A tale of two players – Jose Reina ready to return to one of his old clubs Barcelona in potentially Liverpool’s biggest game of the season, while Harry Kewell stares down the barrel of the end of his Anfield career.
It’s been quiet on the Liverpool front this week. The reds are out in Portugal till later today, where they have been all week, bonding and golfing and maybe putting the occasional bit of football practice in.
Jose Reina who began his career at Barcelona has been at the front of the queue in sounding a war cry on behalf of the Liverpool side.
“Barcelona had better be prepared for us to lay siege to them. It’s going to be a war.
“Nobody should forget that over the last two years we have done great things in the Champions League and I believe in the manager’s theory that we have got nothing to lose and they have got everything to lose.
“It’s a really difficult tie. Obviously, everybody has them as the favourites but we’ve got a creeping suspicion that we have a chance.”
“There’s no question that the key is to get a good result at the Nou Camp and then let the magic of Anfield do its work in the return.
“But Anfield’s roar alone won’t be enough to get us through. Barca is Barca. They are the best team in the world and they are capable of winning at Anfield. It’s going to take two perfect matches from us because Barcelona won’t let us off the hook if we give them a chance.”
Meanwhile Harry Kewell who has for some weeks been targetting the Barcelona tie to make his come-back has fallen foul of his injuries once again, suffering a setback in his recovery.
Benitez had this to say about ‘sicknote’:
“Harry is progressing, but with his situation we can’t say whether it’s one week or two weeks or whatever,” Benitez said. “We need to look at it day by day.
“I could say he could be back for two weeks, but we have to really wait and see. The physios are working on Harry, but now we just need time. We have to wait for him to be close to being fit before we talk to him and give him support on the mental side of playing again.”
Other Premiership clubs are interested in the 28 year old. Liverpool, less constrained by the purse, will be looking for a more reliable replacement in the summer.
kewell should stay at anfield coz he had a great world cup and last season when he started 2 play he put in good performances, scored a coulpe of good goals, once he is back from injury im sure he will do well and be a key player he just needs a chance. n sami rippin, since when has a liverpool player chickened out of a match wen things have got tough? he was injured, u cant expect him 2 play on with an injury!
harry kewell should go!!!
he chickened out the champions league final when things got tough
he’s done nothing for liverpool
he’s just a well paid bench warmer
Riise proved against Barcalona he should play on the left, not Harry Kewell
but i’m sure he’ll fit in te reserves well!!
A fit kewell showed what he could do in the World Cup, inspiring a team to its greatest ever heights on the biggest stage. As an Aussie Red, there is nothing better for me than seeing Harry wearing that red shirt following in Craig Johnstone’s footsteps so I’m a bit biased. But he is a world-class player, and I’m sure Rafa would rather wait and see if he’s going to heal than try to buy a replacement on the open market.
If Kewell comes back fit and ready to go, he will be like a “new” world class signing! The Reds record when Harry is playing is excellent. He was world class, let him show us that he still is! And lets be honest, who wouldn’t prefer a fit Harry over Riise, Gonzalez and Zenden!
As a fact,,,kewell is a damn good player. he juz needs time to recover.you should not forget about his explosive form on several occasions last season. Just be patient and you’ll see the good out of him..he is far better than ronaldo!!!
In response to fbach – I appreciate this article contains an element of ‘editorial’ and for this we apologise.
Liverpool were listening to offers for Harry around Christmas time (only his fitness cost him a move) and we see no reason why this would change in the summer.
Don’t write off benitez’s love for harry! If fit once again, he might just make the comeback we have all heard about for way too long.
I haven’t seen benitez have as much patience as he has shown with harry. This tells me he has lots of respect for harry’s ability when harry has has been ocassionally fit enough to play. This summer will tell us where he goes from here. Into the squad or out the door.
I think we should play both Sissoko and Zenden to subdue Ronaldhinho and co the way Hamman did against AC Milan. Please play 2 wing backs (Finnan and Riise) and 2 centre halves(Carrager and Hyppia or Agger). Kewell has been inconsistent in his form. Rather let him go, and get a world-class replacement.
We shouldn’t be talking up our chances in the media. Let each man stand up and be counted on the field of play where it matters.
The lads should train hard and work at defending and taking set pieces. That may be the difference between the 2 sides.
There is no lack of motivation. Teamwork and taking our chances are going to win us the game.
How you interpret what Rafa said as Harry is on his way out is odd. If you’re going to be scathing of a player (who is still a red btw) can you make it a little less obvious?
Typical anti-Kewell bandwagon vitriol.
Very unprofessional from a website claiming to be representing the news of LFC. If you’re going to make editorial comments, please indicate as such so we can avoid reading them.