Liverpool could only manage a draw with Manchester City this afternoon at the City of Manchester Stadium and Rafael Benitez said he thought it was a fair result.
“Both teams were working hard in defence trying to beat the team in attack and we couldn't so I think in the end it was fair,” he told Sky Sports.
The Reds boss admitted the race for fourth will be long and difficult but said he believes Liverpool will come out on top.
“They are a good team, they had good players before, they had [sic] good players now and I think that we knew that it would be difficult and we know that it will be a long race so we have to keep going,” he explained.
“We have to believe, no? If the manager doesn't have confidence it will be difficult for the players.
“We have enough quality and now Yossi [Benayoun] is coming back, [Fernando] Torres is coming back, hopefully [Glen] Johnson will come back in the next week.
“We are now bringing players back, the competition will be better for us and hopefully we can improve.”
On the fitness of his star striker Fernando Torres, Benitez said it was a matter of wait and see.
He added: “We will see how he trains during the week, we have a game in the Europa League on Thursday so we have to decide but I think it's still the same, he needs to keep working with the fitness coach.”
Assessing the game, the Liverpool manager thought his side could have nicked it at the end and were unlucky to be denied a penalty.
Benitez continued: “At the end we were more in control, passing the ball with Aquilani – we have plenty of possession. They could be a threat in counter attack but we have more control and also the situation with Yossi maybe could be a penalty so I think we were close at the end to win the game."
Benitez said he hadn't seen the incident but Benayoun had told him he was fouled.
He concluded: “I ask him because I couldn't see the replay, he told me that he thought it was a penalty so at the end you know it's good to see a player trying to not take advantage of this.
“You have to understand his decision and that's it.”
“Both teams were working hard in defence trying to beat the team in attack and we couldn't so I think in the end it was fair,” he told Sky Sports.
The Reds boss admitted the race for fourth will be long and difficult but said he believes Liverpool will come out on top.
“They are a good team, they had good players before, they had [sic] good players now and I think that we knew that it would be difficult and we know that it will be a long race so we have to keep going,” he explained.
“We have to believe, no? If the manager doesn't have confidence it will be difficult for the players.
“We have enough quality and now Yossi [Benayoun] is coming back, [Fernando] Torres is coming back, hopefully [Glen] Johnson will come back in the next week.
“We are now bringing players back, the competition will be better for us and hopefully we can improve.”
On the fitness of his star striker Fernando Torres, Benitez said it was a matter of wait and see.
He added: “We will see how he trains during the week, we have a game in the Europa League on Thursday so we have to decide but I think it's still the same, he needs to keep working with the fitness coach.”
Assessing the game, the Liverpool manager thought his side could have nicked it at the end and were unlucky to be denied a penalty.
Benitez continued: “At the end we were more in control, passing the ball with Aquilani – we have plenty of possession. They could be a threat in counter attack but we have more control and also the situation with Yossi maybe could be a penalty so I think we were close at the end to win the game."
Benitez said he hadn't seen the incident but Benayoun had told him he was fouled.
He concluded: “I ask him because I couldn't see the replay, he told me that he thought it was a penalty so at the end you know it's good to see a player trying to not take advantage of this.
“You have to understand his decision and that's it.”
No comments:
Post a Comment