[lfc-news] Crouch here to help banish away-day blues - Post

Liverpool Daily Post, 20 July 2005
Crouch here to help banish away-day blues
By David Prior, Daily Post

RAFAEL BENITEZ last night admitted Liverpool's damaging away form was
the main reason behind his pursuit of £7million capture Peter Crouch.

The 6ft 7in striker will join up with his new team-mates at their Swiss
training camp later today should he complete a medical on Merseyside
this morning.

A four-year deal was agreed yesterday for the Southampton striker,
completing an extraordinary turnaround for a player loaned out to
Norwich from Aston Villa only two years ago. And Benitez, after watching
his side seal a 6-0 aggregate win over battling TNS in their Champions
League first round second leg, pinpointed his side's fragility on the
road last season as the thinking behind 24-year-old Crouch's arrival.

The Spaniard said: "He is very good in the air, he can keep the ball and
he always knows what to do with the ball.

"When a team loses 11 games away from home in the Premier-ship, you need
to change things. With Crouch we will have another option and in some
games, that may mean we score the kind of goals we did not score last
season."

Crouch travelled up to Merseyside last night having been withdrawn from
Southampton's friendly squad at near neighbours Eastleigh without
manager Harry Redknapp's knowledge.

The two clubs were finally able to agree on a fee of around £7m, with
the south coast club having originally knocked back Liverpool's opening
£6m offer.

And Benitez added: "Now we have Le Tallec, Garcia, Baros, Cisse,
Morientes and Crouch, so we have more options.

"We must select from those players so they must work hard. So that is
good for me this early in the season, the competitiveness will be good
for us."

After his hat-trick in the first leg, substitute Steven Gerrard was
again the standout player for the Merseysiders, claiming two late goals
to put some gloss on an otherwise underwhelming display at Wrexham's
Racecourse Ground.

Djibril Cisse had claimed a first-half opener, but Ken McKenna's League
of Wales champions were just as doughty as they had been at Anfield
almost snatching an equaliser through sub Marc Lloyd-Williams's
disallowed strike.

"We played really well in the first half at Anfield and today we
controlled the first half also," said Benitez. "But it is difficult to
stay at a high tempo when you are winning 4-0, it's not easy to stay
focused on the game.

"I brought Steven on because he can change the game and after three in
the first round I thought he could get another. I hope he can get more
this season because with Xabi (Alonso) and Momo (Sissoko) around him he
will be able to get forward more."

Benitez would not comment on reports claiming Luis Figo was finally on
the verge of sealing his move from Real Madrid, insisting: "We don't
have any news."

He also denied that Liverpool had been in contact with another Bernabeu
star, Michael Owen, over a possible move back to Anfield, but hinted he
would be prepared to let fellow striker Milan Baros - left out of last
night's squad - go at the right price.

"I am working with my team and if we receive some offers, it may be that
they (players) can go but it depends on the offers."

Meanwhile, Liverpool are bracing themselves for a storm of criticism
from Australia over their medical treatment of Harry Kewell as the
Anfield star undergoes his second operation of the summer.

Kewell last kicked a ball for Liverpool in the Champions League final in
Istanbul, and had to be replaced by Vladimir Smicer before the break.

A shattered Kewell had an operation soon after the final to repair an
adductor muscle tear.

Now, with the season just a few weeks away, Kewell entered hospital
again yesterday for a hernia operation.

Unsubscribe: lfc-news-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
http://www.lfc-list.org.uk/

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lfc-news/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
lfc-news-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/