Sir Alex has once again had a swipe at The Fat Spanish Waster, Rafa Beneathus. Rafa seems to think he and his team are a cut above the rest and showed complete disrespect and contempt toward Sal Allardyce and Blackburn Rovers last Saturday. Rafa really needs to think before he speaks as on several occassions this season he has made himself and his club look like a bunch of amateur clowns to be perfectly honest. His attempts at 'mind games' are baffling, often resulting in bad results for his team. He really should learn to button it from now on and let his team (try) and do the talking.
Fergie spoke about David Moyes and his excellent Everton team who are a challenge for anyone as they play at the moment.
"Moyes has a young squad that will get better. The young players he has in the team, allied to the ones he has brought in, have a good future. He’s done a great job. Moyes has been there for five years now and he has built a good football club. Irrespective of what Rafael Benitez says – he called them a small club – they are a big club. But that just points to [Benitez's] arrogance. There’s one thing about the arrogance he has shown. But one thing you can’t forgive is his contempt for [Blackburn Rovers manager] Sam Allardyce last week. When Liverpool scored their second goal against Blackburn; he made a gesture which suggested the game was finished. It was absolute contempt and I don’t think Sam Allardyce deserved it. Sam is a guy who has worked so hard for the League Manager’s Association and looked after young players in the game. He didn’t deserve that. He had to play a team that was weakened, and to get that kind of contempt… I don’t think any other Liverpool manager would have done that."
Rafael Beneathus claimed that his side could have scored more than the four goals they got against Madrid tonight. and he is now keen to get on with the mundane task of Premier League football again, against Manchester United at high noon on Saturday. Fernando Torres, Andrea Dossena and a Steven Gerrard brace helped the Reds to a 5-0 aggregate win, which still left their manager calling for even more.
I would have thought The Fat Spanish Waster would have kept hush hush after his last attempts to say he was keen to have a go at United. He went ten games without a win after that effort. Bearing in mind after his Bindippers won in Madrid they came to back to mighty Middlesbrough and duly got beaten 2-0. Just exactly how does Rafa conjure up these bizarre results, it's a rare talent indeed.
Benitez was mostly satisfied with his side's display, and was keen to talk up morale in the Liverpool camp in the wake of the win. He insisted that the Saturday lunchtime clash presents his side with a realistic chance to close the gap on Sir Alex Ferguson's side at the top of the Premier League.
He told a press conference at Anfield, "We played really well, and I am happy for the players and fans. The team was very good. We tried to put them under pressure from the start, and today is another good day for us. If you play so well against a team like Real Madrid it is good, but we could have scored more goals and we have to improve. We have a few days to prepare for the Manchester United game and hopefully we can reduce the gap. Manchester United are a good team, but we will approach the game with confidence."
Manchester United are a damn sight better than these wasters from Spain you played tonight Mr Benitez !! .....Back To Home Page...
Rafa wont give up the fact that it is now almost impossible for him and his boys to catch Manchester United, but this is not a view shared by Alvaro Arbeloa. He does accept overhauling Premiership leaders Manchester United is a long shot for Liverpool.
"The challenge to win the league is not lost, but every time it is getting more difficult for us. To give so many points to Manchester United and we still have to play at Old Trafford is very dangerous.
"We are not going to give in and will continue to challenge until the very last moment.
"Manchester United are not showing any weaknesses and we all thought there would come a time where they would slip up, but that has not happened," admitted the Spanish fullback.
I am an avid United fan, each and every time they have won the league over the past 16 years I have always had a niggling feeling that maybe, just maybe, they might get caught on the run in and we lose the title. This year and for the next few years though I feel just so confident of this United squad.
Even when the injuries come knocking at the door, United just replace those injured with youngsters, who play like they are seasoned first team regulars and the Manchester United juggernaut just keeps on rolling along. Things are looking better than they ever have at Old Trafford right now.....Back To Home Page...
