Andy Hunter
Tuesday March 18, 2008
The Guardian
Rafael Benítez has admitted he is astonished at losing Javier Mascherano to an international friendly in Egypt next week and powerless to limit the Argentina midfielder's workload at a critical stage in Liverpool's season.
The Liverpool manager is resigned to a host of international departures after Sunday's league game at Manchester United and accepts that, along with Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger and Avram Grant, it is an inevitable problem for leading clubs given the squads they have assembled. Indignation and not resignation, however, has shaped the Spaniard's reaction to Mascherano's employment in Cairo a week tomorrow.
Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, who will be on international duty for Spain and England respectively that night, have taken the plaudits during Liverpool's impressive run of seven successive victories but Mascherano, outstanding at Internazionale and in the 2-1 win against Reading on Saturday, has been integral to their recovery and the success of Benítez's 4-2-3-1 system.
His departure for what Benítez considers an unnecessary friendly against the African Cup of Nations' champions, four days before the Merseyside derby with Everton and a week ahead of the Champions League quarter-final first leg at Arsenal, is therefore a major concern for the Liverpool manager.
"I am really, really happy that Mascherano must go to Egypt to play a friendly," said a sarcastic Benítez, who also loses the midfielder to Argentina's Olympic squad in August as one of their three over-23 players. "Things like that you just cannot understand. There is nothing you can do. The rules are the rules and the players must go."
Argentina's friendly commitments will not create added concern for Ferguson next week as Carlos Tevez has been omitted from Alfio Basile's squad. The United striker was sent off during his country's World Cup qualifying defeat by Colombia in November and misses their next competitive game against Ecuador in June, hence his absence against Egypt. Benítez admitted he would ask Basile to limit Mascherano's playing time in Cairo were it not for the suspicion that such requests are pointless.
"You can't speak to the coach. You can say 'Be careful' but they are thinking about themselves," he insisted. "They need to check the players to see if they can manage with the team, so it will be very difficult. It's the same problem for all the top sides. Normally the best players are in the top sides and they are playing Champions League or playing for the title."
Mascherano and Liverpool's international contingent will play six games in 17 days should they be involved in next week's friendlies, a sequence intensified by the calibre of opposition throughout, and Benítez believes his rotation policy is justified by such demands.
"That for me is the reason that the squad is important, especially at this stage of the season," he said. "You need a good squad to use the players properly - sometimes you can and sometimes you can't. If you lose, everyone is talking about the players who are not playing but you could see against Reading on Saturday that some of the key players were a bit tired."
Mascherano scored his first Liverpool goal in the victory over Steve Coppell's side and has taken some gentle ribbing from his team-mates for the understandable celebrations that followed.
The 23-year-old Argentine revealed: "I have not scored a goal since I was at River Plate, so to score one for Liverpool, and in front of the Kop, was really special. I celebrated like I had gone crazy and some of the lads in the dressing room said I was like [Milan's Pippo] Inzaghi in the Champions League final."
Liverpool's run, coupled with Everton's defeat at struggling Fulham, has strengthened their hold on the fourth Champions League qualifying place. Benítez's team have reduced their gap behind Arsenal from 16 points to eight in five matches. "How near we finish to the top now will be interesting," the manager said. "We have been criticised this season, but let us see where we are in three or four weeks. If we can beat Manchester United we will be closer to the top and that will give us more confidence.
"If we beat Everton after that then we will be closer still. Do we have a point to prove? Maybe, but only if we can keep winning three points."
Tuesday March 18, 2008
The Guardian
Rafael Benítez has admitted he is astonished at losing Javier Mascherano to an international friendly in Egypt next week and powerless to limit the Argentina midfielder's workload at a critical stage in Liverpool's season.
The Liverpool manager is resigned to a host of international departures after Sunday's league game at Manchester United and accepts that, along with Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger and Avram Grant, it is an inevitable problem for leading clubs given the squads they have assembled. Indignation and not resignation, however, has shaped the Spaniard's reaction to Mascherano's employment in Cairo a week tomorrow.
Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, who will be on international duty for Spain and England respectively that night, have taken the plaudits during Liverpool's impressive run of seven successive victories but Mascherano, outstanding at Internazionale and in the 2-1 win against Reading on Saturday, has been integral to their recovery and the success of Benítez's 4-2-3-1 system.
His departure for what Benítez considers an unnecessary friendly against the African Cup of Nations' champions, four days before the Merseyside derby with Everton and a week ahead of the Champions League quarter-final first leg at Arsenal, is therefore a major concern for the Liverpool manager.
"I am really, really happy that Mascherano must go to Egypt to play a friendly," said a sarcastic Benítez, who also loses the midfielder to Argentina's Olympic squad in August as one of their three over-23 players. "Things like that you just cannot understand. There is nothing you can do. The rules are the rules and the players must go."
Argentina's friendly commitments will not create added concern for Ferguson next week as Carlos Tevez has been omitted from Alfio Basile's squad. The United striker was sent off during his country's World Cup qualifying defeat by Colombia in November and misses their next competitive game against Ecuador in June, hence his absence against Egypt. Benítez admitted he would ask Basile to limit Mascherano's playing time in Cairo were it not for the suspicion that such requests are pointless.
"You can't speak to the coach. You can say 'Be careful' but they are thinking about themselves," he insisted. "They need to check the players to see if they can manage with the team, so it will be very difficult. It's the same problem for all the top sides. Normally the best players are in the top sides and they are playing Champions League or playing for the title."
Mascherano and Liverpool's international contingent will play six games in 17 days should they be involved in next week's friendlies, a sequence intensified by the calibre of opposition throughout, and Benítez believes his rotation policy is justified by such demands.
"That for me is the reason that the squad is important, especially at this stage of the season," he said. "You need a good squad to use the players properly - sometimes you can and sometimes you can't. If you lose, everyone is talking about the players who are not playing but you could see against Reading on Saturday that some of the key players were a bit tired."
Mascherano scored his first Liverpool goal in the victory over Steve Coppell's side and has taken some gentle ribbing from his team-mates for the understandable celebrations that followed.
The 23-year-old Argentine revealed: "I have not scored a goal since I was at River Plate, so to score one for Liverpool, and in front of the Kop, was really special. I celebrated like I had gone crazy and some of the lads in the dressing room said I was like [Milan's Pippo] Inzaghi in the Champions League final."
Liverpool's run, coupled with Everton's defeat at struggling Fulham, has strengthened their hold on the fourth Champions League qualifying place. Benítez's team have reduced their gap behind Arsenal from 16 points to eight in five matches. "How near we finish to the top now will be interesting," the manager said. "We have been criticised this season, but let us see where we are in three or four weeks. If we can beat Manchester United we will be closer to the top and that will give us more confidence.
"If we beat Everton after that then we will be closer still. Do we have a point to prove? Maybe, but only if we can keep winning three points."
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