Blown away! Boy wonder Jovetic sinks Liverpool, but Rafa vows to hit back

30 September 2009 12:23
Rafa Benitez endured the worst 45 minutes of his Liverpool career on Tuesday night but insisted his side would bounce back from their humiliating 2-0 defeat at Fiorentina when they travel to Chelsea on Sunday. The Liverpool manager admitted to being shocked at seeing his former European champions so comprehensively outplayed as 19-year-old striker Stevan Jovetic scored twice. 'I've never seen this team of mine struggle as much as they did in the first half,' said Benitez after Liverpool's first away defeat in Champions League group games for twoyears. 'I was just so disappointed because we made too many mistakes and were made to pay for them. 'Was I disappointed with a challenge in midfield in the build-up to their first goal? I was disappointed with challenges in all areas of the pitch, that's how bad it was. 'They were going at us all the time in the first half but we were not doing the things we had discussed beforehand. We knew it would be difficult, but we fared really badly in just about everything we did. 'At half-time we sat down and talked about the mistakes and how we might improve. The main thing was the mentality and making sure we mounted a better challenge. 'We did that in the second half, but it was too late.' Benitez remained defiant about bouncing back at Stamford Bridge, saying: 'We haveenough time to recover and I'm sure you will see a totally different team against Chelsea. 'You will see the Liverpool that we saw in the second half here. We will be much better, I am sure of that. But there's no getting away from the fact that Fiorentina were much fresher than us all round the pitch and did a very good job on us.' Dejected Jamie Carragher echoed his manager's sentiments, saying: 'We didn'tperform well enough, we know that.  'We were slightly better in the second half, but we were still not good enough. Nothing went to plan. It was a massive game for them, and a massive game for us, but they seemed to be more ready for it from the start. 'It is something we have got to sort out.' 

Source: Daily_Mail