Defiant Rafa vows to continue

Boss avoids pressure talk and will "continue to work hard"

By Jamie Casey   Last updated: 14th January 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

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Defiant Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez claims he is used to speculation surrounding his future as their abysmal season continues.

Out of the UEFA Champions League and way off the pace in the Premier League, the Reds' season plunged to a new low after Wednesday night's FA Cup exit to Championship side Reading at Anfield.

The Royals dumped Benitez's side out of the third-round replay with a 2-1 win after extra time, having held them first time around in the Madejski Stadium.

Benitez expressed his regret at the dreadful performance his side put in after fans had made their way to the ground amid poor weather.

"At this moment in time, we are really disappointed for the fans," Benitez told Sky Sports News.

"They came here today and supported the team and we couldn't win. (We're) really disappointed," he added.

Future

The defeat leaves Liverpool with just one realistic trophy target in the Europa League, having already been eliminated from the Carling Cup.

However, Benitez's main priority will be securing Champions League football for next season, but the club's alarming form has prompted many to question the Spaniard's position in charge.

"People have been talking about me for three months, I am used to it," he added.

"All we can do is continue to work hard, to think only of raising spirits for our next match. Everyone is very disappointed, it was a massive competition that we wanted to do well in.

"As for me, I will continue to do my best all the time, we have to carry on, we have to improve.

"This has not been our best season. There have been good situations and bad situations. The only way to improve is to be confident and to continue to work hard."

Benitez also cited injuries to key players as a defence of their latest defeat, with key duo Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard both being substituted by half-time and the club are awaiting the extent of their injuries.

"Both players will have a scan tomorrow (Thursday) and we have to wait for the doctor," he told the club's official website.

"Not only do we have injuries now to Torres and Gerrard again, but Yossi Benayoun has a chest injury too," he confirmed.

"Gerrard has a problem with his hamstring and Torres twisted his knee.

"Yossi Benayoun also has some problems with his ribs so again we will have to wait."

Comments (91)

Rowen Vans (Liverpool fan) says...

I think typing these angry mails help us vent our anger with the current situation at LFC. Disgusting! Babel must go(cant make the grade), Kuyt's time is up(no skill & no pace for a winger), Insua must play for the reserves (no pace & gets turned inside out every weekend), carrager has lost the plot (woefull defending).. Torres has been lazy, Gerard as been below average! The list could go on & on! Benitez, please do the honourable thing & leave our club! PLEASE!!!!

Posted 15:58 14th January 2010

Mark Cunningham (Liverpool fan) says...

Time to go Mr Benitez you have rode your luck far too long, negative and predictable tactics have now come home to roost. Liverpool pass the ball backwards as soon as they come under pressure and all the teams no this, we go from a positive position in the opposition half to the ball with the goalkeeper and him hacking it down field to no effect all to often. Benitez attitude and lack of passion are obvious to all now. Go gracefully and let King Kenny take the reins again.

Posted 15:55 14th January 2010

Scott Booth (Chelsea fan) says...

What's Mark Hughes doing right now. I'm sorry, but to stand and give that sort of post game interview, and never once state your opponent was truly deserving is just shameful. It's time for drastic changes, especially now. This team needs confidence something that Rafa is not providing. I'm really sad to see this team in this state after the way they finished last year.

Posted 15:47 14th January 2010

Anthony Murphy (Liverpool fan) says...

Rafa should have been let go along time ago last night was just another result of how bad he is at a manager. The club need to find a new manager like mark hughes who understands the premiership and the fa cup. We keep relying on Gerrard and torres to win games and now were without them for afew weeks which means we now have no one to rely on. The club needs investment quickly so they can add to the team and bring better players throughout every area of the pitch and new tactics need to be introduced because right now it is too defensive and zonal marking just does not work. At this moment time i am sure plenty of liverpool supporters are questioning their belief in LFC as the players are not performing the manager is letting us down the board cant make a decent decision and cant invest and where is the new stadium? Right now Liverpool Football Club is a joke and needs to be fixed quickly.

Posted 15:46 14th January 2010

Shaun Richards (Liverpool fan) says...

I have just read a comment by someboday saying "remember what Rafa has done for the club", what a joke! He won a european cup in his first year in charge and then its downhill from there! No respect for English cups, no respect for youth players (anybody who tells you all our youth players wont make the grade knows nothing about football), and with the same old "we have injuries" excuse AGAIN, he doesnt respect the fans either. Look at the last managers reign and tell me what you would prefer, Lots of Cups or lots of nearly but not quites? It was Houllier who started our affair with the Champions league, not Benitez. Half the squad are not fit for the Championship, never mind the Premier league. Please Stop the rot now, if there is no change now, Manchester City will take 4th with ease. To agree with an earlier comment SPARKY or JOSE, PLEASE, SOS. The manager has lost the dressing room

Posted 15:30 14th January 2010

Thomas Blewett (Liverpool fan) says...

