Harry Kewells come back

[Monkeywool]

I maintain that Harry is by far the most skillful left winger we have at the club, those injuries he has had have been horrific, and for one reason or another, (maybe to prove himself to the scathing hordes of numpties accusing him of everything from stealing wages to not caring, or maybe just because he cares about the team and wants to play) he played most of his liverpool career carrying injuries.

I have all the time in the world for Kewell and if we are going to go and win the champions league we will need some magic from him in one of those 3 games we have left because we are already going to miss lil Luis.

[SouthAfricaRed]

Harry's like a brother in Jail - We all love him, but we dont talk about it

[DeeGame]

Looks like they chopped his left leg off from below the knee

[AFII]

[tsb]

Aussies want Kewell for Asian Cup

From RAWK:

In today's Sydney Morning Herald:

AUSTRALIA'S Asian Cup campaign has received a boost with injured Socceroos stars Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill on track for full fitness in time for the tournament's kick-off.

Liverpool officials are coy about officially announcing a return date for Kewell but club manager Rafael Benitez is hoping to unleash the Australian as his secret weapon against Chelsea for the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.

Kewell's initial proposed comeback, a reserves game against Sheffield United early this month, was postponed until the Australian reached what Liverpool assistant coach Pako Ayestaran described as "Olympic" fitness levels.

A super-fit Kewell is now looking at being given a Premier League test run against Portsmouth next Saturday or a reserves outing against Everton two days later before the May 1 showdown with Chelsea at Anfield.

"Harry is progressing towards full fitness and continues to progress very well," a Liverpool spokesperson told The Sun-Herald.

"We won't put a time scale on this because the doctors and physios want him to be fully fit and happy in his own mind.

"We have two home games and two away games left in the Premiership and then Chelsea over two legs in the Champions League and the possibility of the final. There is also one reserve game, which is the last one of the season."

Despite Liverpool's official line, The Sun-Herald understands medical staff have given Kewell the green light and his comeback is now in the hands of Ayestaran, Rafael Benitez's Spanish assistant.

With Liverpool assured of finishing within the Premier League's top four positions - and automatically qualifying for the Champions League next year - the club is focusing on the semi-final with Chelsea.

With an eye on those two crucial games, to be played on Wednesday and the following Tuesday, Ayestaran is understood to have postponed Kewell's comeback until the Socceroo can reach top level in a series of scientifically analysed Olympic-style training drills.

Benitez rates Kewell highly and, although he has missed the entire campaign to date, now sees him as the equivalent of a late-season star signing. Kewell had several days off during the week to recover from tough workouts but reported no problems from his previously troublesome toe or major reactions after surgery in Australia last year.

Kewell, 28, credits Australian doctors for solving injury problems that have dogged him since an Achilles operation in the UK in 2001.

Within a month in September, Kewell had a hip adjustment by David Young in Melbourne, a toe and ankle and tendon scrape by Kim Slater in Sydney, and groin and adductor tendon surgery by John Garvey in Sydney. He had had groin and hernia surgery in 2005 in the UK.

More good news for Socceroos coach Graham Arnold is that, across town, Cahill is on track to make the Asian Cup, although he broke his foot in March.

"Tim is progressing well with his recovery and we fully expect him to take part in the Asian Cup this year and be ready for our pre- season," an Everton spokesman told The Sun-Herald.

In a turnaround for English clubs, Liverpool and Everton now see value in having their star players participate in the off-season Asian Cup in July, even if there remains a degree of self-interest.

Because both players have missed significant parts, if not all, of the Premier League season, high-level competitive game time with the Socceroos at the Asian Cup is seen as a bonus for their recovery program.

Kewell is known to be determined to play at the Asian Cup, in which Australia have been drawn in a group with Oman, Iraq, and Thailand.

Kewell last kicked a ball in serious competition during the World Cup against Croatia in Stuttgart last June.

Importantly for Socceroos coach Arnold, Kewell and Cahill will come into the tournament fresh and hungry for action, unlike several of their World Cup colleagues, some of whom have had three gruelling years without significant breaks.

From the beginning of the 2004-05 European season, many Socceroos then played the 2005 Confederations Cup, the 2006 World Cup, and then will play in the Asian Cup - a chain broken only by the slog of their regular club seasons.

While Kewell and Cahill appear clear, injury concerns cloud other players before the Asian tournament and home friendly matches against Uruguay and Argentina.

Vince Grella played off the bench for Parma's 2-0 win over Fiorentina during the week after being out with a knee injury for several months and key defender Craig Moore was substituted after just 30 minutes as Newcastle United were beaten by Portsmouth.

Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder later conceded Moore was not ready for Premiership action after a lay-off with a hamstring injury.

Injuries and increased match schedules, which lead to often taxing travel itineraries, have confirmed Arnold's opinion that the pool of players making up future Socceroos squads will be widened.

"We have to look at a group of about 35 players rather than relying on the same core of around 15 that we have in the past," he said.

[Craig_H]

A super-fit Kewell

Best oxymoron i've ever heard...

[anfieldanfield]

Any chance of Kewell getting a few minutes on Saturday ?

[Jack D Rips]

Best oxymoron i've ever heard...

Super my arse. Its "Olympic"

[thesilverfoxlfc]

Can we sell him to them???

[memzey]

If he plays for Australia this summer we should sack him, simple as. If he has anythng other than being in A1 condition for the start of next season on his mind in the summer, he is a complete waste of space IMHO.

[bazza76]

If he plays for Australia this summer we should sack him, simple as. If he has anythng other than being in A1 condition for the start of next season on his mind in the summer, he is a complete waste of space IMHO.

MY first reaction was, don;t you dare go to the Asian Cup Harry, and get injured again. But it could as the article says be a blessing in disguise. If he gets injured again playing it, we will know 99% that his Liverpool days are over, if they are not already.

[Flake]

Within a month in September, Kewell had a hip adjustment by David Young in Melbourne, a toe and ankle and tendon scrape by Kim Slater in Sydney, and groin and adductor tendon surgery by John Garvey in Sydney. He had had groin and hernia surgery in 2005 in the UK.

People say he's lazy... I wonder how much I'd feel like playing football after all this surgery.

Perhaps people ought to be a bit more aware of this when they start carrying on about how he's ripped us off.

[RoadEnd]

What are the odds for him recovering in time to play the first 20 minutes of the CL Final - and then realising he's still actually not fit.

[El Jefecito]

Any chance of Kewell getting a few minutes on Saturday ?

Let's hope so. Bad feelings aside, he is still our best option on the left side of midfield.

[FatTony]

Sounds like a fair swap