Rafa Tells Gerrard He Will Sacrifice Him
， 描述： By Simon Mullock, sundaymirror.co.uk 3/08/2008
Rafa Benitez has told Steven Gerrard that he will have to continue sacrificing himself for the Liverpool cause as he tinkers with his team.
Anfield boss Benitez says the £20million capture of Robbie Keane has made his team even more flexible - and that Gerrard will once again be asked to play in a variety of positions.
Gerrard excelled as a foil for striker Fernando Torres last season after forging a reputation as one of the best central midfielder's in the world.
But Benitez said: "If we play a 4-4-2 formation then Gerrard can play as a midfielder. If we play with Torres on his own up front then Gerrard and Keane can play either side of him.
"I don't think that St even will be frustrated by that. "I was reading an interview recently about Gerrard's role in the England team and he is now very clear about his role in the football world - that you need to adapt, think about the team, and play in different positions when it is required.
"I think Steven is clever enough to do that. If he needs to adapt then he will adapt because he is a player of quality who can play in different positions."
Benitez added: "I bought Robbie Keane because he fits in with what I am trying to do at the club.
"He can play in maybe four positions in the team. I see him as a player who understands the game and who will always work hard. He knows what his manager wants him to do. I like players who can fit into different styles during a game. Robbie has a good mentality - a winning mentality. As a manager, you look for these qualities in every signing you make, but I am sure that Keane is this type of player."
Liverpool's pre-season preparations have been based in Europe - and Benitez is hoping that Manchester United and Chelsea will eventually pay a heavy price for cashing in on money-spinning long-haul tours of South Africa and the Far East.
Benitez said: "We prepared two or three different options for pre-season and in the end we decided that the best thing would be to stay in Europe.
"Maybe there are times when a club has to go to Asia, America or somewhere because these kinds of tours are good for the club in terms of money.
"But in our case we judged that it would be better to stay in Europe because we had a lot of players at the European Championship and we didn't want them to travel too much.
"We also have players going to the Olympic Games and it can be a disaster if you continually ask players to travel around the world. "The board at Liverpool agreed with my ideas.
"I accept that when you go into a training camp you have to play games to earn some money and hopefully United and Chelsea will eventually regret the options they took."
"If Steve needs to adapt then he will adapt because he is a player of quality who can play in different positions" - Benitez
買了keane gerrard 就比較少機會踢torres 的後面了.
但gerrard的實力是有目共睹的就算踢中鋒,右翼或左翼他都能勝任. |
發表於 2008-8-3 09:46 PM
| 
