Premier League - Managers: Benitez blasts Fergie

Eurosport - Mon, 18 May 16:24:00 2009

Rafa Benitez has continued his war of words with Alex Ferguson, refusing to congratulate the Manchester United boss on winning the title.

2008-2009 Premier League Liverpool Rafa Benitez - 0

West Bromwich 0-2 Liverpool

Tony Mowbray: "What happened (with Roman Bednar's suspension following newspaper allegations) did not upset our preparation. I had a word with him before the match, but there will be no further comment until we have had the chance to investigate what has happened and find out all the facts. We will then take action when we have got to the bottom of it and discover the details.

"Obviously I am so disappointed, particularly for the fans who have been magnificent all season. But the way we gave away that first goal, a big mistake to let Steven Gerrard in, just epitomises our whole season. I am frustrated. We had a lot of good attacking play but then gave the opposition a goal they did not have to work for. That's us."

Rafa Benitez when asked to congratulate Alex Ferguson: "I will say congratulations to Manchester United. They have done well, but I do not want to say too much. I prefer just to say well done to the club, a big club, a good club. Normally you have to be polite and respect the other manager. During the season we have seen a lot of things that I didn't like, so that's it. I say congratulations to United because they have won. And that's it."

"The disagreement between my two players was because we wanted another clean sheet, we wanted 21. I don't like what I saw, but I am trying to see the positive side of things. We were looking to hit targets, a record points tally for the club of 83 and we achieved that. We wanted 13 away league wins which is also a record. And we wanted another clean sheet and runners-up position. You could see why Jamie Carragher was like he was with Alvaro Arbeloa. For me that is a positive message about the mentality of the team."

Chelsea 2-0 Blackburn

Guus Hiddink on his reception from the fans: "I didn't expect that after the few months I was here, it was rather short, but I think it was a reflection of what the team did. They resurrected themselves after a difficult period at the beginning of the year. We worked hard together, we challenged each other as a sign of respect, and that's why the crowd reacted as they did. I was impressed and I enjoyed it very much.

"I think for the fans, first of all, the most important thing is that we play football. People like to play football, whether they are amateurs or well-paid professional, that is the motivation. And you cannot fool the fans. They know whether the players are committed. If they are not committed, then we have a problem, but this team showed a lot of commitment during my period here."

Sam Allardyce: "I thought we were really in the game but the problem again was that playing away from home we didn't convert good opportunities. We had several opportunities, two of the best were headers in the first half, Ryan Nelsen just five yards out and Chris Samba, but we've not hit the target.

"So the opportunities were there but we needed to find the sort of finish they did. Malouda's header was terrific, it was some finish from that distance. Our defensive side of our game today wasn't great but our attacking side in the first half I was pleased with apart from not making the Chelsea keeper work hard enough."

Eurosport

Comment 713 - 732 of 732

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. BENITEZ IS THE BEST IN THE LEAGUE ..........FERGUSON IS­ A BAD LOESR AND SO IS THE TEAM LIVERPOOL WILL WIN THE­ TITTLE FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS YNWA YNWA YNWA YNWA YNWA­ YNWA

    From sophiecannell, on Thu 21 May 1:46AM

  2. Champions League here we come, Liverfool stay at home­ as usual with no silver ware.­ hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

    From Gary S, on Thu 21 May 12:20AM

  3. Rafa is a­ looooooooooooooooooooooosssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer­ rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr fat one at that!!!!!!!!!

    From Gary S, on Thu 21 May 12:19AM

  4. Liverfool fans are windae lickers, on you go liverfool­ fans, go and wash the windaes.

    From Gary S, on Thu 21 May 12:17AM

  5. liverpool is scum
    fans are glory seeking (but without­ the glory) losers there like little rats scavaging for­ anytihng they can find in the gutter
    never have i met­ an hounarable loserpool fan

    From reddevils_4life99, on Thu 21 May 12:11AM

  6. ian m go f.cu.k your sister

    From liam, on Thu 21 May 12:08AM

  7. watch this space mancy utd is the next leeds utd when­ the banks call in their 1 billion pounds loan and­ growing oh and the deduction of at least ten points­ then all you gloryhole utd fans can crawl back under­ your rocks

    From liam, on Thu 21 May 12:06AM

  8. freddyfinger1983 - Hmmm, so the power of your facts has­ made me "resort to slagging of­ scousers" has­ it ?! No, actually, I just enjoy it

    Mentioning­ obscure matches involving Spurs and Fulham is hardly­ intimidating and the relevance will elude most readers­ I'm afraid. As for United's 11 league titles­ since the Scamfield scum won the premiership yes,­ technically they are in the past, but I'm afriad­ they're a little more current and relevant than­ United's performance in the 1970's and­ 80's. As for my little wheeze, a) it was insulting­ your team, not you and b) if you'd been from the­ UK, you might have appreciated how topical it was in­ the light of the expenses debacle surrounding our­ beloved and much respected politicians scamming the­ electorate

    From Ian M, on Wed 20 May 4:17PM

  9. ian m- clearly my facts made u resort to slagging of­ scousers- Fact i am not even from the uk so y wud i­ take offence to that!! oh and poor joke mite i add!!

