OFFERING a welcome vote of confidence to Jose Manuel Reina
yesterday, Rafael Benítez suggested that it was reasonable to give
the goalkeeper 10 games to find his form, but, for Liverpool's
strikers, there are no such luxuries.
Theirs is a world of constant rotation and, after they were left
out of the starting line-up for the miserable defeat by Everton,
opportunity may knock this evening for Dirk Kuyt and Craig Bellamy
against PSV Eindhoven.
It was the promise of occasions such as this that led Kuyt and
Bellamy to move on from being big fish in far smaller ponds at
Feyenoord and Blackburn Rovers in the summer, but the step up in
class comes with certain strings attached.
Bellamy, as a boyhood Liverpool fan, is certain to have found it
hard to stomach his omission from the squad to face Everton on
Saturday but, while such decisions may have proved unacceptable to
the Wales forward during his outspoken days at Newcastle United, he
was reminded by Benítez yesterday that rotation is a fact of life
at Anfield, where the idea is to have a squad capable of
challenging on all fronts.
"At smaller clubs, they play maybe one game a week and sometimes
the FA Cup or Carling Cup, but it's different at the top level,"
Benítez said. "Here you need to manage for now, but, if you want to
win trophies and play all the games at 100 per cent, maybe with 60
games in the season, you need to select different players for
different games. Sometimes you will change three, sometimes seven,
sometimes one."
And sometimes, inevitably, you will get it wrong. Benitez appeared
to do so at Goodison Park on Saturday, but he was more concerned by
errors by those players he entrusted, rather than the feelings of
those he left out.
Asked about Reina's indifferent recent contribution, he said that
"if he keeps training well and playing well, I will stick with
him", citing the Spaniard's record of 29 clean sheets in his debut
season at Anfield and pointing out that Steve Finnan and Jamie
Carragher, among numerous others, were also guilty of lapses in
concentration last time out.
In an attempt to rectify the problem, Benítez may revert to using
three central defenders, a tactic that served him well on occasions
during their triumphant European campaign in 2004-05. That is not
guaranteed, but, with PSV boasting the pace of Jefferson Farfán and
Arouna Koné in attack, it is an idea to which he has given some
consideration, with Daniel Agger returning alongside Carragher and
Sami Hyypia. In midfield there may be a recall for Boudewijn Zenden
against his former club, possibly in place of Xabi Alonso, who has
looked jaded so far this season.
Benitez suggested that this could be his team's most difficult game
in group C, but PSV have been weakened by the departure of several
of their best players since reaching the semi-finals in 2005.
Those recalling Jan Kromkamp's contribution during his brief spell
at Anfield might put forward his presence in the PSV ranks as
another source of comfort for Liverpool, but it is to another
Dutchman, Kuyt, and Bellamy that Benitez will look to score the
goals that will give his team a little margin for error at the
back. On recent evidence, they will need it.
