Crouch told to turn nasty

LIVERPOOL boss Rafael Benitez has told Peter Crouch he is “too nice” on the pitch and must learn to be more aggressive.

The England new boy has failed to score in 13 appearances since his £7million summer move to Anfield from Southampton.

But his intervention as a late substitute for Liverpool at Aston Villa and then significantly in England’s victory over Argentina has helped change the general perception of the tall 24-year-old.

His intervention on both occasions produced match-changing performances.

But as Crouch prepares to face another of his former clubs - Portsmouth - today, Benitez has encouraged his striker to start being nasty.

Benitez says: “Centre forwards in England cannot be too nice - you must be aggressive and be hard against defenders because they will be hard against you.

“He is a player with ability, but because he has quality does not mean he has to be so nice.

“For me it is important for him to improve in such areas, he is a very good lad, but maybe too nice.

“It is difficult to change these things but he is clever and he can see what he needs to do.

“Some players do not have quality and they are more aggressive, he tries to win with quality but needs not to be so nice.”

The Spaniard continued: “Peter has a knack of changing games, we are aware he can do that and we know he can give to us another style and way of playing.

“He is different to the others and he is well liked and respected, and that is why lots of people in our dressing room and England’s understand and appreciate what the does.

“But he is a nice lad, sometimes too nice. I know he has said he will jump into the Kop when he scores, but I always say to him that if he gives the team something different and always works hard that is enough, I do not care who scores the goals.”

Benitez said: “He showed at Aston Villa and for England that he is a good player and someone who will do the things we need to improve our team.

“I was pleased to see Peter receive some positive comments from people outside of the club after the Villa and England matches. In the dressing room here, everyone knows what he brings to the team but it has seemed over recent weeks that others just wanted to criticise him.”

Crouch seems to have booked his place in the England World Cup squad, and Benitez also has a clutch of players returning from midweek World Cup play-off success for Australia and Spain.

Jose Reina, Fernando Morientes, Luis Garcia and Xabi Alonso will all go to Germany now with Spain while Harry Kewell helped guide Australia to the finals.

“I hope the players who have done well this week will be full of confidence, will want to remain fit and in form and I hope that has a positive effect on Liverpool,” said Benitez.

On his transfer kitty, Benitez added: “The board have told me they know we must try to improve the squad and it’s good we are all thinking the same way. We are discussing the right players to sign, not how much they will cost.”