Spanish press claim striker may not be back until December…
Diagnosis of Fernando Torres‘ recent trip to Spain, for a second opinion on his groin injury, proved fairly inconclusive in the English press this morning. The Spanish media, however, are confident the striker will be out until after Liverpool’s crucial Champions League clash with Debrecen.
According to AS, Torres hopped on a private jet to see Dr Ramon Cugat, a respected sports injury specialist, after medical staff at Liverpool’s Melwood training ground claimed surgery - which Benitez is desperate to avoid - was the only solution. Cugat is reported to have prescribed a ‘conservative treatment’ which will mean El Nino is laid up until the Reds’ game against Blackburn on December 5th.
Spoiler Bonus:El Mundo Deportivo are reporting a gentleman’s agreement is in place for Robinho to sign for Barcelona in the January transfer window now both the Man City chairman and Mark Hughes (who allegedly ‘has always been receptive to his departure’) are resigned to losing the Brazilian forward.
Ah, isn’t Roberto Martinez a breath of fresh air? Having given an interview in which he complained that everyone in England is running scared of Sir Alex Ferguson, Martinez today boldly stuck to his guns, whipped off his trousers and thrust out his groin in Fergie’s direction denied ever making those comments and scampered away to look for a tree to hide behind.
To read the original interview with the AS newspaper (in Spanish), click here. Meanwhile thespoiler’s Spanish expert has painstakingly translated the entire interview and can confirm the following quotes:
“He (Ferguson) has spent his whole life here and that has weight. Recently he was penalised for saying that a referee wasn’t fit enough and the truth is that they have almost ended up saying sorry to him for fining him. Another person would have been pounded.
Ferguson also has his group of loyal fans among other managers. Steve Bruce, who was his player; Sam Allardyce, who thinks he will be successor at Old Trafford, and others. On the opposite side Benitez is alone and thus gets stick from all sides.”
To the causal observer, a list of Liverpool’s troubles right now would probably begin with an unusually cruel injury list. Next would be their manager’s inability to purchase any useful players since Fernando Torres, and then a close third would be Rafa’s failure to produce a single young player of note since he arrived.
So no prizes for guessing what 10,000 Liverpool fans will be taking to the streets to whinge about on Sunday afternoon - the owners of course. “They haven’t built our new stadium” - although most fans want to stay at Anfield. “They don’t give Rafa enough money” - well they gave him £40m for Dossena, Keane, Babel and Riera so would you shell out any more in their position? “They must sell up now” - the Americans are trying their hardest to shift the club.
Still, why let a valid argument get in the way of a good afternoon’s whining up at Anfield? Walk on indeed…
Remember Jermaine Pennant? We here at thespoiler certainly do, mainly for classily proposing to his girlfriend in a graveyard. On the off chance you care, Jermaine now strolls around the touchline for Real Zaragoza in the lower echelons of la Liga.
Pennant turns 27 in January, and it may be fair to say that he hasn’t quite fulfilled the potential of his teenage years, when aged just 15, that fine dissector of young talent Arsene Wenger, splashed out £2m on the Notts County lad. But whose fault? Being a footballer, the answer is inevitably, not his own. These are his thoughts on Rafa:
“Liverpool have had some great strikers come and go - Robbie Keane is scoring goals at Tottenham, Peter Crouch is scoring now. It didn’t happen at Liverpool: it must be about how the manager relates to players, how the tactics are and how he restricts players. The coach plays a big part when you arrive at a new team. If he restricts you, it’s going to make you play differently.
When I was there, sometimes I would like to get the ball and not even beat the man, just put it straight in. And he would be shouting: ‘Go to the byline.’ He’d say it before the game and, if I had put a ball in early, as I was jogging back he’d be there gesturing for me to get to the byline. You think, ‘Give it a rest. Can I just play like this? Can’t I just express myself?’”
With his PR team suddenly awake and jolted upright, Pennant later clarified:
“I have no qualms or bad feelings about Rafa and I still love the club. He’s a great manager and there are times when he is a genius but sometimes his approach can take the best out of you.
The quotes seem fairly typical of a footballer with an axe to grind, exploiting the current sports news agenda. Let’s just hope for his fellow travellers, that Pennant isn’t at the wheel of this particular bandwagon.
Champions League and Championship-related schooling
1. Rafa has failed to think of the children
Whilst continual whinging about lack of funds has earned him an undeserved amount of sympathy, Rafa Benitez’s failure to bring through a single young player of any note during his five years at Anfield is pretty damning. Both United and Arsenal have a number of young players who have been developed through the clubs’ feeder teams (albeit often poaching them from other clubs in their late teens.) Yet Rafa, despite booting out Steve Heighway as Youth Development Manager and replacing him with err…himself, has merely signed dud after dud after dud, whilst ignoring local, young players entirely.
That, and not lack of funds, is why the Liverpool squad is so poor, and their bench so shallow.
2. Platini may have been right
Last night was possibly the best evening of Champions League football in a while, and much of it down to the tinkering Michel Platini made to qualification in the summer. Rubin Kazan, Unirea Urziceni and Dinamo Kiev all received direct passes into the group stage this year whilst Debrecen had a far easier time of qualifying into the Champions League proper, due to Platini’s ruse of pairing seeds.
After a slow start, it’s shaping up to be the best Champions Leaue group stage for a while, and were Inter, Liverpool and Milan to fall at the first hurdle, Platini would be a vindicated man.
3. Winning isn’t always a good idea
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it Gareth.
The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies
Maicon to Manchester United / City
Expect a lot of these over the summer. As soon as United make a move for anyone at all, City will come barging in flashing cash, purely to antagonise their neighbours.
Thespoiler truth-ometer: Both clubs need a right full-back, and Maicon is probably the best in the world right now (sorry Glen.) Another season of European failure for Inter could see one of these deals happen.
Cesc Fabregas to Real Madrid
Seething from the defeat against Seville, Madrid supremo Florentino Perez has swiftly identified the problem, and the solution - another lightweight creative midfielder. The Daily Mail no less, reports that Madrid may even make a move in January, so as to get in ahead of Barca who are unlikely to do any business before the summer.
Thespoiler truth-ometer: Cesc is a proud Catalan, and unlikely to want to join their fiercest rivals. It is also questionable whether Madrid can find the room to squeeze him in, with Diarra and Alonso having started brightly in the centre of their midfield.
Nilton to Liverpool
Having yesterday highlighted the brilliance of the young Vasco striker (see here), thespoiler is proud that Rafa Benitez has picked up the hint, and according to the Daily Mirror, is keen to bring him to Anfield in January.
Thespoiler truth-ometer: Rafa’s transfer policy is never the easiest to predict. One week its Nilton, the next Peter Shilton, the next Paris Hilton. We’re staying non-committal on this one.
Last night, a spritely young 43-year-old named Owen Coyle played for Burnley’s reserves as they faced Liverpool’s second string at Prenton Park. Rafa Benitez and Sammy Lee witnessed the Clarets gaffer, who was apparently forced to play up front due to injuries and international call ups. A puzzling excuse when you consider the fact that he was substituted after 72 minutes.
Coyle didn’t get on the scoresheet in his side’s 1-0 defeat, but we thought it was a jolly good excuse to show the brilliant goal he scored against Accrington Stanley last April.
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