Aquilani frustrated? You can’t blame him!

By Matt Ladson On · 117 Comments · In Opinion

So, Alberto Aquilani‘s father has revealed his son is “frustrated” at not being chosen to play since recovering from the ankle injury he had when he joined the club.

The £18m Italian midfielder, signed as a direct replacement for Xabi Alonso, has been an unused sub for the Reds’ recent matches, including the 0-0 draw at Blackburn on Saturday – much to the fans’ frustration too.

Manager Rafa Benitez clearly sees it as a “risk” to play Aquilani in any situation where his confidence may be affected but clearly his confidence isn’t exactly building by sitting warming the bench for 90 minutes. Then rub salt into the wounds by bringing on Nabil El Zhar, who has been back in training less time than Aquilani after suffering an injury in pre-season. Fair enough Aquilani isn’t a winger but god forbid Rafa may actually make a change which isn’t like-for-like and actually change the game. If I were Blackburn’s full-back I know who I’d rather see come on to replace Benayoun.

When Aquilani was signed, Rafa said this “He can play as second striker if necessary, but his best position will be between Gerrard and Mascherano – or between Lucas and Gerrard.” So, now he’s fit, Rafa won’t play him in his position as “With Gerrard, Lucas and Mascherano we now have balance in the midfield.” Work that one out. I’ve seen more creativity in a 3 year old’s crayon than I have our midfield in recent weeks. Balance is great but at the moment it’s unimaginative and flat, hence why we can’t score against the likes of Blackburn.

The good news is Aquilani himself seems to have settled on Merseyside; “He is really happy in Liverpool, he has settled in really well,” said his father.

“He’s getting to grips with the language and he’s always surrounded by friends, family and his fiancée. He likes the city a lot, the culture, the football and the atmosphere at the stadiums. He has been really impressed by the bond the crowd have with the players.

“He has had plenty of time to watch the Premier League, to study how the game is played in England and how it is different from Serie A. In England it is more physical, more frenetic, quicker, and you have less time on the ball. He is confident he can adapt, though.”

A full debut against Fiorentina, a team Aquilani has played against numerous times in Serie A is the perfect opportunity for him to convince Rafa he can be trusted against the might of teams like Blackburn, let’s hope he takes it and we get to see some creativity in our midfield at long last.

  • About the author

    Matt Ladson

    Matt is the co-editor of This Is Anfield. He grew up on a diet of Roy Evans football and yearns for the glory days to return to Anfield. Follow Matt on Twitter: @mattladson.

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  • Crimson flame(gg)

    ynwa!!You are completely right.There is no manager in the world who can do something with our problems!Injury,BAD OWNERS,bad luck,BAD OWNERS,BAD OWNERS, BAD OWNERS,BAD……………..

  • Crimson flame(gg)

    ynwa!!You are completely right.There is no manager in the world who can do something with our problems!Injury,BAD OWNERS,bad luck,BAD OWNERS,BAD OWNERS, BAD OWNERS,BAD……………..

  • marctick

    To be honest the owners have accommodated Rafa on many an occasions. If he chooses to spend his millions on Kuyt, Dossena Lucas, Babel, Riera that’s his choice, not the owners. Blaming the owners is easy but Rafa had a loyal attacking midfielder in Danny Murphy, a very promising and loyal left back in Stephen Warnock, a wonderful and loyal right back in Finnan a great foil for Torres in Peter Crouch, serviceable strikers in Craig Bellamy and Robbie Keane.
    Rafa chose to spend £40 million this summer on Johnson and Aquilani, to give away the promising Hobbs and buy Kyrgiakos for a further £2 million. Rafa chooses to play one of the best creative midfielders as a striker and then buy lesser quality strikers to fill Gerrard’s natural position rather than buy a replacement for Crouch’s/Bellamy’s/Keane’s position. Rafa spend’s too much time scribbling notes on players’ performances and not enough time evaluating his own, very poor choices.
    Rafa could have got Michael Owen for nothing on a pay-as-you-play contract but he let the more astute ferguson have him, even though Owen would have loved to come back. How could he lose out? And as it happens Owen bagged another 3 goals in mid-week. Rafa really is not up to the job.
    Liverpool have generally not played well under Benitez. We played poorly for much of last season and won many games courtesy of late goals from the indefatigable Stevie G.
    Rafa chooses to play carthorses like Kuyt and Lucas. The word industrious does not mean “effective” and the sooner Rafa gets a grip of this the sooner Liverpool might start to turn things around. Liverpool will only win the title with a different style of manager. As things stand, we have to dig around in the dirt for draws against Blackburn.
    Liverpool FC are dying a slow death under Benitez. Success for him is to finish in the top four. Perhaps success this year will be to finish in the Europa League placings. That isn’t good enough and true Liverpool fans expect more.
    As for the owners, they are culpable of a number of crimes, one of which is sticking by a manager who is not up to delivering the title.
    Please, Rafa, bow out gracefully.

