Rafa Benitez, the coach of English soccer club Liverpool, has hailed the progress the club has made both on and off the pitch during the last five years.
Benitez and the club's owners, American businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett, have all faced criticism at various times for the club's failure to challenge effectively for the Premier League title. The current season has thrown up its own challenges; Benitez was speaking before the weekend's draw with Manchester City, which left the club seventh in the table after just one win in six Premier League games.
However, Benitez, who won the Champions League with the club in 2005 and reached the final again in 2007, insists the club is progressing. "There is a massive difference between five years ago and now," he told The Times newspaper. "The name of the club round the world is at the same level as it was in the 1980s. It's a fantastic achievement. Everybody talks about Liverpool in a good way. And we will get better."
The club's good reputation is showing on the balance sheet, with a record shirt sponsorship with Standard Chartered agreed this summer, and followed by a string of other lucrative commercial deals.
Benitez also dismissed fears for the current season, saying: "People are worried. But the team will improve. When we have key players on the pitch we are as good as anyone. We have proved this in the past."
Benitez and the club's owners, American businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett, have all faced criticism at various times for the club's failure to challenge effectively for the Premier League title. The current season has thrown up its own challenges; Benitez was speaking before the weekend's draw with Manchester City, which left the club seventh in the table after just one win in six Premier League games.
However, Benitez, who won the Champions League with the club in 2005 and reached the final again in 2007, insists the club is progressing. "There is a massive difference between five years ago and now," he told The Times newspaper. "The name of the club round the world is at the same level as it was in the 1980s. It's a fantastic achievement. Everybody talks about Liverpool in a good way. And we will get better."
The club's good reputation is showing on the balance sheet, with a record shirt sponsorship with Standard Chartered agreed this summer, and followed by a string of other lucrative commercial deals.
Benitez also dismissed fears for the current season, saying: "People are worried. But the team will improve. When we have key players on the pitch we are as good as anyone. We have proved this in the past."
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