Liverpool chief backs Benitez

October 25, 2009


Liverpool’s Managing Director Christian Purslow guarantees that Rafael Benitez’s position is safe even if the Reds did not win the league this season.

Liverpool has been on a losing streak of 4 games, their worst since 1987. What’s worse is that their position in both the Premiership and the Champions League does not look buoyant.

They have 4 losses so far against Sunderland, Chelsea, Tottenham and Aston Villa, which has given a major setback to Rafa’s men in their bid for the domestic title. Again, their losses to Lyon and Fiorentina have made it difficult for them to go into the next stage of the Champions League.

The Anfield club are under huge pressure to get some result as they prepare to take on bitter rivals Manchester United later today. The Reds would be looking to get their record straight. The failure of which, would cost them bidding goodbye to the faint hope of winning their first top-flight title for 20 years and it’s also been hypothesized that Rafael Benitez would face the very real chance of losing his job.

However, Purslow backed up for Benitez and confirmed that Liverpool’s loss would not cost the coach his job.

“The most important aspect of the football club I was involved in my first week in the job, was securing Rafa for another five years. You only have to look at the Premiership era and our two major competitors in the last 10 to 12 years, to see the benefits of longevity,” Purslow told BBC Radio Five Live’s Sportsweek programme.

“Liverpool Football Club is on a long-term journey and that journey is to be the most successful club, firstly in our country and secondly in the world and you don’t do that by worrying about short-term results. You do that by having long-term plans centring on the people and the strategy. Rafa Benitez is absolutely central to that plan.”

“The core of the team which won 86 points last season remains intact with some excellent additions so I have every reason to believe we can perform at that level this season over the season.”

“I guarantee that Rafael Benitez position in the club is safe,” he adds, when question directly about sacking the manager in case the club looses yet again.

He also broke the speculation about the sale of Anfield stars Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard and insisted they are not for sale at any price.

“Fernando signed an extension to his contract this summer. He has a five-year contract. He is a crucial leader in our team. Fernando Torres and Liverpool Football Club go together and I believe they will go together for the length of his career.” And so is it for Steven Gerrard, he added.

Purslow also revealed that Liverpool were four weeks into the process of raising new equity in the club which could take about six months to set in. And he stressed on the fact that this move does not imply that the controversial American owner Tom Hicks and George Gillett are prepared to sell their share.

Now with Benitez’s position secure in the club, the pressure on Liverpool has lessened a bit. Nevertheless, a home defeat for Liverpool would leave them 10 points behind United in the Premier League table after only 10 games of the season and a win for Manchester United on Sunday afternoon would surely put the final nail in their coffin, a termination to Liverpool’s title challenge this season.

Anurada Bhat

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Bremen break Hamburg hearts to reach UEFA final

May 8, 2009


HAMBURG, Germany (AFP) – Werder Bremen will face Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Cup final after second-half goals by Claudio Pizarro and captain Frank Baumann sealed a 3-2 win in Thursday’s semi-final second leg.

Germany winger Piotr Trochowski had given Hamburg a 1-0 advantage from Bremen’s Weserstadion last Thursday in the first leg, but goals by Diego, Pizarro and Baumann here cancelled out a brace from Hamburg’s Ivica Olic.

After Bremen knocked out Hamburg on penalties from the German Cup in the semi-finals late last month, this was the third meeting between the two sides who will meet each other again on Sunday in the Bundesliga.

But after goalkeeper Tim Wiese had saved three consecutive penalties in the shoot-out to decide the German Cup semi-final here at the HSH-Nordbank-Arena, it is Bremen who will play Shakhtar in the Istanbul UEFA Cup final on May 20.

Hamburg had taken the lead on 13 minutes when Croatia striker Olic latched onto a superbly timed pass from Dutch defender Joris Mathijsen which split the defence and Olic flicked his shot over Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese.

Bremen got back on level terms when Peru striker Pizarro flicked a pass through to midfielder Diego – who is being courted by Italian giants Juventus – and the Brazilian stabbed his pass over Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost on 29 minutes.

It remained 1-1 at half-time, but the game turned suddenly on 66 minutes when Brazilian defender Alex Silva passed Pizarro the ball and his shot flew past Rost having taken a deflection.

With less than 15 minutes remaining, Pizarro had the chance to put his side 3-1 ahead when he went one-on-one with Rost, but the Hamburg goalkeeper held his ground and cleared the danger.

But Bremen booked their place in the Istanbul final when the ball was played in from a corner on 83 minutes and as Trochowski tried to kick away the danger, the ball rebounded off the head of Bremen captain Baumann and into the net.

Olic scored again with time running out to give Hamburg a faint hope of reaching Istanbul, but Bremen held their nerve and the players celebrated hard at the final whistle.

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Barcelona draw takes heat off Bayern boss

April 15, 2009

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MUNICH, Germany (AFP) – Under-fire Bayern Munich coach Jurgen Klinsmann was not granted the Champions League miracle needed to beat Barcelona in Tuesday’s quarter-final, but at least his side earned a facesaving exit with a 1-1 draw.

