Liverpool play the first match of their USA tour in the early hours of Thursday morning (00.30 UK) when they take on Italian side AS Roma at Fenway Park.
Brendan Rodgers’ men visit Boston, home of club owners Fenway Sports Group, for the second time in three seasons where they’ll play Roma in the first of four games on their USA trip, which also includes matches against AC Milan, Manchester City and Olympiakos.
Liverpool faced Roma two years ago as the Reds embarked on a first pre-season trip to the United States under FSG, a game in which the Italians ran out 2-1 winners at Fenway Park, the same venue in which the fixture will be played on Thursday morning.
Charlie Adam scored for Liverpool ten minutes from time that day for Rodgers’ side, grabbing a consolation goal after Michael Bradley and Alessandro Florenzi handed Roma a 2-0 lead.
Team News
Brendan Rodgers has named a large but highly talented 33-man squad for the pre-season trip which features all of the returning World Cup participants except Mamadou Sakho and Simon Mignolet, who will join the tour at a slightly later date instead due to a prolonged World Cup campaign.
All of the current new signings are included and will feature for Liverpool on the tour which will see Adam Lallana commence his Liverpool duties along with fellow newcomer Lazar Markovic, who was present at the Reds last outing at Preston but didn’t feature in the match.
The opening tour fixture is set to come too early for transfer targets Loic Remy and Dejan Lovren, even though reports continue to indicate that deals for both players are close to being finalised, with French striker Remy flying out to join up with the Liverpool party to undergo a medical.
With the fixture being the first of the trip and senior players back in the fold, the match is once again likely to see Rodgers utilise the depth of the squad available and use a whole host of players throughout the 90 minutes, as he eases the international players and new signings into the set-up.
However, while the senior players settle back in to proceedings, the exciting Jordon Ibe and Kristoffer Peterson will be looking to carry on their impressive early pre-season form as they hope to force their way into the managers’ immediate thoughts for the season ahead.
All of the squad appear injury free and at Rodgers’ disposal for the friendly but new midfield enforcer Emre Can, who has missed training in Boston, is set to miss the game after being withdrawn just 20 minutes into his first Liverpool outing at Deepdale last Saturday.
It’s unlikely that any of the World Cup players will be involved in the match, definitely not from the start, given that they only started training on Monday.
The Opposition
Manager Rudi Garcia, who joined the club in June 2013, guided Roma to their best league season in four years in his debut season in charge, setting a new record points total for the club and finishing runners-up in Serie A, therefore qualifying automatically for the oncoming Champions League group stage.
The Giallorossi squad features house-hold names throughout such as Francesco Totti and Danielle De Rossi and also boasts a number of familiar names to Premier League followers including ex-Arsenal man, Gervinho, former Man City right back, Maicon, ex-Fulham full back, Urby Emanuelson as well as two previously linked and reported Liverpool targets Kevin Strootman and recently signed ex-Chelsea left back, Ashley Cole.
Garcia’s team also consists of some top European talent alongside the senior squad figures, including Adam Ljajic, Miralem Pjanic and exciting new signing Juan Manuel Iturbe, who joined last week from Verona for a reported £17.4million and the Argentine could make his first appearance in a Roma shirt in the match.
The game, which will be shown live on BT Sport, also represents the first of four pre-season tour fixtures for Roma, who also take on Manchester United, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.
Match Details
Wednesday, 23rd July, 7.30pm (Eastern Time, USA) / Thursday, 24th July 00.30am (BST, UK)
TV: BT Sport (UK) / NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra (USA)
Liverpool play the first match of their USA tour in the early hours of Thursday morning (00.30 UK) when they take on Italian side AS Roma at Fenway Park.
Brendan Rodgers’ men visit Boston, home of club owners Fenway Sports Group, for the second time in three seasons where they’ll play Roma in the first of four games on their USA trip, which also includes matches against AC Milan, Manchester City and Olympiakos.
