With Fernando Torres committing his future to Liverpool for the foreseeable future, a huge sigh of relief has engulfed Anfield this week. Suddenly the storm clouds seem to be lifting from Merseyside, especially as it’s likely the Reds will have new owners by the end of the month.
This week at FFC we have seen a mixed bag blogs which has included…Liverpool should cut their losses; vital the PL ensures the Reds aren’t sold a dud and Roy’s future vision gives Liverpool every chance.
Plus we have taken a look at the best Liverpool stories on the Web this week.
Should Liverpool cut their losses and cash in?
Will he forever rue the day he turned down Liverpool?
Vital the PL don’t allow Liverpool to be sold another dud
Roy’s ‘future vision’ gives Liverpool every chance
Liverpool bidders make big promises
Why Roy Hodgson deserves a damn sight better
Why GREED could prove Liverpool’s undoing
How should Hodgson go about getting three into two?
Liverpool get their own dose of Barca’s unsavoury craft
Is the top clubs endless quest for success harming development?
The £1.2bn question that Premier League fans won’t get an answer to
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Best of Web
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No one bigger than the club? – This is Anfield
New owners at LIVERPOOL FC? Well just Huang on a minute… – Well Red
Fans key to Fernando Torres staying at Anfield – Liverpool Echo
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Who is Kenny Huang? Our Potential New Owner – Live4Liverpool
Roy won’t stray from Rafa’s foundations – This is Anfield
Why I’m hoping we don’t sign this trouble maker – Live4Liverpool
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With the PL season nearly upon us, let’s see the WAGS that will be keeping the players on their toes. Click on image to VIEW gallery
David Ginola’s transfer was delayed due to a fashion show commitment, while Laurent Robert was as famous for his free-kicks as he was for his fall-outs with managers during his time in England. Newcastle can’t resist a talented but temperamental winger from across the Channel. Like the girl who maintains that her wayward boyfriend will one day mend his ways no matter what her friends think, Newcastle have taken Marseille’s firebrand wide-man Hatem Ben Arfa on a season-long loan in the hope that they can curb his bad behaviour.
In just six years as a professional, Ben Arfa has had a number of public disagreements with teammates, coaches and club hierarchies. Following last season’s training ground confab between Andy Carroll and Steven Taylor, Newcastle fans might be interested to learn that their new winger got into a fight with Arsenal new-boy Sébastien Squillaci when the pair were at Lyon and he also had a meeting of minds with Djibril Cissé at Marseille two seasons ago that resulted in the striker being farmed out on loan to Sunderland. Ben Arfa had only been at Marseille for just over a fortnight prior to the Cissé incident, having forced through his big-money transfer to the south-coast club with his reluctance to report for pre-season training with Lyon. His move to Newcastle has come about under similar circumstances.
Despite Ben Arfa’s colourful history, however, he has won a lot of trophies. Last season Didier Deschamps brought Marseille their first Ligue 1 championship since they were stripped of their 1993 title but it was the fifth league-winner’s medal of the 23-year-old player’s short career. The other four medals were won with Lyon during the period in which they dominated French football. In his final season with OL, Ben Arfa was also named France’s Young Player of the Year, although the winner of the Player of the Year trophy that year was actually nine months his junior. Karim Benzema arrived on the scene at Lyon at the same time as Ben Arfa and, no matter how well the latter played, the way in which his teammate outshone him bred resentment.
With a record of 16 strikes in 127 league games in France, Newcastle shouldn’t necessarily be expecting goals from Ben Arfa, but then he has no doubt been signed to excite the fans and lay on goals for Andy Carroll instead. He will add speed and guile to a squad with no shortage of ball-winners but a relative lack of width. Ben Arfa is capable of explosive patches of form, such as for Marseille in the early part of 2010. He has also excelled in the Champions League, which is something that you can’t say about Wayne Routledge. Ben Arfa might well light up the Premier League this season, but it is still a huge gamble for Newcastle to have signed a player of his reputation when dressing room disharmony could turn a season of consolidation into one of battling against relegation.
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Fabio Capello confirmed last week that he will leave his post as England manager after the conclusion of the Euro 2012 tournament. In recent times the FA has acted like an overtly ambitious Premier League outfit, desperately seeking silverware and pursuing managers will glittering track records. With nearly two years to plan their next move, the consensus seems to be that an English or at least a British manager is needed once more. No shortage of managers have been associated with the role which has been an impossible task for many years. Unrelenting media attention and an equally demanding public who expect glory are a heavy burden for any boss. Regardless of a numerous disappointments hope still prevails and here are five managers who may be the focus of that optimism at the next World Cup.
