CARRAGHER: ROTATION THE KEY

Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes his side's strong run of recent form is due to manager Rafa Benitez's rotation policy.

The Reds have won seven consecutive games since their FA Cup upset at the hands of Barnsley in February and they have set up a meeting with Arsenal in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in the process. Benitez has come in for criticism this season for his tendency to rotate his squad as Liverpool - who face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Grand Slam Sunday - struggled in the middle of the campaign.

However, Carragher is now eyeing a place in the Champions League final in Moscow at the end of the season and believes he and his team-mates are benefiting after being rested by former Valencia manager Benitez. "The first three years the manager has been here we have been to three finals so hopefully there will be another one this season in Moscow," Carragher told Sky Sports News.

"He gets a lot of criticism for it but you have to look at his record, not just here at Valencia too, it does prove successful." Benitez has played a settled side over recent weeks, but Carragher is expecting more changes.

Liverpool travel to United at the weekend before welcoming Merseyside rivals Everton to Anfield the following week. The Reds then face their Champions League-Premier League trilogy with Arsenal in April and, with a batch of international friendlies also due at the end of March, Carragher expects Benitez to shuffle his squad.

"The manager takes a lot of criticism but over the last few weeks we haven't been changing too much as there hasn't been as many games," Carragher added. "But with these five games coming up, plus the international game, I'm sure there might be a few changes.

"At this time of the season there are maybe a few tired legs and things just need freshening up every now and again."

gigabyte14

20 Mar 08, 01:38

they used to it already

Jamie Zawinski

5 Apr 08, 20:49

Rafa set to ring the changes

Rafael Benitez could gamble on wholesale changes when Liverpool return to the Emirates Stadium tomorrow for the second of three clashes with Arsenal in seven days.

With Arsenal still in with a shout of the Premier League crown, the chances of Arsene Wenger making such dramatic changes for this league clash are less likely. But Liverpool will have looked at the run-in that they and fifth-placed Everton have got and seen that the Toffees must also go to the Emirates and they also have to play Chelsea. So with a five-point lead in the race for the final Champions League spot going into the weekend - and a far superior goal difference - Liverpool have more breathing space than Arsenal and therefore it is likely most of Liverpool's big guns will be left on the sidelines. Fernando Torres, taken off in the final minutes of Wednesday's 1-1 Champions League draw, is highly unlikely to be risked again if only to make sure that he avoids injury ahead of Tuesday's semi-final second leg against the Gunners at Anfield. And there is every chance that skipper Steven Gerrard, Sami Hyypia, Jamie Carragher, Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel could be rested for this one. Benitez, who could play Peter Crouch and fit-again Andriy Voronin up front, said: 'I will need to think carefully about my team for the league match. Torres and Gerrard will need to be strong for the second leg, and Kuyt ran himself to a standstill on Wednesday. 'Some players recover in two or three days, others need four. Maybe we will need to change some players. 'The age may be the key. Fernando can recover in two days, but Sami could take five. We will have to wait and see. 'I am expecting to make changes, I cannot expect them to play three times like that in seven days, certainly with the very high tempo of the games. 'It is impossible to play these same players three times in a week. Impossible.' Liverpool's fringe players could well find themselves thrown into this Emirates clash, with Alvaro Arbeloa, Steve Finnan, John Arne Riise, Crouch, Lucas, Voronin and Jermaine Pennant all in line for call-ups. Suspended Javier Mascherano will obviously be out but it is debatable whether he would have played tomorrow even if the FA had not given him an extra two-game ban for the charge that followed the Argentinian's red card at Old Trafford. Liverpool's priorities are also clear to Babel, who accepts he may be rested for the match. 'The boss will have to make decisions now on who to start and who to rest,' he said. 'It will be impossible to play with the same eleven in three games against Arsenal. 'I think, in this situation, rotation is maybe good. 'We flew back from London on Wednesday night after the match, and we will go back today. It's a hard few days, mentally difficult. 'On Thursday we had a light training session, and then we will rest and discuss tactics and how we will play in the league match. 'Rafa will have already seen the first game back a couple of times to tell us what we did good and bad. He will now tell us how we can do better.'

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stellazio

5 Apr 08, 21:05

he started rotating too early in the season and that cost them precious points dropped in the league.

Medicated Oil

5 Apr 08, 22:25

Come on, he rotated the squad cos he dunno how to deploy his players.

It is towards the end of the season that he found the 4-4-1-1 system.

We dun really have a strong second team.

That is what rotation system should bring about.

798

5 Apr 08, 22:28

i believe rotation works at tis period of time when u have ucl to worry for.

DrAlienology

6 Apr 08, 22:07

The 4-2-3-1 is working pretty well, so its not pretty surprising that rafa is not changing often, although I would like to see more of crouch.

at this stage rotation does seem to matter, and perhaps the rotation of players in the earlier days has shown its benefit.

Jamie Zawinski

7 Apr 08, 12:31

i agree tat he rotates becos he's still experimenting to find the best formation.

Reds now believe in rotation

CARRAGHER: ROTATION THE KEY

Rafa set to ring the changes