Liverpool faced Roma two years ago as the Reds embarked on a first pre-season trip to the United States under FSG, a game in which the Italians ran out 2-1 winners at Fenway Park, the same venue in which the fixture will be played on Thursday morning.
Charlie Adam scored for Liverpool ten minutes from time that day for Rodgers’ side, grabbing a consolation goal after Michael Bradley and Alessandro Florenzi handed Roma a 2-0 lead.
Team News
Brendan Rodgers has named a large but highly talented 33-man squad for the pre-season trip which features all of the returning World Cup participants except Mamadou Sakho and Simon Mignolet, who will join the tour at a slightly later date instead due to a prolonged World Cup campaign.
All of the current new signings are included and will feature for Liverpool on the tour which will see Adam Lallana commence his Liverpool duties along with fellow newcomer Lazar Markovic, who was present at the Reds last outing at Preston but didn’t feature in the match.
The opening tour fixture is set to come too early for transfer targets Loic Remy and Dejan Lovren, even though reports continue to indicate that deals for both players are close to being finalised, with French striker Remy flying out to join up with the Liverpool party to undergo a medical.
With the fixture being the first of the trip and senior players back in the fold, the match is once again likely to see Rodgers utilise the depth of the squad available and use a whole host of players throughout the 90 minutes, as he eases the international players and new signings into the set-up.
However, while the senior players settle back in to proceedings, the exciting Jordon Ibe and Kristoffer Peterson will be looking to carry on their impressive early pre-season form as they hope to force their way into the managers’ immediate thoughts for the season ahead.
All of the squad appear injury free and at Rodgers’ disposal for the friendly but new midfield enforcer Emre Can, who has missed training in Boston, is set to miss the game after being withdrawn just 20 minutes into his first Liverpool outing at Deepdale last Saturday.
It’s unlikely that any of the World Cup players will be involved in the match, definitely not from the start, given that they only started training on Monday.
The Opposition
Manager Rudi Garcia, who joined the club in June 2013, guided Roma to their best league season in four years in his debut season in charge, setting a new record points total for the club and finishing runners-up in Serie A, therefore qualifying automatically for the oncoming Champions League group stage.
The Giallorossi squad features house-hold names throughout such as Francesco Totti and Danielle De Rossi and also boasts a number of familiar names to Premier League followers including ex-Arsenal man, Gervinho, former Man City right back, Maicon, ex-Fulham full back, Urby Emanuelson as well as two previously linked and reported Liverpool targets Kevin Strootman and recently signed ex-Chelsea left back, Ashley Cole.
Garcia’s team also consists of some top European talent alongside the senior squad figures, including Adam Ljajic, Miralem Pjanic and exciting new signing Juan Manuel Iturbe, who joined last week from Verona for a reported £17.4million and the Argentine could make his first appearance in a Roma shirt in the match.
The game, which will be shown live on BT Sport, also represents the first of four pre-season tour fixtures for Roma, who also take on Manchester United, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.
Match Details
Wednesday, 23rd July, 7.30pm (Eastern Time, USA) / Thursday, 24th July 00.30am (BST, UK)
TV: BT Sport (UK) / NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra (USA)
Steven Gerrard announced his international retirement on Monday, following 14 years in an England shirt. Henry Jackson explains exactly why this decision is great news for Liverpool next season.
Since the turn of the century, Steven Gerrard has been an England player. That was until Monday, when the 34-year-old decided to hang up his boots at international level and concentrate solely on Liverpool.
He may never quite have hit the consistent heights that he has produced in a Reds shirt, but there hasn’t been a more committed, passionate performer in a Three Lions shirt over the last 14 years.
Gerrard’s decision is an extremely positive one for Liverpool, as it allows the skipper a number of crucial rest periods throughout the season now. At his age that is crucial.
He no longer has to deal with the strain and expectation of being England captain- he looked extremely jaded in Brazil- and with Champions League football returning to Anfield he has enough on his plate with Liverpool.
