Rest and Recovery Key for Reds

Managers can often come up with lame excuses whenever their team falls short in a match, and normally tiredness is one that is valued as derisory when the majority of fans feel footballers have the life of Riley.

Whilst I don’t want to engage in a debate over whether this is true or not, although I certainly believe footballers are in a more privileged position, it is without doubt that footballers do work and train hard and have to manage themselves physically and mentally for games, with the right food, warm-ups, etc.

When Liverpool came unstuck this weekend in a 0-0 draw against Blackburn Rovers, it was fairly obvious early on that Liverpool were not at their free-flowing best.

While lots of credit should go to the staunch Blackburn organisation and defence, Liverpool lacked ideas and looked sluggish and laboured. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers then came out with the assertion that for his players this was one game too far in what had been a hectic schedule. Fatigue, arguably more mental than physical, was a legitimate factor in this case.

The Reds have had to play nine fixtures in 37 days since the end of January and this is an average of roughly one match every four days, effectively midweek games for three weeks in the month.

This has come about by having to juggle across four competitions as a top four challenge continues to be mounted in the league, while also Liverpool had to contend with the Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup.

Rodgers’ men have been in fine form across this period, now only two points behind fourth placed Manchester United having been ten points adrift in December, reaching the League Cup semi-finals and still being in with a chance of making the same stage and even further in the FA Cup.

Yet by crashing out of Europe and with the League Cup done and dusted, the fixture congestion for Liverpool is clearing up, and weekly matches will become the norm again, although the Reds haven’t made it any easier for themselves with the Blackburn draw meaning a replay in April at Ewood Park.

Of course it’s disappointing that, given Liverpool’s proud European heritage, they were unable to get to the last 16 of the Champions League in a favourable group and then proceeded to lose at the very first knockout hurdle of the Europa League to Besiktas. But to win that competition would have required playing seven more fixtures alongside the FA Cup and Premier League, and would have meant midweek fixtures for the rest of the season.

For Liverpool, this would have been incredibly draining given that they only just went over the 40 game mark last season and they have had to deal with a number of injuries throughout the season, causing some players to suffer burnout at different points of the campaign.

For instance, Raheem Sterling’s holiday to Jamaica was to ensure that he would remain fresh until the end of the season because he was playing so regularly.

Rodgers invested the funds generated from the sale of Luis Suarez towards building a bigger squad with European football, yet the injuries have meant little chance for non-forced rotation.

The players that have come in recently, in contrast to the earlier months of the season, have been performing brilliantly, such as Joe Allen, Dejan Lovren (to an extent) and even Emre Can could be included in this as he came into the side in December, when Liverpool started to turn things around, and the young German hasn’t looked back since.

However, the likes of Steven Gerrard, Mamadou Sakho, Jon Flanagan, Lucas Leiva and Jordan Ibe are all struggling with injuries at the moment and Liverpool really need the squad back up to full health to ensure continuing competition for places and that everyone remains fresh until the end of the season, which is especially important for the Reds with their high energy, intense pressing game.

Fortunately, both Gerrard and Sakho are close to a return while Flanagan and Lucas are on the horizon, but Jordan Ibe will remain out of action for a while yet. It is incredible that, having been barely a member of the squad last summer and shipped out on loan to Derby County, he has returned to Anfield in January on the back of some very impressive and consistent performances and gone straight into the side, as if he were a major January signing.

Crucially though, he has merited the faith of Rodgers by making that right wing-back spot his own, completely overshadowing Lazar Markovic and showing already what we are missing with his absence, having only had him back for a couple of months.

The other positions have been covered extremely well but Markovic has struggled this season and therefore a speedy recovery for Ibe would be greatly beneficial for Liverpool and their top four pursuit.

Overall though, if everyone can stay clear of injury in this final phase of the season and take advantage of the extra rest between games, then the Reds certainly have the form to ensure a successful end to the season.