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Rafael Benitez has reaffirmed his desire to remain at the club after he saw his side labour to three points against Sunderland this evening.
“I don’t read headlines on the day of the game, but my commitment is 100 per cent – with the fans, with the players and with the club in general. I say 100 times my family is happy here – we want to win trophies at this club because it is a massive club.
“If we have problems because we are not doing things which, in my opinion as a manager we could do, I will work as hard as I can for the club.”
Despite Gareth Barry being a clear reason for the dispute between the Spaniard and his employers, the Kop boss did not mention the Aston Villa captain by name.
“I will not talk about any player – but in April I was talking about this (behind the scenes),” Benitez added.
“We tried to do things in confidentiality, but sometimes you cannot and you need to explain before the end of the transfer window.
“If the manager has an idea and it is not a question of money, then we have to make the right decisions in terms of whom we bring in. That has to be the decision of the manager.”
Filed under: Match Reviews | Tags: Damien Plessis, Daryl Murphy, Dirk Kuyt, El-Hadji Diouf, Fernando Torres, Jamie Carragher, Jose Reina, Nyron Nosworthy, Pascal Chimbonda, Rafael Benitez, Robbie Keane, Sami Hyypia, Steven Gerrard, Sunderland, Xabi Alonso, Yossi Benayoun
Fernando Torres grabbed a late winner to earn the three points for Liverpool against Sunderland in the season opener. The Spanish striker was afforded rare space by the Sunderland defence and took his opportunity with a clinical finish from 25 yards. Half-time substitute Xabi Alonso passed the ball to the forward, who turned and struck a low drive into Craig Gordon’s bottom right corner.
Sunderland started the brighter of the two sides, but made few clear openings despite pressurising their visitors defence with some neat passing. El-Hadji Diouf was in typically feisty spirits early on and looked hungry to impress his new fans with a strong performance against his former side. The Senegalese striker roved across the frontline and was involved in a few spats with Reds defenders. Daryl Murphy got on the end of the best chance of Sunderland’s early prominence, but he could only head his chance into the arms of Spanish keeper Jose Reina. It was Diouf that provided the opportunity with a well-worked cross from the left-wing. Sunderland’s new £2.5m signing also gave Liverpool a scare after latching onto Hyypia’s weak header, but Jamie Carragher managed to nick the ball away to spare his central defensive partner’s blushes.
Liverpool failed to create many openings in the first-half with Robbie Keane and Fernando Torres receiving little service from the midfield. Yossi Benayoun and Dirk Kuyt started on the flanks for the away side, but couldn’t provide many opportunities for the front two. The Liverpool attacks were constantly stifled by overloading around the Sunderland box. The visitors attacks were too narrow and space was at a premium throughout the opening forty-five minutes. The best opportunity for a goal was denied by Alan Wiley’s decision to award a free-kick on the edge of the Sunderland area. Gerrard was tripped by Nyron Nosworthy on the edge of the area whilst playing a pass into Benayoun in the area. The Israeli was felled by another new Sunderland face, Pascal Chimbonda. The French defender took out Benayoun and a penalty should have been awarded. But Wiley decided to award the free-kick for the earlier foul. Gerrard’s resultant strike hit the Sunderland wall and the home side could breathe a sigh of relief.
Damien Plessis was taken off at half-time after complaining of a back problem. Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso was his replacement in the heart of the Reds midfield. The Euro 2008 winner started to influence proceedings immediately and started to make up for the lack of penetration from the flanks with some key passes. The axis of Alonso and Gerrard was paying off for the Reds as they started to exert more influence and held more possession in the second period.
Sunderland continued the pressure early in the second half with Murphy crossing for Diouf, but the African could only swipe his effort straight at Reina under pressure from the onrushing Carragher.