Rafa Beneathus is still bouyant. The attaching of a few bricks might change that when we sling him in the Mersey but for now he is.........bouyant. He still claims his Liverpool flops can catch the Mighty Manchester United. They closed the gap down to four points tonight with a victory over Sunderland, surprisingly.
They still have to come to Old Trafford though, I am sure Rafa is (maybe) aware of this. I say 'maybe' because half the time he doesn't seem to know what players he has.
Speaking to Sky Sports 2 after his teams two goal 'blitz' of lowly Sunderland he said:
"They have a good team and good squad, but it is football so you never know, we have to keep going and approach every game thinking about the three points and we will see what happens. We know that it will be difficult, but we still have our chances. We know that each game will be very important. Old Trafford will be crucial. We want to reduce the gap."
He's now going to approach each game thinking about the three points, I bet Fergie is quaking in his boots now at that thought......Back To Home Page...
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has just about conceded defeat in the race for the Premier League title when they got rolled over by a poor Middlesborough side who haven't won a game since Novemeber 9th. How on earth you can go to the Bernabau and beat mighty Real Madrid and then come home again and self capitulate to the likes of Middlesbrough is beyond me, it defies all belief.
Liverpool's 15-game league run shuddered to a halt at the Riverside Stadium as Xabi Alonso's own goal and Tuncay Sanli's 63rd-minute strike saw Boro clinch all three points. Manchester United are now seven points better off than The Bindippers and have a game in hand again.
Asked if the title race was over, Benitez, whose side have slipped into third place behind Chelsea on goal difference, said: "Before the game, it was very difficult - after the game, it is more difficult. It depends on United. It will be more difficult, clearly. I don't want to say too much, but for me, it is very clear. In the first 30 minutes, we had five chances and you have to take your chances. After the own goal, we still had chances. If you want to win, you have to score.".....Back To Home Page...
Liverpool manager Rafa Beneathus is adamant Manchester United are not untouchable. Every season begins with 20 teams all filled with their dreams and ambitions for the forthcoming season. Maybe only 6 teams include winning the Premier League in their list of desires. But as the season progresses the six become five, four and so on and so forth.
And now there are two.
Manchester United are stringing together a remarkable run of games in which they have broken the record for the most consecutive clean sheets. Currently they have gone 14 games with out conceding, the previous record was a mere eleven by Chelsea. They remain unbeaten since the World Club Cup in Japan and Edwin Van Der Sar has become the holder of all records for golakeeping in the process. Chasing United has cost Luiz Filipe Scolari his job and has made the usually defiant Arsene Wenger bow down and say United are untouchable. Rafa Bentiez remains unbowed though, for now.
The Spaniard has good reason not to cede defeat, despite United's imperious form. In his second title season with Valencia in 2004, with 12 games to go,Benitez's sidestood eight points behind Real Madrid. Valencia, of course, went on to win that title, and win it in style. They finished five points ahead of Barcelona, with Real seven points adrift.
Despite the bad news that Steven Gerrard has not recovered from a hamstring strain to face Manchester City tomorrow and will only know on Monday if he will make Wednesday's Champions League tie with Real Madrid, a five point lead is not nearly enough for Benitez to follow Wenger's lead and throw his shield at Ferguson's feet just yet.
He said: "It would be better if we had a five point lead on them, but clearly you can manage it if you win some games in a row. We did that at Valencia and it gave us more confidence, and it is the same here. It is too much to say United are untouchable. They won a lot of games 1-0 and then they have scored three or four in a couple of games and everyone has been talking as though they were playing well for the whole season. But you can see a lot of games where they were not playing well. Clearly we cannot say we think they are unbeatable. We have to think we can win our next games, then go to Old Trafford and win."