Harry Redknapp
Football’s equivalent of Harold Macmillan, who once famously told the voters that they had never had it so good, is the favourite to take over the reigns from Capello. The Tottenham boss is vastly experienced, having managed a number of clubs and achieving FA Cup glory with Portsmouth in 2008. The 63-year old also took Spurs from the relegation zone to the Champions League in the space of two short years. The manager who would be freed from accusations of being a ‘wheeler dealer,’ is a popular choice amongst the fans and has said the job would be difficult to reject. His strength is his unquestionable man management skills and his ability to lift the confidence of fragile stars. Players apparently paralysed by fear would presumably have not occurred under his stewardship.
Martin O’Neill
Currently a free agent after walking out of Villa Park, the Northern Irishman has spent huge swathes of his football career in England, playing under the legendary Brian Clough. In management the bespectacled gaffer won three SPL titles and one Scottish Cup with Celtic and two League Cups with Leicester City. More recently his Villa side recorded two successive sixth place finishes. His teams are always well organised and difficult to beat, retaining discipline throughout any contest. His tactical rigidity may count against him, as he invariably opted for a 4-4-2 formation at Villa with an onus on fast wingers and balls into the box. That conventional formation was widely scorned after England’s insipid World Cup performances.
Roy Hodgson
Fervently respected in the game, Hodgson is narrowly behind Redknapp in the bookmakers’ standings. International management is already well known by the 63-year old who took Switzerland to the last 16 of the 1994 World Cup. The studious manager’s CV is as crammed as it is diverse, having managed across Europe and beyond, including two stints at Inter Milan. His reputation has been enhanced further by taking previously lowly Fulham to the Europa League final last season. The team’s rapid transformation was credited to the avuncular figure who made a habit of improving the fortunes of underperforming players. His successes have been mixed but he commands the respect of those he manages and allows players to express themselves on the pitch. The Herculean challenge of reviving Liverpool will determine whether he is one of the frontrunners in two years time.
Continued on Page TWO
Stuart Pearce
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The current England Under-21 manager has been mentioned as a possible successor to Capello. Pearce is said to be flattered but has moved to distance himself from this speculation. He lacks the experience of Hodgson and Redknapp, having endured a trying time at Manchster City between 2005 and 2007. His side struggled for goals but as the Under-21 manager he has impressed, tutoring a number of talented young starlets who have progressed to the senior team. He coached the team to the 2009 UEFA Under-21 Championship final but lost resoundingly to Germany. England’s former captain is known for his passion and has assisted Capello at a major tournament. His appointment would ensure continuity as he would have managed many of the senior squad already come the next World Cup. It was a move which worked for Germany, having promoted assistant coach Joachim Loew to the senior role after Jurgen Klinsmann’s tenure ended in 2006.
Sam Allardyce
His teams are often attacked for having a one dimensional style but Allardyce is more tactically astute than he is given credit for. An ill-fated period at St James’ Park is still a stain yet to be shifted on his otherwise impressive record in club management. His unremitting success at Bolton meant the Trotters were transformed into a fixed PL entity. On this basis he was interviewed for the vacant England manager job in 2006. His sterling work with Blackburn, who finished tenth last season, has seen his name bandied about once more. He has prospered on a tight budget by playing to his side’s strengths. His reaction to Capello’s omission of Paul Robinson ahead of the World Cup shows he is no diplomat and can lack judgement.
There are two things that I never thought I would find myself doing in my lifetime – one is agreeing wholeheartedly with a column in the Daily Mirror and secondly conceding that Tottenham should be considered serious title contenders.
Being affiliated with the Red half of North London I have never looked upon the mob down the Seven Sisters Rd as a serious threat, but as Steve Stammers points out in his column there is something about them in the past two seasons to suggest they are certainly not in a false position and perhaps have the squad to sustain a genuine title challenge.
While I would never go as far as to suggest that Tottenham have a better or more talented squad than us, they do possess real depth and in the likes of Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart they have three World Class players at their disposal. Harry Redknapp has instilled a real toughness about Spurs; a determination never to give up and it is this kind of belief that has seen them pull out two consecutive 2-1 victories after going a goal down to both Aston Villa and Fulham respectively. How many Tottenham teams of old would have caved in at this point and gone on to lose by two or three? It is resilience and the ability to grind out results when you are up against it that marks a side’s title credentials and you have to say that there are certainly shades of that within Harry Redknapp’s current crop.
