Bore draw: Rafa Benitez will know his Liverpool
side missed a big chance to claim victory at Wolves
RAFA BENITEZ refused to talk about the Juventus job
after his Kop flops stumbled at Wolves. If the
dispatches from Turin are to be believed, Juventus are increasing
their efforts to secure Rafael Benitez as their next
manager.
Any representatives from the Grand Old Lady of Italian football
present at Molineux might have been harbouring second thoughts
after this turgid show.
Regardless of whether Benitez is tempted by their interest, his
season continues to take two steps forwards and one step back. And
here he was not on the offensive.
Great Britain plc may be moving towards positive growth but
Liverpool FC are not, judging by the fare which passed before a
sell-out crowd.
With the advantage of a week’s rest and the return of the
inspirational Steven Gerrard
to the ranks, the stage was set for Benitez to grab his club’s
season by the scruff of the neck.
Without a goal in their last three matches, and having played an
FA Cup tie against Crystal Palace at the weekend, Wolves were ripe
for the taking.
Prior to this encounter, they had only kept two clean sheets in
the Premier League. As Mick McCarthy decided to smother his
midfield in an attempt to stem the club’s defensive ills at home,
it was set up for Liverpool to send out a message to the rest of
the Premier League.
What the travelling supporters saw was a display that was high
on guts, endeavour and sheer bloody-mindedness. Unfortunately for
them, those characteristics were displayed only by the home
side.
Even Gerrard, so often the heartbeat of Liverpool, failed to
find sufficient gumption to force the issue. He returned from a
hamstring injury and, in truth, he looked well below peak
fitness.
It has to be said that this was Liverpool’s fifth match without
defeat. Perhaps the green shoots are there after all. And as ever,
Benitez was taking the positives.
‘It was a difficult game for both,’ he said. ‘We were in control
in the first half. They pushed us back in the second The result was
a fair one but you have to be disappointed if you are trying to
reduce the gap at the top.
‘We haven’t lost the game, credit to the players for keeping a
clean sheet.’
‘We have kept a clean sheet,’ said McCarthy. ‘Nil-nil against
Liverpool is a good result. But we have only scored 17 goals in the
league this season and we could do with scoring another one
soon.’
As for Liverpool, Benitez did not report any post-match reaction
to Gerrard’s hamstring
trouble. And he refused to be drawn on reports about Juventus.
‘I prefer to talk about the game,’ he said without a hint of
irony after such uninspiring fare. ‘I’m really focused on trying to
win the game for Liverpooland prefer to concentrate on that.’
WOLVES
(4-5-1): Hahnemann 6; Zubar 6, Craddock 7, Berra 6, Ward 6;
Foley 6, Mancienne 6, Henry 8, Milijas 6 (Jones 73min, 6), Jarvis
7; Doyle 6.
LIVERPOOL
(4-5-1): Reina 6; Carragher 6, Skrtel 7, Kyrgiakos 6, Insua
6; Lucas 5, Mascherano 5, Riera 5 (Ngog 66, 6), Gerrard 6,
Rodriguez 5; Kuyt 6.
Booked:
Skrtel
Man of the match: Karl
Henry
Referee: Peter Walton.