If Liverpool are to catch and overhaul their great rivals, then Benitez knows they must start to take games by the scruff of the neck early on, rather than leaving it until the last minute to snatch victory, as they did against Portsmouth two weeks ago. Tomorrow's visitors have already felt the full effect of a Liverpool late show, losing 3-2 at Eastlands thanks to a last minute Dirk Kuyt strike. Refusing to give in is a fine characteristic, but if Benitez is to protect his players from burnout, he needs them to kill games off.
He said: "It would be easier for the team, for the fans, for my heart if we scored early. It is better to score in the first half when you have had plenty of possession, as we did at Portsmouth. I watched the tape and there were three clips in the first 10 minutes. We have been controlling these games but it would be so different if we scored the first goal. If you do, they open up and you have more space.".....Back To Home Page...
Rafael Benitez again chose to leave out Robbie Keane and Liverpool duly went on to blow their chance of joining Manchester United at the summit of the Premier League.
The Dubliner was only introduced after Mido had cancelled out Yossi Benayoun's opener, remarkably replacing Steven Gerrard almost 20 minutes after Benitez had withdrawn the exhausted Fernando Torres. The logic behind this substitution was completely beyond me. Gerrard is the only player at Liverpool who shows a modicum of continuity and in the past he has single handedly saved Liverpool from some rather dodgy results. So what does Rafa do, he takes him off. Amazing!
Both Albert Riera and Dirk Kuyt were preferred as substitutes to the £20m signing from Tottenham as Liverpool sought without success to build on their lead. Instead, debutant Mido equalised from the penalty spot with eight minutes left. It leaves Liverpool two points adrift of United, treading water in the title race and Keane's future open to question.
Benitez insists he wants to keep the player but, with the feeling at Anfield that he will not play if Gerrard and Torres are fit, he will no doubt be wondering what point there is in staying if he is not even the Spaniard's natural replacement.....it's all going tits up for The Pool, as I forecast it would several months ago.....Back To Home Page...
As Manchester United were outplaying, out thinking and totally outclassing a lacklustre Chelsea side last week, the United fans at Old Trafford and the 11 on the pitch were making all the right noises – something Rafael Benitez had failed to do on the previous Friday.
Benitez had claimed at his press conference that United’s result against Chelsea would not matter ‘if we (Liverpool) win at Stoke’. Unfortunately for Benitez, Liverpool failed to beat Stoke (17th in the table) for the second time this season and United went on to thrash Chelsea.
United’s fans and players seemed inspired in what was arguably our strongest performance all season. It was as if they had been given the motivation and inspiration to show the rest of the Premiership exactly which team are the Champions. Coincidentally this came after Benitez’s untimely press conference.
For the best part of two months it has seemed like Liverpool fans have been becoming increasingly confident, smug and celebratory as their team has occupied top spot. Despite only being January, the majority of Liverpool fans have been happy to announce how sorry United would be in May and how disappointed Fergie was going to be that he hadn’t equalled Liverpool’s 18 titles. It was after watching Benitez’s press conference in full and having noticed the premature celebratory mood from Liverpool fans that I thought to myself that when United inevitably lift the title in May, this years Premiership title will be the sweetest yet.
Then I got the feeling I wasn’t the only one. In between the ironic cheers for John Terry, Old Trafford roared and asked; ‘Are you watching Merseyside?’
At his press conference Benitez told the waiting press what he thought about Mr Ferguson as he had scrawled a few ‘facts’ on a piece of A4 which he wanted to share. Admittedly, the timing could have been great, Liverpool could have battered Stoke and United could have lost or even drawn.
Upon first seeing the ‘Rafa rant’ I thought aspects of it were quite funny, particularly the suggestion the Fergie should compile the fixtures and send them to other Premier League managers. I am sure even the most ardent supporter would have chuckled at some of his comments. Then, the hilarity of it really began to sink in as Stoke held Liverpool to a goalless draw the following day.
The suggestion made by the press that Benitez was having a Kevin Keegan moment is perhaps a little inaccurate - inaccurate because Keegan could be forgiven. He was caught at a highly emotional moment without the opportunity to prepare a detailed response like Benitez did. He exploded in a rash moment of madness. The fact that Benitez went to the effort of finding examples, scenarios and ‘facts’ shows the man has been truly affected by the mind games from the master.
