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MICHEL VORM admits he would relish the opportunity to be reunited with Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool.
A news article on 2013-04-19 07:00:00 from: Liverpool Echo
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This news item has been reproduced from today’s media. It does not necessarily represent the opinion of Kop That.
Swansea’s Dutch international goalkeeper Michel Vorm is poised to agree a new four-year contract at the Liberty Stadium, ending speculation about his future. Michel Vorm has established an impressive reputation in his brief time in English football (Picture: Reuters) The 28-year-old was voted player of the year last season, his first in south Wales, following his arrival from Utrecht for £1.5m, and had been linked a move to Liverpool, following manager Brendan Rodgers and former team-mate Joe Allen to Anfield. But it now appears that Vorm will pledge his future to the club in the next few days. When asked about the prospect of moving away at the end of last season, Vorm said ‘My family loves it here. I cannot imagine that I’ll leave the club after one season especially after the way we’ve performed’. The Swans will hope that securing Vorm’s signature might encourage Welsh international defenders Ashley Williams and Neil Taylor to follow suit and sign new contracts. Swansea have won two of the first four Premier League games this season, and currently lie fifth in the table.
A news article on 2012-09-20 12:14:00 from: The Metro
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A SELECT group of Liverpool FC fans took on FC Utrecht supporters in a football match, raising cash for the Hillsborough Justice Campaign & The Dirk Kuyt Foundation.
A news article on 2012-06-01 23:00:00 from: Liverpool Echo
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Fernando Torres could be in line to to build on his 45minutes of European football so far this season, as Roy Hodgson has named a much stronger squad than used in previous Europa outings for the Reds trip to Utrecht.
Captain and driving force Steven Gerrard (rested) and Daniel Agger (groin) are the biggest names missing from Hodgson’s squad for their 2nd game of the group stage but Liverpool are likely to opt for more experience in their starting line up in Holland, as both Dirk Kuyt, a former Utrecht player himself and Ryan Babel hope to impress in their homeland.
The biggest question for Liverpool at this moment in time remains as to who will fill the void at left back as Fabio Aurelio, Paul Konchesky and Daniel Agger are all presently sidelined with minor knocks, Hodgson is likely to turn to either Martin Kelly or Glen Johnson on the night as cover. Roy Hodgson covered some of the decisions he had made with the travelling squad in the pre-match press conference.
Hodgson on Gerrard:
“Steven Gerrard we’re sparing because he has a lot of games and we’re always concerned that if he plays three games in a week we might lose him for a longer period. Luckily we have quite a few options in midfield.”
“Gerrard was the only one of our first-team squad that we discussed in terms of should he or shouldn’t he play and that has to do with the fact he suffers from back pain.”
“I’ve got 23 fit players to choose from and I’ve chosen to leave one out because he’s a very important player for us in the next 40-odd games if we are going to do well.”
“At the moment Steven Gerrard is fit. If this had been a decisive game in the group and we needed a positive result to get us through he would have played. We play six games in the group and this is only the second.”
Hodgson on Torres:
“I think the injury problems are behind him now. I don’t think we can consistently bring up the injury problems.”
“There’s no reason now to separate him from the rest of the group.”
“He’s been recovered from the injury which kept him out of the end of last season since the start of the World Cup. The injury he picked up in the final was a minor injury which had cleared up by the time he came back for pre-season training, albeit he came back late.”
“We have been keeping a close eye on him. We have been trying to monitor his progress and not throw him in the deep end too soon.”
“Quite frankly I wouldn’t dream of playing him on Thursday night if I didn’t think he could play on Sunday as well. But I haven’t selected him for Thursday night yet!”
Hodgson on Agger:
“We thought at first it was a groin strain but he’s gone for an MRI at lunch time today. I haven’t received the results of that yet.”
“The injury hasn’t responded as well as we hoped it would. Initially, on Monday, when he came into training we thought he’d recover for this game.”
“He hasn’t, so at the moment there is a question mark over Sunday’s game.”
Hodgson also added on the difference of the squad named for this midweek fixture, compared to the side that he selected to face Northampton, which ultimately crashed out of the Carling Cup last week.
“If you’re playing against Northampton and it’s 1-1 and you’re not playing very well, and you’re desperate to change the game around, and then you look around and you realise you’ve given all the first-team players time off – maybe that’s one of the things that has affected my thinking.
