Craig Bellamy(--> Cardiff)

His attitude should be an example to every young player. Pity he is not 26

Best of luck tonight, Craig.

I'm assuming he will play the full 90 minutes, which means he probably won't start against Arsenal on Saturday.

Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy is the Premier League's sprint king — at the age of 32

 Congratulations to Craig Bellamy. The Liverpool striker has broken the record for the highest number of high-intensity, top-speed sprints recorded in a match.
By Jason Burt, Deputy Football Correspondent

11:00PM GMT 01 Mar 2012
Not bad going for a 32 year-old who has suffered from a history of serious injuries and who was awarded a free transfer at the start of the season.
 

The statistic might not be as eye-catching as goals scored or assists but it is, nevertheless, an absolutely key measure used by clubs to assess the effectiveness of their players.
 

Indeed, some managers, such as Sam Allardyce, regard it as one of the most significant statistics in a match.
 

Allardyce is adamant that the team who are the first to hit the 1,000-metre mark, collectively, for such sprints in a game will win the encounter. Such is their importance.
 

The exact details of Bellamy’s record, compiled using the ProZone system, are not being divulged by Liverpool but he achieved the feat during the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final at Anfield against his former club Manchester City on Jan 25, when he played 88 minutes, scored, and was his team’s outstanding performer.
 
It is thought Bellamy recorded more than 840 metres of sprints in the match.

To put that in perspective, the Premier League average had been 324m while Tottenham’s Gareth Bale, in the famous ‘taxi for Maicon’ Champions League match in 2010 at home to Inter Milan achieved a remarkable 719m.
 
A sprint is, usually, classed as a run made at quicker than seven metres per second, equivalent to running 100 metres in a sharp 14 seconds.
 
Such has been Bellamy’s impact this season at Liverpool that it is understood he is on course to record the highest number of sprints by a player for a Premier League season, outpacing the likes of the rapid Bale and Theo Walcott, the Premier League’s quickest player.
 
Liverpool regard Bellamy’s signing from City as perhaps the transfer coup of the season and it may well be.
 
What is undeniable, however, is the hard work the player has put in to prolong a career which appeared in jeopardy of ending in frustration and injury at West Ham and Manchester City.
 
Now Bellamy has embraced all the ways of modern sports medical science, to which more and more clubs are cottoning on.
 
He is a devotee of the “periodisation” approach, with work being individually tailored to each player, and has previously employed the Dutch fitness coach Raymond Verheijen, whom he first met at City.
 
Bellamy also has a state-of-the-art altitude chamber installed in his bedroom at home to aid post-match recovery, he employs a personal chef to make his meals and he has worked closely with Steve Peters, the sports psychologist, who is best-known for his links with British cycling and Mark Cavendish in particular.
 
Bellamy even shocked his former City team-mate Nigel de Jong when the Dutch midfielder went into the Liverpool dressing room after that Carling Cup tie only to see the striker merrily sitting in an ice-bath celebrating.
 
Not that he can play every game. His career has to be carefully managed. But, as he has shown, he can make an impact.
 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/9116926/Liverpool-striker-Craig-Bellamy-is-the-Premier-Leagues-sprint-king-at-the-age-of-32.html


Been exceptional for us this season. I certainly never expected such an outstanding season from him, and hopefully much more to come yet.

An OK game yesterday. Wish I had more to say.

Was not impressed with him yesterday, he seemed unsure in what he was doing with the ball, would of preferred to see Downing start in all honesty, or have him line up alongside Suarez with Kuyt on the right and Downing on the left.

Craig Bellamy’s career has been littered with highs, but also blighted with the occasional off-field low.

Whether it be wielding a golf club at a teammate or an off-field run-in with supporters, the 32-year-old Welshman has never been far away from controversy during his 16-year professional career.

On the field, there can be no questions about the player’s ability. During spells at Norwich, Coventry, Newcastle, Blackburn, Liverpool and Manchester City he has always been a fans’ favourite.


It’s not just his ability to score goals though (79 in 266 Premier League matches), but also the capability to play on the limit whilst rarely stepping over the line. He’s received only one red card in the English top flight thus far – surprising given his fiery temperament.

It was unsurprising then that, with his time up at Manchester City in the summer, a host of clubs were interested in adding Bellamy to their own ranks. And it was Liverpool who won the race, with Kenny Dalglish persuading the player to return to Merseyside on a two-year deal.

