His Kop clowns crashed out of the FA Cup to
Championship strugglers Reading 2-1 as Shane Long struck an
extra-time winner.
OUT of the Champions League,
OUT of the title race, OUT of the
FA Cup - and for the Anfield chief, now almost certainly
OUT of time.
But Benitez said: "For three months everybody was
talking about me, and it doesn't matter if you play a strong team
or not.
"Lots of people have spoken about me, but I have to
just keep moving forward and working hard. How do I cope with the
talking and the pressure? I try to do the best I can.
"It's not the best season. Sometimes you have bad
moments and sometimes better moments. At this time we have to carry
on and be ready for the next game. We have to be
focused."
It was Reading's first FA Cup away win over a
top-flight side since 1902.
Yet amazingly, Benitez turned the spotlight onto things
"he wasn't happy with in the game," rather than his own
flops.
He added: "There were a lot of things I didn't like.
What things?
"It's better not to say too much. A lot of things
together caused this defeat, but you can't change the
result.
"It was really bad. Everybody wanted to progress and we
can't so we're really disappointed."
Benitez was not helped by losing Fernando Torres with a
knee injury and Steven Gerrard to a tweaked hamstring by
half-time.
Benitez added: "I have a big job to repair spirits
before the Stoke game."
Long hopes his strike will land caretaker boss Brian
McDermott the job on a permanent basis.
He said: "I'd like to think we've got him the job full
time - he deserves a chance."
McDermott said: "They've told me to look after the team
and that's what I'm doing.
"I'll just wait and see. I think we deserved it because
we played some good stuff."