Premier League - Managers: Benitez goes crazy

Eurosport - Thu, 29 Jan 11:06:00 2009

Reaction from Wednesday's Premier League games with raging Rafa Benitez blaming a 'crazy' second half for Liverpool's draw against Wigan Athletic.

2008-2009 Liverpool Rafa Benitez - 0

Wigan 1-1 Liverpool

Steve Bruce: "It has been a difficult January for us. But we've made a few changes, and a couple of them have hit the ground running. The one thing they do is stick at it and have a right good crack at it. In the last 20 to 25 minutes, they really got the bit between their teeth. Lee Cattermole got among them and tackled everything that moved. It was a decent performance from us."

Rafael Benitez: "The second half was a crazy game and when it is a crazy game you cannot control things. I am disappointed with a number of things (about) the Wigan approach - (but) I will not talk about them. It has happened in the last three games. They have something in common I don't like. I know why, but I cannot say anything. The players were okay. They were working very hard in the first half but the second half changed because it was crazy."

Everton 1-1 Arsenal

David Moyes: "In the end we should have run the ball into the corner rather than conceding possession like that. We did not need to give the ball away in that situation. We are disappointed that we ended up with one point when we were so close to three. To concede a goal in the 93rd minute is hard to take after we had played so well. Overall we deserved the points. We have conceded a late goal to Arsenal not long after we did the same thing against Aston Villa - and that game we lost."

Arsene Wenger: "It was very important not to lose. We needed to keep Everton at a distance from us, and three points would have put them very close to us. Van Persie's finish was an exceptional one. But when you see the ball dropping like that towards his left foot, you always think that he can hit the target. He will make the keeper work, he will never put the ball into the stands from a position like that."

Chelsea 2-0 Middlesbrough

Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins: "It's a very emotional game, isn't it? Passions run high. They ran high on their bench. They did on ours. That's the way the game is played. It's played with great passion on the pitch and off it, whether it is with supporters or managers. I shook hands. It was a nothing conversation. I didn't even see the incident, to be honest. If the referee felt he (Scolari) needed to be sent to the stands, he would have done that."

Gareth Southgate: "There were words between my assistant and Phil Scolari. He seemed to want to get one of my players booked. He didn't shake hands at the end. A strange reaction, but that's his prerogative. You expect a moment of real class, to be carved open a few times, but that didn't really happen. Our discipline was really good. A bit of quality from a set-piece from us might have been our best manner of scoring, so it's a big let-down to lose to two set-pieces given the quality we were up against."

Manchester City 2-1 Newcastle United

Mark Hughes: "(Robinho) was fully focused and looking ahead to the game. Mentally he was in the right place, he was concentrating on the job in hand and it was never any real doubt for me that he should play. The good thing was he played an intelligent ball to release Shaun Wright-Phillips for our first goal. The icing on the cake was (Craig) Bellamy's performance. Craig will strengthen this team because he is a quality player. A lot of people's judgment of him is clouded by past misdemeanours but there is no doubt what he can bring to us."

Joe Kinnear: "It is one thing after another at the moment. The doctor had said six to eight weeks with Michael and 10 for Joey. The guy (owner Mike Ashley) has lost £2 billion from his businesses. I do not know what this club is worth but at the moment we have to get on with it as best we can. I tried to sell Geremi yesterday because I thought it would raise £4m but that deal fell through so I had to play him tonight. We have been negotiating with someone else on the continent. We thought that deal was done but suddenly the goal posts have moved."

West Ham 2-0 Hull City

Gianfranco Zola: "(David) Di Michele was fantastic, but he has been like that in the last couple of games. He is such an important player for the team, and that is the type of atmosphere we want to build up here - with fair competition between each other with everybody looking forward to getting into this team. They are enjoying themselves, and that is what we want here. Every time they play, it is always the best game, which is the biggest compliment you can give to a team."

Phil Brown: "There were a couple of positives, but in the main the biggest negative was the form which we caught West Ham in. They were playing with a lot of confidence and their two strikers played a massive part in the downfall of our side. But Matt Duke stepped up to the plate and put in a fantastic performance, and we also played some good football when Jimmy Bullard came on. The belief and trust which is required was there when he came on, but unfortunately then we were chasing a 2-0 deficit."

Blackburn Rovers 2-2 Bolton Wanderers

Sam Allardyce: "I don't understand why (Jussi Jaaskelainen) wasn't given a red card. We made the substitutions, and Tugay has played the ball to Roque (Santa Cruz) who showed the quality he has. He is through and we're all ready to jump off our seats thinking it's a goal, and instead it's a penalty. We all thought then it would be Benni to compose himself against their reserve 'keeper, but that wasn't to be. It was the wrong decision, but at the end of the day Mike Dean has deemed it was not a goalscoring opportunity."

Gary Megson on Bolton's attempt to sign Miguel Veloso: "If we can bring him in, great, if not we need to move on sooner rather than later. We need to make sure we're not on a fool's errand. They've made it clear what kind of money they want, and we won't pay that. If that's a stalemate, then we will move on."

Eurosport

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  1. the pool need to find a manager that that will use players properly .

    From Mark, on Thu 29 Jan 9:39AM
  2. Hes cracking up!
    Liverpool's challange over by the end of Feb anyone?
    Or is it over already?!