This carefully documented tirade would surely not have come from a man who is confident that his table toppers will continue their excellent form and win the Premier League. The bait laid by Ferguson should have been brushed of with a simple ‘we are top of the league, end of story’. If Benitez would have left the press conference after his first remarks then his credibility would have most definitely remained intact. Claiming Ferguson was nervous that Liverpool are top of the league would have sufficed in gaining an advantage in the mind-games stakes. As it is, Benitez has heaped pressure upon himself and his team by embracing Ferguson so early in the season.
While United have endured a disjointed spluttering start, Liverpool have, the majority of the time, been playing their best football and have built a small advantage at the top. Recently it had been suggested in some quarters that United were scared and worried about Liverpool being top. This was probably true of the majority of United fans, but, after the annihilation of Chelsea and with Benitez seemingly back to his ‘Tinkerman’ best, United fans are now filled with a sense of anticipation and excitement.
Of the 10 Premiership trophies won since Liverpool last claimed the title, there have been a few which have stood out as being sweeter than the rest. Winning it the first time, winning it in the treble year, last years victory and the title which ended Mourinho’s seemingly unstoppable reign were all special. For me though none of these would compare with the delight United fans will have when we beat Liverpool to the title. United and Ferguson seem to be finding some form at just the right time as Benitez and Liverpool are firing blanks. I suggest Liverpool fans and Rafa Benitez make room in the record books as Mr Ferguson is coming to collect United’s 18th title and, like many other United fans, for me this one will be the sweetest………………………………Back To Home Page.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is putting on a brave face now his team have been knocked off their f*cking perch by Fergie AGAIN!
He maintains their title bid is still on track.
United beat Bolton 1-0 on Saturday which in turn lifted them a point clear of Liverpool with a game in hand and Liverpool have the small matter of a Merseyside derby to contend with in order to take poll position again. For the next 48 hours I am a big fan of David Moyes and his team.
Benitez said: "The situation does not change, no matter what they do. We have to get three points in every single game and especially in the derby. I think it is important to understand when people talk about the title and your position in the table that I didn't expect in August to win the title in January. No-one can expect this. If you keep calm and analyse the situation you will know if you want to win the title it has to be maybe in May and to have Chelsea, Arsenal, now Aston Villa, and United in the title race is normal.
"We will try to stay there and if we cannot be [top] one week then the next week we have to think about getting three points and getting ahead again. I have a lot of confidence in my team."
More confidence than I have I'm sorry Rafa. Manchester United are renowned for putting on a prolonged good run after new year and Liverpool are famous for falling away as the season progresses. History tells us it is all over now. I feel very confident of winning the Premier League again this year. Confidence like this can often leave you with egg on your face though, but hey.....Glory Glory Man United.....Back To Home Page...
'Rafa's cracking up,' rang out around Old Trafford last Wednesday night, it was not a concerned cry from Manchester United supporters, they were merely laughing at Rafa and his recent antics in trying to upset Sir Alex Ferguson, the 'King Of The Mind Games'.
Benitez's outbursts are more an act of mental disintegration and as Gideon Haigh pointed out, this is a unique talent of the England cricket team that they were able to inflict mental disintegration on themselves rather than their opponents. Many believe Benitez did the same thing when he produced his piece of paper last Friday week, seeing it as an act of appeasement on a par with Neville Chamberlain.
Nobody knows anything and they know even less when dealing with Alex Ferguson. Last week a Sky reporter admitted that he hadn't wanted to ask Alex Ferguson his views on the latest revelations in the Patrice Evra case having already asked him about Ronaldo's move to Real Madrid. You get out while you're ahead was the general tone of his report, suggesting that while enjoying an audience with Alex Ferguson you don't want to do anything that would upset him so it was one tricky question per turn. Nobody ever feels that way in a Rafael Benitez press conference. They ask him anything they like and feel comfortable diong so. With Sir Alex they tread very carefully indeed!
