Tuesday, February 9, 2010 Previous editions
Saturday, November 21, 2009
MANCHESTER CITY manager Mark Hughes may already be persona non grata on the Everton side of Stanley Park, but if the rumours viciously circling Liverpool yesterday prove to be true, he can now also consider himself a most unwelcome visitor to the other half of Merseyside as well.
That is because on a day that Hughes takes his faltering City side to Anfield for a match that will have enormous implications on the future of both Hughes and opposite number Rafa Benitez, it has been suggested that Hughes is preparing a ludicrously high bid for striker Fernando Torres in the January transfer window.
Everton’s fans despise City for the way they rode in on their white horse during the summer before leaving with a flattered Joleon Lescott in the saddle, and a bid to take Torres from the red side of the city is likely to be treated with equal hostility.
Hughes is too canny an operator these days to explicitly state his desires but, tellingly, every player he praised in the summer – Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Gareth Barry – all ended up joining the Eastlands revolution.
And there was no stopping Hughes from outlining his praise of Torres yesterday afternoon at City’s Carrington base ahead of today’s encounter.
"He is an outstanding striker with the way he has come into the Premier League and made an impact," he said.
"I feel it is more difficult for foreign strikers to have an immediate impact on the Premier League.
"It is so new to them, the style of football, the strength of the marking is so different to most leagues in the world.
"But credit to him and the way he approaches the game."
The Torres issue adds an intriguing backdrop to a match that has taken on huge significance for both sides in recent weeks because of their respective performances.
Both teams have been little short of woeful of late, with Liverpool recording just one victory in their last nine encounters in all competitions whereas City have become the Premier League’s leading exponents of the draw, failing to grab more than a point in any of their last five encounters.
As a result of that seriously unflattering form, Liverpool lie in seventh spot while the visitors are just one place above. In other words, this is a "six-pointer" in the finest sense of the phrase and a win for one would simultaneously boost them up the division while helping add to the other’s current malaise, something that has not gone unnoticed.
"The significance of this match is that we are playing a team around where we are," Hughes added.
"Historically, they have been in the top four for many, many seasons now and we are trying to get in there ourselves at some point in the future.’’
Benitez, who will welcome Steven Gerrard back into the Liverpool starting XI following his recovery from a groin injury, has tussled with fellow managers for too long now to consider placing too much emphasis on one 90 minute match.
The Spaniard admitted a win is obviously Liverpool’s main priority – but stopped short of calling this fixture the be-all and end-all of season that has already seen them lose five times in the league.
"We want to win and because we are at Anfield everybody will expect us to do well," he said "It is too early to say how important it us.
"It could be the beginning of a run of wins for us but it is just one game.
"It is important for us and we know that every game is very important because we want to win, progress and get higher in the table."
Liverpool can recall Gerrard, Yossi Benayoun, Glen Johnson, Albert Riera, Daniel Agger and Fabio Aurelio who have all overcome minor problems to be considered while Hughes has an almost full squad to choose from – with the returning Robinho likely to be on the bench – although Martin Petrov and Sylvinho will be absent with knee and calf complaints.
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