Rafa Benitez's admits: Yes, Fernando Torres is one of Europe's best

Mar 31 2008

RAFAEL BENITEZ reluctantly conceded last night that Fernando Torres is “one of the best players in Europe.”

Liverpool’s record signing scored his 28th goal of the season to settle the 207th Merseyside derby, and Benitez was asked afterwards if he was currently the best striker in Europe.

“I don’t like to say if he is the best in Europe or the world,” he explained “but Fernando is one of the best because he keeps scoring goals and playing well..

“The understanding between him and Gerrard is key for us and with Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel going forward the team has more balance.

“He has been more or less a surprise for everyone because we knew he was a fantastic player who could score goals, but 28 in his first season and 21 in the Premier League is a surprise.

“It’s not easy for anyone, especially a foreign player so today was a good day.

“We also saw Pepe Reina keep his 54th clean sheet in his first 100 games which is another record. There were a lot of positives.”

The 1-0 victory opened a five point gap up between the Mersey rivals, but Benitez refused to accept that his side is now home and dry in the race for fourth.

“We play against Arsenal away next week and they play against Derby. So maybe it could be different next week. We need to keep working hard,” he added.

But he was pleased with his side’s performance, if not their ruthlessness in front of goal.

“We had a lot of chances in the first half. When you are winning 1-0 you think that it takes just a corner or just a free-kick to concede an equaliser, so we needed a second goal,” he said.

“In the end we won and we were pleased to do the double over Everton, but it was really important for the team and the club and we are now in a better position. But we need to keep winning if we want to be sure of finishing in the top four.

“We have some players with a few knocks and a bit of tiredness and we need to see how they are tomorrow.

“But the team showed character again, and in the first half we showed quality.”

Benitez also had words of praise for referee Howard Webb – “This referee is a good referee. He is not arrogant and doesn’t want to be the star” – but he was less pleased by some of the chants directed towards his players from the Everton fans.

“I am sure that some players will be really pleased and I am pleased for them because I don’t like to hear some things that you can hear.

“This is a lack of respect for the people.”