Monday, August 10, 2009

Steven Gerrard And Fernando Torres Key To Liverpool Title Challenge, Admits Rafa Benitez


If the title race is decided by individual brilliance, Rafa Benitez has no doubt that Liverpool’s two-decade wait for the championship will end next May.

It has taken the Spaniard five seasons to construct a squad capable of slugging it out with Manchester United and Chelsea at the top of the Premier League for the whole nine months.

Yet it is the understanding between Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres that really gives Benitez the belief that 2010 will be the Year of the Kop.

The Reds manager is a keen student of the Anfield history against which every Liverpool team is measured.

And he feels Gerrard and Torres will walk in the footsteps of the great Liverpool forwards of the past.

Benitez said: “If you look at the Liverpool teams who consistently won the title they always had very strong players with a winning mentality.

“But what they also had were players who could make the difference when it mattered.

“I remember the Liverpool of Toshack and Keegan. Then there was Dalglish and Rush. The last time the title was at Anfield it was Barnes and Beardsley.

“Gerrard and Torres can be like those players.

“For me, our strength will always be our team. But while it is true that teams win titles, sometimes matches are won by individual players – and great players can win big matches.”

Cristiano Ronaldo is the current World Footballer of the Year, but Benitez feels both Gerrard and Torres are in a group of players who could be recognised as the No.1 player on the planet.

Gerrard, still recognised as a world-class midfielder at international level, has reinvented himself as a second striker behind Torres for Liverpool – providing ammunition for the Spanish marksman as well as proving himself to be a finisher of some quality.

Benitez added: “Ronaldo is a good player, clearly, but I would not say he is the best in the world.

“Kaka is up there, so are Messi and Rooney, and I believe Liverpool have two who could be the best in the world in Gerrard and Torres.

“If you analyse the goals they have scored when they have played together over the past two years I think you would say it’s amazing.

“Gerrard, playing as a midfielder, was scoring around 11 goals a season and then he moved wide on the right and scored maybe 21. Last season, playing as a second striker, he scored 24.

“Clearly he is much more dangerous playing just behind Torres – and I think Torres is also a better player when he has Gerrard behind him

“Thirty-three goals came from Torres in his first season and last year, despite injuries, he still managed 17.

“That gives me a lot of confidence and the understanding between them will be even better this time.”

The gloves came off when Benitez clashed with Sir Alex Ferguson as Liverpool challenged United all the way to the wire last season.

But the Liverpool boss has still identified United as the team to beat – despite the loss of Ronaldo.

He said: “Clearly United have lost something because Ronaldo and Tevez have both left the club, but they still have a lot of quality.

“Maybe Berbatov will be fantastic this season and they still have Rooney, who will become even more important to them now.

“Ferguson also has some money to spend and maybe if things are not going so well then he will make a big signing.

“Our team progressed well last season and it was good that we were part of the title race until the very end.

“It has been a long time since Liverpool were champions – too long for a club like this.

“What I am looking for is an even bigger improvement so we can take that final step.”

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