Rafa to go is all i seem to be hearing at the moment but how can you pin all of this at the managers door? This is a manager who has proved himself to be one of the most astute in world football! This is the man who brought us the Champions League, FA Cup and took us to our highest premier league finish! Liverpool Football Club is exactly what the name states, we are a CLUB hence the reason we are not called Benitez FC!! The players, coaching staff and management have to all come together and find a solution to this crisis. Whilst it is painfully clear to see the lack of quality within our squad, injuries have too played a big part this season! Look at Everton, they have struggled all season with injuries and have also had a terrible start by their standards but now David has his players back they are beginning to improve again. In my opinion sacking Rafa will solve nothing and will only add to our problems! The term You'll Never Walk Alone needs to be adhered to right now and we all need to come together to ensure the team does not walk alone! We are known for our fantastic history and support and not known for turning on our management or players! We have to trust Rafa to get us out of this mess and i firmly believe he will! Arsenal have won nothing for years now but nobody calls for Wenger's head? Don't stick around if you cannot take the rough with the smooth! we have been through tougher times then this and came out the other end and believe me we will again! Form is temporary whereas class is permanent!! YNWA and In Rafa We Trust!!

Posted 15:26 14th January 2010

Peter Jones (Liverpool fan) says...

So many of you are quick to call for his resignation and for him to quit. It's unbelievable how fickle you all are. I will always be quick to defend Rafa- although this season I am particularly struggling. Liverpool are not a sacking club remember! If he won't quit then he's staying and I'm happy with that. A new manager will cause more unstability, want to bring in their ideas, routines and players. It won't help the season. We (players and fans) need to dig our heels in and salvage support and opptormisim. Rather than waste your energy on critising use it to support- that's what fans should do! You're entitled to your opinion and I think there are some players who don't deserve to wear the shirt (2 have already gone in this transfer window). Babel is one player I will be delighted to see the back of- a waste of talent, he may have the potential but he isn't fulfilling it. He did nothing last night to impress me- Birmingham please take him!!!! YNWA

Posted 15:17 14th January 2010

Joe Mcguinness says...

Why does Rafa always say has to concentrate on the next game. Its as if he just wants to forget his bad results instead of looking at why were doing so badly. The time has come for him to go, I know it will be expensive but as a suppoerter all my life of liverpool FC i will gladly join some other loyal fans and put up say a tenner towards getting rid of him and then we could afford it. And tell him to take all his spanish jokers in the old 'Boot Room' with him.

Posted 15:08 14th January 2010

Grahame Jones (Liverpool fan) says...

May 2009 - we were all behind the team and Rafa. Now the knives are out. We are playing badly - we cannot deny it. But let's get behind the team and manager. We have no divine right to consistently play well - we must accept there will be a bad season. I have supported the Reds since 1964 and if memory serves me well, the lowest we have finished in that time is 7'th or there abouts. We are not fair weather supporters and never have been been. Come on one and all - lets stick together, get behind the manager and team. They have not suddenly become a bad team over night nor has Rafa suddenly become a bad manager. Man U, Chelsea - watch out. We are still about and will return!

Posted 15:05 14th January 2010

Dai Jay (Arsenal fan) says...

Lets be fair. if me, you or your average joe got half the pay of a single player of the liverpool squad. I think i'd have some idea where to be and my job on the pitch... No good blaming Rafa the whole teams to blame. you cant polish a turd!!!

Posted 15:02 14th January 2010

Michael Owens (Liverpool fan) says...

Fairplay to everyone from different clubs supporting our fans through this terrible time. I think its down to the fact Liverpool have been in the top flight for decades, if this happened to wigan noone would care. And also noone, not even liverpool fans, like listening to the crap that comes out of rafa's mouth after a defeat anymore. he avoids every question with a look like he's about to cry. We shouldn't even give him till the end of the season, he is strangling one of the worlds most respected clubs, top flight royalty with a loyal fanbase. Who would you have instead though? realistically?

Posted 14:56 14th January 2010

Matt Smith (Arsenal fan) says...

It's no good bleating about this 'just being a dip in form'...Liverpool were supposed to push on from last year and challenge for the title. They've actually gone the opposite way and collapsed. In a way I'm disappointed because they were involved in some cracking games last season with plenty of goals and excitement, a real throwback to the Liverpool of old. I was looking forward to more of the same but it appears Benitez has taken them as far as he can. I think Mourinho would transform them back into a European powerhouse but not convinced about Hughes...does he have the pedigree?

