Sky Sports expert Andy Gray has attacked Rafael Benitez ahead of Liverpool’s game with Everton at Goodison Park.
Gray believes Benitez has taken the team backwards following their win in the Champions League final in 2005 and is ’staggered’ by his treatment of Alberto Aquilani.
He said: “I don’t think he’s done a great job since Liverpool won the Champions League and if anything they’ve gone backward this year. That’s alarming if you are a Liverpool fan.
“I thought that nothing Rafa does would surprise me any more but I was staggered by his treatment of Alberto Aquilani on Tuesday. Why would you refuse to play your biggest summer signing from the start of a match like that? This is a kid who played 25 minutes against Arsenal at the Emirates a month ago.
“I was amazed that against Debrecen he didn’t say to Aquilani ‘go play and get as much in your tank as you can and when you’ve had enough give me a signal and I’ll take you off’. But that’s not Rafa’s style. How he gets anything from the lad when he puts him on for 30 seconds is beyond me, beyond me.”
The former Everton player also insisted if the Reds lose at Goodison Park on Sunday, fans that support Benitez may start questioning the manager.
“To lose to Everton at Goodison at the weekend would be another hammer-blow to the players belief and will chip away at the confidence of those fans who are still behind Rafael Benitez. His critics certainly don’t need any more ammunition,” he said.
“There is still plenty of passion in the Merseyside derby even if, like most derbies, it may not be as intense as in the past. That is only natural when you compare the modern game to the days when the majority of players in a derby were British. That doesn’t mean that today’s players are not aware of the history and traditions that go with it. Far from it.
“Liverpool have to pick themselves up after the devastation of going out of Europe. Rafa may say his team is confident after that 1-0 win but I don’t agree with that. They did what they had to do in Hungary but there’s no great glory in beating Debrecen 1-0. “
Gray believes Benitez has taken the team backwards following their win in the Champions League final in 2005 and is ’staggered’ by his treatment of Alberto Aquilani.
He said: “I don’t think he’s done a great job since Liverpool won the Champions League and if anything they’ve gone backward this year. That’s alarming if you are a Liverpool fan.
“I thought that nothing Rafa does would surprise me any more but I was staggered by his treatment of Alberto Aquilani on Tuesday. Why would you refuse to play your biggest summer signing from the start of a match like that? This is a kid who played 25 minutes against Arsenal at the Emirates a month ago.
“I was amazed that against Debrecen he didn’t say to Aquilani ‘go play and get as much in your tank as you can and when you’ve had enough give me a signal and I’ll take you off’. But that’s not Rafa’s style. How he gets anything from the lad when he puts him on for 30 seconds is beyond me, beyond me.”
The former Everton player also insisted if the Reds lose at Goodison Park on Sunday, fans that support Benitez may start questioning the manager.
“To lose to Everton at Goodison at the weekend would be another hammer-blow to the players belief and will chip away at the confidence of those fans who are still behind Rafael Benitez. His critics certainly don’t need any more ammunition,” he said.
“There is still plenty of passion in the Merseyside derby even if, like most derbies, it may not be as intense as in the past. That is only natural when you compare the modern game to the days when the majority of players in a derby were British. That doesn’t mean that today’s players are not aware of the history and traditions that go with it. Far from it.
“Liverpool have to pick themselves up after the devastation of going out of Europe. Rafa may say his team is confident after that 1-0 win but I don’t agree with that. They did what they had to do in Hungary but there’s no great glory in beating Debrecen 1-0. “
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