Benitez blames World Cup for Pool’s poor start to season

Rafael Benitez will demand that his European heroes must not lose the momentum of their blossoming season by slipping up in the Barclays Premiership.

Liverpool switch from virtually securing a place in the Champions League semi-finals to a first-ever Premier League clash at Reading, where third place is still their objective.

And the Reds chief is lucky enough to be able to field a top-notch side at the Madejski stadium, while resting players next Wednesday when PSV Eindhoven arrive at Anfield in the unenviable position of being 3-0 down in their quarter-final second leg.

In effect, beating Reading to keep ahead of Arsenal in the race for third place is more important than the Eindhoven second leg, a tie already conceded by the Dutch club’s boss Ronald Koeman.

Benitez explained: “We know Reading is important.

“Players need to understand that it is as important to finish third as it is to reach the Champions League last four.

Benitez is very much aware that his players — particularly captain Steven Gerrard — believe they are reaching top form at just the right time.

Liverpool’s dreadful start to the campaign is the principal reason why they are 21 points behind leaders Manchester United.

And that still haunts Benitez, who continued: “Steven is doing well. But it is clear the problems we had at the beginning of the season were because of the World Cup.

“The World Cup was a big problem for several players when they returned to their clubs. They were not able to do the right training, and that explained why we started our season so slowly.

“Now we have time between matches to train and prepare, that is the reason they are all in a better situation.”

Benitez, who may recall Craig Bellamy and Mohamed Sissoko today, said: “The team is in a very good moment now, we are playing well, scoring goals and maybe some players have more confidence because we are closer to the Champions League semi-final. It is a good moment for them.

“We now need to keep the momentum going. The team is playing well and we are fighting for third place in the league, and we have to do our best in every game.

“Third is very important to us so we have to go to Reading and win. The challenge is always to stay in the top four.

“The difference between finishing third or fourth is not really that much in reality, but for the fans and professional footballers, it is important. Finishing third must be important.”

In trying to explain why his team have failed to hit their European heights in domestic competition, he added: “You are competing with bigger squads and more money. Lots of things have an effect on consistency.”

But with Benitez happily working on new contracts for his current stars and preparing an impressive shopping list for the summer, he also knows such reasoning on why Liverpool are not closer to the top will not be acceptable this time next season.