    From freddyfinger1983, on Wed 20 May 3:48PM

  10. freddyfinger1983 - Have you seen on the news today that­ police are investigating an expenses fraud at Liverfool­ football club. Apparently it came to light when someone­ at the tax office noticed a claim going through for­ silver polish

    From Ian M, on Wed 20 May 3:35PM

  11. Ian M- Fact Liverpool depending on the result against­ spurs will be the only team to have been beaten twice­ in a season and not walked away with the title (not­ even utd have done that)

    From freddyfinger1983, on Wed 20 May 3:26PM

  12. ian m- Fact UTD went 36 yrs without a title!! Fact- u­ didnt get all the trophies this season!! Fact- How many­ games were u handed terrible penalty descions!! Fact- a­ goal in extra time is a goal none the less and me­ thinks u have scored a lot in extra time!! Fact- Sir­ alex is a great manager but has had a hell of a lot­ more time then rafa to build his team!!! Fact- 19 years­ ago is the past then again so are ur other 17 league­ titles!!

    From freddyfinger1983, on Wed 20 May 3:24PM

  13. freddyfinger1983 - fact, you've won nothing again­ ... fact, you're living in the past ... fact, yes­ it took Sir Alex 5 years to win the league, but you­ last won it NINETEEN YEARS (and how many managers ?)­ ago ... fact, yes you did the double over us, but­ we've ended the season with all the trophies ...­ fact, Rafa's rant re refs being biased semingly­ missed the issue of Liverfool winning so may matches in­ extra time or when the opposition had had a man sent­ off ... fact, you guys are just good for claiming on­ benefits and theiving

    From Ian M, on Wed 20 May 3:10PM

  14. Ian M- I dont no were u get ur facts from but Rafa has­ not spent more then UTD, Fact- it took Fergie 5yrs to­ win a league Fact- Utd only finished in the top 3 once­ in them 5 yrs!! Fact- Liverpool pushed you to the max­ this season proving that by all means u are unbeatable­ Fact- we did it twice this season oh and lets mention­ Fulham!!! Fact- Rafa stated claims that even UTD­ supporters have agreed with!! Congrats on the title but­ lets not get ahead of ourselves!!! There will be plenty­ more seasons to come!! Hard Luck Rafa!! Good fite and­ brill to watch!!

    From freddyfinger1983, on Wed 20 May 2:18PM

  15. Benitez has shown on several occasions this year that­ he and the plot have long since parted company. His­ "thats a fact" rant was just the most­ embarrasing of many episodes where he demonstrated to­ the football world that he can't handle pressure. ­ As for his team - they've got 2 great players and­ lots of mediocre ones and, despite all the money­ Benitez has spent (more than United Rafa and that's­ a fact) he's failed to improve the team beyond­ using his Spanish influence to attract one fantastic­ player. One just hopes he will reflect on his­ churlishness and lack of humility and start afreash­ next season ... where the best he can aim for is still­ second or, as the Yanks call it, first looser

    From Ian M, on Wed 20 May 8:52AM

  16. Good one from liverpool for the season they gave good­ chase this season, i hope it get better next­ season.bcos liverpool is a hard fighting side that­ does't give up easily.they never walk alone.

    From rillywan5000, on Wed 20 May 8:35AM

  17. Let's face it Guys, even Man City have done the­ "double" over United and like Liverpool, they­ have never won the Premiership either. Losers, Losers­ and Losers! Enough said.

    From BRIAN, on Wed 20 May 8:28AM

  18. Shame on this unsportsmanship.If he goes to chelnski or­ hell broke loose

    From pmm, on Wed 20 May 8:22AM

  19. May I just draw the attention of Benitez to a fact­ doing the double on a team, losing fewer games than the­ same team and you did not win speaks volume for­ iteself. The simple logic is just that Man Utd is the­ best side inthe Premiership this season since the team­ with the most points is the best. In the hat trick of­ premiership we have won i.e. 2006/2007, 2007/2008 and­ 2008/2009 we lost home and away to atleast a top team­ in 2006/2007 Arsenal beat Man Utd 1 - 0 (Adebayor) in­ old trafford and lost 2 - 1 at emirate with a late goal­ from Henry. In 2007/2008 Man City beat us home an away­ also 1 - 0 and 2 - 1 too. in 2008/2009 Liverpool who­ has not beaten Man Utd for a long time did the double 2­ - 1 & 4 - 1 but the fact remains we still won the­ league on those occassions. I will be happy if I loose­ home and away to Liverpool for the next five years and­ we keep on winning the premiership. Benitez shuld be­ respectful, he should be sportmanlike and stop passing­ buck. Man Utd was on position number 16 to 12 for a­ long time when Liverpool was leading for many months,­ but when the going gets tough only the tough gets­ going. Man Utd picked up and that was it just like­ 2007/2008 when Arsenal led till January only to loose­ grip and won nothing. Red Devil 4 life.

    From tunjifabiyi, on Wed 20 May 7:53AM

  20. ummmm @ braveheart... u have a brave imagination as­ well... if the score is 7-1 against Utd. I shall give u­ my address and you can come and cut any part of my­ body... ANY!

    From Aakash, on Wed 20 May 7:31AM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account