Rafa Benitez has urged the Spanish and English Football Associations to exercise commonsense when naming their squads for their international friendlies next week.
Spain will play Argentina at Atletico Madrid’s Vicente Calderon stadium next Saturday, while on the same evening England face Brazil in a glamour friendly in Qatar.
In normal circumstances, both Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard would figure prominently in those matches but they have both had well documented fitness problems.
That’s why Benitez has spoken with the Spanish FA to explain the situation surrounding Torres and hopes the English FA will be sympathetic with regards Gerrard.
“I have spoken with the Spanish technical director, the fitness coach and (head coach) Vicente Del Bosque about Fernando,” said the Liverpool manager today.
“I have explained the situation and they know he is not fit at this moment and he needs to work hard with the physios for a while. It’s a similar situation with Steven.
“When you have a player who has only been working with the physios and after there is an international break, it makes no sense to call these players when they are not fit.
“At this moment, I think both will be in a difficult situation (physically) for the next two weeks and the Spanish know this.”
Torres trained at Melwood this morning along with the rest of the squad ahead of Monday’s home clash with Birmingham following his whistle stop visit to Valencia.
The Reds sought a second opinion on his ‘sportsman’s hernia’ on Thursday and Benitez revealed that the injury which has troubled for a month has started to improve gradually.
“He is a little bit better than he was before but he still has some problems and is working with the physios,” said Benitez. “Can he play against Birmingham? We will see. We have to manage the situation.
“The experience I have with similar problems is to keep going and see how he reacts. Some players can keep going for the whole season, others need to stop and start again. Torres has a positive mentality and wants to play for the team.
“I was really surprised with a lot of the critics after some games, as you could see the player was not 100 per cent fit. When will we decide if we carry on or we have to stop? Again, it depends on the reaction of the players.
“At this moment he is playing and trying to do his best. He is improving. He was much better after Fulham than he was after Manchester United. And he was much better after Lyon than he was after Fulham.”
Gerrard, though, is not at Torres’ level and, having only played for 25 minutes in the last four weeks, is desperately short of match fitness.
“Stevie is different because he hasn’t trained with the team for 15 days,” said Benitez. “He is working with the physios but, clearly, he is not fully fit and needs time.”
Benitez, however, expects have some more bodies back for the Birmingham game and is hoping they will help secure three priceless points.
“They have got a good manager and they know what it means to play in the Premier League,” said Benitez. “They are a good team and they will have a good season but we hope that it is going to be after Monday night.”
Spain will play Argentina at Atletico Madrid’s Vicente Calderon stadium next Saturday, while on the same evening England face Brazil in a glamour friendly in Qatar.
In normal circumstances, both Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard would figure prominently in those matches but they have both had well documented fitness problems.
That’s why Benitez has spoken with the Spanish FA to explain the situation surrounding Torres and hopes the English FA will be sympathetic with regards Gerrard.
“I have spoken with the Spanish technical director, the fitness coach and (head coach) Vicente Del Bosque about Fernando,” said the Liverpool manager today.
“I have explained the situation and they know he is not fit at this moment and he needs to work hard with the physios for a while. It’s a similar situation with Steven.
“When you have a player who has only been working with the physios and after there is an international break, it makes no sense to call these players when they are not fit.
“At this moment, I think both will be in a difficult situation (physically) for the next two weeks and the Spanish know this.”
Torres trained at Melwood this morning along with the rest of the squad ahead of Monday’s home clash with Birmingham following his whistle stop visit to Valencia.
The Reds sought a second opinion on his ‘sportsman’s hernia’ on Thursday and Benitez revealed that the injury which has troubled for a month has started to improve gradually.
“He is a little bit better than he was before but he still has some problems and is working with the physios,” said Benitez. “Can he play against Birmingham? We will see. We have to manage the situation.
“The experience I have with similar problems is to keep going and see how he reacts. Some players can keep going for the whole season, others need to stop and start again. Torres has a positive mentality and wants to play for the team.
“I was really surprised with a lot of the critics after some games, as you could see the player was not 100 per cent fit. When will we decide if we carry on or we have to stop? Again, it depends on the reaction of the players.
“At this moment he is playing and trying to do his best. He is improving. He was much better after Fulham than he was after Manchester United. And he was much better after Lyon than he was after Fulham.”
Gerrard, though, is not at Torres’ level and, having only played for 25 minutes in the last four weeks, is desperately short of match fitness.
“Stevie is different because he hasn’t trained with the team for 15 days,” said Benitez. “He is working with the physios but, clearly, he is not fully fit and needs time.”
Benitez, however, expects have some more bodies back for the Birmingham game and is hoping they will help secure three priceless points.
“They have got a good manager and they know what it means to play in the Premier League,” said Benitez. “They are a good team and they will have a good season but we hope that it is going to be after Monday night.”
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