Kenny Dalglish made an unremarkable return to European football with Liverpool and he masterminded his troops to a 0-0 stalemate in Prague. The draw with Sparta has Liverpool well placed for a last 16 Europa League place, while Dalglish had the opportunity to take a passing glance at some fringe players – including Joe Cole.
Liverpool’s lineup saw the likes of Sotorious Kyrgiakos partner Jame Carragher in defence, while 19-year-old Danny Wilson was deployed at left-back in a 4-4-2, allowing Glen Johnson to revert to the right full-back role. David Ngog took the striker’s role with Raul Meireles again given the job of providing the support, as he looked to prolong his extraordinary scoring streak.
Dalglish was without groin injury victim Steven Gerrard and he took another casualty in midfield on the night as Fabio Aurelio suffered his own groin injury. Dalglish had this to say on the Aurelio setback…
“It’s an adductor strain. It’s not too bad. Midfield was the last place we needed an injury. Obviously Fabio would prefer to play somewhere else than midfield but needs must.”
Aurelio’s injury saw him replaced by Joe Cole on 38 minutes. That shackled Meireles in a deeper midfield role as Cole was pushed up as support for Ngog.
This was Joe Cole’s first appearance under Dalglish following recurring knee problems for the former Chelsea trickster. Cole has been a non-starter for Liverpool since his arrival at Anfield and in Fantasy terms his inability to maintain fitness and cement a starting role has been a major disappointment. The subject cropped up in Dalglish’s post-match interview, and just as he has done with new-signing Andy Carroll, the Liverpool boss stressed the need for patience with Cole.
“Joe’s a valuable asset for us but obviously he’s not going to pick up his form immediately. We’re not going to expect him to be the Joe Cole who came here in the summer straight away…Form’s temporary and class is permanent: that’s where we stand with Joe Cole. We’ll give him a bit of time to get himself up to speed and then we can see him produce something for us.”
The second-leg with Sparta falls before the Gameweek 28 trip to Upton Park. Steven Gerrard and Dan Agger remain injury doubts for that, although Dalglish offered us plenty of reassurance on their situation – indicating that they will be back in the frame…
“We’ll see when we go back. I don’t think he’ll be too long before he’s fit and I don’t think Daniel Agger will be too much of a problem either.”
Martin Kelly and Martin Skrtel were also rested last night; both look likely to be back in the equation but it will be interesting to see if Dalglish keeps them preserved for the West Ham trip. Fantasy Managers will certainly be hoping that this is the case.
“We left Martin Kelly and Martin Skrtel out as well because young Martin Kelly has been through an awful lot in the last seven games and has been playing with a few bumps and bruises. This gave him the opportunity to refresh himself, and Martin Skrtel got injured at Chelsea but carried on – and we didn’t want to take a chance.”
