Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Rafa: There's A New Buzz In Training

Rafa Benitez has revealed there is a new buzz around Melwood following the return of our Olympic trio – but neither Javier Mascherano nor Lucas will feature against Standard Liege.

The Champions League qualifier comes too soon for the pair following their Beijing exploits, though both are fighting for a place in the starting XI versus Aston Villa on Sunday.

Despite being out of Wednesday's game, Benitez claims the duo – as well as Dutch forward Ryan Babel – has spiced things up in training.

He said: "You can see the impact in training. They have a really good mentality and they are really happy – especially Mascherano and Lucas because of their medals. I think it will be positive for the team.

"If everything is okay, maybe they could play this weekend. They will be around and we will decide, but they cannot play in the Champions League.

"They're not playing this game so they have time in training and they'll be okay."

Mascherano became the first Argentinean footballer in history to claim two Olympic gold medals following a 1-0 victory over Nigeria.

The boss added: "Everyone knows what a good professional he is. He is a nice boy and a good player, so everyone is pleased for him. It's amazing."

Meanwhile, Benitez admits that, of his 5 Champions League qualifying campaigns with Liverpool, this has so far been the toughest.

"They could be the best team we've faced. If you look at some of the other games, we were much better than the opposition," he said.

"But if we do the right things we can be on top of them at Anfield. We will try to play at a high tempo and I'm sure they'll try to play on the counter-attack. I think it will be more or less similar to the first game but the difference will be Anfield.

"We have to improve at everything – set pieces and open play. We had a bad game. The best thing was the result but this time we have to play better and we have to score goals.

"You can know a team but sometimes you don't know exactly how they will play until you get on the pitch. You can watch videos and things like that but you do not always know. Now we know a lot about them so it will be easier to not make any mistakes.

"But I wasn't surprised by them - I was surprised at how badly we played.

"We have a lot of confidence that we will go through. We are at Anfield and we have to improve – and we will improve."

Benitez has been handed a major boost ahead of the clash with news that he has a fully fit squad to choose from.

"Everybody is available," revealed the Anfield boss. "We have training tomorrow and then we'll decide on the one or two players who have had problems."

Defeat or a score draw on Wednesday would see Liverpool fail to qualify for the Champions League for the first time under Benitez.

It's a prospect which the man himself isn't giving much thought.

"If you ask me if I am considering this option, the answer is no. I am just thinking about winning."

Quizzed on whether he'd throw Saturday's goalscoring hero Jamie Carragher up front if a late goal was required, the boss added: "I don't think so! I think we have better options but, if we're desperate, we can send anyone up there. We can send Pepe Reina if necessary."

No comments: