Paul Eaton 28 January 2007
Rafael Benitez looked ahead to Tuesday's trip to Upton Park and insisted: "There's no point beating Chelsea and then losing to West Ham."
Liverpool's victory last weekend saw them climb to within five points of the Champions and the Reds have a chance to further reduce the gap when they take on the relegation-battling Hammers this week. Benitez was delighted with the manner of his team's success over Jose Mourinho's men but has warned against the dangers of being brought back down to earth with a poor performance in east London. "All of the players and fans enjoyed the score against Chelsea," said the boss. "The game was good, we showed character and quality and I was really happy. "It’s always good to win against the top sides but at the end of the day it was only three points. We had confidence before that game because we were winning and doing the right things, but now we have won I think we have more confidence. "As always, our idea is to take things one game at a time. You can't beat Chelsea and then lose to West Ham otherwise the position will be similar to what it was. "This game is just as important. We need to win it and not think about other challenges. The players understand that each three points are just as important and that means that we are moving in the right direction. "I hope having a free weekend will help us. The atmosphere among the players is really good and the committment they have shown in all of the training sessions has been fantastic."
Monday, January 29, 2007
WEST HAM'S AS BIG AS CHELSEA
Monday, January 22, 2007
RAFA: WE CAN BEAT ANYONE
Steve Hunter 22 January 2007
Rafael Benitez admitted the 2-0 win over Chelsea was one of his most satisfying victories as Liverpool manager and said it proved that Liverpool can beat anyone on their day.
The Liverpool manager added he always had confidence that Liverpool could more than match the so called top sides in the Premiership and agreed the Reds showed their true capabilities on Saturday. "We can beat anyone – we'd done it in the cups, but now we've done it in the Premier League," commented a defiant Benitez. "All I can say is that we had a lot of confidence. You could feel it in training sessions. On Saturday, you could see how focused the team was. We were attacking, defending, winning the second balls. "We showed on Saturday that we are a very good team. We have a better squad than before. You have to be calm and quiet about your targets. We're five points behind, and it's a long race, but we’ll try and get even closer. It's about winning the next game. "If we maintain this form, we'll be closer to Manchester United as well as Chelsea. The irritation is still that we lost at Blackburn when we had 16 attempts. We are in very good form and we'll try and maintain it. While Benitez won't talk about Liverpool possibly being drawn into a title race he does recall the experience of defying the odds back in his Valencia days when the Spanish team pulled back a big points defecit to beat Real Madrid to the La Liga title. "There's a similar confidence to that we had at Valencia," added Benitez. "My players needed to win against a very top side in a good game like this to prove to people that we can do it. "We've played well against Chelsea in the past, but the difference has been if we'd taken our chances. On Saturday we did. "People have been talking about the weaknesses of Chelsea and their team selection, but I've just concentrated on my own team, watching videos, working out who to play up front. "I only decided in the morning who would play up front. I was in Melwood from 8.30am analysing the small details. We knew we had to play with two strikers. The weaknesses of Chelsea are clear – in the wide areas they have some problems, and they're really strong in the middle. We needed to use wingers to create problems, and be narrow in defence. We were doing that. "Afterwards, we wanted to work out how to create problems for their defence. Craig Bellamy's pace would have been an option, but I wanted to attack. "We needed to keep them deep. Crouch and Kuyt could win in the air and the second balls, so we could use the wide areas against them and try and keep the ball as high as possible."
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
DANIELE PADELLI
Liverpoolfc.tv 16 January 2007
New loan signing Daniele Padelli speaks to the club website about his recent Anfield arrival and outlines his hopes for the future.
The highly-rated Italian under-21 goalkeeper was signed from Sampdoria last week and this is his first interview as a Liverpool player... When did you hear of Liverpool’s interest and how did you feel when told they wanted to bring you here on loan? I was very proud and very excited when I heard the news, Liverpool is a great club. We hear a number of clubs have been watching you – what was so attractive about coming to Liverpool? Liverpool has a tremendous history and is one of the most famous clubs in the world. To have the chance to play for such a big club is an honour. Liverpool have been blessed with some great goalkeepers over the years – would it be a long term dream of yours to follow in their footsteps? Of course, there have been some great goalkeepers at the club and I want to continue that and achieve the same levels they have set. How excited are you about being here for the next six months? I am very excited and I can’t wait to train with my team mates. I am also proud to be the first Italian player at Anfield. Are you a fan of Premiership football? Have you seen any of Liverpool’s games on TV this season? The Premiership is shown around the world and I have seen many of Liverpool’s games. I know we have some very good goalkeepers and I’ll do my best to fight for a chance to play in the team. Tell us about your goalkeeping career so far and the club you’re at at the moment? My career has only just started. In 4-5 years I have progressed a lot. My dream now is to stay at Liverpool and fight for my place.
