Benitez: no repeat of Marseille loss

RAFAEL BENITEZ yesterday dismissed claims that Liverpool’s dip in form is a result of the club’s recent internal management changes.

Liverpool have won just two of their last six games, culminating in Wednesday’s shocking performance in their Champions League defeat at home to Marseille.

It has been suggested that the bad run has coincided with the departure of Benitez’s assistant manager Paco Ayestaran, following a break-down in the relationship between the pair after a decade working together in Spain and England.

But as Benitez prepares his side for tomorrow’s Premier League clash with Spurs at Anfield, he said the behind-the-scenes upheaval is not the cause of the current slump.

Ayestaran was well liked, particularly by the Spanish-speaking contingent among the squad, and has not been replaced. Instead Benitez has spread his former colleague’s work-load among the rest of his coaching staff.

The Liverpool manager said: “I do not believe that the management changes have affected the situation. We have been analysing the data regarding our players and we are running more, covering more ground and our physical condition is fantastic.

“With regards to the coaching, I was coaching with the team before. I am not a traditional English manager sitting in an office, I am always on the pitch with the players. I was on the pitch before, I was on the pitch today and I will be on the pitch tomorrow.”

Benitez also insisted that Steven Gerrard’s recovery from injury is not hampering the midfielder. He said his captain will play against Spurs and be available for England’s crucial Euro 2008 qualifiers.

But the Spaniard, who on Sunday will be without full-back Fabio Aurelio due to a calf injury, admitted he must take responsibility for the current problems while equally dismissing complaints about his rotation system.

He said: “The Marseille match was a very bad game for us, everybody was poor, from front to back. Everybody must take responsibility for that defeat, me, the players, the staff, everyone. But I accept that the main responsibility is mine.

“Everybody talks about rotation only when we lose, not when we are winning. I don’t really like rotating, but I just do it because of the amount of competitions we are involved in. People need to rest.”

He added: “We need to improve but it is not a situation that runs deep. We have only lost once, we were winning and scoring goals earlier in the season.”

“I take a lot of the responsibility because I am the manager. The manager, the captain, the team, we all take some of the responsibility. But I must be positive because I am the manager. You do not win trophies by dropping your head and crying all the time.

“But people must not forget we are in a very good position. Just one defeat. That was a very bad game but I do not think that will be repeated.

Benitez also hit out at the level of criticism he has suffered in recent days. He said: “I have read the criticism, but it is easy to talk when you are in London. We are here with the players every day, we know the situation better.”