by Benny The Noon » Wed May 19, 2010 7:28 pm
Rafael Benitez wants four more years at Liverpool
Oliver Kay, Football Correspondent
Rafael Benitez has declared his intention to stay on as Liverpool manager for another four years, adding that he has “no evidence” that Fernando Torres is seeking a move away from Anfield.
Benitez’s future has been in serious doubt for several weeks as his agent has held talks with Juventus, leading Liverpool’s board to consider a change of manager. Some tensions remain between Benitez and the Merseyside club’s hierarchy, but, having seen Juventus appoint Luigi Del Neri, the Spaniard believes he will be staying at Anfield.
“My future is with Liverpool,” Benitez told reporters in Madrid. “I have four more years of contract and I want to succeed. I have no offer [from another club]. I hope to make a competitive team.
“My critics in London say that I am not a good manager and experts with an English accent here [in Madrid] say the same. But Liverpool has had an average of 69 points in the last 12 seasons. The club made a huge mistake, which was to start winning four trophies [under his management]. Then people will ask for more. [Sir Alex] Ferguson took seven years to win the Premier League.
Benitez played down suggestions that Torres wants to join a new club following Liverpool’s failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League. The Spain forward has been strongly linked with a move to Chelsea, but Benitez said: “I have no evidence that Torres wants to go. Right now he is focused on recovering from his injury, winning the World Cup and then he can think about his future. He has multiplied the image of Liverpool in Asia because he makes women crazy there.”
The Spaniard also defended his style of management after Albert Riera, the Liverpool and Spain winger, claimed that he did not talk to his players. “It is a lie that I don’t talk to the players,” he said. “He [Riera] made a mistake in an interview and I have witnesses and video of something that I will not count. ”
Tom Hicks and George Gillett put the club up for sale last month but the pair have so far failed to find buyers willing to meet their £500 million valuation. Martin Broughton was brought in as chairman to oversee a potential sale, but Benitez says he is yet to find out whether he will be able to reinvest money raised from players sales during the summer. "I have had a couple of meetings with the new (Broughton) to clarify the situation," Benitez said. "We need to know how much money we have, and that also depends on (player) sales."
Maybe we could reintroduce it in the Advanced Debate section where it could begin to maybe evoke intelligent football debate again ......
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