COLD FISH ... Rafa: Players are tell tale
twits... put criticism down to players trying to sell
books
The Liverpool boss thought something smelled a bit and
it might have been to do with his star men having books to sell.
Both Gerrard and Torres attacked Benitez's impersonal style in
their autobiographies. And one of the big criticisms being aimed at
the Spaniard is he refuses to put an arm round players and give his
squad encouragement.
The cold fish, it is said, much prefers to batter them.
Gerrard claimed Benitez had never said "well done" to him.
While Torres told of when team-mates congratulated him
on the birth of his daughter, Benitez patted him on the back and
remarked: "I was really pleased with the way you attacked the near
post for the corners."
It is a picture of a manager without a human side and
nothing to talk about except tactics. Yet, as Liverpool flounder in
the Premier League and host Lyon tonight in a big Champions League
clash, Benitez insists he has been unfairly portrayed.
He said: "When you repeat a lie a lot of times this
happens. "I have conversations with all of the players about
positives and negatives and we analyse all of it. Each of them has
a DVD.
"Gerrard wanted to see the negatives and I said the
positives but he just wanted the negatives. "We have normal
conversations but they have to sell books and you have to write
something.
"I talk with all of them. You cannot be close friends
because you have to make decisions but the relationship is not
bad.
"If they do well, I say 'well done'. I say this 100
times. "I was surprised with Fernando saying what I said.
"It's true I said what I did but I said
'congratulations' about the baby too but you have to sell
books."
Striker Torres is still out with a groin injury but
hopes to face Manchester United on Sunday. Gerrard is back,
however, after the bizarre defeat to Sunderland.
He added: "People are saying the game should be
replayed but we will not be asking for this. "I said we did not
play well because I did not want to use the incident as an excuse.
"With the same squad more or less we got 86 points last season. So
I think the squad is good.
"But too many players out of the starting eleven have
been injured and this is something that hasn't been easy to manage.
"It's just a matter of time before we're playing at our best
again."
