Liverpool narrowly beat Portsmouth on Saturday, with a Torres goal in the final minutes of the game proving to be the winner, leading some criticism towards the Liverpool boss.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has been accused by The Times' Matt Dickinson of becoming too reliant on his main stars Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
The Reds came from behind to beat Portsmouth yesterday with a late Torres goal, and Dickinson believes that without the influential pair, Liverpool would not be sustaining as much of a challenge for the Premier League title.
Speaking on Sky Sports' Sunday Supplement programme, Dickinson said, "Liverpool are hanging in there, but I think yesterday's win just re-emphasised that he's so reliant on two players - Torres and Gerrard.
"Gerrard is out for a couple of weeks and Torres has had his injury problems. He goes off on international duty with Spain this week and Rafa will have everything crossed for a few days, because if Torres is out for another few weeks you feel then it will really all be over.
"I just don't see them sustaining the sort of pace Manchester United will set without Fernando Torres. He's one of the top finishers in the world."
The journalist also believes that any chance Liverpool have of winning their first Premier League crown is if Manchester United become too distracted by their pursuit of other trophies.
"Their best hope is that United have too much on their plate - that United carry on in Europe, the FA Cup, and, of course, they have the League Cup final."
Despite the recent bizarre transfer activity at Anfield, with Robbie Keane leaving the club to return to Tottenham Hotspur only eight months after joining the club, Dickinson believes the current Liverpool side are still capable of mounting a decent title challenge.
"He's made some mistakes in the transfer market, but don't all managers?
"He's put together a team who are, genuinely, challenging for the title. I don't think they'll win it because United have been there a million times before and have got the stronger resources.
"It's not easy taking on Man U when, for example, you go in for [Nemanja] Vidic, you pay the money to trigger his get out clause, Man U turn up a day later and say we'll trump you by another couple of million. That's the world he has to work in."
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has been accused by The Times' Matt Dickinson of becoming too reliant on his main stars Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
The Reds came from behind to beat Portsmouth yesterday with a late Torres goal, and Dickinson believes that without the influential pair, Liverpool would not be sustaining as much of a challenge for the Premier League title.
Speaking on Sky Sports' Sunday Supplement programme, Dickinson said, "Liverpool are hanging in there, but I think yesterday's win just re-emphasised that he's so reliant on two players - Torres and Gerrard.
"Gerrard is out for a couple of weeks and Torres has had his injury problems. He goes off on international duty with Spain this week and Rafa will have everything crossed for a few days, because if Torres is out for another few weeks you feel then it will really all be over.
"I just don't see them sustaining the sort of pace Manchester United will set without Fernando Torres. He's one of the top finishers in the world."
The journalist also believes that any chance Liverpool have of winning their first Premier League crown is if Manchester United become too distracted by their pursuit of other trophies.
"Their best hope is that United have too much on their plate - that United carry on in Europe, the FA Cup, and, of course, they have the League Cup final."
Despite the recent bizarre transfer activity at Anfield, with Robbie Keane leaving the club to return to Tottenham Hotspur only eight months after joining the club, Dickinson believes the current Liverpool side are still capable of mounting a decent title challenge.
"He's made some mistakes in the transfer market, but don't all managers?
"He's put together a team who are, genuinely, challenging for the title. I don't think they'll win it because United have been there a million times before and have got the stronger resources.
"It's not easy taking on Man U when, for example, you go in for [Nemanja] Vidic, you pay the money to trigger his get out clause, Man U turn up a day later and say we'll trump you by another couple of million. That's the world he has to work in."
1 comment:
Hmm...I have to agree to that. besides Gerrard and Torres, the only other scorer the goals can come from is Kuyt.
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