Benitez thinking long-term at Anfield
The Spaniard admits he is bitterly disappointed with the loss of Liverpool’s Champions League crown but points out he has strong plans for the club.
Benitez has added several youngsters to his squad as he builds for the future at Anfield. He believes bringing in youth will create a stronger emotional attachment between players and club in the future than would exist if he signed seasoned professionals.
Benitez said: “Rick Parry [chief executive] and the board are working on solutions for the future and I have confidence in them. I do not know if we have more or less money - but we are working on new ideas, working with the players we have and thinking about who we have out on loan.
“Then we will consider the transfer market and making use of what we already have here. This does not affect my own plans. We have signed Antonio Barragan, Gabriel Paletta and Daniel Agger, while Mark Gonzalez will be here in the summer - all very young players for the future.
“If as a manager you are thinking about your future then you cannot sign players who are 20 and 21-years-old. It would be better for me to sign players who are 28 with experience. Then you can work with them for one year, two years and then finish. We are thinking about young players for the future, not for just one season.
“As a manager you must work with the players you have. We will try to improve the squad and the players with the money we have at this moment. If we had more money, yes it would be better.”
The build-up to Liverpool’s defeat by Benfica was dogged by speculation about Benitez’s future and his agenda for the board to find funds to spend in the transfer market. But the day after, Benitez was again insisting he is planning long term, not for a quick exit.
“I am only concerned with winning the next game and working as hard as possible for my club. I do not have a problem, I want to improve my team this season and in the future.
“If you continue winning in the Champions League you will earn more money. We do not have that any more so we need to work with the players here and try to find the best solution in terms of money. Sometimes it is not just receiving a big amount of money that solves things, it is how you use your imagination with how you spend what you have.
“In football everything can change after one game. Now we need to think about the future but you cannot say we are worse than one day before playing Benfica. We are the same team and we need to think about the Premier League and FA Cup now.
“If you want to improve you can do it by working harder or by signing new players. We are working on buying good players for us, every big club is doing that, everyone needs to improve and change things if needed.
“But this is normal, it is nothing new. It is the same every year. The players are not thinking about what happens in the future, they are only thinking about winning, we are professionals.”
Benitez is to mark the end of Liverpool’s European adventure by accelerating the search for new players. The Anfield hierarchy will have to come up with the cash for Benitez who said: “We need to work harder looking for new players because we know what the situation is and what must be done.
“We are working now. The scouting department is working on improving the team. When you lose a game as important as this one, I prefer not to talk about new players or current players, or what mistakes we made. I just want to change such things.
“In terms of our mentality, we need to be stronger. We must think about the future and work hard now.”
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