SAMI HYYPIA WELCOMES COPETITION FOR PLACES

By Mighty Reds
August 1 2006

Sami Hyypia, far from worrying about new signing Gabriel Paletta, is relishing the competition for places that both he and Daniel Agger provide for his own position.

Paletta made his Reds debut against Wrexham on Saturday and Sami was impressed with the Argentineans start and believes he can only get better.

Sami said:

"He has all the qualities of a good centre-back and he can adapt very quickly to the English game. We will see the best of him when he starts to learn better English and adapts to the team better," says Hyypia.


Hyypia though was quick to reject talk that the signings signal the end of his Liverpool career.

"When Daniel Agger came here, and now Paletta, it makes the team stronger and I'll do everything I can to help the team to win,"

"If that means my experience helping the other players actually get a place then so be it. But of course I want to play and I'm not finished yet. I feel fit and there's no reason why I shouldn't play.

"I played 59 games last season and I was a bit surprised at how many games I played. This time last year the manager told me there was going to be another centre-back but by the end of the season I had played 59 games. Now there are two more young players and it's a challenge for me

"As you get older you notice that the recovery time after games is longer than it was 10 or 15 years ago. Last season was quite difficult in that way."