With age not on his side, it would have been mad for Gerrard to lead Roy Hodgson’s side into another assault on a major tournament. It was the perfect time to call it a day.
You only have to look at several other truly great England players who retired from international duty in order to prolong their club careers.
Reds legend Jamie Carragher called it a day at the age of 32, following the 2010 World Cup, deciding that it was pointless sitting on the England bench when he could be at home preparing for Liverpool matches.
You have to wonder whether Carragher would have enjoyed such a terrific resurgence in form in his final season at Anfield had he carried on playing for England.
Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes, unquestionably two of the finest English players of their generation, weren’t even 30 when they played their final game for the Three Lions in 2000 and 2004, respectively.
Both went on to play Premier League football for years, remaining key players during that time. It seems highly unlikely that they would have been as effective for so long had they kept playing internationally.
The same applies to Ryan Giggs, although admittedly playing for Wales wasn’t nearly as stressful or frequent as representing England.
2014/15 Fixtures
You only have to look at England’s 2014/15 fixture schedule to see how full-on Gerrard’s campaign would have been had he stayed on as England captain.
The Premier League season will be just a couple of weeks old when England start their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
A friendly with Norway (3rd September) and then their opening qualifier away to Switzerland (8th September) would have represented a needless distraction for Gerrard, who will instead have two weeks off between Liverpool’s trip to Tottenham (31st August) and the visit of Aston Villa (13th September).
The Champions League group stage also starts three days after the Villa match, which Gerrard is sure to play a pivotal part in.
The Three Lions then reconvene a month later for clashes with San Marino (9th October) and Estonia (12th October), which are sandwiched between a visit to West Brom (4th October) and a home game against newly-promoted QPR (19th October) for the Reds. The third group game of the Champions League will take place a few days later too.
A qualifier against Slovenia (15th November) at Wembley and a friendly away to Scotland (18th November) follow, and if Gerrard were still playing for England he would have to tackle a very tricky schedule around that time.
Prior to those two England games Liverpool entertain Chelsea (8th November) in a huge game that holds unhappy memories for the Reds skipper, before an equally haunting trip to Crystal Palace (23rd November) awaits following the Scotland game.
Selhurst Park is an extremely tough place to visit, as Liverpool found out all too painfully last season, and the last thing Brendan Rodgers would want for a physical game like this is a jaded Gerrard following two weeks of gruelling England duty.
It’s also worth noting that the penultimate group game of the Champions League is just a few days after the Palace game as well, which has every chance of being crucial for Liverpool.
England don’t play again until March, when they entertain Lithuania (27th March), and by this point the domestic season really will be at its business end.
On the Saturday before that game at Wembley, the Reds host Manchester United (21st March) in what is historically Liverpool’s biggest game of the season.
Then, the weekend after, Rodgers’ men travel to the Emirates to face an Arsenal side likely to be battling with Liverpool somewhere near the top of the table by that point in the campaign.
Whereas Gerrard would have had to report for international duty previously, between two huge league games, he will now have two weeks to recharge his batteries.
In total, the 34-year-old will avoid seven England games during the 2014/15 season, allowing himself four different sets of two-week breaks. That makes a huge difference for any 34-year-old at the top level.
The 114-time capped midfielder’s decision to end his international career should ensure he remains an integral part of Rodgers’ plans well into his 30s, emulating the likes of Carragher, Shearer, Scholes and Giggs in the process.
It’s terrific news for everyone associated with Liverpool Football Club.
How long do you think Steven Gerrard will remain a Liverpool player for? Let us know in the comments section.
Steven Gerrard announced his international retirement on Monday, following 14 years in an England shirt. Henry Jackson explains exactly why this decision is great news for Liverpool next season.
Since the turn of the century, Steven Gerrard has been an England player. That was until Monday, when the 34-year-old decided to hang up his boots at international level and concentrate solely on Liverpool.
He may never quite have hit the consistent heights that he has produced in a Reds shirt, but there hasn’t been a more committed, passionate performer in a Three Lions shirt over the last 14 years.
