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."

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  1. Benitez = Loserfool

    From Rohas Rosli, on Wed 20 May 1:49PM

  2. hi guy ! iam a football fan for every team , as i can­ see manchester is the better side . look they drop down­ at the bedaning but thet strong come back to win the­ tittle that is the good team work man. but look at­ liverpool if they want to race for the tittle they­ shuold play good at the start to the end to win the­ tittle and do not waiting until this date . and now­ complain what??????????????????????
    come on man put­ your hand together for the winner team man ====and that­ is manchester united.

    From andrew n, on Wed 20 May 1:49PM

  3. Funny how Rafa is getting told to congratulate Fergie­ yet when we got to the final of Champions League­ against Milan and lost Fergie said he wanted Liverpool­ to lose and that he would share a bottle of wine with­ Milans manager so where is the sportsmanship in that­ you Man Utd fans are the biggest hypocrites going.By­ the way CONGRATULATIONS on winning the Premiership this­ season look forward to next seasons battle.

    From alan.darlow, on Wed 20 May 11:37AM

  4. Rafa u f***k***g sore loser.Double over MU 4 wat.U end­ with nothing 2 show tis season. U r a load of @#$% Rafa

    From Rajan R, on Wed 20 May 9:37AM

  5. Rafa u f***k***g sore loser.Double over MU 4 wat.U end­ with nothing 2 show tis season. U r a load of @#$% Rafa

    From Rajan R, on Wed 20 May 9:23AM

  6. Liverpool fans talk about that 4-1 as if it won them­ something, I can't help but laugh. Its the results­ during the course of the season that wins or loses­ titles, and Utd won many more matches than­ Liverpool.

    I think the only reason Liverpool won that­ match was because Utd were getting a bit too­ complacent. They were winning games without playing­ well, like they did with Inter at Old Trafford, so when­ Liverpool came Utd didn't play the way they­ should.

    I bet if the match was replayed and the result­ MATTERED, and Utd needed to beat Liverpool well,­ Liverpool would now get a thrashing like Spurs did.

    From Supergosey S, on Wed 20 May 8:23AM

  7. wow to say you are better than one team just because­ you beat them is pathetic the overall result shows who­ is best not one result. did beating united win a cup­ nope did beating united give you an edge nope, because­ united are the ones who have the cup and the one's­ still fighting for cups. look at arbeloa he looked­ like a sore loser if we can't win the cup why play,­ that was the impression i got yet when united don't­ have a chance of winning a cup our players still play­ to there fullest to prove they have spirit.

    From steve, on Wed 20 May 7:38AM

  8. I remember the days when Liverpool fans would have­ congratulated Man U for winning the premiership title­ and vice versa. Where has the sportsmanship gone, all­ we see now is bitter hatred from the yobs on both­ sides. This does not apply to the true fans on both­ sides who still exist thank god. People are being­ stabbed or hospitalised simply for wearing their teams­ colours, what has the game come too. Perhaps this­ results from a manager like RAFA refusing to­ congratulate Fergy for his success in a pique of­ jealousy of the type we have come to expect from this­ manager. Bring back the likes of Bob Paisley and­ Shankly and get rid of RAFA and his tantrums, there is­ no place for him in this league.

    From JOHN I, on Wed 20 May 5:42AM

  9. Chasing worthless records, while others are fixed on­ trophies. Meanwhile, how do you seperate the manager­ from the team?,sore loser for sure. Booooooooo!

    From ogheneruemu o, on Wed 20 May 5:11AM

  10. Man U better team??? After 4-1 mauling by Liverpool

    From Saurabh Datta, on Wed 20 May 5:09AM

  11. what an A S S H O L E

    From shandu_93, on Wed 20 May 4:58AM

  12. good on benitez!

    From go, on Wed 20 May 4:26AM

  13. What a freakin sore loser. He ranted when he lost and­ drew games, and when Man U win the title plus 2 other­ trophies, as well as a CL that could be coming soon,­ Benitez still can't admit that Man U are the better­ team. penut makes the most sense. Read his comment.­ Admittedly, Liverpool were good this season, but as Man­ U won the title, you really can't question them. In­ fact, they won a HATTRICK of titles, and you Liverfools­ have the nerve to still say that you are better? That­ is just sad...

