by adamnbarrett » Tue Dec 19, 2006 8:38 pm
Rafael Benitez and Arsene Wenger have both declared themselves unhappy with referee Martin Atkinson's decision to call off Tuesday's Carling Cup tie at Anfield.
Atkinson felt the fog surrounding the stadium was strong enough to make playing conditions impossible and so postponed the match one hour before kick off.
Benitez admits the decision could cause future fixture problems for Liverpool and feels the match could have gone ahead as planned.
"In the opinions of myself and Arsene, it was possible to play this game," said Benitez.
"We must respect the referee's decision but we don't agree with it. In these conditions we could have played. The referee said to us that he had difficulty seeing both corners of the pitch and that it could be difficult for his assistants.
"A lot of people were looking forward to this game and it's really difficult to explain why it was called off.
"We have a problem now because if we draw against Arsenal in the FA Cup then when are we going to play this game? The replay for the FA Cup game will be when we could have played tonight's match. Maybe we can play for both Cups in the same game!"
Arsenal boss Wenger added: "I'm disappointed because we wanted to play and so did Liverpool.
"Unfortunately we weren't able to influence the decision of the referee, even though we tried."