Gerrard doubt for England
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has cast doubts over whether
Steven Gerrard could play for England in their World Cup
double-header with Wales and Northern Ireland next month.
The Reds captain is definitely out of the Champions League third
qualifying round second leg against CSKA Sofia on Tuesday with a
calf injury, but it has also now emerged he is struggling to face
CSKA Moscow in the European Super Cup in Monaco on Friday.
If that turns out to be the case Benitez believes playing for
England the week after will also be a major problem.
Benitez says: 'If he is not fit for Friday's match it will be
dangerous to play for England.
'If he has not played games before the internationals it will be
dangerous for him to play for England.
'I would need to talk to the doctor after the Sofia game, and then
about Monaco for the Super Cup. If he is not fit in two or three
days, for him to play a week later would be dangerous, I will talk
with the England manager if it is necessary.'
Gerrard suffered the injury in the 1-0 home win over Sunderland on
Saturday, his 11th match this summer in Champions League
qualifiers, friendlies and England's game last week in
Denmark.
Many at Liverpool were surprised that Gerrard was asked to play 84
minutes of that match in Copenhagen considering his demanding
workload.
Now Benitez is worried about whether his skipper would be able to
figure for England in their forthcoming World Cup Group Six
qualifiers.
He said: 'It is hard to say whether Steven would have picked up his
injury if he hadn't played so many games, you just don't
know.
'Jamie Carragher played every game and every minute of last season
and he was always fit. In Gerrard's case we have to be very
careful.
'I hope he can play in the Super Cup, and he wants to play but he
knows he must work very hard with the medical team. He is very
important for us.'
He added: 'I have talked with Steven and the doctors and it may be
difficult for us to see him playing on Friday. But he wants to play
and he will work hard with the physios and we will be clearer in
two or three days.
'But it is not a big problem, we have other players, but we must be
careful with him.
'I will rotate my squad, change some players but always with the
idea of fielding a strong side. But always you must be careful of
what the other team can produce, you never know.
'That is true, it is football, if they score one goal then we will
know it is a harder game.
'We do not want that and we must go into the game intent on winning
and using other players when we are in a good position to do
so.'
Dietmar Hamann will play against Sofia, and Liverpool may also
bring in Darren Potter, John Arne Riise, Scott Carson and Antonio
Barragan.
Benitez said: 'I have a lot of respect for Sofia, and they play
well in attack. But we have another game on Friday in Monaco and
this is the time to use the squad, to give players some rest and to
field a side that will still be strong and do the job for us.
'If we want to be sure we must score as soon as possible and the
game will be finished. They will try hard from the start, with a
very high tempo, and we expect that but we hope that we can end the
tie early.
'We need to win the first one to be in the Champions League, that
is the first objective. Then the second game against Moscow means
we can win a trophy, we will use two good teams in both games and
have the possibility to do that.'