Rafa waits on injured trio
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez will await medical reports on
three of his top stars after the 1-1 draw with Arsenal.
He is facing the prospect of Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso and
Javier Mascherano being out for weeks after suffering bad injuries
against the Gunners on Sunday.
Torres (abductor) and Alonso (metatarsal) suffered recurrences of
injuries that had kept both Spaniards out for a month.
Mascherano suffered a foot injury and left Anfield with his left
foot encased in a heavy medical boot.
Coming days after winger Jermaine Pennant was diagnosed with a
stress fracture of the shin, which will rule him out until after
Christmas, these latest injuries are major blows for Benitez.
He said: 'We had problems when we lost Torres and then Alonso. We
could not control the midfield then, we also had Mascherano with a
foot injury and had lost (Mohamed) Sissoko beforehand with
sickness.
'In the end there were too many problems against a really good
team.
'Alonso has suffered the same injury again, the metatarsal, he felt
something go in his foot. Torres also has a similar injury, a
problem with an abductor muscle.
'Maybe he is not as bad as before. But he could not work as hard as
we wanted, we wanted his pace and it was not available.
'He just was not fit. We talked beforehand and he said he was fine.
Now we must wait again, he had been out for some time and we have
been pushing to get him back, but he has not been right and he
still is not right.
'We will need to check them all before we have any idea how long
they will be without.'
Benitez praised Steven Gerrard's contribution and goal after a
difficult week for his captain.
He said: 'Stevie has been playing better and this was a very good
performance. We had a plan to use the strikers wide and for Stevie
to attack through the middle with two holding players behind.
'But when we started losing players through injury, it just became
too difficult to get forward.
'What pleased me most was the commitment of the players, our
supporters should be happy with the efforts they put in against a
very good team like Arsenal.
'Arsenal are playing well, a fantastic team. But it is too early,
we are six points behind with a game in hand and there is a long
way to go yet.'
For Arsenal counterpart Arsene Wenger, there was an exciting
comeback, a late goal from Cesc Fabregas and a return to the top of
the Barclays Premier League.
Wenger said: 'We have come out of our first big test this season
stronger. We played without the hand brake on, without any
restrictions and we were faithful to the game we wanted to
play.
'That is based on our technical quality and movement. Overall we
handled the game very well. I cannot fault anyone, it was a
fantastic game.
'I have always been very confident of what we could achieve this
season, I said it before the season started and now we have
convinced a few more people.
'There is a long way to go, but we have the talent to fight right
at the top for the championship.
'The change from last season is that the players are growing, they
are very young, the confidence is stronger.
'You could see signs last season - in the big games we did well,
but we have now matured.
'We will go into the Manchester United game next Saturday knowing
it will be another big test, but after this performance we will be
facing United much stronger.'