One area that I do believe lets Spurs down is upfront. I read that no team in the Premier League has had more shots on target than Tottenham and that in itself tells its own story. Redknapp lacks a top quality striker and it will certainly need to bring one in during the January window, especially if they still remain in around the top of the table like they currently are. As Arsenal fans we generally use to think that none of us would ever see Tottenham challenge for a title, let alone win one in our lifetime, and while it is perhaps a little premature to think that this season may well be that time, I would be foolish to discount them as contenders in the coming seasons.
Written By Billy Pearson
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Stoke 1-2 Man. Utd – With the world, his wife and all their immediate family pre-occupied with the subject of Wayne Rooney last week, the man who overtook Carlos Tevez to become the world’s highest paid boglin on Friday evening spent his 25th birthday sunning himself in opulent Dubai whilst his lesser work colleagues slugged it out in Stoke, a city with the only football team in the country to employ football as a back up tactic. But the gods of football it seems do at least have a sense of humor, if not over troubled with the values of loyalty and perspective, as Rooney’s unknown, unfeted understudy won United the game with the very strikers instinct El Wazza’s been missing this season. Javier ‘Chicharito (Little Pea)’ Hernandez may look like a 12-year-old girl with a crew cut but already looks the part of heir apparent to Ole Solskjaer. His first goal was a gem of genuine originality as he arched like a flying sea lion to reach an awkward pull back, and scored – very deliberately – with the back of his head. To compound the irony, he celebrated by kissing his badge, which now almost certainly means he’ll angle for a move away the second United fail to win the league four times in a row. Gary Neville somehow avoided being sent off for a clear second yellow but was so rubbish anyway it most likely did Stoke a favor. Tuncay leveled with the goal of the game but that only served to wake United up from their second half malaise and Chicharito grabbed his second from close range before celebrating with a fan who looked bigger than all of United’s players put together. But then Wayne Rooney’s head was in Dubai.
Man. City 0-3 Arsenal – What on paper looks like a serious credibility dent in City’s quest to turn the big four into five is tempered slightly by the fact they played for 86 minutes of this encounter with ten men. Boyata received his marching orders in less than five minutes for denying a goal scoring opportunity, a decision which didn’t take into consideration that the recipient was Marouane Chamakh, or that the ball wasn’t four yards out and in the air. Samir Nasri gave the visitors the lead after one of those rare Arsenal moves that actually ends with a shot before their weekly compulsory penalty was saved admirably by Joe Hart. Adebayor was brought on to rally the home side and give the visiting Gooners something to shout at, but the away side made comfortable work of their personnel advantage and after Song had toe punted a resolution to another bout of obsessive compulsive passing disorder, Nicklas Bendtner rounded things off after breaking free of the City defence at the speed of a arthritic dinner lady.
Liverpool 2-1 Blackburn – With ownership issues now thoroughly behind them and with no one to aim overly sentimental minor celebrity endorsed viral video appeals at, Liverpool fans could concentrate on the proper business of supporting their team, and for once this season, their team actually looked worth supporting. So up for it they were in fact that Paul Robinson had his work cut out just trying to keep Blackburn in it in the first half. His valiant, balding resistance was undone only a couple of minutes into the second however as Sotirios Kyrgiakos – who looks like a circus giant who isn’t actually a giant – powered in a Steven Gerrard corner, helpfully assisted by Martin Olsson, who bafflingly decided to direct his headed clearance towards the middle of the goal, despite sanding on the post. Rovers found themselves level only a few minutes later however, as the most loveable man in football El Hadji Diouf, had his scuffed shot cleared off the line by Konchesky, right onto the iron buttocks of Jamie Carragher and back into the net. It was a goal of Laurel and Hardy-esque comic ineptitude, rescued from significance – though probably not an appearance on a football funnies Christmas video hosted by Danny Dyer in a shed – by Fernando Torres, who slotted in the winner from a Joe Cole cross only a few minutes later.
Continued on Page TWO
Chelsea 2-0 Wolves – The subplot to this game – as it’s become in every game these two have faced off – was the meeting of Petr Cech and the inspiration behind his iconic headwear, Stephen Hunt. His first action in this game – midway through the second half – was to almost score, rather ironically, by throwing himself head first at a ball that was quite easily volley high, placing his bonce in a fair degree of danger in the process. He may have dished it out, but no one can say he’s not willing to take it. As for the actual football, Chelsea managed to win comfortably without really playing that well and after Florent Malouda had broken the dreadlock, I mean dead lock, they never looked in doubt of doing it either. They had the chances to increase their lead, at one point scuppering their own breakaway by having too many people in it, but any early season hopes fans had of going through the entire campaign beating everyone 6-0 have unfortunately faded.
