Rafa choosing Lucas over Aquilani?

Well he better start against the Blueshite. No easier game all season.

What was Rafa at tonight with Aquilani why did he wait to bring him on till there was 20 seconds left, I wouldn't mind Lucas was giving us F**k all in midfield tonight and surely Aquilani would have being an improvement.

beyond belief , a game where Aquilani would have had time on the ball to show us what he has got and should have gotten 90 mins under his belt.

My complaint would be if Aquilani is NOT fit enough to play for even 20 min, why put him on the bench at all? Might be better off stay at gym to train.

Challenges from defenders would be much more severe if he plays in a league game, so I don't think that should be an excuse to not play him at some point.

no reason not to play him, Masch and Lucas were given time and space by Debrecen tonight Aquilani would have shone (we hope)

With the pitch being bouncy and slippery, maybe RAFA try to protect the goal first then try to seal the game. Besides, the physical part of the game with all Debrecen men behind our players, plus the 1 goal lead, there's no point for bringing Aquilani in. We got the result we wanted which is a win but we are out of CL because Lyon lost. Though I would love to see Aquilani playing, I also wouldn't want to see him get injured and a possibility of conceding from a counter attack.

IRWT

Please lads get f***in real.. Benitez hasnt got the bottle to drop Lucas and play Aquilani.

We all know about Albertos ankle problems but benayoun tore a hamstring and was back within 2 weeks playing 70 mins!?!? Benitez hadnt the balls to drop Lucas and play Gerrard in that position earlier in the season he just rearranged things even though we havent been getting the best out of Gerrard for ages now.

Aquilani will be turned into some sort of makeshift winger the way its going. Why pay 20mil for a guy if hes not gonna play. We waited 6 wks for him to overcome the injury.. that was over a month ago.. he just needs match fitness even though hes not playing so it never arrives!?!?!?!?

Lucas is a more than capable replacement for our midfield but play him consistently and you end up exactly where we are at the moment out of the champs lge and 7th in the league. Until this stupid decision making is changed dont see us making any massive improvements with those players over the next few months unfortunately thats the reality

I would say he is being a little too careful with the Italian but I do believe he is doing the right thing. It is very risky to play a player right off away after a long layoff and right now reality is we don't really need to risk him as there is still 40 plus games left to play in the season to get 3rd/4th, Europa League and FA Cup. When you spend 20m it is a investment for the long term success, not a short gap player to fill in the hole for a couple of players. We seen with Gerrard and Torres what happens if you keep risking players on their fitness and might result in longer lay-off rather than giving them the proper rest.

I would say he is being a little too careful with the Italian but I do believe he is doing the right thing. It is very risky to play a player right off away after a long layoff and right now reality is we don't really need to risk him as there is still 40 plus games left to play in the season to get 3rd/4th, Europa League and FA Cup. When you spend 20m it is a investment for the long term success, not a short gap player to fill in the hole for a couple of players. We seen with Gerrard and Torres what happens if you keep risking players on their fitness and might result in longer lay-off rather than giving them the proper rest.

So true, mate. And Rafa is keeping his word about taking the utmost caution with his injury.

beyond belief , a game where Aquilani would have had time on the ball to show us what he has got and should have gotten 90 mins under his belt.

Have to say I agree with this...would have loved to see him and I don't understand Rafa's tactics @ all.  He's not a piece of crystal despite his nickname in Italy

Yeah I can understand not playing him in this game, but in games that count I think its time to throw him in at the starting whistle...for example this Sunday.

PS - I got negative rep for "negative thinking"? Why because I raised concerns about Lucas playing over Aquilani?  It was a discussion point.  I wasn't being a sea of negativity

If Rafas so cautious about injuries then why is Benayoun playing 2 wks after tearing a hamstring??Why has Torres already played 3 games with an injury this season?? Why was gerrard rushed back for the Birmingham game??

Doesnt add up.. The lad Aquilani is over this injury a month if thats not enough rest then he's completely the wrong physical specimen to play in a physical liverpool side in the most physical league in the world with such a demanding schedule.

I truly believe its a lack of bottle to drop Lucas just like it was earlier in the season to put Gerrard into the middle again.We're already in 7th over a third through the season out of the league and champs lge hoping for 4th. How much longer can we wait for some common sense??

As for this 5 year bollox tired of that already. Lets try to be effective now and worry about 5 years time when it happens. Nothings gonna change about the game in that time if anything its gonna get more physical so if hes not ready to at least get 30 mins now we can forget about seeing him consistently for the next 5 years.

Some people here just talk talk talk. How do you know whether Aquillani can play from the start? He didnt even play for so many months. He didnt start a reserves match yet. We were winning and we didnt need to open the game further. He'll surely play more and be eased into action when the gaffer thinks its right.

Some people here just talk talk talk. How do you know whether Aquillani can play from the start? He didnt even play for so many months. He didnt start a reserves match yet. We were winning and we didnt need to open the game further. He'll surely play more and be eased into action when the gaffer thinks its right.

Good point, just what I was thinking.

Some people here just talk talk talk. How do you know whether Aquillani can play from the start? He didnt even play for so many months. He didnt start a reserves match yet. We were winning and we didnt need to open the game further. He'll surely play more and be eased into action when the gaffer thinks its right.

