Rafa on Alberto.
The Liverpool manager has explained his predicament to the 25-year-old, who has started only seven games since his arrival from Roma and completed 90 minutes only once, and says the midfielder accepts that a top-four finish takes precedence over personal trials.
BenÃtez said: "When you have been injured for a while it's not easy for a player. Then, when you are available and the team isn't doing well, it makes it even more difficult. You have to decide if you can afford to give him two or three games when you know he's maybe not at the level he could be, so you could end up losing some of them.
"Alberto isn't stupid. He knows the priority now has to be the team and what's best for that. All he can do is keep training and make sure he is ready when we need him. But as I said, the most important thing we have to think of is the team, not one player."
He added: "When I didn't play Alberto at Wolves it wasn't to do with the state of their pitch, it was because of the kind of game and because others were available, which meant we could manage in a different way. So whether I play him at Wigan or not isn't a decision that will be determined by the pitch.
"But we have had a conversation about things and he knows the situation. Alberto is a very good professional, who was a big name in Italy and wants to show his quality here. When you're like that but cannot play for three or four months and then you're available but can't play because the team is maybe doing really well or has problems, it's a difficult situation for any professional."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/07/liverpool-alberto-aquilani-rafael-benitez?
Thats gotta be the biggest load of tripe ever..............
So the message is, even when he is available we cant use him because either
the teams not going well so we cant risk him not being up to the level
or
the teams doing well and we have other players available who can do it a different way
LMAO The same baffling logic used with crouch/keane etc Dont play em and just wait for em to leave
news Bulletin Rafa
The players available are doing it a different way "a sh*te way"
Logged