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.