Saturday, March 14, 2009

Rant Did Not Cost Us Title, Says Rafael Benitez


Rafael Benítez pointed yesterday to the strength and depth of Manchester United’s squad, not his infamous rant at Sir Alex Ferguson, as the reason for Liverpool being leapfrogged at the top of the Barclays Premier League, but the manager is confident he can catch and overhaul the champions should he stay at Anfield.

Despite claiming in his press briefing yesterday that there was “no deadline” surrounding his contract talks, Benítez told Spanish media a day earlier that he has to “decide on my future in the next two weeks”.

However, as he prepared to take his team to Old Trafford this lunchtime for the biggest game of the season, the manager appeared to be looking to the longer term.

Benítez is prepared to concede the title if he does not secure his 100th win as Liverpool manager by beating United, who are seven points clear at the top and have a game in hand, but the Spaniard insinuated that he would not be discussing a new deal if he did not believe he could topple Ferguson’s team as the pre-eminent force in English football.

“If everybody is together and we can improve on and off the pitch — the team selection, commercially, everything, I think we can be closer [to United],” Benítez, who has 15 months to run on his contract, said. “This year has been better than before and we have been closer [to them]. You’ve been talking about the draws we’ve had [at Anfield], but if we’d scored just one or two goals more we could have four more points and would be closer still, so I think we can do it [overhaul United at the top], but we need to be more consistent.”

Benítez’s attack on Ferguson on the eve of his team’s goalless draw away to Stoke City in January, when he accused the United manager of wielding an unfair influence over referees, has been widely cited as one of the main reasons for Liverpool’s collapse. Boasting a ten-point advantage over United on December 28, albeit having played three games more, Liverpool have taken only 13 points from the 24 available after the Spaniard’s outburst at his counterpart at Old Trafford.

But the Liverpool manager was dismissive yesterday of suggestions that his remarks have contributed to his team’s poor domestic form, which has included draws against Stoke, Wigan Athletic and Manchester City and a defeat by Middlesbrough. “I do not regret saying anything and it did not have any effect on results,” Benítez said. “It had no influence on them winning their games in hand. It was the right time to say what I said. I do not believe my remarks — facts, not comments — have had any effect on the title race.

“I was reading some articles from different journalists about the size of the United squad and that for me is the main difference. There is a massive difference in terms of the two clubs and their squads.”

Although Benítez was adamant yesterday that United will go out in search of victory today, the onus is on Liverpool to attack, given that a draw would only play into their opponents’ hands.

Asked to explain why Liverpool could humiliate a team such as Real Madrid 4-0 in Europe at Anfield but only draw at home to sides such as Stoke, Fulham and Hull City in the league, Benítez suggested that his players had more difficulty breaking down opponents who “get ten men behind the ball”.

That is unlikely to be a problem Liverpool will face against United, however, and Benítez is hopeful that his players can replicate Tuesday’s performance against Real at Old Trafford today, even though they have struggled to rise to the occasion in past seasons. “Clearly we will try to play at the same level as we did against Madrid,” he said. “We will try to play with intensity and determination. We have to win if we want to reduce the gap.”

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