Mar 14 2008
by Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo
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Rafa Benitez
RAFA BENITEZ today urged his team to become the first in the country this season to crash through the 100 goals barrier.
Liverpool have already scored 97 goals in all competitions and are four clear of nearest challengers Arsenal in the race for a century.
Next on the high scorers list come Spurs with 89, Man United with 83, Chelsea with 81 and Everton with 77.
And Benitez is hoping the Reds will be first to reach the 100 mark - but stressed that points are the most important thing at this stage of the season.
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The Reds boss said: "It is a good record, one which is very positive for everyone at the club and it would be nice if we were the first to score 100 goals.
"It shows that all the players are doing a good job because not only are we scoring lots of goals, we are also not conceding many.
"That is important because it shows that we are getting the right balance. There is no point in scoring lots of goals if you are conceding lots also.
"We have the right balance and that comes from the defenders doing their job because that allows the attacking players to go forward with confidence and score goals.
"But I would say that winning games is the most important thing. There is no point scoring two or three goals if you do not win the game, but if we can score goals and win the game then everyone will be happy."
Benitez also congratulated Xabi Alonso on the birth of his son, Jon.
Alonso was forced to miss Liverpool's 1-0 win over Inter Milan on Tuesday as he attended the birth of his first child but Benitez is happy that things turned out well for all involved.
He said: "Xabi is happy because he became a father, we won 1-0 against a very good team in their own ground and there is another healthy baby at the club, so everyone must be happy."
Though disappointed at having to miss the Inter Milan game, Alonso is delighted to have become a father.
He said: "It was a great experience. All the family is really happy and now we have to look forward. Mother and baby are both very well. The labour was quite long but it went well, so we are delighted.
"Of course I watched the game in the evening with my brother. It was great to watch. We controlled the game very well and the goal from Fernando finished it off.
"It was a little frustrating because I was excited at the thought of playing in the San Siro in what was a big challenge for the team, but of course I had to be with my family at that moment. Hopefully I will get the chance to play in that stadium in the future."
Alonso is likely to go straight back into the Liverpool squad for tomorrow's visit of Reading.
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This article was posted in the Echo the other day but seems to have got lost in the CL draw shuffle. It makes for interesting reading, primarily because we are often accused--by our opponents and by some of our own supporters--of being a dull, overly-defensive and negative team. Yet, here we are leading the English pack when it comes to goals in all competitions.*** Paradoxically, this comes in a season where our achilles heel has been the dreaded draw.
So, is this total goals thing a fluke or are we not really the negative team that we are frequently painted as being?
***BTW, if we just focus on Premier League goals, we lie in joint 3rd place (with Spurs) with a total of 53 goals (Mancs=58 and Arsenal=57). We are actually second in the league in home goals (Spurs=37; LFC=36; Mancs & Arsenal=32) but are tied with Reading in 8th place for away goals (17).
and to be quite honest thats what most of them do. Andy Gray goes on about zonal marking everytime we play. About us losing so many goals because of it and so on. The fact of the matter is mr Andy C u n t Gray is, that we have had one of the best defences in the prem under Mr Benitez ya thick c u nt.
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