4 Nov 2009

POLL: Should RAFA BENITEZ risk a half-fit FERNANDO TORRES against Lyon?

Rafa Benitez has admitted that Fernando Torres is carrying a hernia injury. Given the consequences of aggravating that injury, should Torres be rested against Lyon to avoid a longer-term problem...or should Rafa take a risk and play him anyway?

Yesterday, Benitez had this to say about Torres' injury:

"We know Fernando has a [hernia] problem, and we have to manage it. The positive thing is that he is improving, and he is in less pain each time he plays and trains.

"Hopefully if we can continue doing well with him, he will not need an operation, that is our idea. Now it is a question of how he feels and what will happen if he plays".


If Torres has a hernia then there is a strong chance that this injury could be exacerbated if he plays against Lyon. This could then lead to a lengthy stay on the sidelines.

Surely there is no benefit in playing Torres if it means Liverpool lose him for two months afterwards?

It's a tough decision for Rafa: play Torres and risk a long-term injury situation. Don't play him and risk elimination from the Champions League.

I personally would not blame Rafa him if he started Torres on the bench or left him out of the squad altogether. If the players are used in the right way, Liverpool are still capable of beating Lyon.

What do you think?



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26 comments:

  1. Yes. A goal by Nando could be worth as much as 20 million pounds. Then, we should have him assessed. I think we can win wihtout Nando, but not tomorrow because so much of the squad is injured. Once we get Gerrard, Aquilani, Johnson, Agger & Aurelio back to 100%, then Nando should go for surgery. 

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  2. I back the manager 100%. Whatever he thinks is the best option - is fine with me.

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  3. Start him, try to get an early advantage and then take him off. If we do start him we have to play Yossi or Aquilani behind him and not Voronin.

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  4. Hi Bikram - I agree tha a goal from Torres would be priceless, but if he aggravates his injury and then missing some of the season and Liveprool drop points and fail to qualif for next season's Champions League, that would arguably me more catastophic.

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  5. So if he plays Aquilani up front and Voronin on the left wing, that would be okay with you?  Blind faith...it's a dangerous thing 8-)

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  6. If Torres starts, I totally agree with that.  I fear though that we may see another of Rafa's strange line-ups/formations, the excuse for which will be all the injuries we have.

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  7. Torres doesn't have a hernia problem, it's a groin issue. Apparently the confusion has arisen through mistranslation. See ther blog on guillem balague's site http://tinyurl.com/yz7ugxc for details. This type of groin problem is far less serious than a hernia, so your concern is unwarranted.

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  8. Its a must win game so I think he will start with the strongest team available.

    This is the team I'd like to see

                      Reina

    Carragher  Agger  Krygiakos  Insua

                Lucas       Mascherano

    Kuyt          Aquilani(if fit) or Yossi      Yossi(if AA plays) or Babel

                         Torres

    I'm not sure if Agger will be fit but if he is I'd like to see Carragher at rightback to make sure our defence stays solid. Degen has played pretty well when asked but he is an attacking fullback and we need to make sure we don't want to concede early on. If Agger isn't fit we'll have no choice but to play Carra at CB and Degen at RB as we have no other choice.

    If Aquilani is fit we should play him behind Torres. Let Lucas and Masch sit back and not have to worry about being creative today. Keep it solid, help out the defence.  If Aquilani plays then Yossi on the left. If Aquilani doesn't start then Yossi in the middle behind Torres with Babel on the left.

    This is the strongest team available to us at the moment. I don't want to see Vorinin playing behind Torres. He's not the worst player in the world but he doesn't have the vision or flair to play behind Torres.

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  9. Yeah whatever Jamie....  So is being overly negative at every possible opportunity.  On Monday you were ranting  about Rafa taking Torres off after 60 mins.  Had he not done that, he might not be available at all tonight, or worst case a couple of months  You have your opinion, but Rafa has a large and experienced medical team advising him, so forgive me if I trust his opinion over yours.

    And your comment.... "I fear though that we may see another of Rafa's strange line-ups/formations, the excuse for which will be all the injuries we have"

    ... If half the squad is injured Jamie, then that is a fair enough excuse in my book.  After all he knows more about football/tactics than you will ever know

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  10. You and others like you are becoming parodies of yourselves.  The idea that I am 'negative at every possible opportunity' is a cliched, simplistic accusation, and is 100% untrue.  Fair-minded people can see that.  I do't even need to justify myself to you.

    You and the rest of the blind faith brigade are the problem here, not me and others like me who analyse and push for obvious improvement.

    Blind faith = accepting of mistakes, lack of accountability, shirking of responsibility.

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  11. Kraken - I'm sory but you are wrong.  Balague got it wrong, which was why it was misreported originally.  It is a hernia.  Benitez himself stated this in his last press conference in France:


    http://www.youtube.com/v/0hO952P_mTA&feature" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="170" height="140

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  12. Jamie
    <span>Thanks for taking the time to come back me (for once).</span>
    <span> </span>
    <span>The suggestion that I am part of the 'blind faith brigade' is your own 'clichéd, simplistic accusation' that you use to justify your own bitter and misguided view points, which for the most part form the minority of opinion.  I am not talking specifically about this article, but of your opinions in general. </span>
    <span> </span>
    <span>Overly negative = Ignorant of circumstances, manipulation if facts to give false impression, boring and predictable</span>

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  13. I think Rafa's should consult the club doctors and the player himself. Then make a decision on this.