At a time when Liverpool and Chelsea should be enjoying 'relative safety' from United after their trip to Japan, they find themselves both behind them as the New Year celebrations are left behind and the run-in to the season is about to begin.
Chelsea and Liverpool could have been 16 points clear of United on their return from the World Club Cup but they blew it big time. Since Japan United have won five straight league games and have not conceded a goal for ten straight matches either, equalling Chelsea's record.
The fact that United again scored a very late winner yesterday against Bolton doesn't mean they are the luckiest team in the world either as most opposition fans seem to think. Why do you think Chelsea and Manchester United do this so often and with consistency? It's because neither team will give up for one single second during a game and they will fight until the final whistle. This is why the two supposed 'luckiest' teams score so many late winners.
Against Bolton yesterday United had a hat full of chances any one of which could have gone in. It just so happens that it was a late effort from Dimitar Berbatov that won the game for them.
Now, instead of still being well clear of United after the Japan adventure, both Chelsea and Liverpool find themselves chasing them again and if you ask me, it will be a futile chase once again. To beat United you obviously must score and for the last 900+ minutes of football, no one has managed to figure out how to do this.
Manchester United chief executive David Gill has hit back at Rafael Benitez following the Liverpool manager's recent verbal tirade against the club.
Benitez criticised United counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson ahead of last weekend's Premier League fixtures, claiming he has been allowed to go unpunished when criticising referees.
The Spaniard then questioned the influence Gill has on the Football Association due to his position on the board at the governing body of football in England.
But Gill has defended his position, insisting there is no conflict of interest between his role at Manchester United and with the FA.
"With respect to his comments on my position they are totally inaccurate," said Gill, speaking in Macau at the launch of United's tour of Asia, which will take place later this year. The reality of it is that on the FA board sit three representatives of the Premier League in Premier League chairman Dave Richards, Bolton chairman Phil Gartside and myself. They are elected every year by every club in the Premier League and when we are on the board we are there representing the Premier League and I am not there representing Manchester United. The reality is that when you look at the decisions and issues I think anyone would understand that we don't get special treatment because of that. Therefore I was surprised (by Benitez's comments) and I think they are totally inaccurate."
The problem here is that Rafa is having to continually look over his shoulder now and he is a worried man. Liverpool AND Chelsea had the chance to go 16 points clear at the top of the table while Manchester United were away in Japan becoming World Champions. But they failed to do so, and now Chelsea have been hauled back in and Liverpool are again in reach if United can beat Wigan and Fulham at home (this is the 2 games they have in hand).
Iwas more than happy for Liverpool to win at Stamford Bridge. If we go on seasons past then Liverpool will be dead and buried by Christmas thus leaving Manchester United and Chelsea to battle it our through until May and United to be crowned champions AGAIN ! Sir Alex too was hoping for A Liverpool win, I assume he has the same theory as I do. Fergie seemed to be writing off the legitamacy of Rafa Benitez's bid for the title. Arguably, the Manchester United manager still considers both Chelsea and Arsenal to be his side's closest competitors, although United still lie eight points from Liverpool, who are top by a clear margin of three.
Ferguson stirred trouble on Friday when he implied that Liverpool did not have the requisite quality to defeat Chelsea on their own turf; he predicted a close match but stated that Arsenal were a more likely vanquisher of the Blues at the Bridge.
At the time, he told the press: "Sunday's game will be very tight, not many goals in it. But Arsenal could win there because they've got the quality to win."
In the wake of the match, Ferguson delighted in Chelsea's defeat as it leaves the pretenders to the Premier League throne sitting close to Manchester United, within five points, with 29 matches still to play.
He told reporters in reference to Liverpool's narrow 1-0 win: "That was the result I wanted." .....Back To Home Page
