Pulis defends under-fire Rafa

Potters manager backs Liverpool counterpart

By Elliot Ball   Last updated: 15th January 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Pulis defends under-fire Rafa

Pulis: Backed Benitez

I think Rafa has been a little unfortunate this year in the respect that his best players have either been injured or not really on top form

Tony Pulis
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Stoke boss Tony Pulis reckons any Premier League manager would struggle with the injuries Liverpool counterpart Rafael Benitez has suffered this season.

Benitez has faced an onslaught of criticism following the humiliating defeat to Reading on Wednesday night which has left the Merseysiders' campaign on the brink of meltdown.

Liverpool have just the Europa League as a realistic trophy ambition this season, but it is a far cry from the Reds' pre-season target to land the Premier League or the UEFA Champions League crown and some have called for the manager's head.

Benitez's side are 12 points adrift of Chelsea and five away from a top-four spot and they head into Saturday's game at Stoke in the worst possible scenario with a host of first-team players on the treatment table.

Liverpool will be without influential skipper Steven Gerard, star striker Fernando Torres and key midfielder Yossi Benayoun due to injury ahead the Britannia clash.

And Pulis - who is weary of a Reds backlash - feels for Benitez's plight, insisting the Spaniard is being harshly criticised due to extenuating circumstances which any boss would find difficult to cope with.

Unfortunate

"With the result on Wednesday there's added speculation about what's happening and what's not happening at that football club," assessed Pulis of Benitez's situation.

"But I think Rafa has been a little unfortunate this year in the respect that his best players have either been injured or not really on top form. They've not performed like they can do.

"Against Reading, (Pepe) Reina didn't play, and he is arguably the best goalkeeper in the Premier League.

"(Javier) Mascherano was missing, and he's the best holding player in the Premier League, and then you've Gerrard and Torres who have played with injuries and who have come off. You also had a quality right-back in (Glen) Johnson who didn't play through injury.

"So there are five players who, if they were available and playing to their maximum, would make Liverpool a completely different team.

"Do you make the excuse that because it's Liverpool they should have enough back-up? I don't know.

"There are all these arguments for why they should be doing better, but I don't think he has been as lucky as he could have been with his team and the selection he could have made all season."

Spotlight

Despite the calls for Benitez's head, as a manager Pulis knows much now depends on how all within Liverpool rally on and off the pitch, and he expects the Reds to come out all guns blazing for Saturday's clash.

"Because Liverpool are one of the biggest clubs in world football, not just this country, the spotlight is naturally on them," added the Potters boss.

"He (Benitez) understands that, he's been there long enough to understand that.

"But it will be how the people within the club react, the chairman, the board of directors, the supporters, the players, everybody.

"After such a really disappointing night, and I was at the game, the reaction he gets from his players and the supporters here at the Britannia will be massive.

"They will have been stung by the criticism I'm sure, and a backlash is what I'm sure Rafa will be hoping for.

"Their players will be fired up, which will make it a more competitive and difficult game for us, and we have to be ready for that.

"We're going to have bring our A-game to get a result because we know they will be up for it."