    The club doctors have probably advised Rafa on how he should have used the player against Man Utd (taken off but won, Rafa got no slating and is God)  and Fulham (taken off but lost, Rafa got slated and is an idiot). Listen to the docs and take it from there.

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  14. Jaimie - have you ever thought putting a poll as to whether you are either negative, neutral/balanced or positive in your opinions? I am not talking about a flowery worded question but a simple "Do you believe that the content on this website is generally:
    a) Negative
    b) Balanced/neutral
    c) Positive

    You have always seeked critical/fact based statements. Wouldnt this be a more appropriate way to settle these arguments rather than having rather pointless circular slanging matches?

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  15. I think you've missed the point Jaimie. The term 'sports hernia' is used regularly to describe a common non-hernia groin injury.

    A piece from today's AS.com confirms the confusion (http://tinyurl.com/yjzh86f).

    "English newspapers have insisted that Fernando Torres go under the knife. They speak of inguinal hernia when the child has a simple groin injury, for which he is undergoing treatment for ten days, supervised by the best expert in the world."

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  16. Amazing pedantry 8-)

    Rafa Benitez himself IN THE VIDEO says that Torres is suffering from a hernia.  A sports hernia is still a hernia.  That's why it's called a...hernia.  The semantic difference is minimal.  If Benitez calls it a hernia, and his doctor's tell him it is a hernia, then we are entitled to call it a hernia.

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  17. Nobody knows how serious it is, so who are we to say yes or no to him playing. If he starts then it can't be that bad. Benitez said they were managing the situation so he wont require surgery, which suggests its not that bad.

    Rafa has been critisized on so many occaisions for being cautious, i am pretty confident that he wouldnt risk if it was too serious.

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  18. Right - who are we to discuss the issue?  I guess football fans should just never discuss anything related to the team then, eh?  Discussion and speculation is what being a football fan is all about.

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  19. very strange suggestion that Jaimie, when did i ever suggest we shouldnt discuss anything related to the team??

    All i was pointing out is that we really have no idea how bad/serious this hernia problem is. To back this up i had a small hernia from birth, which the doctors said to my mother at that time, that it would never cause any problems. Then 2 years ago, whilst playing football, i started getting pains so i ended up having surgery. Bearing in mind i had been playing football for 10 years before that. So like i said before we cannot really speculate whether this is a risk or not. The only people who know how much of a risk it is, is Rafa, Nando and the clubs doctors and like i said previously Rafa has been critisized for being cautious on other occasions i dont see why he wouldnt be in this situation. The last thing Rafa would want i imagine is Nando to be out for 2 months or however long. I was told not to play for atleast 6 weeks after surgery, i played after 8 with no problems

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  20. 'You and the rest of the blind faith brigade are the problem here, not me and others like me who analyse and push for obvious improvement.'

    Obvious improvement - you make me laugh sometimes always on your high horse. You claim that everyone is entitled to an opinion yet its clear you believe you are always right.

    + How is this site or you yourself pushing for obvious improvement. What are you going to improve?

    Blind faith = accepting of mistakes, lack of accountability, shirking of responsibility.

    Accepting of mistakes - well everyone makes mistakes - rafa didnt make too many mistakes last year to finish 2nd
    Lack of accountability for what. What are us fans accountable for?
    Shirking of responsibility - what is the fans responsibility?

    Are we the blind faith brigade because we support rafa and the team??

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  21. I've had two hernias repaired - they don't get better by themselves, they require surgery to fix them. Even if he makes it worse tonight it won't necessarily result in him being sidelined for 2 months. For a fit young guy such as Torres, he'll be fit again in three to four weeks, that's all.

    We need to win our CL matches so we can progress to the knock out stages. Torres can have a rest before the knock out stages start!

    And YES, we can beat Lyon tonight. Is this not what this fantastic football club is all about? Backs against the wall and overcoming all odds to succeed.

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  22. Maybe its crucial that he plays because if we lose and get knocked out of the competition then we won't recieve as much money which goes towards servicing our large debts therefore at the end of the season being forced to sell top assets so we can make the payments

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  23. Where do you think the vast majority of hernias are? Answer, in the groin as that's where the iguinal canal is and that's where the weakness in the stomach lining is created normally at birth since your balls start their life in your lower abdoment then drop down through the inguinal canal into the scrotum some time after birth. Its the balls dropping through the canal that cause the weakness. Torres must have big balls!

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  24. Thats the funniest thing i have read in ages!!!

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  25. Degan is not in my european squad, so cannot play. Aquilani gives us many possibilities but i do not see him playing in the hole as that is not his position, he will play similar to alonso but join up further forward with the front players.

    Kind Regards

    Rafa

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  26. I agree. We need to play Torres tonight to improve our chances of success, progression to the knock out stages and some more CL dosh so we can supplement the meagre kitty the Yanks give Rafa to buy players.

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