Monday, April 27, 2009

RAFA: REDS WILL LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE

James Carroll 27 April 2009

Rafa Benitez believes the experience of being in a title race will stand his players in good stead for future campaigns.

While refusing to throw in the towel on the Reds' Barclays Premier League dream, the Liverpool boss feels the lessons learnt from this season could prove invaluable in years to come.

"The team, the squad, has shown that it's better and this is a fantastic experience for the next years because we are in a position now that we were not before, for me that is the positive thing," said Benitez.

"Always you can talk about trophies but in England there are so many strong sides, it's not easy. At least you have to be there, you have to be contending - then you see what happens.

"We have four games now to finish the season and we're still in the title race so I think it's very positive.

"Normally when you play this level you know that at the end of the season you will play for trophies and can lose but if you analyse the whole season I think the team's done very well, especially without Gerrard and Torres for a lot of games.

"I have confidence that we can fight until the end. After that, it's very good experience because we have been in a position we were not before, not for a long time."

With four games remaining Liverpool are three points behind league leaders Manchester United, who also have a game in hand.

"I have confidence United will drop points. So we need to keep going, keep doing our job, put them under pressure and then we will see," added Benitez.

The Reds kept the pressure on United with a 3-1 victory over Hull City on Saturday, and although delighted to pick up maximum points from a potentially tricky fixture, Benitez claims his side can improve on their display.

"We were talking with the players about these kinds of games that could be the difference," said the Anfield chief.

"This year we've won against the top sides, so these kind of games, which we've been drawing, have to be the difference in the future.

"We assessed the game and I thought we could control it, but it was difficult because they were pushing. We were making mistakes, and we need to improve."

While the result keeps Liverpool firmly in the hunt for the title, Hull remain hovering perilously just above the relegation zone, but Benitez is backing the Tigers to beat the drop.

He said: "I think Hull can be safe. It'll be difficult for all the teams near the bottom because they'll play now with more nerves, more anxiety, but I think it will be a good battle - if you're not in it. But Hull have the potential to stay up."

CARRA HOPING FOR FINAL DAY DRAMA

James Carroll 27 April 2009

Jamie Carragher is hoping the Barclays Premier League title race goes right to the wire as he is confident Hull City would be capable of doing Liverpool a favour on the final day of the season.

The Tigers provided a stern test for Rafa Benitez's side at the KC Stadium on Saturday, but the Reds emerged with a hard-fought 3-1 victory to keep up the pressure on league leaders Manchester United.

United visit the KC on the last afternoon of the campaign and Carragher believes he has seen enough of Hull to suggest they could pose problems for Alex Ferguson's men, potentially helping Liverpool's title bid in the process.

"We have been on a great run of form recently and that was probably the worst we've played in a long time to be honest," said the Liverpool vice-captain.

"Credit to them though, they competed really well and caused us quite a few problems and we were just delighted to get the result in the end.
"Good luck to them, we just hope they do the same when they play Man United at the end of the season.

"They weren't really the kind of conditions you want to be playing in when it's warm because the pitch was really sticky and the grass was long so we couldn’t really get our passing going.

"But obviously they did that because it gives them more chance of making a game of it and, like I said, good luck to them.

"If they keep going like that I'm sure they will do well and hopefully we can take the title race to the last game because it won't be easy for United to go there just as it wasn’t for us on Saturday."

Carragher was delighted with Liverpool's character as they dug in to grind out the victory.

"That's what we're about to be honest," he added.

"We've shown all season that we are prepared to fight and I think that's one of the main reasons why we've only lost two games up to now.

"Obviously people will point to the fact that we've had a few more draws than some of the other teams around us but to only have two defeats at this stage of the season is testament to the team and its character."

DIRK: WE WILL NOT GIVE UP ON DREAM

Steve Hunter 27 April 2009

A defiant Dirk Kuyt today refused to give up hope of lifting the Barclays Premier League title.

Manchester United remain three points clear with a game in hand after their 5-2 victory over Tottenham on Sunday.

However, Kuyt still feels Alex Ferguson's men face several stumbling blocks in their five remaining fixtures.

"We will keep fighting and putting the pressure on Manchester United," said Kuyt.

"It was a pity that we didn't beat Arsenal on Tuesday because I thought we played really well, only we made too many mistakes, but sometimes that happens.

"We have to move on now to what's in front of us. We will try to win our games and hopefully they will lose some points.

"I've seen some strange things happen. We could still do it."

Liverpool are the Premier League's leading goalscorers this season with 66 but Kuyt admitted he would gladly swap that statistic for top spot.

"To score the most goals is not the most important thing because we want to win the league," he said.

"At the end of the day we are only in second place so all we can do is win our remaining four games and then see what happens.

"You have to give everything you have as a team. We have a great team and we will fight to the end and see what happens come the last day of the season.

"They will need to slip up again to make it really interesting, but we just have to wait and see. We won't give up."

The Reds number 18 took his tally to 13 for the season when he hit two during the 3-1 win at the KC Stadium on Saturday.

It was a special day as Kuyt was making his 100th appearance in the top flight for the Reds.

"It was nice to score a couple of goals but the positive thing was we kept going and got the three points," he said.

"We didn't play very well but we got the result which was the most important thing."