Yossi Benayoun made himself an opportunity which was weakly struck and pushed away by a diving Craig Gordon. The Scotland keeper’s save almost ran for debutant Keane, but the striker’s angle was too acute to take advantage of the chance. The keeper made another save from Dirk Kuyt’s strike, which was hawked on by both Keane and Torres. The Spaniard won the race, but his goalbound shot deflected off his strike partner for a goal kick.
Xabi Alonso continued to influence developments with an audacious shot from 60 yards. The Spaniard’s lobshot looked goalbound after eluding Gordon, but it drifted merely a yard wide of the Sunderland net.
Keane was replaced after a disappointing Premiership debut with Nabil El Zhar entering the fray and replacing Kuyt on the right-wing. The Dutchman moved into the centre, but continued to toil in possession. The hardworking forward’s afternoon was strewn with his usual selfless endeavour, but the lack of quality told more as the game moved on. The young Moroccan looked hungry, but did his prospects no favours with a petulant booking. After being denied a free-kick the French-born attacker kicked the ball away and was soon presented with a booking for the indiscretion.
The game looked to be fading into a second goalless draw in four days for the Reds before Alonso’s pass was converted into a fine winning goal by Spain’s Euro 2008 hero Torres.
Player ratings
Reina 7, Arbeloa 6, Carragher 7, Hyypia 7, Dossena 6, Plessis 6 (Alonso 8), Gerrard 7, Benayoun 6 (Aurelio 6), Kuyt 5, Keane 6 (El Zhar 6), Torres 7.
Man of the Match
Xabi Alonso – The Spaniard made the difference to the side after coming on at half-time. His passing and vision made up for the deficiencies in attack with little quality coming in from the flanks. After another 48 hours of speculation regarding the future, the midfielder showed his worth with another classy display.
Filed under: News | Tags: Andrea Dossena, David N'Gog, Diego Cavalieri, El-Hadji Diouf, Fabio Aurelio, Martin Skrtel, Pascal Chimbonda, Rafael Benitez, Robbie Keane, Roy Keane, Sami Hyypia, Steed Malbranque, Steven Gerrard, Sunderland, Teemu Tainio, Xabi Alonso
Rafael Benitez has made changes to the side that drew a disappointing blank in Belgium this week. Daniel Agger and Xabi Alonso have been dropped to the bench and have been replaced by Steven Gerrard and Sami Hyypia.
Robbie Keane and Andrea Dossena will make their full Premiership debuts for the club.
Fabio Aurelio and Martin Skrtel have returned from injury to take their places on the bench along with new signings Diego Cavalieri and David N’Gog.
Sunderland boss Roy Keane has named new signings Pascal Chimbonda, Steed Malbranque, Teemu Tainio and ex-Red El-Hadji Diouf in his starting eleven.
The teams in full:
Sunderland: Gordon; Chimbonda, Nosworthy, Collins, Bardsley; Malbranque, Tainio, Reid, Richardson; Diouf; Murphy. Subs: Ward, Whitehead, Edwards, Chopra, Leadbitter, Higginbotham, Stokes.
Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Dossena, Carragher, Hyypia, Benayoun, Kuyt, Gerrard, Plessis, Torres, Keane. Subs: Cavalieri, El Zhar, Aurelio, Ngog, Skrtel, Agger, Alonso.
After a turbulant relationship with his former club, Senegalese forward El-Hadji Diouf has spoken about Liverpool’s title chances this season.
The ex-Bolton man not only claims that the Reds don’t have what it takes to challenge Manchester United or Chelsea, but he has gone as far as to rate his new current Sunderland side as level with the Anfield side.
“Liverpool do have a good team, but they can’t challenge United or Chelsea,” he told the Daily Star.
“It’s not just about changing one or two players – it’s about not really having to change the team.”
Then, as if that we’re enough to endear himself to the Anfield faithful, he suggested that Sunderland could compete with Liverpool in the upcoming season.
“We are not that far away from Liverpool.
“I used to say that at Bolton and every season, except last year, we did very well against them.
Whether his latest boastful views will turn out to be true or not remains to be seen.