And his form at Anfield has justified the move, impressing at every opportunity and even getting into contention for this summer’s Team GB squad for the Olympics, if reports in The Daily Mail are to be believed today.

But, his chances of appearing at the showpiece event are being hindered by the limited opportunities Bellamy has received this season – despite being one of Liverpool’s best performers.

Bellamy has played 90 minutes in the Premier League just twice this season, making only nine starts for the Reds whilst coming off the bench 12 times. He has six league goals for his troubles, whilst an 88% passing accuracy rating puts him in the highest bracket for players at the club this season.

Compare that to Dirk Kuyt, who has played 25 times this season, starting 17 matches. He has scored just one goal in the top flight, with a passing accuracy rate of 77%.

The story is much the same for Andy Carroll, who has scored three goals and has a passing accuracy rate of 65% from his 26 appearances in 28 league games this season.

So why has Bellamy been overlooked? One potential answer could be age, but the Welsh forward appears to be the most energetic 32-year-old going. He doesn’t struggle with fatigue at any stage.

What about a lack of specific position? Bellamy is often utilised in a wide area, as well as up-front. But it’s a similar situation to Kuyt, and ‘King Kenny’ has put more trust in the Dutchman when comparing the two this season.

It seems that something has worked against Bellamy this season, but only Dalglish will be able to tell you what that is exactly.

Perhaps the Scottish boss believes Bellamy works better as an impact substitute, and that’s understandable given his pace and finishing ability. But surely there comes a point when the substitute performs so well that he needs to be starting more games.

Whatever you think about Bellamy, it would be hard to judge his time at Anfield as a failure, given the success he’s had on the pitch.

But, if he doesn’t play more matches, then the veteran will be in danger of missing out on what could be a fantastic final furlong in his career.

Let’s hope he gets a fair chance at Liverpool

http://www.givemefootball.com/premier-league/bellamy-deserves-better-at-liverpool


Why do GMF talk so much F***ing waffle

Yeah, great article especially when a month ago Craig was praising Kenny and the staff for preserving his knees and keeping him fit and exending his career.

Bunch of bellends.

Aldo said on the radio on Saturday that Bellamy and Kenny had a fall out after the Sunderland game and that's why he hasn't been playing.

Looks as though the whole team had a falling out with the results we've been getting

Aldo said on the radio on Saturday that Bellamy and Kenny had a fall out after the Sunderland game and that's why he hasn't been playing.

Yeh i thought this was the case, i remember Aldo saying Bellamy didn't even look at Kenny when he came off against Sunderland.  Must have stemmed from that

Craig is injured isn't he?

Aldo said on the radio on Saturday that Bellamy and Kenny had a fall out after the Sunderland game and that's why he hasn't been playing.

Thought that was just a rumor. I haven't seen Bellamy in any of the training pics lately, so my guess is he has an injury.

There seems to be plenty we don't know about what's gone on with Bellers, Maxi, Carroll this year.  Makes me sad..

Hopefully it's just a minor injury and he will soon be back in the team and playing well again.

We have missed him recently.

Tommo on RAWK said hes simply been given time off. No problems with kenny and that hes just been given abit of a rest.

Nothing to stop him playing apparently 

Tommo on RAWK said hes simply been given time off. No problems with kenny and that hes just been given abit of a rest.

Nothing to stop him playing apparently 

I could be wrong but the type of manager Kenny is and the fact that Kenny is Bellers idol, i dont buy the stories of a fall out between them.

I could be wrong but the type of manager Kenny is and the fact that Kenny is Bellers idol, i dont buy the stories of a fall out between them.

I hope not, we can do without this sort of thing, we need to concentrate on matters on the pitch.

We need Berllamy to play. If he doesn't play at least 4 of our last games, I'd say buy a replacement.
  Pains me to say but we need a consistent goalscorer not abit-part player.

Hopefully just rusty today.

Hopefully just rusty today.

You could tell he hadn't played for a few games, wasn't his usual busy self, bound to take a while to get back up to speed though, still think he's a little gem and has been my second best player of the season.

Definitely looked a yard behind his usual self today, a shame because it's the one area of the pitch we were truly hurting them and didn't take advantage.

Was poor today, expected better from him to be honest. Lacked the yard of pace and seemed to take too long to pass the ball which cost us in the final third.

Didn't look like his mind was on football at all.

Very poor and very much like gerrard undeterred and unaffected by the situation at least the body language suggests.