Benitez: Referee should have sent him off Aug 21 2006
By Nick Smith, Daily Post
RAFAEL BENITEZ brushed off Neil Warnock's post-match moans by insisting it was Liverpool who were hard done by at Bramall Lane.
The manager questioned the award of the free kick that led to Rob Hulse's goal 50 seconds into the second half then felt Chris Morgan should have been sent off in conceding the penalty Robbie Fowler scored to make it 1-1.
"If you want to analyse the game for the penalty you need to analyse every single foul," said Benitez.
"I felt we conceded a lot of free kicks, one of them brought their goal.
"There were two tackles that gave us two injured players and maybe they will not play in the Champions League game.
"But okay, we can talk about the penalty and I think it was clear and it was a penalty and a red card. Simple as that.
"The player said he felt contact and the referee said penalty so it has to be a red card. He was the last player in front of the keeper and the referee was behind him and it was clear."
Benitez felt Liverpool were badly below par in the first half, and they went behind less than a minute into the second.
Although the Spaniard disputed the foul that Styles gave against Jan Kromkamp for his challenge on Hulse, he was encouraged by his side's reaction.
Benitez added: "We didn't play well in the first half, we played much better in the second half."
United manager Warnock, who had to sit in the stand because of a touchline ban following an incident last season, said: "They know they are fortunate to come away with a point.
"95% of people in professional football wouldn't have said that was a penalty but one of the 5% cent was wearing black today.
"It's his decision and we have to accept that. It's difficult and it's not easy to digest."
Morgan said: "You're 1-0 up and playing well, everybody working hard, and then that sort of decision goes against you.
"The referee thought he saw a trip and gave a penalty. He's probably had another look and is maybe not as sure now.
"He was running through on goal and as a defender, you've got to try and stop him. I thought he'd skipped over the challenge and was going to go through and score.
"To me, it looked like a stumble. I tried to put him off and when he jumped over the tackle he lost his footing."
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Carragher and Riise out for weeks as Benitez looks for improvement Aug 21 2006
By Nick Smith Daily Post Staff
RAFAEL BENITEZ last night insisted his team is still a work in progress in terms of challenging Chelsea's Premiership supremacy.
Liverpool made a stuttering start to their Premiership challenge on Saturday as they kicked off the new season with a 1-1 draw at Sheffield United.
Champions Chelsea and Manchester United then put down an ominous marker yesterday with convincing victories over Manchester City and Fulham respectively.
The opening weekend's action left Benitez reiterating that the victory over Jose Mourinho's men in the Community Shield a week earlier meant nothing in terms of attempting to overturn them over 38 games.
"You can't stop people talking about these things," said Benitez. "Because we won a game against Chelsea and people said 'oh, fantastic'.
"But the most important thing is not one result but seeing how your team progresses.
"There are some clubs who are waiting to be contenders. I know Chelsea is a good team but Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, you never know.
"I've said it before that it's a long race and it's easy to talk about that, but you need to start by working and trying to do the right things and to see if your team can win and can progress.
"We're talking about a marathon and we have one point. You could say we've lost two but at the moment we need to analyse our mistakes and the reaction of the team after we concede a goal - things like this.
"So, okay, I'm happy with some things but we need to improve on others."
Liverpool battled back from going a goal down in the first minute of the second half at Bramall Lane.
Rob Hulse's header was levelled with 20 minutes remaining when Steven Gerrard's gallop into the box was halted by Chris Morgan and Robbie Fowler tucked away the penalty.
"We knew it would be difficult because of the atmosphere and them playing almost with three strikers," said Benitez.
"In the first half we couldn't do the right things. We had an idea, but we couldn't do the things we were talking about before.
"In the second half we improved a lot and started controlling the game. We played better."
The major down side for Benitez was the double injury blow his back four suffered that further disrupts preparations for tomorrow's Champions League third qualifying round second leg tie against Maccabi Haifa in Kiev.
A late challenge from Hulse left Jamie Carragher with a sprained medial ligament in his left ankle while John Arne Riise was also caught by a late challenge by Paul Ifill.
