Hodgson sees Liverpool’s Torres improving with every game
Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson reckons the club can now reap the benefits of using Fernando Torres sparingly as he recovered from knee surgery.
Torres returned to Merseyside this season carrying a groin injury suffered in Spain's World Cup triumph over Holland.
But the 26 year old striker is approaching peak condition and the Reds boss is predicting big things, beginning against the Birmingham on Sunday.
"It's a good sign," Hodgson told The Liverpool Echo. "He's a goalscorer, he's a quality player and is someone we were desperate to keep at the club because if you are going to have a good season, you are going to need players like him.
"It's going to take him a bit more time to get over the injury he had before the World Cup and the one he sustained in the final but he is working very, very hard and he has a good relationship with the Sports Science department. I trust them to together to do what is right for him."
Hodgson expressed his relief that Torres, who scored a brace for Spain in their Euro 2012 qualifier last Friday, was an unused substitute in the World champions' friendly defeat to Argentina.
"They explained it wasn't possible for him to skip the trip. If he'd done that then a lot of other big name players, like Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas might have wanted to skip it as well," he added.
"Through fairness they felt obliged to take everybody, but the fact he played no part in the game hopefully means he will come back in good shape and be able to work with us instead.
"I spoke to the coach, Vicente del Bosque through Fernando Hierro and luckily they listened to my plea not to over play him."
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Results & Fixtures
Matches
| Home | Away | Score | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun May 13th | |||
| West Bromwich Albion | Arsenal | 2 - 3 | 14:00 |
| Everton | Newcastle United | 3 - 1 | 14:00 |
| Sunderland | Manchester United | - 1 | 14:00 |
| Wigan Athletic | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 3 - 2 | 14:00 |
| Manchester City | Queens Park Rangers | 3 - 2 | 14:00 |
| Swansea City | Liverpool | 14:00 | |
| Norwich City | Aston Villa | 14:00 | |
| Tottenham Hotspur | Fulham | 14:00 | |
| Chelsea | Blackburn Rovers | 2 - 1 | 14:00 |
| Stoke City | Bolton Wanderers | 2 - 2 | 14:00 |
Tables
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester City | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 64 | 89 |
| Manchester United | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 56 | 89 |
| Arsenal | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 25 | 70 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 25 | 69 |
| Newcastle United | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 65 |
| Chelsea | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 19 | 64 |
| Everton | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 56 |
| Liverpool | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 52 |
| Fulham | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | -3 | 52 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | -7 | 47 |
| Swansea City | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | -7 | 47 |
| Norwich City | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | -14 | 47 |
| Sunderland | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | -1 | 45 |
| Stoke City | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | -17 | 45 |
| Wigan Athletic | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | -20 | 43 |
| Aston Villa | 38 | 7 | 17 | 14 | -16 | 38 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 38 | 10 | 7 | 21 | -23 | 37 |
| Bolton Wanderers | 38 | 10 | 6 | 22 | -31 | 36 |
| Blackburn Rovers | 38 | 8 | 7 | 23 | -30 | 31 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 38 | 5 | 10 | 23 | -42 | 25 |
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- May 28 England World Cup winner Banks critical of time taken to appoint Hodgson
- May 28 Liverpool ace Gerrard: England will improve under Hodgson
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Comments (4)
Robbo ur jst a big idiot without d right 2 ever comment on soccer cos u dnt knw ish abt it
Robbo ur jst a big idiot without d right 2 ever comment on soccer cos u dnt knw ish abt it
Robbo NY, you are what many people would call an absolute ***** wit. If you don't have a brain to write anything that makes sense, just don't bother at all.
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