West Brom 2-1 Fulham – West Brom continued their relentless march to universal respect and admiration, furthering their chances of staying up comfortably whilst also actually playing football, despite being pitted here against a team sneakily employing state of the art camouflage tactics. Such is the odd hue of Fulham’s dark green away number, that at times it was actually quite hard to see them if you squinted, giving the impression that the Baggies were playing no one at all (which probably made the score line quite surprising for anyone slightly visually impaired.) This could also go some way to explaining why the home side weren’t awarded a stonewall penalty when Kelly was brought down in the second half, with the referee presumably assuming him to have tripped over the turf. But by then West Brom were already in charge, having recovered from the second, or first chronological bum goal of the weekend to take and hold a 2-1 lead. Roberto Di Matteo is quickly becoming one of my favorite League managers, despite his obviously having no eyes.
Sunderland 1-0 Villa – In one of those games with pots of chances but woeful finishing, it was left to Richard Dunne to save the day from goallessness, by leaping like a lorry driver to clear a near post cross into his own net. Even more unfortunately for Dunne, this was made all the more pointless by the fact there were no Sunderland players anywhere near him when he did this. He was actually clearing it away from his own team mate’s attempt to clear it away, probably with more success. Sensing the kind of day this was going to be Villa gave up trying to score the regular way and instead devoted the rest of the game to trying to win dubious penalties. Something they thankfully didn’t achieve.
West Ham 1-2 Newcastle – Andy Carroll returned to the pitch after a universally proclaimed “tough week” – though I’m pretty sure it was tougher for his girlfriend – and immediately got himself back amongst the goals. After Carlton Cole had given the ‘Ammers the lead, Carroll set up his land lord Kevin Nolan for the equalizer, possibly as part of some ingenious new rent system, before former fellow friend of the fuzz Joey Barton whipped in a gorgeous cross for Carroll to attack like a ..er..no I probably shouldn’t go there…
Tottenham 1-1 Everton – Fresh from his world alerting hat-trick in the San-Siro, the boy Bale was a little subdued as the Toffees held Spurs to draw at the Lane. Leighton Baines curled in a postage stamp free kick after Yakubu had been fouled by thin air, only for Rafael van der Vaart (who seems to score obligatorily in every match now) violently smashed home the equalizer from half a yard out for no practical reason whatsoever. In the second half Tottenham push forward for the winner, but could only consistently pick out Peter Crouch, unfortunately for them.
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Birmingham 2-0 Blackpool – Liam Ridgewell somehow avoided giving away a penalty for handball before nodding the brummies ahead shortly after ensuring Ian Holloway gets worked up by something other than Wayne Rooney this week. Gary Taylor Fletcher – who looks far more like an extra from a cheap Guy Ritchie gangster movie homage made for bravo TV than he does a footballer – had some good chances for Blackpool before human mountain Zigic doubled the home side’s lead after some generous defending from Charlie Adam. Adam then injured himself in a clash with Zigic, but insisted on taking the resulting free kick anyway before running off for treatment, despite said injury being to his striking foot. Unsurprisingly, it was rubbish. The freekick, not the treatment.
Wigan 1-1 Bolton – In the showpiece game of the weekend, Wigan and Bolton slugged it out old school as their fans and players kidded themselves anyone outside of Greater Manchester would still be watching Match of The Day when it came on. Hugo Rodallega gave Roberto Martinez’ side the lead and should’ve gotten a headed winner after Elmander had draw the Trotters level. Franco Di Santo sounds, and looks, exactly like someone who should’ve be a character on the long running but now sadly defunct Sky1 camp football miniseries Dreem Team. In fact he should be, because he seems to serve no other purpose what so ever as far as I can work out.
Other Things I Noticed: The rather amusing sight of Javier Hernandez’ first interview question on Match of The Day, delivered to him in the slow, patronizing, simplistic tone of an Englishman addressing an assumed inferiorly lingual foreigner, only for it to be answered with a perfectly fluent stream of confident and coherent language, much to his surprise. His second question was asked normally.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted that his side had lost concentration during their 2-1 Champions League reverse away to Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Gunners took an early lead in the Donbass Arena through Theo Walcott, but were behind by half-time and failed to recover after the interval, leaving them still short of securing a place in the knockout stages.
