Crisis of confidence concern for leaders Liverpool

Dec 2 2008 Ian Doyle

Rafa Benitez 200

DISAPPOINTED Rafael Benitez admitted his team were suffering a crisis of confidence despite moving clear at the top of the Premier League.

Anfield endured a second successive top-flight stalemate after Liverpool were held to a goalless draw by West Ham United last night.

The failure to beat the Londoners meant Benitez’s side missed the opportunity to open up a three-point gap on second-placed Chelsea.

Liverpool have now scored just 13 goals in their last 11 outings and only six in their last six home games.

And Benitez, whose team spurned a number of clear chances last night, conceded his players were becoming affected by that lean spell.

“There is maybe a lack of confidence in front of goal from some players but we just need to keep creating the chances,” said the Liverpool manager. “It’s a question of confidence. I’m sure if we score the first goal in this kind of game we’ll score a lot of them, but you have to keep on creating the chances.

“We now have one more point than Chelsea, so if we go to Blackburn and win we’ll still be top. We have one more point than before and are disappointed to have not won.”

Benitez’s side were similarly frustrated against Fulham nine days earlier, but the manager believes his players produced an improved performance last night that deserved better reward.

“I think we deserved to win,” he said. “We worked from the beginning until the end of the game, and that is the reason West Ham had one or two counter attacks in the second half.

“The team played much better than before, some players played better too and that is positive.

“Some people can be disappointed and we are. Clearly we are top so that means we can keep winning games and the other teams have to win everything.”

It’s the first time in seven years that Liverpool have been top of the table in December.

But, as against Fulham, the home side were booed off by sections of the Anfield crowd. And Benitez said: “The crowd can be disappointed after a draw at home but surely if they see the papers in the morning they will see we are top of the league and that is really important.