RAFAEL BENITEZ is to ask his former Real Madrid mentor, Vicente Del Bosque, to reassess Fernando Torres' training methods with Spain following the Liverpool striker's latest hamstring injury.
Torres will miss today's visit of Wigan Athletic to Anfield, Wednesday's emotive Champions League return to his former club, Atletico Madrid, and probably next Sunday's trip to Chelsea after lasting only 16 minutes of Spain's midweek World Cup qualifying win over Belgium. Liverpool's record signing has suffered three hamstring strains with Spain since he moved to Anfield but only one during that time for his club.
While Benitez has absolved Del Bosque, the Spanish national coach, of any blame for Torres' international injury record, he believes his compatriots must pinpoint the source of the discrepancy. The Liverpool manager said: "There is a new manager with a new fitness coach (with Spain). They were asking Torres before the game how he felt and he told them, 'Better than ever', so I cannot blame them."
Benitez admitted the loss of Torres, Martin Skrtel, who suffered a cruciate injury against Manchester City, plus the international break, has left him "worried" about today's encounter, but he refused to discuss reports linking him with a January move for the Wigan striker and Anfield old boy Emile Heskey.
Joe Kinnear yesterday endorsed Kevin Keegan's concerns about the slenderness of Newcastle United's squad and said signing five new players during the January transfer window was imperative.
By the time the first window of 2009 opens Newcastle may be under new ownership but, even if Mike Ashley, the owner, has failed to find a buyer, Kinnear feels he will have no option but to invest in new players.
"Does the squad need strengthening in January?" mused Keegan's interim successor. "Absolutely. I would say we need five players. We are starting to analyse the squad and make a list of areas where we need to improve."
Kinnear will be without Michael Owen, who has a groin strain, on Monday night when Manchester City visit St James' Park and remains unsure as to whether Obafemi Martins and Jonas Gutierrez will be fit.
Meanwhile, Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack has undergone surgery on both feet, the German football federation announced.
The Germany captain had the operation in Augsburg yesterday after complaining of pain in his feet after Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Wales.
The German FA confirmed the 32-year-old had an operation to remove a neuroma - a benign nerve tumour - from both feet.
The surgery passed without complications, and Ballack should be back training in two weeks.
Guardian Service