Filed under: News | Tags: Dimitar Berbatov, Dirk Kuyt, Fernando Torres, Les Ferdinand, Rafael Benitez, Robbie Keane
Ex-Premiership goalscorer Les Ferdinand has urged Rafael Benitez to partner Robbie Keane with Fernando Torres this season in his Setanta Sports blog.
The former Tottenham, Newcastle, QPR and England striker had this to say:
“I’m hoping the new partnership at Liverpool works with Robbie Keane just behind Fernando Torres or Keane alongside Torres.
“The thing is I’ve heard Rafa Benitez saying Keane can play anywhere – left side or right side. If he plays Robbie on the left or right, then he’s not going to get the best out of him.
“To get the best out of Robbie is to play him down the centre with Torres. If Benitez does, he will get the best out of the partnership.
“If he’s going to switch him with Dirk Kuyt and play him on the left and the right, I don’t think it’s going to work.
“Robbie and Torres are both intelligent players. Torres makes great runs and Robbie has played with Dimitar Berbatov and a lot of players so he knows where to go and where not to go.
“I think he will bring more out of Torres and vice versa so long as they play up front together.”
Filed under: News | Tags: Gareth Barry, George Gillett, Rafael Benitez, Tom Hicks
Rafael Benitez has dismissed reports that he could walk out of Anfield today. In an interview with the official website he said his feelings were too strong for the club and the fans to leave now. Despite his Summer-long efforts to secure Gareth Barry’s signature from Aston Villa he has been unable to bring in the England midfielder.
“I am not thinking of leaving,” Benitez said.
“My commitment with the club, the fans and the players is so big that just because I can be disappointed about different things, I won’t stop trying my best to achieve all of the targets that we have established as a team,” he said.
Benitez has suffered a poor relationship with the American owners of the club – Tom Hicks and George Gillett, but he has stated his determination to succeed at the club is as strong as ever.
“My family and myself are very thankful to the club, the fans and the city and we will never give up fighting to get the best for Liverpool.”
Filed under: News | Tags: Gareth Barry, George Gillett, Rafael Benitez, Tom Hicks
The Mirror is reporting that Rafael Benitez came close to walking out of Anfield after the public collapse of the Gareth Barry transfer.
The Spanish manager had to be talked out of leaving the job by friends and family after feeling let-down and undervalued by the club’s refusal to back him in a move for the Aston Villa captain. The Kop boss was livid after Tom Hicks and George Gillett refused to back the manager in an £18m move for the England midfielder.
After an £18m fee had been agreed with Aston Villa, the money men at Anfield decided to cancel the move and the impending loan required to fund the move. That left Benitez angered as he thought the deal was close to being finalised and two payments of £9m had been agreed with the Midlands club.
If he does not manage to secure the signature of his primary transfer target by the end of this transfer window, he may reconsider his position at the club yet again.
Filed under: Transfer Gossip | Tags: Andrei Voronin, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Fenerbahce, Gareth Barry, Jermaine Pennant, Juventus, Martin O'Neill, Rafael Benitez, Rick Parry, Xabi Alonso
The fallout of Rafael Benitez’s failure to capture Gareth Barry from Aston Villa continued unabated yesterday when Xabi Alonso handed in a transfer request and Benitez himself showed evidence of his fragile relationship with Rick Parry.
Alonso has become disillusioned with life at the club after constantly being used as a pawn in the Barry saga and seeing his chances of regular first-team football reduced for the coming season. The Spanish midfielder has not formally handed in a transfer request, but he has asked the club to renew their efforts to sell him this Summer.
After seeing a move to Serie A with rejuvenated Juventus fall through, the Spanish international has been linked with Turkish heavyweights Fenerbahce and fellow Premiership side Arsenal. Arsene Wenger is reported to see the midfielder as the ideal foil for Cesc Fabregas and rates his experience as useful in aiding the development of his young side. However, the French manager will only go to £12m, a price Juventus would not go above, which would disappoint Benitez and the Anfield board, as they value the playmaker closer to the £18m mark.
