Torres set to miss trip to Chelsea

Rafael Benitez admits he has already given up hope of Fernando Torres playing at Chelsea, and launched a barrage of criticism at the international schedule.
The Liverpool boss has spoken to Torres since the striker limped out of Spain's win over France yesterday and has satisfied himself the injury is a hamstring problem that will need a week, at least, to recover from.
Straight after that game, Torres claimed he 'had every intention of playing against Chelsea on Sunday'.
But although Benitez will await the report from a scan on his star forward, he insists the 23-year-old will not be risked at Stamford Bridge.
He said: 'We know it is a hamstring problem. I have spoken to Fernando, I know what the problem is. This injury is at least one week.
'You cannot play on after an injury like this, it is a big risk. He will not play at Chelsea.'
Liverpool have an FA Cup fifth-round tie with Barnsley a week later, and the home Champions League match against Inter Milan three days after that, so any risk taken with Torres now could be disastrous.
Benitez said: 'We will wait for the result of the scan, but I have no doubt he will miss the weekend. When you leave the field like he did so early, and he knew what had happened, it does not change how long he will be out.
'I will talk to the doctor and the player, but it is a big blow. He was scoring lots of goals and I will now have to think of a different partnership.
'We have three big games in 10 days in three different competitions and we have lost our top goalscorer.
'It is difficult to be calm about it, this was another international friendly in a busy period for clubs at this time of the season.'
He added: 'It is crazy enough they go away and have different training systems, diets, new ideas. And they get injured.
'We have got some confidence back with a 3-0 win over Sunderland and a very good second-half performance. But then a lot of players are away all over the world and we are left to train with just a few, it makes things very difficult.
'It is hard to see who to blame for Torres' injury. But the authorities are talking of changing the schedule and to pay money if you lose players.
'But it is not about money. We are playing at Chelsea fighting for fourth position, then we have Barnsley in the FA Cup and after that Inter Milan in the Champions League.
'That is three important competitions, and if you lose someone like Torres, who was scoring lots of goals, it is a big, big loss.
'You can always blame someone, but any solution would be better than this. Every time we have an international break we are talking of a solution and a way to improve things, but still nothing happens.
'The players go off with different coaches, some have to train hard and some have to learn a different system. The training can be too intense and people get injured.
'It would be better to play all the internationals at the same time, maybe at the end of the season rather than keep sending the players all around the world.'
And Benitez is also fuming at Argentina, who insisted Javier Mascherano travelled to Los Angeles for a match on Wednesday, with the midfielder now unlikely to be back on Merseyside until Friday.
Benitez said: 'Any friendly should be just that, you cannot play Guatemala in Los Angeles like Argentina have done, it is crazy. OK, so they won 5-0, but Javier will not be back with us until Friday.'
Benitez reported both Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch have returned unscathed from England duty, and the Anfield boss believes Gerrard should now be named as the full-time England skipper. Gerrard was given the armband by Fabio Capello for just the 2-1 win over Switzerland, with a further decision later. But Benitez said: 'I would think Steven Gerrard should be England's captain, he is certainly capable of doing it.
'He has the right mentality and it will be a boost for him for the future.
'I do not feel it will affect what he does for us. He has ability and experience, he can handle this as well.'
Benitez has blasted the offside law as 'a mess, a disaster'.
The Spaniard launched himself into the debate over the law when asked today whether he understood the new interpretations.
He said: 'I understand the offside law is a mess, it is a disaster. That is very clear.
'I have explained 100 times to people, if they will listen, that we need to go back to the old rule.
'The offside rule is a good one, but the key should still be that if the player is in an offside position, he is offside. Finish.'
Benitez added: 'It will be easier for the linesmen and referees. But we have someone in an office who wants to invent something and they have created a mess.
'Phases of play is confusing. We see things in every game now that people cannot understand. So it should be simple again, if someone is offside, that is the end of it.
'When I was a player, a long time ago, it was not difficult to understand. Now it is.
'Then if a player was way out in the corner, then he is not interfering with the game, but now we have players in the middle of the box who are considered not interfering.
'That is nonsense. They are being watched by the goalkeeper, they are being watched by defenders, that is interfering.'