Rafa Benitez sounds cautious note over fans' claim of 'best midfield in the world'
Aug 31 2007 by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo
LIVERPUDLIANS have taken to hailing the ‘best midfield in the world’ since the start of the season.
It’s the kind of boast which makes Rafa Benitez slightly uneasy. He would rather the chant was amended adding the word ‘potentially’ to encourage the players’ continued self-improvement.
The manner in which Momo Sissoko, Javier Mascherano and Yossi Benayoun have responded to the call after missing out to Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso in earlier fixtures will do little to curb the enthusiasm of those who feel Liverpool are increasingly worthy of the description formidable.
“What’s important is to keep all the players on their toes, and at the moment we have this situation,” said Benitez today. “It looks to me we have players with the right attitude and this has been shown so far, but we must always remember there is a lot of hard work to come.
“What matters as a manager is what the players show on the pitch; not if people are saying how good we are.
“I’m not worried if people say one midfield is the best, but I’m more concerned on playing to our level every week.
“We’re happy that at this moment we are playing well using different players.
“Okay, the opposition on Tuesday was not the strongest, but we saw how well Benayoun played coming into the team – he is a very clever player – and others have shown their quality.
“We don’t have many out-and-out wingers in the squad, but players like Benayoun and Babel are showing they can make that position work for the team.
“Everyone has the right idea what they should be doing.”
With Gerrard missing again tomorrow, Mascherano, Alonso and Sissoko will compete for starting places against Derby County.
Mascherano, however, is unlikely to be available for the trip to Portsmouth on September 15 as he’ll be recovering from jet-lag.
He’s been selected for Argentina to play a friendly in Australia four days earlier.
Naturally, Benitez is unimpressed by the scheduling of the fixture.
“It’s one thing to lose a player to an international team, but another to see him go all the away around the world to play a friendly,” said Benitez.
“It’s crazy. The majority of the top South American players are now based in Europe.
“We can’t say no as a club and stop our player going to the game, but it’s going to make it very difficult for him to play in our game after this.
“To have only three or four days to prepare is going to be hard.
“I don’t know how much a game like this is really about football, or how much it’s more about making money.”
Before internationals and the frequent flyers’ club interrupt, Benitez hopes to consolidate his best start since joining Liverpool.
Despite his regular team changes continuing to yield positive results, Benitez still finds himself having to defend his selections after emphatic back-to-back wins.
Only at Anfield, it seems, can comfortable victories be followed by an irrational focus not on the team that’s just been picked, but on how many changes will be made in the next game.
“I read an interview with a player at a club which in recent years has played just 38 league games a season and a couple more in the cups,” explained Benitez.
“He was talking about how desperate he is to win trophies.
“Such players must realise if they were to move to a big club like Liverpool and compete for those trophies, they no longer have 38 games to play a season, but 60, and it’s a big step in level.
“That’s why we have such a big squad and need to use our players in the right way.”
Such observations can be viewed as a coded message to some of his own squad about what would lie in store if they moved away from Anfield in pursuit of a guaranteed starting place.
The dreams they once had of playing in the Champions League, and competing for FA Cups and league titles, would be sacrificed for playing the same amount of games elsewhere - but with no realistic hope of winners’ medals.
Last night’s Champions League draw underlined why Anfield remains the place to be in the season ahead.
“We’re not worried by the draw,” said Benitez. “We have respect for all the teams, but as the top seeds in the group we’re sure most teams will be more worried about what they must do to get a good result at Anfield than we will be of the clubs we must face.
“In this competition, every opponent and every game is hard,” insisted the Anfield boss. “But we also know playing Liverpool in the Champions League is also really difficult for other teams.”
Aug 31 2007 by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo
LIVERPUDLIANS have taken to hailing the ‘best midfield in the world’ since the start of the season.
It’s the kind of boast which makes Rafa Benitez slightly uneasy. He would rather the chant was amended adding the word ‘potentially’ to encourage the players’ continued self-improvement.
The manner in which Momo Sissoko, Javier Mascherano and Yossi Benayoun have responded to the call after missing out to Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso in earlier fixtures will do little to curb the enthusiasm of those who feel Liverpool are increasingly worthy of the description formidable.
“What’s important is to keep all the players on their toes, and at the moment we have this situation,” said Benitez today. “It looks to me we have players with the right attitude and this has been shown so far, but we must always remember there is a lot of hard work to come.
“What matters as a manager is what the players show on the pitch; not if people are saying how good we are.
“I’m not worried if people say one midfield is the best, but I’m more concerned on playing to our level every week.
“We’re happy that at this moment we are playing well using different players.
“Okay, the opposition on Tuesday was not the strongest, but we saw how well Benayoun played coming into the team – he is a very clever player – and others have shown their quality.
“We don’t have many out-and-out wingers in the squad, but players like Benayoun and Babel are showing they can make that position work for the team.
“Everyone has the right idea what they should be doing.”
With Gerrard missing again tomorrow, Mascherano, Alonso and Sissoko will compete for starting places against Derby County.
Mascherano, however, is unlikely to be available for the trip to Portsmouth on September 15 as he’ll be recovering from jet-lag.
He’s been selected for Argentina to play a friendly in Australia four days earlier.
Naturally, Benitez is unimpressed by the scheduling of the fixture.
“It’s one thing to lose a player to an international team, but another to see him go all the away around the world to play a friendly,” said Benitez.
“It’s crazy. The majority of the top South American players are now based in Europe.
“We can’t say no as a club and stop our player going to the game, but it’s going to make it very difficult for him to play in our game after this.
“To have only three or four days to prepare is going to be hard.
“I don’t know how much a game like this is really about football, or how much it’s more about making money.”
Before internationals and the frequent flyers’ club interrupt, Benitez hopes to consolidate his best start since joining Liverpool.
Despite his regular team changes continuing to yield positive results, Benitez still finds himself having to defend his selections after emphatic back-to-back wins.
Only at Anfield, it seems, can comfortable victories be followed by an irrational focus not on the team that’s just been picked, but on how many changes will be made in the next game.
“I read an interview with a player at a club which in recent years has played just 38 league games a season and a couple more in the cups,” explained Benitez.
“He was talking about how desperate he is to win trophies.
“Such players must realise if they were to move to a big club like Liverpool and compete for those trophies, they no longer have 38 games to play a season, but 60, and it’s a big step in level.
“That’s why we have such a big squad and need to use our players in the right way.”
Such observations can be viewed as a coded message to some of his own squad about what would lie in store if they moved away from Anfield in pursuit of a guaranteed starting place.
The dreams they once had of playing in the Champions League, and competing for FA Cups and league titles, would be sacrificed for playing the same amount of games elsewhere - but with no realistic hope of winners’ medals.
Last night’s Champions League draw underlined why Anfield remains the place to be in the season ahead.
“We’re not worried by the draw,” said Benitez. “We have respect for all the teams, but as the top seeds in the group we’re sure most teams will be more worried about what they must do to get a good result at Anfield than we will be of the clubs we must face.
“In this competition, every opponent and every game is hard,” insisted the Anfield boss. “But we also know playing Liverpool in the Champions League is also really difficult for other teams.”
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