Benitez himself would not be against the move if it meant he could complete a deal for Aston Villa captain Barry. The Spaniard is also happy to offload Jermaine Pennant and Andrei Voronin to raise the funds to complete the longest transfer saga of the Summer.
Benitez’s already strained relationship with the club’s American owners hit a low point with their refusal to provide the £18m needed to prise Barry away from Villa Park. Parry later stated that they were not questioning their manager’s judgement, only refusing to pay a price that they deemed “too high”. Benitez has had email contact with the American’s, who have confirmed to him that money is available for other signings this Summer. And yesterday, the Spanish manager dismissed speculation that he raised Barry’s pricetag by publicly declaring his interest in the England midfielder and also that the failure to sell Alonso had changed the club’s transfer policy. In doing so, he revealed that Parry was responsible for the saga entering it’s fourth month.
“I get blamed for everything, for global warming to high petrol prices,” said Benitez. “But in this case I want to be very clear. Since I talked to Martin O’Neill about the situation in April, I have not talked to anyone at Aston Villa. All the talks have been between our chief executive Rick Parry, the owner and the chief executive of Aston Villa. And those talks have all been pretty good.
“If anyone wants to talk about Barry in the future they must talk with the owner, Rick Parry or the chief executive of Aston Villa. I was not involved in the talks about Barry, I was not involved in the talks about Alonso and Arsenal. If you want to talk about these players you must talk to the chief executive of our club who was handling the discussions. If you want to talk about football, then you talk with me.”
He remains confident of a resolution in this transfer window, however: “We continue working and we have time. I have some players in mind,” he added
Captain Steven Gerrard has given his annual title challenge pep-talk to the squad on the eve of the start of the Premiership season.
“We closed the gap last season and we finished in the top four again so that shows that we’re not that far away,” said Gerrard.
“But it’s not about closing the gap any more, it’s about getting involved in the title race and staying there.
“That’s my aim for this season and it’s the aim of the manager and all the players, there’s no question about that.
“If we’re going to get involved in the title race then the first thing we have to do is cut out the silly draws in games we should win.
“That happened too many times last season and it cost us too many points.
“If we’re perfect against those teams this season then it will really improve our chances of doing well because not only will we pick up more points, we will also improve our confidence for when we take on the top sides.
“I’ve said many times that I honestly don’t think there’s much between us and the other top sides. Whenever we play any of them we do well and we have outplayed all of them in certain games but far too often they’ve managed to nick a sly goal that has got them the points.
“We need to stop that from happening and look to do it ourselves because these crucial goals make a massive difference.
“The likes of United and Chelsea have had an edge in recent seasons but now we have to show that we can do to them what they’ve done to us in the past.
“If we can do that and be perfect against the other teams who we should be beating then we will have a chance.
“But don’t get me wrong, I know it won’t be easy. We’ve made signings in the summer but the other clubs have strengthened their squads as well.
“If you look at United, it looks like they’re going to pay well over £20m on another striker and they also offered around £20m for a winger so let’s not kid ourselves, they are probably going to be stronger again.
“But we believe we are a good side too and if we perform as well as we can week in week out then I’ve got no doubt that we can be involved.”
Gerrard has stated his desire not to go through his career without a title winner’s medal to show for his efforts.
“It is a massive frustration for me, just as it is for everyone who loves this club,” he said.
“I’m no different to the lads who go to the match every week in that I desperately want us to be challenging for the title, and it does hurt me that it hasn’t happened for so long.
“But I won’t be sulking about it and I won’t stop believing that we can do it because I still believe I’m at the right club and hopefully it will only be a matter of time before we get it right.
“Maybe the harsh truth is that I haven’t deserved a title winner’s medal up to now, but I’ve still got five or six years left in me and I’ll be doing everything I can to get one because that would mean that this great club is back where it belongs.”
