Rafa explains Aquilani absences

Reds boss has no doubts about Italian's ability, but will not rush

Last updated: 1st December 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Rafa explains Aquilani absences

Aquilani: Still regaining fitness

We know he is a top-class player and we want to do the best for him and the team; but the best for the player and the team sometimes means he cannot play.

Rafa Benitez on Alberto Aquilani.
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Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez insists he will not bow to critics who want Alberto Aquilani to be rushed into the first team.

The Reds boss' tactics have been questioned as his £20million summer signing has remained on the substitutes bench over recent weeks and only earned a strange 30-second outing in the UEFA Champions League win at Debrecen.

Fans have been desperate to see Aquilani start a match amidst the club's struggling form, but Benitez does not want to rush the 25-year-old's recovery from ankle surgery, which took place prior to his move from Roma, and a virus.

The Spaniard decided to keep the Italy midfielder absent from Sunday's win over Everton, resisting the urge of exposure in the fierce atmosphere of a Merseyside derby, and will continue to err on the side of caution.

"It's more simple than people think," said Benitez in the Liverpool Echo. "He has been out for longer than we expected and, because he has been injured during the summer, he couldn't train properly.

"Now it is much better and it is a case of improving his match fitness. We want to play him and we thought we might have been able to do that with the reserves at Wigan.

"That was called off (last week) but we had some games at Melwood and he played 45 minutes against our reserves last week. We are trying to improve him as quick as we can.

Problem

"But when you have a player who is not fit, he is always going to need time to settle in to a game; if the game is tight and he makes mistakes, then you have a problem.

"We want to protect the player but, at the same time, we want to keep winning games; he understands that he needs to be a little bit fitter before he can play."

Benitez is eager to select Aquilani, who produced an encouraging 14 minutes in October's Carling Cup defeat at Arsenal, and has no doubts regarding his ability, but will still not rush.

"It has not been easy (to not play him) but we are giving him more encouragement in training sessions and he is getting much, much better," added the Reds boss on a player who has a reputation in Italy for being prone to injury.

"We know he is a top-class player and we want to do the best for him and the team; but the best for the player and the team sometimes means he cannot play.

"Think about this example. We were winning 1-0 (against Debrecen) the other day and me and (assistant manager) Sammy (Lee) were talking about playing him.

"But if we played him for the last 20 minutes, when they were attacking a little bit more and he is not settled, maybe it will be the situation will become worse. It is not easy finding the balance but he is getting better all the time."

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Comments (15)

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Gareth Clarke (Liverpool fan) says...

If he is saying this about Aqualini, whats the difference with Gerrard, Yossi or Riera...? the latter 2 had hamstring injuries and were on the bench the next week!!!! He's only saying this because he know's he has to drop lucas and is to stubborn to drop one of his signing... Lucas is not good enough!!!!

Posted 16:38 1st December 2009

Shaz T (Arsenal fan) says...

Aquilani can't replace Xabi Alonso. Liverpool are still going to suffer defeats they just simply are not good enough. They are a two man team.....without Gerrard and Torres they are nothing

Posted 16:38 1st December 2009

Frustrated Fan (Liverpool fan) says...

Its like Keane all over again! Let's not play him then sell him back to Roma at a huge loss!

Posted 16:33 1st December 2009

David Grant (Liverpool fan) says...

I think I can kind of understand where Rafa is coming from. The game in Debrecen, the pitch was attrocious and they were throwing in some rash challenges. The Merseyside Derby is a given that he wasnt going to feature, but the real dissapointing thing for me and i'm sure it's the same for a lot Liverpool fans, if he's on the bench then surely he is match fit ? The Blackburn away game is a perfect chance to have him start or at the latest the Wigan home game. I for one am really looking forward to his first start in a red shirt for the first team as I believe he will give us that much needed creativity in the centre as at the moment two defensive midfielders are not helping out situation

Posted 16:09 1st December 2009

Colin Beck says...

i can see where rafa is coming from every game now is a must win and its just finding theright time to play him.i peronaly think he start in the next european game i think it will be worth the wait all the players are raving about him lets go out on a high 4-0 A Q to get the last

Posted 15:50 1st December 2009

Scott Nicholson (Liverpool fan) says...

Why not start Alberto and then take him off? surely that would build his fitness and it would also give the team time afterward to correct any errors that have occurred. It is always hard to come off the bench and adapt to the pace of the game in my opinion.

Posted 15:38 1st December 2009

Adam Wilson (Liverpool fan) says...

Why people question Rafa is beyond me. He chose to bring Alberto to the club and it was obvious to anyone who could resist jumping on the band wagon that a player coming back from surgery without a pre-season needs time to settle in and get match fit. Alberto is a long term addition to the club, not a magician that will fix all of our problems. IRWT YNWA

Posted 15:37 1st December 2009

Keith Rafferty (Liverpool fan) says...

Well, what excuse next, Rafa? The grass was wet and he might have slipped? My guess is this guy is only a shadow of the player Alonso is and unless we're winning 5 nil against a team down to ten men, he'll be polishing Gerrards boots for the rest of the season. A great player, which Rafa has hailed Aquilani as, 75% fit, is better than an average player 100% fit, which is what most of our midfield is. Every game now is a MUST WIN! Play the best players you've got or admit he's a donkey. I'll not be calling for Rafa's head whilst he's in charge, a supporter supports, but he frustrates the hell out of me sometimes!!!

Posted 15:31 1st December 2009

Simon Strong (Liverpool fan) says...

Rafa - you are losing it... "We want to keep winning games". We haven't been winning enough games that's the problem!

Posted 15:09 1st December 2009

Andy Nolan (Liverpool fan) says...

I fully back Benitez in this situation, of course I like all Liverpool fans want to see Aquilani play every game, but if he rushes him back then he would probably get another injury such as a hamstring problem etc, just because he is not match fit. Hopefully we will see a little more of him against Blackburn on saturday.

Posted 15:08 1st December 2009

Robert Evans says...

Surely the only way to get match fit is to play & you can only learn from any mistakes. Lucas adds no value in midfield and has cost us dearly i doubt that aquilani will lose us as many points as him

Posted 14:24 1st December 2009

Anthony Mcnulty (Liverpool fan) says...

I'm a lifelong Liverpool fan but sorry Rafa you've got to go, 20 million pound for 15 min. in the Carling cup, you're havin a laugh

Posted 14:03 1st December 2009

Alan Trainor (Liverpool fan) says...

Come on Rafa, the only way you get fit for Premiership games and get used to the pace of them is to play in them. He needs to start games not just get 30 seconds off the bench, what was that all about?? If he is as good as Rafa says he nexts to start, you have to play your best players and we need results at the moment if we are to finish in the top 4.

Posted 13:54 1st December 2009

Alexander Penchuk (Liverpool fan) says...

I hope that we see Aquilani soon. I am not convinced by our win against Everton, and we have been lacking something special in our midfield ever since we lost Xabi Alonso. I really hope Aquilani can make the difference.

Posted 13:36 1st December 2009

Darren Jalland (Liverpool fan) says...

Well, if he's not fit why is he on the bench in the first place?

Posted 13:18 1st December 2009
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