  • marctick

    To be honest the owners have accommodated Rafa on many an occasions. If he chooses to spend his millions on Kuyt, Dossena Lucas, Babel, Riera that’s his choice, not the owners. Blaming the owners is easy but Rafa had a loyal attacking midfielder in Danny Murphy, a very promising and loyal left back in Stephen Warnock, a wonderful and loyal right back in Finnan a great foil for Torres in Peter Crouch, serviceable strikers in Craig Bellamy and Robbie Keane.
    Rafa chose to spend £40 million this summer on Johnson and Aquilani, to give away the promising Hobbs and buy Kyrgiakos for a further £2 million. Rafa chooses to play one of the best creative midfielders as a striker and then buy lesser quality strikers to fill Gerrard’s natural position rather than buy a replacement for Crouch’s/Bellamy’s/Keane’s position. Rafa spend’s too much time scribbling notes on players’ performances and not enough time evaluating his own, very poor choices.
    Rafa could have got Michael Owen for nothing on a pay-as-you-play contract but he let the more astute ferguson have him, even though Owen would have loved to come back. How could he lose out? And as it happens Owen bagged another 3 goals in mid-week. Rafa really is not up to the job.
    Liverpool have generally not played well under Benitez. We played poorly for much of last season and won many games courtesy of late goals from the indefatigable Stevie G.
    Rafa chooses to play carthorses like Kuyt and Lucas. The word industrious does not mean “effective” and the sooner Rafa gets a grip of this the sooner Liverpool might start to turn things around. Liverpool will only win the title with a different style of manager. As things stand, we have to dig around in the dirt for draws against Blackburn.
    Liverpool FC are dying a slow death under Benitez. Success for him is to finish in the top four. Perhaps success this year will be to finish in the Europa League placings. That isn’t good enough and true Liverpool fans expect more.
    As for the owners, they are culpable of a number of crimes, one of which is sticking by a manager who is not up to delivering the title.
    Please, Rafa, bow out gracefully.

  • marctick

    To be honest the owners have accommodated Rafa on many an occasions. If he chooses to spend his millions on Kuyt, Dossena Lucas, Babel, Riera that’s his choice, not the owners. Blaming the owners is easy but Rafa had a loyal attacking midfielder in Danny Murphy, a very promising and loyal left back in Stephen Warnock, a wonderful and loyal right back in Finnan a great foil for Torres in Peter Crouch, serviceable strikers in Craig Bellamy and Robbie Keane.
    Rafa chose to spend £40 million this summer on Johnson and Aquilani, to give away the promising Hobbs and buy Kyrgiakos for a further £2 million. Rafa chooses to play one of the best creative midfielders as a striker and then buy lesser quality strikers to fill Gerrard’s natural position rather than buy a replacement for Crouch’s/Bellamy’s/Keane’s position. Rafa spend’s too much time scribbling notes on players’ performances and not enough time evaluating his own, very poor choices.
    Rafa could have got Michael Owen for nothing on a pay-as-you-play contract but he let the more astute ferguson have him, even though Owen would have loved to come back. How could he lose out? And as it happens Owen bagged another 3 goals in mid-week. Rafa really is not up to the job.
    Liverpool have generally not played well under Benitez. We played poorly for much of last season and won many games courtesy of late goals from the indefatigable Stevie G.
    Rafa chooses to play carthorses like Kuyt and Lucas. The word industrious does not mean “effective” and the sooner Rafa gets a grip of this the sooner Liverpool might start to turn things around. Liverpool will only win the title with a different style of manager. As things stand, we have to dig around in the dirt for draws against Blackburn.
    Liverpool FC are dying a slow death under Benitez. Success for him is to finish in the top four. Perhaps success this year will be to finish in the Europa League placings. That isn’t good enough and true Liverpool fans expect more.
    As for the owners, they are culpable of a number of crimes, one of which is sticking by a manager who is not up to delivering the title.
    Please, Rafa, bow out gracefully.

  • marctick

    The second paragraph should read:

    Rafa chose to spend £40 million this summer on Johnson and Aquilani, to give away the promising Hobbs and buy Kyrgiakos for a further £2 million. Rafa chooses to play one of the best creative midfielders as a striker and then buy lesser quality midfielders to fill Gerrard’s natural position rather than buy a replacement for Crouch’s/Bellamy’s/Keane’s position. Rafa spends too much time scribbling notes on players’ performances and not enough time evaluating his own, very poor choices.

    Sorry.

  • marctick

    The second paragraph should read:

    Rafa chose to spend £40 million this summer on Johnson and Aquilani, to give away the promising Hobbs and buy Kyrgiakos for a further £2 million. Rafa chooses to play one of the best creative midfielders as a striker and then buy lesser quality midfielders to fill Gerrard’s natural position rather than buy a replacement for Crouch’s/Bellamy’s/Keane’s position. Rafa spends too much time scribbling notes on players’ performances and not enough time evaluating his own, very poor choices.

    Sorry.

  • rick

    Perfect post Marctick.
    I simply totally agree.
    True Liverpool fans are too tired by this embarassing poor managerial policy.

