Liverpool v Fulham: Resolute Rafa Benitez stays focused on job at hand

Apr 19 2008 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

SHIFTING responsibility has become an art form in the Anfield boardroom in recent times, as the bitter power struggle sways unseemingly from one side to the other.

On the pitch, however, Rafael Benitez is acutely aware of his duty to the Liverpool cause.

With the club in danger of being drowned by the acrimony of civil war behind the scenes, the Spaniard and his players have got on with the trifling matter of actually winning football games.

Since the surprise FA Cup defeat to Barnsley in February, it’s something they have done well, Liverpool having lost only one of their last 13 games to cement a place in the top four and progress to the Champions League semi-final.

The first leg of their tie against Chelsea on Tuesday will dictate Benitez’s team selection for this afternoon’s visit to relegation-threatened Fulham. But the Spaniard insists continued success on the field is the best distraction from the damaging spat between co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

“We have a responsibility to guarantee the fourth position and to go as far as we can in the Champions League,” says Benitez. “Everybody can talk about matters off the pitch but I think it’s important for us to be concentrated on football.

“The players and myself are thinking about Fulham and Chelsea, so we can’t do anything else other than concentrate on football. That’s the best thing we can do for our supporters and the club.

When you analyse everything, you think what can I do to improve my teams and give something back to the people who have been supporting us for a long time. And that’s to do our job properly.

“We have been trying to prepare the games properly for winning all of them until the end.”

A win today would take Liverpool further clear of Everton in the battle for fourth following their city rivals’ reverse at home to Chelsea on Thursday night.

“If we can get three points, we will be eight points ahead and then we will need only one more point to guarantee fourth,” says Benitez. “So we will go to Fulham to win.”

Nevertheless, the Liverpool manager will ring the changes for the clash at Craven Cottage.

Benitez did the same at Arsenal earlier this month and saw a team consisting largely of fringe players earn a richly-deserved 1-1 draw.

Steven Gerrard and Alvaro Arbeloa are major doubts this afternoon while Daniel Agger and Harry Kewell are definitely out.

“Gerrard scored four or five goals, fantastic goals with his head in training, but at the end he went to see the doctor because he felt something in his neck,” says Benitez. “We need to check now.”

The likes of John Arne Riise, Yossi Benayoun, a fit-again Peter Crouch, Andriy Voronin, Steve Finnan, Jermaine Pennant and youngsters Damien Plessis and Emiliano Insua will come into contention.

But Benitez’s decision to rest key players such as Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso has been less than warmly greeted by at least one rival manager.

The Spaniard fielded a similarly weakened line-up on the last visit to Fulham 12 months ago as Liverpool successfully negotiated a Champions League semi-final with Chelsea.

Perennial Liverpool detractor and then Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock was incensed as the Londoners’ win helped them avoid the drop at his team’s expense.

Now Bolton Wanderers manager Gary Megson has expressed his desire for Benitez to respect the integrity of the Premier League by fielding his full team – despite himself undermining the UEFA Cup by putting out an entire reserve team in Europe last month.

Asked if he found Megson’s comments a contradiction, Benitez says: “You have given me the answer there.

Obviously I will be thinking a bit about playing key games in Europe after Fulham. But the key is to keep winning, we may do it with different players and we need to use other players.

“We have a big squad, good players to come in and we will treat this game just like we did at Arsenal when we got a 1-1 draw.

“I know there was criticism last season when we did something similar at Fulham, coming from Sheffield United.

“But what did they do in their last game? They lost. So I feel it is sometimes better to look to yourself and what you do.

“Teams have 38 games to play each season, that is enough. So you are responsible for your own luck.”

Benitez adds: “Look at what all the teams in the middle of the table have been doing recently. They have been using different players, young players, and they have been preparing for the future.

“What did Bolton do in the UEFA Cup with their team selection? They left players out.

“I will use the players I believe will be good enough to win this game, and the next one and the next one. I believe 38 games is enough to be successful or not.

“And clearly our squad is stronger than it was last season when we got to this stage.

“We should have won that game against Fulham then. And I will put out a team I believe can win this time.

“I will be thinking a little bit about Chelsea. I have players I do not want to risk, and I have enough quality in the squad to win at Fulham.”