Rafa: England Spoilt Gerrard
Liverpool had a strong start to the season but have since dropped silly points and fallen down in to 4th place. Arsenal are four points clear of them at the top, whilst Manchester United and Manchester City are ahead with a game in hand.
Rafa Benitez believes the drop in form is due to the performances of captain Steven Gerrard. He believes the two international friendlies have had a negative impact on the midfielder. Gerrard was recovering from an injury and chose to represent his country, against his club manager’s wishes.
“It could be that playing twice for England has had an impact,” Benitez said.
“They (the England staff) knew (what I felt about Gerrard playing in both games), but in this situation everyone was talking about how important this situation was for England.
“His national team is England, but it is clear that these players cannot play every game for 90 minutes.
“Gerrard was not 100 per cent physically fresh, I don’t mean fit but fresh.
“In these kind of games you need to keep the tempo really high and if you play too many games in a row for 90 minutes, especially if you are not fit, then normally you have problems.”
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