benitez
when the draw is made next week.
Garcia said: "It pains me the two Spanish clubs went out,
particularly Barcelona, because that was the side I wanted
to face most in the next round.
"But it also fills me with pride we are now the only Spanish
representatives left."
(Liverpool Echo)
Manager Keegan leaves
Manchester have confirmed the departure of manager Kevin
Keegan.
Keegan has left the club by "mutual agreement" after serving
just over three-and-a-half years of his five-year contract.
Keegan brought stability to City after steering them back to
the Premiership during his first season in charge, but the
former England coach's position had become increasingly
untenable following his refusal to consider extending his
stay at Eastlands beyond 2006.
A statement on behalf of the club today confirmed:
"Manchester City announces that by mutual agreement our
manager Kevin Keegan will leave the club with immediate
effect.
"We all believe this is in the best interests of the club.
Kevin's professionalism, infectious enthusiasm and drive for
success have benefited all areas of the club."
(Daily Post)
Grobbelaar exits coaching job
Former Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar has lost his
second coaching job in South Africa's premier league this
season after being asked to resign, his club Umtata Bush
Bucks has confirmed.
Grobbelaar, 47, departs after a run of poor form by his
struggling club who are bottom of the 16-team league and
face a return to the first division one season after winning
promotion.
The Zimbabwean international, who was born in South Africa,
had only been at Bush Bucks since November, winning his
first two matches in charge but then steering the team to
victory in just one more of their next nine league matches.
In October, Grobbelaar was fired after just one win from
five matches in charge of the Durban club Manning Rangers.
Grobbelaar's return to Rangers in July came after a two-year
hiatus when he had been working on an anti-malaria campaign
across the southern African region. He has taken charge of
five South African clubs since beginning his coaching career
in the country in 1999. He is also a former national coach
of Zimbabwe. Grobbelaar won six first division championships
and three FA Cups in his playing career with Liverpool, and
was the first African international to win the European Cup
in 1984.
(Reuters)
Praise for Rafa from the top
Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry has spoken out to
praise manager Rafael Benitez.
Despite having limited resources and various injury
problems, the manager has still taken us to the
quarter-finals of the Champions League this season. What we
like best about him is that despite the club's injury
problems, you don't hear him crying much; he just gets on
with the job.
Bigging up the boss, Rick Parry said: "I think Rafa has done
tremendously well, we've all been very impressed. He has
demonstrated all the qualites we thought he had.
"He's had rather more injuries than he might have expected,
but the thing I like about Rafa is he's focused on the
things he can influence and doesn't worry about those he
can't. That has shone through. He's tough, he's resilient,
he's ambitious, he's young and he's very, very
hard-working."
(Kop Talk) |
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THURSDAY 10 |
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Baros wants Juve tie
Milan Baros is hoping Liverpool will be drawn against
Juventus in the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League.
"I don't want Chelsea," affirmed Baros to Idnes, with The
Reds having been beaten by The Blues three times, including
in the Carling Cup final, this season.
"And then I also don't want Lyon. Even if they are not so
famous they are a really dangerous team.
"I would like to play against Juventus."
He added: "We want to do our best in the Champions League
but we can't give ourselves objectives such as winning the
Champions League.
"There are many great clubs now."
Baros is also anxious for the win at the BayArena to give
Liverpool added impetus in their pursuit of city rivals
Everton for fourth place in The Premiership.
The striker continued: "If we beat Blackburn and then
Everton in the derby match, we will only be two points
behind them.
"I hope we will be successful, the win in the BayArena
should help us."
(Sky Sports)
Gerrard: Fans right to complain about me
Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard has admitted that
supporters have been right to moan about his recent
performances.
He's certainly not been playing as well as we all know he's
capable of doing yet last night he looked to have regained
his form and it came at the right time with the club now
sitting nicely in the quarter finals of the Champions
League.
Speaking about his dip in form, Gerrard said:" No-one knows
more than me if I'm playing well or not and in my last five
or six games I've been below the standard I expect from
myself.
"The manager had told me he wanted more from me so I felt it
needed a big performance. I'm happy with how I played last
night, it was a lot better than the last five weeks."
(Kop Talk)
Reds plan Porto-style Euro shock
Liverpool's heroes returned from a night of triumph in
Germany to claim they could shock Europe just like Jose
Mourinho's Porto did in winning the Champions League last
season.
Few believed the Portuguese and their fast-taking boss could
scale the heights of Europe's elite event, but Mourinho
masterminded UEFA Cup and Champions League triumphs in
successive seasons.
It is not lost on Liverpool's delighted fans that their new
boss Rafael Benitez won the UEFA Cup last season with
Valencia, and is steadily picking off rivals in this
season's Champions League.
There was a quiet confidence among Liverpool's party on
their crack-of-dawn return flight to Merseyside after the
6-2 aggregate triumph over Bayer Leverkusen.
It was summed up by Irish full-back Steve Finnan, who said:
"Of course we can do what Porto did, why not?
"Nobody expected them to win it but they did. We are now
starting to score goals - six goals in two legs against
Leverkusen surely shows something about us.