The Norwegian has torn lateral ligaments in his left ankle and the injuries are also set to impact on Liverpool's early assault on the Premiership as the defenders, who both left the fray before half-time, will be out for a fortnight.
A Liverpool spokesman said: "We expect both players to be unable to train for the next two to three weeks."
Benitez also had problems with the midweek internationals, which he feels have not helped Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia shake off the full effects of their World Cup exertions.
The Liverpool manager left both players out of the squad on Saturday and, with a heavy sarcasm, said: "We had a lot of players playing in very, very important friendly games. It's crazy.
"It's very, very important to play games against small countries and to keep the players flying and coming back without training and with injuries. It was a very good decision."
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Carra: I could miss derby day Aug 21 2006
By Chris Bascombe, Liverpol Echo
JAMIE CARRAGHER admits he's sweating on his fitness for the Merseyside derby after being ruled out for a minimum of two weeks.
The Liverpool defender was one of two notable absentees as the Reds flew to Kiev for tomorrow's Champions League qualifier.
Carragher and John Arne Riise damaged their ankles during Saturday's disappointing 1-1 draw with Sheffield United.
Both are devastated to be missing the £12m clash with Maccabi Haifa, and now Carragher is anxious to en-sure he's recovered in time to face Everton at Goodison on September 9, which is three weeks away.
"We'll have towait and see but I suppose at the moment you would have to say it's touch and go for the derby," said the centre-half.
"The scan showed no damage butthere'sa lot of swelling and I'm on crutches. Hopefully it's not too bad though."
Liverpool are confident both Carragher and Riise will be training again in a fortnight. Neither will be available for international duty on September 2, ruling them out of imminent Euro 2008 qualifiers.
Of more immediate concern to Rafa Benitez is who'll fill the gaps for the meeting with the Israelis, as Liverpool protect their 2-1 first leg lead.
Steve Finnan is fit to return at right back, while Luis Garcia and Xabi Alonso return to the squad.
Daniel Agger, who has impressed in the last two weeks, is likely to deputise for Carragher.
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Useful or useless?
By Nick Smith, Daily Post
RAFAEL BENITEZ brushed off Neil Warnock's post-match moans by insisting it was Liverpool who were hard done by at Bramall Lane.
The manager questioned the award of the free kick that led to Rob Hulse's goal 50 seconds into the second half then felt Chris Morgan should have been sent off in conceding the penalty Robbie Fowler scored to make it 1-1.
"If you want to analyse the game for the penalty you need to analyse every single foul," said Benitez.
"I felt we conceded a lot of free kicks, one of them brought their goal.
"There were two tackles that gave us two injured players and maybe they will not play in the Champions League game.
"But okay, we can talk about the penalty and I think it was clear and it was a penalty and a red card. Simple as that.
"The player said he felt contact and the referee said penalty so it has to be a red card. He was the last player in front of the keeper and the referee was behind him and it was clear."
Benitez felt Liverpool were badly below par in the first half, and they went behind less than a minute into the second.
Although the Spaniard disputed the foul that Styles gave against Jan Kromkamp for his challenge on Hulse, he was encouraged by his side's reaction.
Benitez added: "We didn't play well in the first half, we played much better in the second half."
United manager Warnock, who had to sit in the stand because of a touchline ban following an incident last season, said: "They know they are fortunate to come away with a point.
"95% of people in professional football wouldn't have said that was a penalty but one of the 5% cent was wearing black today.
"It's his decision and we have to accept that. It's difficult and it's not easy to digest."
Morgan said: "You're 1-0 up and playing well, everybody working hard, and then that sort of decision goes against you.
"The referee thought he saw a trip and gave a penalty. He's probably had another look and is maybe not as sure now.
"He was running through on goal and as a defender, you've got to try and stop him. I thought he'd skipped over the challenge and was going to go through and score.
"To me, it looked like a stumble. I tried to put him off and when he jumped over the tackle he lost his footing."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carragher and Riise out for weeks as Benitez looks for improvement Aug 21 2006
By Nick Smith Daily Post Staff
RAFAEL BENITEZ last night insisted his team is still a work in progress in terms of challenging Chelsea's Premiership supremacy.
