Sami Hyypia backs Liverpool's rotation policy

Sep 24 2007 By Chris Beesley, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL defender Sami Hyypia has backed manager Rafael Benitez’s rotation policy after the goalless draw with Birmingham on Saturday.

Although he only made two changes to the starting line-up from the previous game in Porto, Benitez came in for criticism from some quarters for leaving star striker Fernando Torres on the bench for the first hour against a stubborn Birmingham outfit but Hyypia endorses his manager’s rotation system.

He said: “The first time the manager tells us about the team is an hour and half before the game. But sometimes after the meeting at Melwood he’ll tell some individual players that they are playing.

“Everybody knows that the manager likes to rotate, and he isn’t going to change his style. Nobody said anything about that at the beginning of the season when we were winning games.

“But because we’ve drawn a few games people have started to talk about it again. It’s silly because that’s his style and he’s not going to change it.”

Hyypia, who turns 34 in a couple of weeks’ time, also believes that the Spaniard’s rotation policy can be beneficial for a veteran player like himself, ensuring that he remains fresh when he is needed.

He said: “It’s the manager’s decision whether I play or not. But I’m not 20 years old any more and the recovery time isn’t the same as when I was younger. But I’m always ready when he needs me.

“The unfortunate injury to Danny (Agger) means I’m going to get some games now. I’m not very happy with the way I get them as I would prefer Danny to be fit and help the team.”

Hyypia concurred with his manager Rafael Benitez in believing that a failure to net the first goal at Anfield cost their side dearly against Birmingham.

In their previous home game, Liverpool thrashed Derby County after Xabi Alonso had put them ahead in the first half but Saturday’s goalless stalemate was Benitez’s side’s third draw in a row and Hyypia admitted that it is difficult the longer the game goes on if you fail to score the first goal, especially when teams sit back in search of a draw.

He said: “It was quite frustrating. We created some chances but not enough to score a goal. But when you keep a clean sheet then you get the one point when you can’t score.

“There are many teams that will come to play like that and be happy to leave with a goalless draw.

“Maybe we need not figure out how to break them down earlier and get the early goal like we did against Derby, when after the first goal it was pretty easy.

“Scoring is more difficult than keeping a clean sheet. Every game in the Premier League is a hard game whoever you play against. We don’t underestimate anyone and just try to do our job.”

Meanwhile, Birmingham manager Steve Bruce, who has yet to taste defeat against Benitez in the Premier League, was delighted with his side’s resolve.

He said: “We deserved something out of the game. We set out or game plan, frustrated them and played three in midfield and at the death we might have nicked it if we’d had just a bit more cutting edge.

“Overall, our goalkeeper has produced one really good save from Voronin but other than that it was a pretty comfortable afternoon for him.”