EVER the professional, it seems Rafael Benitez’s only concession to the notion of a pre-season friendly match is to prowl the technical area resplendent in a pair of jeans.
There is little chance of the Liverpool manager taking a similarly casual attitude to his team’s preparations for the coming campaign.
But while the latest stage of that warm-up programme saw the Anfield outfit further stretch their muscles with a testing workout against Wisla Krakow on Saturday, it has been impossible for Benitez to gauge any accurate assessment of the state of his squad.
Already without the Euro 2008-winning Spanish contingent of Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Arbeloa and Pepe Reina, Benitez has missed Steven Gerrard for the last two friendlies with the skipper having flown home before the weekend 1-1 draw nursing a groin problem.
Those five will again be absent tomorrow for the clash with Hertha Berlin in Germany, Liverpool’s final fixture before they head back to Melwood for a further period of intensive training.
Pre-season is often notoriously deceptive, but particularly so this season with so many of his expected first-team regulars as yet unavailable.
“We’ve had a lot of players away and it has made a difference,” admitted Benitez. “Hopefully we will have everybody available soon and with the big names back we can do better.”
There was once a time when the pre-season process of shaking the ring-rust from the players, building fitness, bedding in summer signings and experimenting with tactics was a mystical matter to all but the most loyal, hardy supporters.
Not any more. Nowadays, almost every friendly is built up to be an ‘event’, when in reality they are very rarely anything of the sort. Saturday’s game was a painful example of why pre-season encounters and live television coverage should not be mixed.
As a spectacle, it was woeful. Indeed, the most memorable moment was when a photographer, desperate for some entertainment, proceeded to knock over half of the advertising boards behind one goal.
With Fribourg’s intimate Stade-St Leonard slowly cooking under the heat of the Swiss summer sun, the game at times was reduced to walking pace, the raft of absentees making the evening close to a glorified training session for Liverpool.
Having undertaken intensive training sessions the previous day and on the morning of the game, it was hardly surprising Liverpool tired noticeably quicker than their opponents with no player lasting the full 90 minutes.
Polish champions Wisla, preparing for a Champions League qualifier next week, were noticeably the sharper and offered a far greater challenge than either Tranmere or FC Lucerne.
Philipp Degen, so unconvincing on his debut last Wednesday, also missed out with a minor groin problem and it’s a touch alarming that youngster Stephen Darby seemed far more effective in a defensive role than his Swiss colleague.
Benitez’s other new full-back, Andrea Dossena, was given clearance to make his first appearance on the left side of defence. And, as with Degen, the early signs weren’t particularly encouraging.