Having been humiliated 4-0 in last week’s first-leg, Bayern would have needed to make Champions League history to reverse a four-goal deficit.

French playmaker Franck Ribery gave them some faint hope with a 47th minute goal, but Barcelona’s Seydou Keita equalised on 73 minutes to end any hope of a fairytale comeback.

“We would have wished for an early goal, then anything would have been possible, but we have lacked the little bit of luck needed,” said Klinsmann.

“The team has nevertheless given a very good account of themselves against one of the favourites to win the Champions League title.”

Having come to Munich with a virtually unbeatable advantage after the Nou Camp rout, Barcelona go through to the semi-finals 5-1 on aggregate.

The Spaniards march on to face Chelsea in the last four to keep their dream of a unique Spanish treble of the La Liga, Kings Cup and Champions League titles alive.

“We are pleased to be in the semi-finals, we still have a lot of games to get through before we can think of Chelsea,” said Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola.

“They are a good side, but we need to go and look at the Bayern game first and look at how we played, there are areas to improve.”

Barcelona’s breath-taking form in the first-leg left them 2-0 up after 12 minutes and Klinsmann says his side were taught a lesson in their quest to defend their Bundesliga crown.

“We have got further than we thought we would, the goal was to reach the last sixteen in the Champions League,” added Klinsmann, whose side bounced back with a 4-0 win over Frankfurt in the German league last weekend.

“Now we have to concentrate on the league title and make sure we are German champions again so we can come back to the Champions League next year.”

Coming on the back of a 5-1 defeat at Wolfsburg, the 4-0 debacle in Barcelona left Klinsmann’s reputation here in tatters and drew much criticism.

Despite leading his country to third place here at the 2006 World Cup, the ex-Germany coach was booed by his own fans before kick-off.

The national papers have been quick to question how long he will last in charge of the German giants and daily newspaper Tageszeitung even printed a front-page image of Klinsmann being crucified in their Easter Sunday edition.

The headline “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” failed to amuse the Bayern boss who has taken legal action.

But with his side second in the league, he can ill-afford any more shock results with seven games left this season and a three-point gap to make up on leaders Wolfsburg.

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Benitez ready for make or break United clash

March 10, 2009

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LIVERPOOL, England (AFP) – Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez admits his team have to win at Manchester United to stand any chance of catching the Premier League leaders.

The Reds are seven points adrift of United, who have a game in hand, and Benitez knows Saturday’s game at Old Trafford will decide what can be achieved in the remainder of the campaign.

Liverpool were in control of the title race at the turn of the year but a run of three wins in eight Premier League games has seen them fall to third in the table.

And following the United game, they also face a tough match against Aston Villa, who are fighting to claim a Champions League place, so there is no longer any margin for error.

United have been in imperious form and Benitez acknowledges that the Reds need to pick up a victory this weekend to retain even a faint hope of a first title since 1990.

"The game against United will be a crucial point again. If we win we can still be thinking about the title and if we can’t then it will be very difficult," he said.

"It would be almost impossible but we know the situation and I still think that we’re in a fantastic position, better than that in the last few years and we’ve been improving and we’ll see this week if we can improve a little bit more.

"The league depends on the next game so if we can beat United, they are a good team with good players, but we have enough games to play so we will see."

One positive note in 2009 has been the continued fine form of versatile Brazilian Fabio Aurelio, whose spell at Anfield has been blighted by injuries since he arrived in 2006.

The left-sided defender, 29, first worked with Benitez at Valencia and set up Yossi Benayoun’s goal in the 1-0 win at Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.

Benitez rates Aurelio’s technical ability even above key playmakers Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso.

"I think he’s playing well. He scored a lot of goals for us in Valencia from free-kicks and he’s a fantastic player with quality," he said.

"He’s had problems with injuries but if he can play some games in a row he’ll have the sharpness and you’ll see the quality.

"There isn’t a player with more quality in the squad. People are talking about Gerrard or Alonso but Fabio technically is better than them.

"If you could see the training sessions, the delivery, the control, the passes, he’s really good. For years we have seen the crosses from Fabio have been fantastic."

Aurelio knows he has plenty to achieve at Anfield and feels Benitez’s squad is in good shape going into their key run of games.

He said: "I’ve been enjoying a lot of minutes and enjoying a lot of the games and being involved in important games like Real Madrid, United and Aston Villa, is a pleasure.

"Thinking about the past is a shame because I could have been involved in very important games as well, but I only think about the future and this is a good opportunity for me and for the club as well.

"We know that the next games can dictate more or less Liverpool’s future in this campaign and I think we’re prepared for that.

"The team have been working for this kind of challenge and a big club like Liverpool wants to be in this situation.

"We have an opportunity to maybe come back into the running in the Premier League."

Written by: AFP

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