(Sporting Life)
Baros accepts Benitez advice
Milan Baros was told to do his talking on the pitch by
Rafael Benitez and believes he has gone a long way to
answering the criticism from his Liverpool boss.
Baros was bitterly upset after being dumped for the Carling
Cup final and said as much to anyone who wanted to listen.
And although Baros was far from perfect in Germany - still
infuriating his team-mates by failing to look up and pick
out a pass - he did run the Bayer defence ragged and
afterwards believed he had put his season back on course.
(ITV Football)
Carra fears no-one
Jamie Carragher says Liverpool are in the Champions League
quarter-finals on merit and that they should fear no-one in
the next round.
After comfortably overcoming Bayer Leverkusen in round two
Carragher believes Liverpool will offer a difficult task to
whoever they meet in the quarter-finals.
Carragher said: "To come to Leverkusen and win 3-1 is a
great result. They are a top class opposition and you only
have to look at their home record where they scored three
goals against Real Madrid and Roma.
"We are in the quarter-finals now and anything can happen.
There are some good teams left in the Champions League but
it is a good competition and any team can win it. It is not
always the best teams that win a cup competition and we feel
we have a chance."
(LFC Online)
Reds' run could hit Everton hopes
Liverpool could dent Everton's Champions League dreams for
next season if they win this year's competition.
Liverpool eased into the quarter-finals on Wednesday and
manager Rafael Benitez believes his side could go all the
way.
But they would not automatically qualify for next year's
Champions League. The Football Association could, however,
ask Uefa to include Liverpool.
The fourth-placed team in the Premier League, which is
currently Everton, would then drop into the Uefa Cup.
The quarter-final draw for the Champions League will take
place on Friday 18 March.
Any team can be drawn against another and the two legs will
be played on
5/6 and 12/13 April.
(BBC Sport Online)
Kennedy delighted for Warnock
For two times European Cup winner Alan Kennedy the
performance of Stephen Warnock in Leverkusen was
particularly sweet as he recommended the player to
Liverpool.
Kennedy admires Warnock as a left back and says he shows
great commitment, passion and desire for the team.
"I thought he was fantastic against Leverkusen. I really
like him as a left back. He has a great left foot and can
pass the ball and get forward. The tackle he made near the
end was just brilliant and Rafa will like that seeing a
player never giving up and showing great commitment.
(LFC Official Website)
Gerrard: CL can spur us on
Steven Gerrard believes Liverpool's impressive Champions
League victory in the BayArena on Wednesday night can act as
a confidence-booster in the race for a top four Premiership
finish.
"I think we've surprised people. I think people though we
were going to sit back here and defend and go for a 0-0
draw," says the skipper.
"But we knew we could punish these on the counter attack.
We've watched the tapes and we knew they would push for the
win so we punished them on the counter and we've played
well. That's the best we've play away from home for a while.
"We came here to win the match. Credit to the players and we
deserved the win. We've been disappointing with our away
form in the league. We need to put that right and that was
the idea tonight. We need to build on this away performance.
We've got 10 games left in the league and we're in the last
eight here.
"There's still a bit to play for and hopefully we can make
the fans happy at the end
of the season."
(LFC Official Website)
Benitez: No one can underestimate us
Rafael Benitez has warned that no team in Europe can afford
to take Liverpool lightly after his side progressed to the
Champions League quarter-finals with a fine victory over
Bayer Leverkusen last night.
Benitez, who took Valencia to UEFA Cup glory last season,
believes Liverpool will now have made a few of the European
superpowers sit up and take notice.
He said: “Nobody can underestimate us, it gives us more
confidence. Other teams will see our performance and know
they must be careful against us. They will know now that
there are no easy games at this stage of the competition.
“But I realise how important it is for the club, the
players, the fans and the staff to stay in the Champions
League for as long as possible.”
(BreakingNews.ie)
Augenthaler congratulates Liverpool
Bayer Leverkusen coach Klaus Augenthaler was full of praise
for Liverpool after the Merseysiders beat his side 6-2 on
aggregate in the Champions' League second round on
Wednesday.
Liverpool won 3-1 at the BayArena to seal a comfortable
passage to the quarter-finals, but Augenthaler was quick to
see the positives after a disappointing performance by his
injury-hit side: "Congratulations to Liverpool, they
deserved to go through," he said.
(Goal.com)
Chester chase Liverpool kids
Ian Rush's Chester side hope to sign goalkeeper Paul
Harrison.
Harrison has recently come back from a month's loan at Leeds
and has made it into the Liverpool sixteen a few times this
season. He has probably been the reserves' best player this
season.
Chester are also hoping to extend winger Robbie Foy's loan
deal until the end of the season. Foy has been at Chester a
month and has impressed Rush and his backroom staff.
Chester chairman Stephen Vaughan admits that he has spoken
to Rick Parry about both Foy and Harrison.
"We have contacted Liverpool's chief executive Rick Parry
about Robbie, and we hope they will agree to the loan
extension," said Vaughan.
(LFC Online)
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Thor Zakariassen
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