Its been a bad night for the Reds and we're all a bit frustrated we didn't see more of our £20m signing that's all!

If Rafas so cautious about injuries then why is Benayoun playing 2 wks after tearing a hamstring??Why has Torres already played 3 games with an injury this season?? Why was gerrard rushed back for the Birmingham game??

Doesnt add up.. The lad Aquilani is over this injury a month if thats not enough rest then he's completely the wrong physical specimen to play in a physical liverpool side in the most physical league in the world with such a demanding schedule.

I truly believe its a lack of bottle to drop Lucas just like it was earlier in the season to put Gerrard into the middle again.We're already in 7th over a third through the season out of the league and champs lge hoping for 4th. How much longer can we wait for some common sense??

As for this 5 year bollox tired of that already. Lets try to be effective now and worry about 5 years time when it happens. Nothings gonna change about the game in that time if anything its gonna get more physical so if hes not ready to at least get 30 mins now we can forget about seeing him consistently for the next 5 years.

Because Aquilani has had this very delicate injury since March. An ankle is not something you want to mess with. He was bought here with the risk of injury in mind, and Rafa promised to take care and time with it. He is. So why are people bitching when they knew how he would handle the situation from the start?

Its been a bad night for the Reds and we're all a bit frustrated we didn't see more of our £20m signing that's all!

Agreed but thats our first win in over 10 matches and hes been available for all of those bar one with a viral infection. Its not like we're winning and Lucas is undroppable. Aqua prob shud have had a better run by now. Now we need to win so many games to make 4th so its even harder for his introduction. Just dont get this signing in that case..

Because Aquilani has had this very delicate injury since March. An ankle is not something you want to mess with. He was bought here with the risk of injury in mind, and Rafa promised to take care and time with it. He is. So why are people bitching when they knew how he would handle the situation from the start?

yeh an ankle is nothing to mess with til Babel fucks his up then he's a faker?? I agree he needs time but we've been told by rafa he's not playing because of his ankle but rather his lack of match fitness/lucas' form. I know its a sad state of affairs but we really need him just to make fourth, we have too little creativity without him in the side and we lack goals.

Thats a crazy reflection of the state of the club at the moment seeing as he hasnt even started a match yet but we're spiralling badly out of control wiht no sign of change.

If he isn't fit to play a full match, how can we bank on him to win a match for us. Plus we have 11 other players in the team to do the job, which they are very capable of doing, case in point -- we won tonight's match.

Aquilani will make the team eventually, when he's fully fit. He'll strut his stuff, he'll show the world why he's highly rated and why he's worth the amount of money we spent on him.

For God's sake, just be patient, we're still here to support the team until... the day we die. He'll make his appearance somewhere in between. We have Stevie G on the side who's worth more than Aquilani and is a much better player, and we still won our match today with a dire 1-0. Conclusion? One man doesn't make the team.

One man doesn't make the team.

Yeh but in our case two do make our team hence 7th in the league and out of knockout stages. Im not impatient but we're not playing well since the start of the preseason, we've given it 20 games and we may somehow be playing worse!?!? We need him no matter what way u look at it or at least some new players who can help fix these problems

Rafa on Alberto:

"He has got very good levels of stamina but now he has to improve his sharpness. To get match fitness he needs to play games and what we have to do is analyse carefully which game is the best and how long he will play for." 22 October '09 .....

...and one week later:

“He has the quality, but he needs to improve his match-fitness."  29 October '09

Since 22 October, Alberto has played for 15 minutes against Arsenal Youth, then 9 minutes against Birmingham City and nearly a whole minute last night!

Now i'll admit to not being gifted intellectually but surely decreasing his time on-field can't be improving his "match fitness"?

Only a crazy thought here but (paradoxically) i believe we'll see more of Alberto after Masch and Lucas set up and score two apiece - thus proving Rafa right.  

Rafa on Alberto:

"He has got very good levels of stamina but now he has to improve his sharpness. To get match fitness he needs to play games and what we have to do is analyse carefully which game is the best and how long he will play for." 22 October '09 .....

...and one week later:

“He has the quality, but he needs to improve his match-fitness."  29 October '09

Since 22 October, Alberto has played for 15 minutes against Arsenal Youth, then 9 minutes against Birmingham City and nearly a whole minute last night!

Now I'll admit to not being gifted intellectually but surely decreasing his time on-field can't be improving his "match fitness"?

Only a crazy thought here but (paradoxically) I believe we'll see more of Alberto after Masch and Lucas set up and score two apiece - thus proving Rafa right. 

Excellent point. I agree hes trying to show faith/prove a point with lucas especially but thats gonna have to stop some time cos its killing us at the moment.Our last 20 games is the proof of that.

Putting Aquilani to start games in times like this would just add more pressure to him. He's gonna think that we and Rafa are banking on him to 'save our season'. That's the last thing we'd want to put on a player who has just recovered from an ankle injury.

Furthermore, I don't think Lucas deserves to be dropped as he's been pretty consistent. Nothing amazing, nothing sh*te. Just there doing his job well.