Liverpool made a stuttering start to their Premiership challenge on Saturday as they kicked off the new season with a 1-1 draw at Sheffield United.
Champions Chelsea and Manchester United then put down an ominous marker yesterday with convincing victories over Manchester City and Fulham respectively.
The opening weekend's action left Benitez reiterating that the victory over Jose Mourinho's men in the Community Shield a week earlier meant nothing in terms of attempting to overturn them over 38 games.
"You can't stop people talking about these things," said Benitez. "Because we won a game against Chelsea and people said 'oh, fantastic'.
"But the most important thing is not one result but seeing how your team progresses.
"There are some clubs who are waiting to be contenders. I know Chelsea is a good team but Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, you never know.
"I've said it before that it's a long race and it's easy to talk about that, but you need to start by working and trying to do the right things and to see if your team can win and can progress.
"We're talking about a marathon and we have one point. You could say we've lost two but at the moment we need to analyse our mistakes and the reaction of the team after we concede a goal - things like this.
"So, okay, I'm happy with some things but we need to improve on others."
Liverpool battled back from going a goal down in the first minute of the second half at Bramall Lane.
Rob Hulse's header was levelled with 20 minutes remaining when Steven Gerrard's gallop into the box was halted by Chris Morgan and Robbie Fowler tucked away the penalty.
"We knew it would be difficult because of the atmosphere and them playing almost with three strikers," said Benitez.
"In the first half we couldn't do the right things. We had an idea, but we couldn't do the things we were talking about before.
"In the second half we improved a lot and started controlling the game. We played better."
The major down side for Benitez was the double injury blow his back four suffered that further disrupts preparations for tomorrow's Champions League third qualifying round second leg tie against Maccabi Haifa in Kiev.
A late challenge from Hulse left Jamie Carragher with a sprained medial ligament in his left ankle while John Arne Riise was also caught by a late challenge by Paul Ifill.
The Norwegian has torn lateral ligaments in his left ankle and the injuries are also set to impact on Liverpool's early assault on the Premiership as the defenders, who both left the fray before half-time, will be out for a fortnight.
A Liverpool spokesman said: "We expect both players to be unable to train for the next two to three weeks."
Benitez also had problems with the midweek internationals, which he feels have not helped Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia shake off the full effects of their World Cup exertions.
The Liverpool manager left both players out of the squad on Saturday and, with a heavy sarcasm, said: "We had a lot of players playing in very, very important friendly games. It's crazy.
"It's very, very important to play games against small countries and to keep the players flying and coming back without training and with injuries. It was a very good decision."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carra: I could miss derby day Aug 21 2006
By Chris Bascombe, Liverpol Echo
JAMIE CARRAGHER admits he's sweating on his fitness for the Merseyside derby after being ruled out for a minimum of two weeks.
The Liverpool defender was one of two notable absentees as the Reds flew to Kiev for tomorrow's Champions League qualifier.
Carragher and John Arne Riise damaged their ankles during Saturday's disappointing 1-1 draw with Sheffield United.
Both are devastated to be missing the £12m clash with Maccabi Haifa, and now Carragher is anxious to en-sure he's recovered in time to face Everton at Goodison on September 9, which is three weeks away.
"We'll have towait and see but I suppose at the moment you would have to say it's touch and go for the derby," said the centre-half.
"The scan showed no damage butthere'sa lot of swelling and I'm on crutches. Hopefully it's not too bad though."
Liverpool are confident both Carragher and Riise will be training again in a fortnight. Neither will be available for international duty on September 2, ruling them out of imminent Euro 2008 qualifiers.
Of more immediate concern to Rafa Benitez is who'll fill the gaps for the meeting with the Israelis, as Liverpool protect their 2-1 first leg lead.
Steve Finnan is fit to return at right back, while Luis Garcia and Xabi Alonso return to the squad.
Daniel Agger, who has impressed in the last two weeks, is likely to deputise for Carragher.
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Useful or useless?