    From rishi.dayal, on Wed 20 May 4:26AM

  14. i wouldnt care if liverpool done the double on us every­ year as long as we finished top off the pile.every one­ was happy this season liverpool beat us twice and we­ finished top.

    From wglover323, on Wed 20 May 4:18AM

  15. penut1974.
    my god,sense at last.I hope Mr Benitez reads­ that.

    From jamie, on Wed 20 May 4:10AM

  16. Gotta love the logic of some of these numpties! ­ Liverpool beat Man utd, so they should have won the­ Premiership? Well, Middlesborough beat Liverpool (a­ proud day for scousers?), so that makes Man Utd a Squad­ that should be fighting to survive in the Premiership­ but in fact they won it. So where does that leave­ Liverpool? Wrap a gallon of Watney's Red Barrel­ around that! ;) Credit to Liverpool for a good fight,­ but you have to keep it up for the whole season to win.­ I suppose it must be a bit grim to realise that­ Liverpool have not yet won the Premiership since it­ began, and that all their successes are now looking a­ bit old and faded. That must make the teeth grind a­ bit for them. Anyway, nice to have a littel dig at a­ very good team (which Liverpool clearly are), but that­ will only last until next deason when it starts all­ over again. Gonna make a lot of Manu Utd and Liverpool­ supporters sick as a pig if Chelsea get it! LOL! and I­ do think that is a distinct possibility, especially if­ they get a competent Manager...

    From GrumpyOldMan, on Wed 20 May 4:03AM

  17. benitez has said that liverpool are a better side than­ man utd, ok they've played some good football this­ season, but once again utd have proved they are the­ best team in this country, liverpool gave them a run­ for their money but that is all they have done, another­ trophyless season for the reds has really gone to­ rafa's head, good teams know how to win a few­ games, great teams know how to win a few trophies,­ liverpool's bad sportsmanship stinks. the facts are­ liverpool might have won more games but they still­ dropped more points, they threw down the gauntlet but­ utd took it up and rose to the challenge

    From penut1974, on Wed 20 May 3:47AM

  18. see deep down he is a sore loser

    he has finally­ stopped changing his team every week to focus in the­ title

    From , on Wed 20 May 3:34AM

  19. THEY SAY LIVERPOOL WERE THE BETTER TEAM BUT WERE­ UNFORTUNATE TO LOOSE .

    WHAT KIND OF CHAMPIONS WOULD U­ CALL THEM WHEN IN A SEASON THAT THE GENERAL WORD IS­ THAT MANU U DIDNT PLAY WELL.......AS WE KNOW WE HAVE­ SEEN BETTER.

    LIVERPOOL LOST ONLY TWO GAMES. MY BOYS­ LOST MORE..THAT SPEAKS FOR ITS SELF "U­ SUCK!!"...LIKE U WOULDN'T TRADE TO GET ALL THE­ LATE 1-0 VICTORIES WE GOT..

    WE ARE BETTER FACE THAT­ "FACT"...AND HERES ANOTHER "FACT",­ Y'ALL B*~@!^S ARENT GOING TO GET CLOSE ENUF TO­ TASTE THE TITLE AGAIN...COS WE HAD A BAD SEASON AND­ WON...U HAD A GOOD SEASON AND­ LOST...."FACT"....LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLLL....SU­ CKERS!!!

    U FAKE REDS FROM LIVERPOOL MAKE THE COLOR RED­ GAY...

    PS-TELL UR MANAGER THAT HE SHOULD STOP WINGING­ LIKE A BABY AND ASK SOMEONE WITH BETTER KNOWLEDGE GIV­ HIM POINTERS..HE SOUNDS LIKE MY GIRLFRIEND-MOANING­ EVRYTIME..

    red devilz 4 life baby....

    From Hillman, on Wed 20 May 3:14AM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    COME ON NOW BARCA, SHUT THEM SYNICS UP FOR GOOD...MAN U­ 1 BARCA 7.AND THAT AINT NO JOKE .YOUR OUT MAN U.

    From brave heart., on Wed 20 May 3:09AM
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