Rafa Benitez is refusing to throw in the title towel

Dec 17 2007

Manager Rafael Benitez is refusing to throw in the towel in the race for the Barclays Premier League title even though Liverpool have fallen 10 points off the pace.

Unbeaten until last weekend’s visit to Reading, the 1-0 home defeat to Manchester United yesterday now means Benitez’s side have suffered back-to-back losses and suddenly their hopes of ending a 17-year championship drought appear as gloomy as ever.

Yet the Reds boss refuses to get too downcast.

He continues to insist his side are not that far away from United, who occupy second spot a point behind Arsenal, and feels it is far too early to think the league is beyond Liverpool already.

“It is too soon to start talking about the title,” he said.

“Clearly, it will be harder and if we are to get closer, we need to start winning a few games in a row.

“But there is still a long way to go. This year all the teams can lose points so I have the same confidence to keep going.”

For the second year running, United emerged victorious despite spending long periods on the back foot.

Anderson and Patrice Evra were twice required to clear off the line but in the end Liverpool paid a heavy price for a failure to pick up first Wayne Rooney, then goalscorer Carlos Tevez at a Ryan Giggs short corner.

“It is a frustrating defeat because we are very close to United,” he said.

“But we made a mistake and we paid for it, the same way we did last year. Against other teams you can get away with it but not against the big teams.”

The obvious problem for Benitez is that he has too many players who are simply not of the quality required to win a 38-match championship.

Dirk Kuyt is a prime example. Brilliant on occasions, useful on others but not able to reach the kind of top-notch consistency of Fernando Torres.

Unless that situation is addressed, Liverpool will not fully close the gap either in this, or any other season in the forseeable future - a point Benitez no doubt made in his post-match meeting with co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett - which was described as “amicable and constructive” in a club statement.

“It is a meeting for talking about the future, not just one game,” said Benitez, believing the defeat would have no effect on the discussions.

“We will try to clarify the misunderstanding and we need to clarify the situation for the future but not about money.

“It is just to know what position we are in now and I go into it with confidence.”