Posted 14:56 14th January 2010

Yvette Lockett (Liverpool fan) says...

I'm a Liverpool fan believe me but, watching that performance last night F A cup replay with Reading broke my heart, what on earth was happening right in front of my eyes i couldn't believe what i was seeing,it's heartbreaking to be a Liverpool supporter at the moment, I'm not happy with the way we are letting other supposed to be lesser teams than us play so much better and win. I really dont know what we can do to make things better for us. We cant keep relying on Stevie G and Torres there is eleven players in a team not just two!!!!!!!!!! So come on the rest of you get playing decent football and put some pride in it PLEASE cos i'm not proud to say i'm a Liverpool supporter at the moment,surley it can't be cos Alonso has gone,Come on Liverpool salvage something from this miserable season. (if you can!!!!!)

Posted 11:23 14th January 2010

Jase Lee (Liverpool fan) says...

The writing is on the wall for RAFA. The cost to pay him off will be a small amount to pay in the context of a poor season. Even the players look as if they have had enough of playing under his regime. We need a new buyer for the club and a whole new management team. JOSE or SPARKEY is a good start for a new manager. Get rid of the overpriced wanna be premier players who cannot handle the physical aspect of the English football and bring back the 'Liverpool mentality"

Posted 11:22 14th January 2010

Ozzie C (Arsenal fan) says...

Although he is partly to blame for Liverpool's un-stable form this season, you cannot blame him for what is happening at LFC. Funds are probably hard to find, maybe the only alternative is to sell big and use the money wisely. The season is probably over for Liverpool tropthy wise but they are in the Europa Cup. Who will say Rafa out if and that is a bif IF, Liverpool win the Europa Cup. What will a change in management achieve at this stage of the season. Stick to what you have and build on it, next season could be big for Liverpool.

Posted 11:20 14th January 2010

Andy Gisby (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

After watching the game last night I found myself to be very disappointed once again with the attitude of Benitez. There was no grace in defeat, no once did he mention that his team were second best instead repeating there was things he didn't like. This sort of attitude seems to be a running theme with him. He complains that he doesn't have the money, yet Liverpool are one of the biggest spender in the league, he complains his squad aren't good enough yet he buys the average players that are now part of the squad or he offlads at a rapid rate (dossena). He refused to see Alonso leave but a year earlier was more than happy to try to sell him to fund barry. I think Liverpool fans should want to see the back of him. Oh and 2005 was won with a sqaud that he did not put together, now he has done look at how they are performing, I'm all for sticking with a manager as a spurs fan I'm sick of watching managers come and go, but for the majority of my life liverpool have been a big club if they fail to qualify to the Cl then what? They seem to be having financial issues now surely they will get worse

Posted 11:20 14th January 2010

Kieran Regan (Liverpool fan) says...

You just keep waiting for us through every game to click out of 2nd gear,,,,,,, its not happend once this season. maybe a new man in charge who prefers man marking to ''zonal'' on set pieces would be better for the job.

Posted 11:17 14th January 2010

Bertie Bassett (Arsenal fan) says...

Yeah, it is time for Rafa to accept the inevitable and hang up his Liverpool jacket. He has done well but there is abviously something very wrong, be it his attitude, the board or the players...something is simply not there anymore. It was painful to watch last night and, as others have said, I find it hard to slate my Liverpool supporting mates. I don't think a buy out / new investor is what is needed. Nowadays these rich folk just seem to want to make money from it and don't give one about the team or the supporters that fill their pockets. If this keeps going it will obviously end up in 'The Leeds Scenario'. I hope all you scousers do find some kind of light at the end the tunnel once the season is finished.

Posted 11:17 14th January 2010

Luke Callow (Cardiff City fan) says...

Liverpools season this year is not far different from Man Utds, in a way. Inconsistent performances from squad players, Relying heavily on their stars. Money trouble. (which team not backed by a billionaire isn't in trouble these days!) The only thing Utd have which sets them apart is a great manager. I believe it is massively unfortunate for Rafa this season. What a huge turn around from just a few seasons ago when they were lifting the champions league trophy. I hope Liverpool fans remember what he has done for your club rather than in the past few months. May I also add how nice Man Utd supporters are being! In a perfect time to gloat, they're actually quite supportive! Come on Cardiff, premier league next year!

Posted 11:14 14th January 2010

Andrew Turner (Manchester United fan) says...

How long are liverpool fans going to put up with this sub standard garbage. This team will drag Liverpool down the way of leeds, and manchester city several season ago who dropped down to the old 3rd division. Stop the rot now or you could find your selfes playing the likes of tranmere rovers!

Posted 11:14 14th January 2010

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