Rafael Benitez has made ending Liverpool’s championship drought his priority for the forthcoming campaign.
The Anfield outfit last won the title back in 1990 and finished last season in fourth place, 11 points adrift of champions Manchester United.
Since taking charge four years ago, Benitez has led Liverpool to glory in the European Cup and Uefa
Super Cup in 2005 and the FA Cup the following year.
The Anfield outfit were also beaten finalists in the League Cup and World Club Championship in 2005 and the European Cup two years later.
However, the Premier League has become the holy grail for Liverpool, particularly as United’s most recent triumph has moved the Old Trafford outfit to within one of their record 18 championships.
And Benitez, who hopes to bolster his squad numbers further in the coming days, has revealed realistically challenging for the title is now his team’s primary target.
“I’m confident this is our best squad we’ve had during my time here,” he said. “We were looking for players to improve our weaknesses. I think we have found some of them, hopefully we can find some in a few days or a few weeks.
“At a club like Liverpool you want to win every trophy. If you said to me to put them in an order of priority, I’d say the Premier League, then the Champions League, the FA Cup and the League Cup. We’ll try to win all of them.
“We have enough confidence. We are hopefully going to be better than last season. We must try to work as hard as before and get as close as possible. If we can challenge, then why can’t we do something more important?”
Liverpool’s best league finish under Benitez came in 2006 when they ended the campaign nine points adrift of champions Chelsea in third place.
The manager has already started reshuffling his squad, with Philipp Degen and Andrea Dossena bolstering the full-back berths while John Arne Riise has joined Roma and Peter Crouch is poised to complete a move to Portsmouth.
“Everyone agreed that we needed to improve in the wide areas,” added Benitez. “We are looking for wingers and we’ve brought in two offensive full-backs in Degen and Dossena, who can go forward and give different options to the strikers.
“We are working really hard and are close to finishing some deals. We are hoping to progress with some big names and players who can improve us in the future.”
Liverpool are seeking a swift conclusion to the Gareth Barry transfer saga, although Xabi Alonso’s future is in limbo with the Serie A side considering their interest in the Spanish international.
Benitez is also tracking Robbie Keane and Valencia winger David Silva.
The Anfield outfit last won the title back in 1990 and finished last season in fourth place, 11 points adrift of champions Manchester United.
Since taking charge four years ago, Benitez has led Liverpool to glory in the European Cup and Uefa
Super Cup in 2005 and the FA Cup the following year.
The Anfield outfit were also beaten finalists in the League Cup and World Club Championship in 2005 and the European Cup two years later.
However, the Premier League has become the holy grail for Liverpool, particularly as United’s most recent triumph has moved the Old Trafford outfit to within one of their record 18 championships.
And Benitez, who hopes to bolster his squad numbers further in the coming days, has revealed realistically challenging for the title is now his team’s primary target.
“I’m confident this is our best squad we’ve had during my time here,” he said. “We were looking for players to improve our weaknesses. I think we have found some of them, hopefully we can find some in a few days or a few weeks.
“At a club like Liverpool you want to win every trophy. If you said to me to put them in an order of priority, I’d say the Premier League, then the Champions League, the FA Cup and the League Cup. We’ll try to win all of them.
“We have enough confidence. We are hopefully going to be better than last season. We must try to work as hard as before and get as close as possible. If we can challenge, then why can’t we do something more important?”
Liverpool’s best league finish under Benitez came in 2006 when they ended the campaign nine points adrift of champions Chelsea in third place.
The manager has already started reshuffling his squad, with Philipp Degen and Andrea Dossena bolstering the full-back berths while John Arne Riise has joined Roma and Peter Crouch is poised to complete a move to Portsmouth.
“Everyone agreed that we needed to improve in the wide areas,” added Benitez. “We are looking for wingers and we’ve brought in two offensive full-backs in Degen and Dossena, who can go forward and give different options to the strikers.
“We are working really hard and are close to finishing some deals. We are hoping to progress with some big names and players who can improve us in the future.”
Liverpool are seeking a swift conclusion to the Gareth Barry transfer saga, although Xabi Alonso’s future is in limbo with the Serie A side considering their interest in the Spanish international.
Benitez is also tracking Robbie Keane and Valencia winger David Silva.
1 comment:
rafa has proven himself to be a master tactician at cup tournaments but the league is demanding over a long period of time and he hasn't displayed the ability to bring the team through the long-haul and come out tops.
definitely time for the scousers to focus on the bpl title. with a sizeable warchest, he'll be able to bolster the squad to cater for just this.
it'd be sick to see scolari doing better than rafa in his first season... though the excuse will always be ra's money being poured into chelski
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