Just when it seemed like we are getting into some sort of form and we have gotten all our players fit again, news hits us that Glen Johnson suffered a medial ligament injury to his right knee during the win against Aston Villa.

Now this is not good news at all as Glen could easily be out for up to 3 months. He is going to see a specialist who will determine exactly how long Glen will be out for. It is always tricky with these type of injuries as they can rule a player out for just a week or two or they can be long term.

Glen has received quite a lot of stick from the fans over the last couple of weeks as he scored an own goal against Arsenal and was at fault against Portsmouth. Let has not hide the fact that Glen has some defensive problems but he is a gem when going forward.

The question now is: Who is going to take over at right back if Glen is out for a long time? The obvious candidate is Jamie Carragher. Rafa could move Carra to right back and then partner Skrtel and Agger in the middle. Jamie is not a fan of playing at right back but he has filled in already there this season. I am not a fan of Jamie at right back as he simply does not have the pace to play in that position anymore. That leaves us with Degen and Darby. I am not a fan of Degen at all!! I would much rather see Darby starting ahead of Degen any day. My problem with Degen is along the same lines as Johnson; he is great going forward but can not defend. Degen also has a serious injury problem; he may be fit for one game and then he gets injured and he is out for two months! If only Martin Kelly was fit, he looked great when he played at right back against Lyon this season but injury has forced him to be sidelined.

 Loading ...

It looks like we will be without Torres for this weekends trip to Middlesbrough after El Nino twisted his ankle early on in the game against Real Madrid. I wonder if him staying on for longer during that game made the injury worse? He did not look his normal self at all after picking up the injury. This has been a bad season for Torres injury wise.

I think El Nino needs a good rest and the unfortunate part is that he will not be getting a rest this summer as Spain will be visiting us here in South Africa to take part in the FIFA Confederations Cup. As much as I am looking forward to seeing Torres, I actually wish he would stay at home and rest this summer so he can be fully fit for us next season.

Torres may even miss the game in midweek against Sunderland and hopefully he will be fit for the return tie with Real Madrid and more importantly the trip to Old Trafford on 14 March. The full extent of El Nino’s injury will only be known today. We cross our fingers that it is not too serious.

Yesterday I talked about how devastating it could be if we lost Torres to injury again this season but I never thought of the possibility of loosing Stevie Gerrard and that is exactly what happened last night in the F.A. Cup match against Everton. Gerrard came off very early in the game with a suspected hamstring injury and he will undergo a scan today to find out the extent of the injury. I cross my fingers and hope it is nothing serious and at worst he will only miss this weekends game against Portsmouth.

When Gerrard came off yesterday and Yossi came on, you could see that we were no longer the same team as when Stevie was there. We missed his drive from midfield. Yes, Yossi came on and did a decent job but there is just no replacement for Gerrard. For a moment yesterday, I had wished Robbie Keane was on the bench and he could have come on for Gerrard, but those days are over and we have to look forward.

I also hope that Torres did not suffer any further setbacks last night as he looked out of place and shape during the game. I just hope it was a matter of him being tired. I was surprised he played for so longer yesterday but I guess that is the only way he can get back to full fitness.

Let’s hope the scan today shows that Gerrard suffered no major problem and I hope this time England believe that Gerrard is actually injured and they do not force him to report to London next week to have his injury assessed by the F.A. before they play Spain in a friendly.

It comes as a huge relief to know that the injury Xabi Alonso picked up on the weekend against Preston is not as serious as first thought. Initially I had feared the worst when I saw the Spaniard hobble off the pitch at half time in that match, I thought it could be a recurrence of his broken foot. But all is well now as Alonso did not break his foot again and just has seven stitches in his foot. Whether he will play this weekend against Stoke, only time will tell. He trained normally and it is just a matter of waiting now to see if he can fit into his boots come Saturday and be able to kick a ball.
Read the rest of this entry »

Fabio Aurelio is going to be out of action for two weeks after picking up a calf strain in his left leg against Marseille. Yet again, Aurelio is injured. That has been the story of his Liverpool career. Whenever the Brazilian is getting into some bit of good form, he picks up an injury. I believe if Fabio had a full season with no injuries, he could easily become one of the best left backs in Europe. So now that we will be without our first choice left back for 2 weeks, that means Dossena is going to have to step in!
Read the rest of this entry »

Another injury blow for Fernando Torres. Torres will be out of action for between 2 and 3 weeks after picking up another hamstring strain in the game against Marseille this week. This is already the third time that Torres has been forced onto the sidelines by his hamstring this season. This is now reminding me of the days when we had Michael Owen always out injured with his hamstring. What to do, what to do now!
Read the rest of this entry »

I can not believe what Capello made Stevie G do! If a player is said to be injured by his club then surely the national team coach should accept that! Yes, there are some instances where clubs ‘lie’ to national squads that a player is injured but can Capello questions Gerrard’s integrity? Stevie would do anything to play for England, that is just the player he is. He gives 110% into all he does. So for Capello to ask the player to travel to London to be assessed by the England medical team is just mind blowing!
Read the rest of this entry »

Captain Fantastic, Steven Gerrard tore a leg muscle in yesterdays win against Bolton and he will miss England’s friendly against Germany on Wednesday night. Gerrard has had scans and it is said that he will be out for between 7 and 10 days and he could miss the home game against Fulham on Saturday. Injuries are never great to pick up but this one maybe a blessing in disguise as Gerrard will not be risked by playing in midweek for England. These friendly internationals usually result in players picking up injuries which we could do without.

The news most of us feared has come through. After pulling up in Sundays game against Aston Villa, it has been confirmed that Torres has torn his hamstring and is likely to be out of action for two to three weeks. This means that he is very unlikely to be fit to play Manchester United when they come to Anfield on September 13.

Now Stevie G is also touch and go for the match against Manchester United so that could mean we will be without our two best players in what is one of the most important games of the season. “Worried?” Yes I am, but one has to be confident that the players who will fill in for the two will be up to the challenge and do a good job. We just have to beat United at Anfield and send out a message that we mean business this season!

Ryan Babel will miss Euro 2008 after tearing his ankle ligaments during training with Holland last week. This comes as a huge blow for the 21 year old who had been looking forward to the European Championships after having a good debut season for Liverpool. I was really looking forward to seeing him play in Euro 2008 as that would have given him some great experience which would in turn make him a better player. But now we just hope he has a speedy recovery and he is fit for the start of next season. Get well soon Ryan.