  • rick

    Perfect post Marctick.
    I simply totally agree.
    True Liverpool fans are too tired by this embarassing poor managerial policy.

  • rick

    Perfect post Marctick.
    I simply totally agree.
    True Liverpool fans are too tired by this embarassing poor managerial policy.

  • Finn

    dear marctick #34,

    as you seem to have so many strong opinions like this:

    “Liverpool have generally not played well under Benitez. We played poorly for much of last season and won many games courtesy of late goals from the indefatigable Stevie G.
    Rafa chooses to play carthorses like Kuyt and Lucas.”

    So can you tell me who made more late goals last season, Stevie or Kuyt? I’m pretty sure Kuyt did.

    Other thing about carhorse Kuyt. Compare his last season effort goals and assist to, hmm let’s say Ronaldo if we take out penalties and freekicks and tell me who was more effective.

    I recommend you to base your opinions on something. We have constantly been improving and just a few months ago finished 2nd, always strong at Europe. Now even swimming in a deep water it just doesn’t make sense to turn our backs to our manager. In your logic if we win one and Villa, Spurs and ManC lose one, we climb to 5th place and O’Neill, Redknapp, Hughes should all be sacked!

    YNWA!

  • Finn

    dear marctick #34,

    as you seem to have so many strong opinions like this:

    “Liverpool have generally not played well under Benitez. We played poorly for much of last season and won many games courtesy of late goals from the indefatigable Stevie G.
    Rafa chooses to play carthorses like Kuyt and Lucas.”

    So can you tell me who made more late goals last season, Stevie or Kuyt? I’m pretty sure Kuyt did.

    Other thing about carhorse Kuyt. Compare his last season effort goals and assist to, hmm let’s say Ronaldo if we take out penalties and freekicks and tell me who was more effective.

    I recommend you to base your opinions on something. We have constantly been improving and just a few months ago finished 2nd, always strong at Europe. Now even swimming in a deep water it just doesn’t make sense to turn our backs to our manager. In your logic if we win one and Villa, Spurs and ManC lose one, we climb to 5th place and O’Neill, Redknapp, Hughes should all be sacked!

    YNWA!

  • Finn

    dear marctick #34,

    as you seem to have so many strong opinions like this:

    “Liverpool have generally not played well under Benitez. We played poorly for much of last season and won many games courtesy of late goals from the indefatigable Stevie G.
    Rafa chooses to play carthorses like Kuyt and Lucas.”

    So can you tell me who made more late goals last season, Stevie or Kuyt? I’m pretty sure Kuyt did.

    Other thing about carhorse Kuyt. Compare his last season effort goals and assist to, hmm let’s say Ronaldo if we take out penalties and freekicks and tell me who was more effective.

    I recommend you to base your opinions on something. We have constantly been improving and just a few months ago finished 2nd, always strong at Europe. Now even swimming in a deep water it just doesn’t make sense to turn our backs to our manager. In your logic if we win one and Villa, Spurs and ManC lose one, we climb to 5th place and O’Neill, Redknapp, Hughes should all be sacked!

    YNWA!

  • marctick

    I’m not advocating the sacking of Redknapp, O’Neil or Hughes. But to suggest that Liverpool are good enough is blindness. Kuyt must score occasionally, he plays a hell of a lot of games. His first touch is poor and although he is playing his best football since arriving, that says more about how poor he has been previously. If you believe he is a better player than Ronaldo then frankly you deserve to have Rafa as your manager. With any luck Real will offer £85 million for Kuyt.
    Your opinions amaze me.

  • marctick

    I’m not advocating the sacking of Redknapp, O’Neil or Hughes. But to suggest that Liverpool are good enough is blindness. Kuyt must score occasionally, he plays a hell of a lot of games. His first touch is poor and although he is playing his best football since arriving, that says more about how poor he has been previously. If you believe he is a better player than Ronaldo then frankly you deserve to have Rafa as your manager. With any luck Real will offer £85 million for Kuyt.
    Your opinions amaze me.

  • marctick

    I’m not advocating the sacking of Redknapp, O’Neil or Hughes. But to suggest that Liverpool are good enough is blindness. Kuyt must score occasionally, he plays a hell of a lot of games. His first touch is poor and although he is playing his best football since arriving, that says more about how poor he has been previously. If you believe he is a better player than Ronaldo then frankly you deserve to have Rafa as your manager. With any luck Real will offer £85 million for Kuyt.
    Your opinions amaze me.

  • bruce

    i think finally he’s going to make more appearances. i also think our season is going to make a turn for the better starting now.

  • bruce

    i think finally he’s going to make more appearances. i also think our season is going to make a turn for the better starting now.

  • bruce

    i think finally he’s going to make more appearances. i also think our season is going to make a turn for the better starting now.

  • afaris

    true liverpool fans!? give me a break rick, you of all people have no right to call yourself a true fan when all you do is being negative and senseless (and no, critical is not the word for you lot,senseless is perfect)

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