Rafa Benitez last night claimed Liverpool were the poor
relations of the Premier League big guns - and admitted they have
to hold their nerve to have any chance of winning the crown.
The Spaniard remains unrepentant over the wisdom of last month's
verbal assault on Sir Alex Ferguson, insisting it was a battle that
needed to be fought.
But with Liverpool likely to be five points behind Manchester
United after the title holders play Fulham tomorrow, Benitez went
on the front foot as he insisted his club were overachieving given
their financial position.
"Every year, United collect £60million more than us - and that
means they can buy three £20m players each season," said the
Liverpool boss. "Chelsea will have spent £500m over the last five
years.
"We've made a team that can compete with them but economically
we're inferiors and can't afford the players they can.
"I have enough data to bore you with it. But if you look at
United, it wasn't just spending £32m on Dimitar Berbatov - they can
spend whatever it takes for what they need every year. Last year it
was £17m on Owen Hargreaves, £18m on Nani and £20m on
Anderson. Seven years ago they paid £30m for Rio Ferdinand.
"In my five years, I've paid less in transfer fees than I've
received, even though I spent £40m on Fernando Torres and Robbie
Keane. It's as simple as that." Benitez, set to end his contract
stand-off with the board and the club's American owners by signing
a new deal, knows excuses will count for nothing if Liverpool fail
to land the title in May.
While he insisted he was 100 per cent right to stand up to
Fergie, he admitted the desperation of the Anfield fans is an extra
factor his side must conquer. Benitez added: "Ferguson controls
everything in this country. These are the facts, as everyone
knows.
"And when he decided to speak about Liverpool, I knew I had to
respond to him. Now we're out of the FA Cup, it's necessary to look
for the positives and those are that we will play fewer games and
be able to concentrate more on the Premier League and the Champions
League.
"The title in England is very competitive, more so than in
Spain, because every opponent you face in the Premier League will
make it hard for you.
"So far we've never lost control of the games we didn't win but
what we couldn't do was finish the matches off. Our biggest problem
is in the great expectations of success that surround us.
"All we ever hear from the fans is: 'The League, the League,
it's 19 years since we had it'. Since I've been at the club we've
won four trophies, fought for more and been in another Champions
League semi-final.
"I feel we're where we need to be but the problem for us now is
the anxiety around us. We must handle it and that is not easy."
Liverpool travel to Real Madrid next week in the last 16 of the
Champions League with Benitez optimistic of success against his old
club. He said: "I've the experience of the duel we had with
Barcelona. They were the big favourites but we knocked them
out.
"We didn't have luck when the draw came out as we have different
goals for the season now.
For Madrid, it's all about the Champions League. That is all
they have to win.
"We're still alive in the title race but what matters is the
condition of my players when the games come. Torres is still
getting back to his best form, while Steven Gerrard, who is to our
team what Raul is to Real, the emblem, is still recovering from a
hamstring injury.
"It's fair to compare Steven to Raul. Both are charismatic
players, with enormous hearts, whose personality makes a mark on
the rest of the team."