“I learned a lot of things last week!”
While Liverpool fans will be more positive over the squad selection compared to that of recent midweek ventures, all eyes until kick off ,will be on who makes the starting eleven and the formation in which they are deployed. Liverpool are looking for their 6th European win in a row and hope will remain that it can achieved with an element of flair at times, regardless of being an away venue. The talent is certainly in the ranks to achieve it.
Liverpool Squad: Reina, Jones, Johnson, Kelly, Kyrgiakos, Skrtel, Carragher, Shelvey, Poulsen, Lucas, Rodriguez, Spearing, Babel, Meireles, Jovanovic, Cole, Kuyt, Eccleston, Ngog, Torres.
Image Source: Action Images/Reuters
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Thursday see’s a return to Europa League matters for Liverpool FC as Roy Hodgson and his side go in search of a 6th straight European win in Utrecht.
Liverpool will be looking to improve on last week’s midweek outing, which culminated in defeat at the hands of Northampton Town and Roy Hodgson is expected to field a side with a greater level of experience to help try and ensure Liverpool’s progression in the tournament with one cup route now dead and buried. Dirk Kuyt will be hoping to see his name on the team sheet as he builds up match fitness following a couple of weeks out with a shoulder injury. The Dutchman will also hope to play from a sentimental perspective, after spending 5 years at Utrecht at the start of this senior career, where he went on to score 51 goals in 160 appearances for the club.
Liverpool travel with few injury issues, but the game will see another change at left back as Fabio Aurelio continues his carefully monitored recovery from a minor achilles injury and Paul Konchesky is troubled by a hamstring problem, after lasting just 28mins against Sunderland at the weekend.
Roy Hodgson has already expressed his increased happiness, at the way in which some of his players are starting to gel together, hinting that it could be a second successive run out for striker Fernando Torress who continues to search for form, fitness and an increase in his goals tally.
“It’s on my mind to play Torres, Raul Meireles and Dirk Kuyt on Thursday,” he said. “I think they’re knitting together well.”
David Ngog will be certainly looking to feature in the game though, as he looks to build on the 5 goals he has already scored in the competition so far. Despite Liverpool’s stuttering start to the season, the talented young striker already has seven goals in total to his name. Utrecht have a 21 year old striking threat of their own in the form of Ricky Van Wolfswinkel, a player Liverpool have been credited with monitoring over the last year, even right up to the close of the recent transfer window, who has found the net seven times in both the Eredivise and Europa League this season. Van Wolfswinkel presently sits joint top scorer in the league alongside another previous Liverpool target, Ola Toivonen of PSV Eindhoven.
Utrecht have found themselves in similar form to Liverpool over the last 5 games, picking up 2 draws, 2 defeats and 1 win over that time. Liverpool have a good record in Holland in recent years, seeing them take 4 victories and also draw against PSV Eindhoven during different levels of Champions League competition. The Anfield side have never met Utrecht in a competitive match though, with just two friendly wins against the side back in the seventies to speak of.
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The group stage of the Europa League has been drawn and Liverpool find themselves drawn in Group K alongside Steaua Bucharest, Napoli and Utrecht.
Matches will be played on September 16 and 30, October 21, November 4, December 1/2 and 15/16.
The draw in full:
Group A: Juventus, Manchester City, FC Salzburg, Lech Poznan
Group B: Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Rosenborg, Aris Thessaloniki FC
Group C: Sporting Lisbon, Lille, Levski Sofia, Gent
Group D: Villarreal, Club Brugge, Dinamo Zagreb, PAOK
Group E: AZ Alkmaar, Dynamo Kiev, FC Bate, FC Sheriff
Group F: CSKA Moscow, Palermo, Sparta Prague, Lausanne
Group G: Zenit St Petersburg, Anderlecht, AEK Athens, Hadjuk Split
Group H: VFB Stuttgart, Getafe, Odense BK, Young Boys
Group I: PSV Eindhoven, Sampdoria, FC Metalist Kharkviv, Debrecen
Group J: Sevilla, Paris St Germain, Borussia Dortmund, FC Karpaty Lviv
Group K: Liverpool, Steaua Bucharest, Napoli, Utrecht
Group L: FC Porto, Besiktas, CSKA Sofia, Rapid Vienna
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