Friday, February 01, 2008

Benitez Demands Passion And Pride


Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has urged his players to show the passion and pride the shirt deserves when they face Sunderland at the weekend.

Benitez says that the players need to recognise that it is an honour to play for such a “special” club, and has urged them to show the fighting spirit required in order to gain their first win of 2008 against Roy Keane’s Sunderland.

"This is a very, very special club and we are really lucky because we have the support of the best fans in the world" Benitez said.

"Whenever I speak to my friends who work in football in Spain they tell me how lucky I am to be manager of such a great club with such fans and I know that.

"So when things are not going so well it is vital that everyone at the club does everything we can to make things better. We have to have pride in the shirt, pride in the club that we work for and pride in the fans that we represent.

"We cannot feel sorry for ourselves or wish that things were different because that changes nothing. The only way things will get better for us is if we make it happen."

Two FA Cup wins over lesser sides Luton and Havant & Waterlooville have not creased over the cracks of their poor league form.

"I have confidence in my players and in my staff and we have shown what we can achieve together so many times" Benitez continued.

"Things have not gone our way in the last few games but you do not always get what you deserve. The key when this happens is to train harder, to work harder in training and to play better in matches.

"If you do all of those things then we will soon get back to winning ways" he added.

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