WATFORD 0-3 LIVERPOOL
Daily Mirror 15 January 2007
Peter Crouch admitted the pain of Liverpool's Carling Cup calamity inspired them to victory over woeful Watford - even if Rafa Benitez still will not admit he got it wrong.
Benitez has endured one of the toughest weeks of his managerial career after his gamble of fielding a second string line-up in the Carling Cup against Arsenal backfired. Liverpool boss Benitez brought back two-goal Crouch and the other big guns to shoot down Watford but insisted next month's Champions League showdown with Barcelona and qualifying for next season are the only things on his mind. Crouch made it clear, though, that while Benitez still believes his cup gamble will be vindicated in the long run, the players are upset after their two most realistic chances of silverware disappeared within the space of four days. England striker Crouch says Liverpool are determined now to carry on making up for their cup disasters by beating Chelsea at Anfield next Saturday and closing the gap on Jose Mourinho's men. Crouch, left on the bench at Anfield in midweek against Arsenal, said: "It was frustrating to lose two games last week and we needed to bounce back from that. It was a tricky game and difficult conditions but the lads showed character. "We had to win by a big margin. A lot of things had been said during the week so it was nice to put that right. "We have Chelsea next week which gives us a chance to close the gap on them and hopefully that's a chance we can take. We just have to concentrate on our own form and hope they slip up. "I think we are just behind them at the moment - they are very consistent and that's what we must strive for." Benitez maintains that he has no regrets about picking a weak team for the Carling Cup even if Liverpool fans and Englishmen like Crouch do not share his disregard for the competition. Benitez also shrugged off suggestions that Liverpool's cup humiliation had left him under pressure at Anfield, recalling far tougher times during his reign at Valencia. Spaniard Benitez, 46, said: "We needed to show character after what happened in midweek. We have fantastic supporters and we need to give them something. We wanted to win at Watford for them. "When I was at Valencia, people were saying I was under pressure when we lost a game away at Espanyol even though we had just set a club record of going 13 games in a row without losing. "I was really, really disappointed after the Arsenal defeat in midweek. I hate losing any game but I was more disappointed for our supporters because they are magnificent. "In my first year, we reached the Carling Cup final. If you can do that then perfect but if you want to bring in top-class players then you need money and the money is in the Champions League. "It is better to go to Athens for the Champions League final than Cardiff for the Carling Cup final. We need to go for the big trophies. "In our first year we won the Champions League and we also played the final of the Carling Cup. But who remembers the final of the Carling Cup? Nobody." However, Liverpool fans have enjoyed winning silverware in each of Benitez's first two seasons in charge after the spectacular Champions League triumph and then last year's FA Cup victory, which rather knocks down the manager's argument. Domestic cup competitions have become consolation trophies for the big guns because of the glory and cash on offer in the Premiership and Champions League but they still represent success. Liverpool are at least finding a measure of consistency in the Premiership despite Benitez continually chopping and changing his line-up. And the team which tore Watford apart was full of attacking flair. Crouch, Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt started up front together for the first time and, after a dire opening half an hour which showed why woeful Watford are going down, the trio came alive. Crouch scored twice and Bellamy was also on target. Watford were hopelessly outclassed and, to be fair, there are not many times that has happened this season despite their perilous position at the foot of the Premiership. Aidy Boothroyd claimed it was only the third time this season - after the defeats at Chelsea and at home to Sheffield United - that he has felt let down by his players as there seemed to be an air of resignation in their display. Angry Boothroyd said: "Are we giving up? No chance. My target is to make the players and performance next time better than this one. "I do still hold the view that there are three worse teams than us in the Premiership. Very much so." ATTENDANCE: 19,746. MAN OF THE MATCH: Bellamy.