Gerrard’s decision is an extremely positive one for Liverpool, as it allows the skipper a number of crucial rest periods throughout the season now. At his age that is crucial.
He no longer has to deal with the strain and expectation of being England captain- he looked extremely jaded in Brazil- and with Champions League football returning to Anfield he has enough on his plate with Liverpool.
With age not on his side, it would have been mad for Gerrard to lead Roy Hodgson’s side into another assault on a major tournament. It was the perfect time to call it a day.
You only have to look at several other truly great England players who retired from international duty in order to prolong their club careers.
Reds legend Jamie Carragher called it a day at the age of 32, following the 2010 World Cup, deciding that it was pointless sitting on the England bench when he could be at home preparing for Liverpool matches.
You have to wonder whether Carragher would have enjoyed such a terrific resurgence in form in his final season at Anfield had he carried on playing for England.
Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes, unquestionably two of the finest English players of their generation, weren’t even 30 when they played their final game for the Three Lions in 2000 and 2004, respectively.
Both went on to play Premier League football for years, remaining key players during that time. It seems highly unlikely that they would have been as effective for so long had they kept playing internationally.
The same applies to Ryan Giggs, although admittedly playing for Wales wasn’t nearly as stressful or frequent as representing England.
2014/15 Fixtures
You only have to look at England’s 2014/15 fixture schedule to see how full-on Gerrard’s campaign would have been had he stayed on as England captain.
The Premier League season will be just a couple of weeks old when England start their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
A friendly with Norway (3rd September) and then their opening qualifier away to Switzerland (8th September) would have represented a needless distraction for Gerrard, who will instead have two weeks off between Liverpool’s trip to Tottenham (31st August) and the visit of Aston Villa (13th September).
The Champions League group stage also starts three days after the Villa match, which Gerrard is sure to play a pivotal part in.
The Three Lions then reconvene a month later for clashes with San Marino (9th October) and Estonia (12th October), which are sandwiched between a visit to West Brom (4th October) and a home game against newly-promoted QPR (19th October) for the Reds. The third group game of the Champions League will take place a few days later too.
A qualifier against Slovenia (15th November) at Wembley and a friendly away to Scotland (18th November) follow, and if Gerrard were still playing for England he would have to tackle a very tricky schedule around that time.
Prior to those two England games Liverpool entertain Chelsea (8th November) in a huge game that holds unhappy memories for the Reds skipper, before an equally haunting trip to Crystal Palace (23rd November) awaits following the Scotland game.
Selhurst Park is an extremely tough place to visit, as Liverpool found out all too painfully last season, and the last thing Brendan Rodgers would want for a physical game like this is a jaded Gerrard following two weeks of gruelling England duty.
It’s also worth noting that the penultimate group game of the Champions League is just a few days after the Palace game as well, which has every chance of being crucial for Liverpool.
England don’t play again until March, when they entertain Lithuania (27th March), and by this point the domestic season really will be at its business end.
On the Saturday before that game at Wembley, the Reds host Manchester United (21st March) in what is historically Liverpool’s biggest game of the season.
Then, the weekend after, Rodgers’ men travel to the Emirates to face an Arsenal side likely to be battling with Liverpool somewhere near the top of the table by that point in the campaign.
Whereas Gerrard would have had to report for international duty previously, between two huge league games, he will now have two weeks to recharge his batteries.
In total, the 34-year-old will avoid seven England games during the 2014/15 season, allowing himself four different sets of two-week breaks. That makes a huge difference for any 34-year-old at the top level.
The 114-time capped midfielder’s decision to end his international career should ensure he remains an integral part of Rodgers’ plans well into his 30s, emulating the likes of Carragher, Shearer, Scholes and Giggs in the process.
It’s terrific news for everyone associated with Liverpool Football Club.
How long do you think Steven Gerrard will remain a Liverpool player for? Let us know in the comments section.
