Rafa recalls the past and promises a better future

RAFAEL BENITEZ turned the clock back 28 years yesterday and insisted he was the man to lead Liverpool forward after a traumatic week which has left his team facing a must-win situation ahead of the Merseyside derby.

Lose against Everton at Goodison Park tomorrow and Benitez risks losing the fans after the club’s premature exit from the Champions League.

The Spaniard has enjoyed the backing of the majority of Liverpool’s supporters throughout his five-year Anfield tenure yet on the eve of his 13th showdown with Everton, and with his side trailing leaders Chelsea by 13 points in the title race, there are signs that his popularity with the fans is on the wane.

Cue a passionate plea from Benitez, who used his pre-match press conference at Melwood yesterday to urge the club’s followers to stick with him.

Admitting that his side had to improve after a dreadful run of two wins in 11 outings, Benitez said he had rejected offers to manage other clubs to stay at Liverpool, and vowed to bring success to Anfield as a fourth season without silverware looms.

He referred to his playing days at Real Madrid, when he rejected offers to sign for other clubs even though he was not in the side, to try and establish himself in the first team. He lost that battle but does not intend to lose this one.

“I was a Real Madrid fan,” said Benitez.

“You know Agustin, Garcia Cortes, Garcia Navajas, Sabido, Del Bosque, Angel, Camacho, Stielike, Juanito, Santillana, Cunningham – that’s the team that played in the European Cup final against Liverpool in 1981.

“I was a player, a sub, and I decided to stay there after years receiving offers from top sides offering more money.

“When I signed my contract recently here, I had offers for more money and more money available for players, but I decided to stay because we have a very good team.

“I signed, I was really pleased and I have no regrets. I’ve had a lot of offers but I say ‘No, no’ because I want to stay here.

“The last offer was massive money but I decided to stay. We were talking about the number of years and I said five – it was very easy, very simple. I gave my word to the staff, I gave my word to the players. I love this city, I love this club and I love the fans.

“Sometimes you have good moments, sometimes bad, but still I want to fight. We will play in the Europa League and that will be our target, we will play against Everton and that will be our target. Every single week we will fight to win.

“Hopefully in five years we can talk about another contract extension because I have confidence it will be totally different in a few weeks.

“If we start winning again, it will be easier, but I can guarantee we will improve because I see the training sessions every day and the players who have been injured are getting closer to playing again.”

Despite crashing out of the FA Cup at Goodison last season, this could be the perfect fixture for Liverpool after their demise in Europe.

They will find an Everton team in even more disarray than themselves after a run of one win in seven league games.

Forget the Merseyside derby. Supporters from both sides have labelled the 212th meeting between the two clubs the Miseryside derby.

Steven Gerrard, who suffered an injury on his last visit to Goodison back in February, has issued a rallying call and asked Liverpool fans to remain patient and stick with the team.

“We’re all aware the season isn’t going the way we would want it to,” said the captain. “We’re really disappointed to have gone out of the Champions League and we’re far from happy with our form in the Premier League as well.

“But the only way to turn things around is by sticking together. “We’ve shown in the past what we can achieve when we do that.

“If there’s one positive about the difficult time we’ve been having, it’s that we’ve all pulled together.”

Everton manager David Moyes has enjoyed just two Premier League victories over Benitez since their paths first crossed in 2004.

He was forced to spend yesterday issuing his players with a wake-up call after Wednesday’s 3-2 defeat at fellow strugglers Hull left the club four points above the relegation zone.

“There is no point in hiding and burying our heads in the sand,” said Moyes. “If we don’t start to play better we will be (in relegation trouble). We are not playing well enough to be anywhere else.

“You can’t hide the fact if you keep losing games you will be relegated. You try to be prepared as well as you can but you have to trust the players to go on and do it.

“That is what we have done over the last couple of seasons and are asking them to do now.”