    From Michael S, on Thu 29 Jan 9:29AM
  3. rafa what a nob

    From lyndsay_mike, on Thu 29 Jan 9:28AM
  4. As a Wigan fan I was very disapointed with Liverpool last night. In the first half they were comfortable but pretty boring / negative against a very disjointed Wigan side who were unable to hold on to the ball for more than a few seconds. The style of football surely cant satsify the Liverpool fams brought up on pass and move. In the second half we turned up the pressure a bit and Liverpool wilted. Benitez is misguided at best if he thinks the ref had anything to do with it. Everyone in football knows how bad Dowd is and Wigan has borne the brunt of his wacky decisions in the past. Last night he was no better but at least managed to get the nailed on penalty right. And if there were any persistent infringers last night who needed sorting out by the ref, Mascherano and Liverpools right back were right up with them. Cattermole was outstanding, I hope he features in the young player of the season awards. We really couldnt believe the substitution of Gerrard immediately after we equalised because apart from Benayoun he had looked the only player capable of scoring. Torres was noticeably off the pace. Latics need to knit this new team together but with the addition of a replacement midfielder of quality and the return of Valencia, we should be a decent outfit again next season.

    From guzs, on Thu 29 Jan 9:18AM
  5. I'm really quite unsure why everyone is having a go at rafa without remembering how Liverpool got to where they are in the first place. Cast your mind back a couple of months and you'll see liverpool had so many last minute equalisers or winning goals. The truth now is just like Hull (and no disrespect to them) they've run out of luck and are now playing in their normal fashion. At the beginning of 2007/08 season, Voronin gave Liverpool a blistering start and I mentioned that to my friend (a Manutd supporter) and advised him to be on the look out for Liverpool what did he say... "He's not bothered, Liverpool recently have been the greatest underachievers and he's more concerned about other teams, not Liverpool". Oh dear, I think he just may be right again.

    From djackal, on Thu 29 Jan 9:11AM
  6. rafa needs to stop taking of torres and gerrard as this is why liverpool are 3rd...if it keeps going on then liverpool will be in 5th or 6th place....the chelsea match is going to be brillant and i hope chelsea demolish you

    From Paul T, on Thu 29 Jan 9:09AM
  7. That's what happens when you try to play mind games with SAF. The last time someone did that, he lost a 15 point lead and had a heart attack! Rafa hahahaha!

    From Gerald18, on Thu 29 Jan 9:09AM
  8. Benitez is just a very sour man. He called Alex Ferguson last week, at least fergy can always hold it together!!!! Does Benitez not understand that fergie as the MOST experience in the premiership and a team that are DEDICATED!!!.....Glory Glory Man United....Fergusons Red Army!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From T, on Thu 29 Jan 8:50AM
  9. one nil up job done sit back and take our best players off for a rest when will rafa realise it dont work the best way to defend a 1 goal lead is to score again man u have proved this (that hurt !!)find your balls rafa and start killing off teams oh and get rid of lucas my wifes got a better brazilian

    From tink1111, on Thu 29 Jan 8:47AM
  10. what happened in the last three games benitez.. that you have gone crazy and gone to the lala land....

    From bukhardt, on Thu 29 Jan 8:44AM
  11. Its quite unfortunate that chelsea will be the next opponent for liverpool.Benitez will have a full mouth on that day.There is a lot to be learnt from Sir Alex Man United,they have charater and purpose,they never give up the lead as soon as their nose is in front at the log table.As liverpool supporter,we have lost the league tittle again this season after coming very close to grabbing it.

    From Larry, on Thu 29 Jan 8:32AM
  12. rafa shoul go and hide is head and b ashamed of himself. he should b stepping up his game and not blaming his botz

    From gregg, on Thu 29 Jan 8:04AM
  13. Am a Liverpool fan.Benetez wanted to say teams play defensively oly against Liverpool.But that no excuse for he has to device a mean to score defensive teams.Let hin know I erroneously quarreled my wife becuase of the changes he made

    From Michael, on Thu 29 Jan 7:36AM
  14. Now that's very interesting~~ benitez could make a good novel writer~ now i want to know more~ what is it that he know that he can't tell us??? isn't this a bit like what those people with mental illness always says~

    From Vitor, on Thu 29 Jan 7:14AM
  15. What a @#$%, please let the yanks rip up his contract! We need someone with a clue. Why wasn't Keane and Torres on together and what in th e hell is taking off Gerrard makling you stronger...moron! Fire the sap!

    From Trevor, on Thu 29 Jan 7:02AM
  16. Rafa and Liverpool going down

    From dameisma, on Thu 29 Jan 6:58AM
  17. Benitez does it again - next round of matches will be fierce as it's sooo tight.

    From ispurs, on Thu 29 Jan 6:55AM
  18. rafa is a prat 1 booking in game liverpool played off park in second half (cattermole class)

    From wigana, on Thu 29 Jan 6:54AM
  19. Rafa is a bad bad loser Wigan for Europe LOL

    From Wayne Grove, on Thu 29 Jan 6:45AM
  20. Rafa is a bad bad loser Wigab for Europe LOL

    From Wayne Grove, on Thu 29 Jan 6:43AM
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