Daily Mirror, Rafa Benitez Interview: "We're up FER a title fight"

Rob of the Rovers

Sunday Mirror wrote:

If the title race is decided by individual brillance that Rafa Benitez has no doubt that Liverpool's two decade wait for the Championship will end next May.

It has taken the Spaniard five seasons to construct a squad capable of slugging it out with Manchester United and Chelsea at the top of the Premier League for the the whole nine months.

Yet it is the understanding between Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard that really gives Benitez the belief that 2010 will be the year of the Kop.

The Reds manager is a keen student of the Anfield history against which every Liverpool team is measured, and he feels that Gerrard and Torres will walk in the footsteps of the great Liverpool strikers of the past.

Benitez said: "If you look at the Liverpool teams that consistantly won the title they always had very strong players with a winning mentality. But what they also had were players who could make a difference when it mattered. I remember the Liverpool of Toshack and Keegan. Then there was Daglish and Rush. The last time the title was at Anfield it was Barnes and Beardsley."

"Gerrard and Torres can be like those players who could make the difference when it mattered. For me our strength will always be our team. But while it is true that teams win titles, sometimes matches are won by individual players - and great players can win big matches."

Cristiano Ronaldo is the current world Football of the Year, but Benitez feels both Gerrard and Torres are in a group of players than could be recognised as the Number 1 player on the planet. Gerrard, still recognised as a world-class midfielder at international level, has reinvented himself as a second striker behind Torres - providing ammunition for the Spanish marksman as well as proving himself to be a finisher of some quality.

Benitez added: "Ronaldo is a good player, clearly. But I would say he is not the best in the world. Kaka is up there, so are Messi and Rooney and I believe Liverpool have two who could be the best in the world in Gerrard and Torres. If you analyse the goals they have scored when they have played together over the last two years I think you would say it's amazing. Gerrard, playing as a midfielder, was scoring arround 11 goals last season and then he moved wide on the right and scored maybe 21. Last season playing as a second striker, he scored 24."

"33 goals came from Torres in his first season, and last year, despite injuries, he still managed 17. That gives me a lot of confidence and the understanding between them will be even better this time."

The gloves came off when Benitez clashed with Sir Alex Ferguson as Liverpool challenged United to the wire last season. But the Liverpool boss has identified United as the team to beat, despite losing Cristiano Ronaldo.

He said, "Clearly United have lost something because Ronaldo and Tevez have left the club, but they still have a lot of quality. Maybe Berbatov will be fantastic this season, and they still have Rooney who will become even more important for them now. Ferguson has also got some money to spend and maybe when things are not going well then he will make a big signing."

Finishing on Liverpool he made a final summary, "Our team has progressed well last season and it was good that we were part of the title race until the very end. It has been a long time since Liverpool were champions - too long for a team like this. What I am looking for is an even bigger improvement, so we can take the final step."

Liverpool:

Last Season In The Premier League:

Top Scorer: Gerrard (16)
Most Assists: Gerrard (9)
Most Fouls: Arbeloa (43)
Most Fouled: Arbeloa (44)
Most Bookings: Arbeloa (8)
Most Red Cards: None
Most Appearances: Kuyt/Carragher/Reina (38)

First 3 Games:

August 16 Tottenham A
August 19 Stoke H
August 24 Aston Villa H

_________________
DONCASTER ROVERS PREDICTION LEAGUE CHAMPION 2008