Wenger told reporters:"Congratulations to Donetsk, they played well and won the game.
"We had a good start, but after that we lost our urgency and let Donetsk come into the game too much.
"We lost concentration in the duels and you could see what was coming towards half-time.
"I felt we moved out of the game altogether and moved into the game altogether, so it was more of a team problem, a kind of complacency problem more than an individual problem.
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"In the second half we came back into the game and gave a lot, you cannot fault the team and we were a bit unlucky.
"We have learned the lesson that at this level you cannot lose focus at any moment and that is why we were punished. But we are still in a strong position in the group."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Inevitably perhaps, considering that Liverpool have appointed a Frenchman as Director of Football Strategy recently, but many of the recent rumours surrounding Liverpool Football Club have had a Gallic taste to them. In many cases, it maybe just lazy journalist randomly picking out French names from a hat to initiate another round of rumours, but I would like to think there is no small smoke without fire, especially with the amount of French players being linked with the Reds.
After all, it is not much of a stretch to suggest that as head of player recruitment, Damien Comolli’s preferred targets would be in France as it is the market which he is most familiar with. Added to the fact that Roy Hodgson has watched Lille, Rennes and Saint-Etienne in action over recent times, it does suggest also that he maybe looking over some targets suggested by Comolli. The list of names that have been linked with Liverpool over recent weeks then is not surprising. Yvann M’Vila, Dimitri Payet, Blaise Matuidi, Mamodou Sakho, Eden Hazard, Gervinho, Karim Benzema and Antoine Griezmann have all one thing in common; they are young. One of the most important aspects of NESV’s transfer policy. In addition they are either French or have played in the French league suggesting Comolli has already changed the focus of Liverpool’s scouting department. Under Chief Scout Eduardo Macia and previous manager Rafa Benitez many of the transfer links inevitably came from Spain but Macia’s influence is seemingly on the wane with transfers under the guidance of Comolli.
So are the French connections a good thing? They are certainly both positive and negative aspects to such a focus on young French talent. Firstly to the positives:
Technically gifted and with the potential to be world class if given the right support, there is no doubt bringing in players such as Mamodou Sakho, Blaise Matuidi, Yvann M’Vila, Eden Hazard (Belgian) and Dimitri Payet could reap the benefits in the future. If we look at the players listed they are look like exciting young prospects:
Mamadou Sakho – Made captain of PSG at just 17, the young centre back made an impressive debut for France against England at Wembley
Yann M’Vila – Rennes defensive midfielder, still only 20 but played very well for France against England.
Blaise Matuidi – Another defensive midfielder, 23 year old Matuidi is the captain of Saint-Etienne already.
Eden Hazard – Lille’s Belgian attacking midfielder, dubbed the “New Messi” and very highly rated by French legend Zinedine Zidane. Got a 9/10 by French newspaper L’Equipe for his performance against Monaco last weekend, not a mean feat as only five other players have achieved full marks.
Dimitri Payet – Saint-Etienne winger, aged 23, who has been on fire in front of goal this season with 8 goals in Ligue One.
Certainly there are a lot of players here to be excited about, but there are always negatives. The cost for some of these players will be very high. M’Vila has been rated at £9m while Hazard will be a great deal more than that. Spending a great deal of money on young foreign players can be a risk. Nobody needs reminding about the £10m spent on a player from Ligue One, El-Hadji Diouf, or the purchase of Bruno Cheyrou to know it can backfire. Comolli, Hodgson and the scouting team must be sure that these players are capable of playing in the Premier League before any offers are made.
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Read more excellent Liverpool blogs at Live4Liverpool
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It’s Christmas and to celebrate the festive season and their sponsorship of the Football League, npower are giving away pairs of tickets to Championship and League One club supporters. It is the perfect gift for these lucky winners and a friend to commemorate 2010 and see their team into a successful 2011. Make sure you don’t miss out!
npower are offering you one last chance to save on your energy as they are rewarding fans for switching their gas and electricity supply to npower and paying by direct debit. For ‘real fans’ npower has launched Football Saver* for new customers – It’s guaranteed 7% cheaper than standard rates until 31st December 2011 plus you will automatically be placed into a special prize draw where you could win a £45 voucher to spend at your local Football League club shop, courtesy of npower, say for example towards a new shirt for the season. To take advantage of the offer call 0800 975 6613** quoting N570P, offer closes 30th January 2011.
npower are all about giving not only to the fans but to the local community too. As the new title sponsor of The Football League Kids Cup, they fully support the annual six-a-side competition with teams of Under-11’s and Under-13 girls played in towns and cities throughout the country, culminating in finals played at Wembley Stadium before the end of season npower Play-Off Finals.
