Liverpool desperately wanted victory, says Peter Crouch

Feb 4 2008 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

PETER CROUCH has revealed that Liverpool were more motivated to beat Sunderland than any other Premier League game this year.

Rafael Benitez’s side went into the game on the back of a dismal run of just four points from five games that had seen them slump to seventh in the table.

After a poor first-half performance at the weekend, Crouch provided the catalyst for Liverpool by heading the home team into a 57th-minute lead.

Benitez’s side went on to win 3-0, and Crouch said: “All the players knew this was important. We were geeing ourselves up before the game more than in any Premier League game this year. We knew we had to win.

“It was a disappointing loss at West Ham, we have had a few results and performances that were not up to Liverpool’s standards.

“It was a case of making sure we won and won convincin-gly. That was the case beforehand and maybe you saw a touch of nerves in the first half. But when we got the goal we settled down and played the football we can play.”

Crouch added: “I wouldn’t say we’re lacking in confidence. All the lads are internation-al players, players who have played in big games and play-ers who have been backs to the wall.

“For us, the last couple of results have not been good enough and maybe that was in the back of your mind. We wanted to have a good performance for the fans who we have let down in recent weeks. If you look at the course of the game, we were the much better side and won 3-0.”

Crouch’s goal came from a cross by Jamie Carragher, who had been asked to play at right-back to accommodate new signing Martin Skrtel alongside Sami Hyypia in central defence.

And the striker said: “Jamie Carragher hasn’t played often at right-back for Liverpool but when he plays there he shows what he can do.

“He’s played there for England set up a goal for me there as well. He can get forward, he has a lot more quality than people give him credit for. I have to thank him for the contribution to my goal.”

Crouch enjoyed a rare start alongside Fernando Torres, who netted Liverpool’s second. Of being paired with the Spaniard, Crouch said: “I enjoyed it. We haven’t played that many times together, thankfully tonight we did. I felt it worked well.

“I thought Fernando played well and I was pleased to get a start and play myself. I think it worked well.”

Liverpool’s next game is at Chelsea on Sunday, and Crouch added: “Chelsea is going to be a big game for us so it was important to get a result tonight to take confidence into the Chelsea game.

“Hopefully, we will do that because we’re good enough to beat Chelsea. We’ve proved that before, we’ve beaten Chelsea in big games before.”