Rafa Benitez tells team to ‘forget the gap’

Jan 3 2008 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

DISAPPOINTED Rafael Benitez admitted Liverpool must forget about the gap at the top of the Premier League after their dwindling championship hopes suffered another setback last night.

The Anfield outfit were held to a 1-1 draw by Wigan Athletic to slip out of the top four and fall a massive 12 points behind leaders Arsenal.

Fernando Torres had given Benitez’s side the lead four minutes after the break with his 16th goal of the season.

But an 80th-minute equaliser from Titus Bramble earned Wigan their first-ever point against Liverpool and consigned the Anfield outfit to their second successive draw after Sunday’s stalemate at Manchester City.

And an unhappy Benitez was downbeat when asked about his team’s title chances.

“It’s clear the gap is bigger at the top now but it’s a long race and we need to keep thinking about one game at a time if we can,” he said.

“If you think about the difference at the top then you will play with more pressure.

“We just have to keep trying to play well, create chances and score goals and see where we are. But it is more difficult now.

“I am very frustrated and really disappointed. It’s another game where we needed a little bit of luck.

“When you have plenty of possession and chances, you need to take your chances.

“The other team was just defending and won a free-kick, a second ball and now they have a draw. It’s really disappointing.”

As against City on Sunday, Liverpool spurned a number of chances to secure the three points before unlikely hero Bramble earned himself a little piece of history for the Latics with their first goal against the Anfield outfit since 1989.

The strike came from a free-kick Liverpool failed to clear properly, and Benitez added: “I haven’t seen the replay for their goal but we knew they were strong in the air and needed to be sure about how to win the ball in the air and clear the second balls.

“But we created enough chance to score the second and not to be talking about them winning a point.

“We know we are creating chances in all the games and cannot score the second goal and kill the game. That’s been our problem.”

Benitez defended his decision to play with just Torres as a lone central striker, with Harry Kewell and Jermaine Pennant – a surprise starter after 10 weeks out with a broken shin – providing width from the flanks.

“We were trying to play with wingers, playing really wide and to spread the team and with Gerrard getting into the box,” he said.

“We had very clear chances and that’s the key for me again.

“If you play with more strikers and the other team have defender that are very deep and compact and good in the air then it would have been more difficult.”

A delighted Wigan manager Steve Bruce – who remains unbeaten in six Premier League meetings with Benitez – praised the performance of goalkeeper Chris Kirkland, who was making his first return to Anfield since leaving the club for the JJB Stadium.

“You need your keeper to play well against Liverpool and you need to have a bit of b******* and take part in the game when you come here,” he said.

“The discipline of the team was spot-on, the game plan worked well but all credit to the players because they have belief and confidence back, which was good to see.

“I knew the job was going to be hard when I took over, we were only two points ahead of Derby, so you have to bring some belief in and make them feel they can get out of it.

“You must enjoy the occasions because these are the nights you remember playing against the big teams. It is Wigan’s first point against the big four clubs, so that is very enjoyable. When they scored we had to hang in there, it couldn’t have come at a worse time, but the longer the game went on the more comfortable we were.”