SOCCER/ ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: RAFAEL BENITEZ has vowed not to walk away from the pressures at Liverpool but believes the club cannot be expected to compete for the top prizes every season due to problems behind the scenes.
The Liverpool manager issued a defiant response to the latest crisis to engulf his Anfield reign yesterday, albeit one laced with a neat touch of self-deprecating humour. Almost a year to the day since his infamous “list of facts” argument against Alex Ferguson, Benitez, whose side face Stoke City today, started his pre-match press conference by producing a piece of paper from his pocket and delivering a rehearsed message.
Instead of an attack on Manchester United, however, this time it was an apology for a season that lurched to a new low on Wednesday when Liverpool were humbled at home in the FA Cup by Reading.
“Before we start, some facts,” he said. “Facts: we are not playing well and we feel sorry for our fans. I have experience as a manager and we know every week that things can change in football, so we have confidence that we will improve. Stoke is the first option we have to improve. We have to be focused on Stoke and not concentrate too much on other things.”
The “other things” to which Benitez referred concerned his position as Liverpool manager, which will be reviewed at the end of this season and will be influenced both by his attempt to achieve Champions League qualification and the co-owners’ efforts to find new investment.
Liverpool face Tony Pulis’s side without the injured trio of Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Yossi Benayoun.
The goalkeeper, Jose Reina, is also struggling with a back problem while Ryan Babel tweeted to the world yesterday that he has been left out of the squad without explanation.
The reason is Benitez’s attempt to sell the Dutch international, having been given permission to reinvest his transfer fee.
Liverpool’s problems are not confined to the pitch, with debt, the divided ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett plus a stalled stadium project increasing uncertainty. But Benitez is adamant he will not quit Liverpool to safeguard his reputation.
“No,” he said in answer to that question. “Clearly, I want to fight.”
Benitez did accept that he is immersed in the most difficult period of his six-year Liverpool reign.
“As a manager of 26 years I have had problems before,” he said. “But in modern football it is different. You have agents, big money, TV, radios, newspapers, the internet. Everyone has an opinion. It is difficult.”
And though his latest “list of facts” was an attempt to ease tension around the club at his own expense – “It was to keep a sense of humour but I am quite serious about this. Everything can change in one week” – he again insisted that expectations at the Anfield club bear no relation to the financial reality.
“You can’t always have good seasons. You cannot be consistent at the top of the table with the situation that we have.
“We know we have to do well every single year and we will do our best again.
“This year from the beginning was difficult. We are in a bad situation but we have to show character.”
Guardian Service