The Competition:
Here at FootballFanCast we have teamed up with npower to offer footy fans the chance to win a Pair of Tickets for thirty two, (YES THIRTY TWO!) lucky home fans to the following eight matches:
Tuesday 28th December:
Bristol City v Crystal Palace Swansea City v Barnsley Brentford v Tranmere Rovers Colchester United v Oldham Athletic
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and on Saturday 1st January:
Bristol City v Cardiff City Swansea City v Reading Brentford v Dagenham and Redbridge Colchester United v Charlton Athletic
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All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning is to answer the following question correctly:
Which team is top of the League One table?
A) Brighton
B) Hartlepool
C) Yeovil
Email your answer along with the game you would like to watch to [email protected].
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The competition closes on Thursday 16th December so make sure you get your answers in now!
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Terms and conditions:
Tickets are located in the home team stand and are only valid for home team supporters.Winning the football tickets doesn’t guarantee the automatic win of the £45 voucher.Winners of the voucher will be notified by npower by 31st Dec 2010.*Residential customers only. Offer and vouchers subject to availability. Terms, conditions and exclusions apply visit www.npower.com/shirtoffer or call 0800 975 6613**** Calls may be recorded and monitored for training and security purposes.To view all the competition terms and conditions visit http://www.npower.com/footballcricketterms
Saudi Arabia have sacked coach Nasser Al-Johar for failing to rescue the proud nation’s Asian Cup campaign in Qatar.Al-Johar lasted just eight days at the helm of the Green Falcons after replacing Jose Peseiro, who was given his marching orders following a first-up 2-1 loss to Group B rivals Syria.
But they fared no better under Al-Johar, going down 1-0 to Jordan before a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Japan sealed Saudi Arabia’s exit in the group stages.
It was a humiliating early departure for the Green Falcons, who were runners-up in 2007 and considered one of the favourites to challenge for the title this time around.
Instead, Saudi Arabia failed to make the knockout stages of the Asian Cup for only the second time in the history of the tournament.
Team manager Fahd Al-Misaibeeh and his entire staff have also reportedly resigned, according to Saudi state news agency SPA.
“The Saudi Soccer Federation has accepted the resignation of Fahd Al-Misaibeeh, manager of the Saudi national team, and his crew, and relieved Nasser Al-Johar of his post as the current team’s coach,” read a statement from Prince Nawaf Bin Faisal, president of the Saudi Football Federation (SFF).
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“We vow to immediately replace them by a highly-qualified international crew and domestic aides.”
Prince Newaf was promoted to head of the SFF to replace Prince Sultan Bin Fahd, who was removed by King Abdullah following the loss to Jordan.
Australian midfielder Jason Culina will play no further part in the Asian Cup due to an ongoing knee problem.
Socceroos officials announced Culina had left Asia’s flagship national tournament in Qatar to receive treatment in Australia shortly after his country booked a semi-final spot with a 1-0 win over Iraq in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
Culina aggravated the injury in Australia’s Group C 1-1 draw with South Korea and has not played in the two matches since, with Carl Valeri taking his place in central midfield.
Osieck said he was disappointed to have had to let the Gold Coast United midfielder leave camp, but he knew it was right decision.
“We had hopes that Jason may be available for the upcoming matches, but the latest medical reports suggested that he would not be at 100 percent,” Osieck said
“Following discussions with our medical staff we have come to the decision that it is in Jason’s best interest that we let him return home to receive treatment to get his knee right.”
“It’s always disappointing to lose a player of Jason’s calibre, but the players and staff are fully supportive of Jason and we look forward to seeing him back with us as soon as possible.”
Culina spoke of his frustration at having to leave the tournament prematurely: “Unfortunately, I knew that I wouldn’t be at my best for the remainder of the competition,” the Gold Coast United midfielder said.
“I’m thankful that Holger has allowed me to return to hopefully recover as soon as possible.”
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“I wish the boys all the best for the remainder of the AFC Asian Cup and I’ll be watching from home.”
Under the AFC Asian Cup Regulations, Osieck is unable to bring a substitute player into the Socceroos squad for the remainder of the tournament.
The Socceroos will face Uzbekistan at Khalifa Stadium in the semi-finals on Tuesday after defeating Iraq 1-0 in the quarter-finals.