Stubbs turns up derby heat
15 Oct 2007 - 08:17:40
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- Stubbs turns up derby heat
Everton defender Alan Stubbs has turned up the heat on Liverpool ahead of next weekend's Merseyside derby by claiming their big-spending rivals have much more to lose.
The Toffees could leapfrog their city rivals with three points at Goodison Park on Saturday and Stubbs believes another negative result for the Reds - who have won only one of their last four league games - will further increase the pressure on the Anfield club.
"We don't see ourselves as a small club, not at all," he told the club's official website.
"If they feel they are that much bigger than us, they should have been getting better results - like winning the league.
"When you spend that much money, £40-50million, you would expect to be closer than they have been.
"That's what Liverpool fans would say if you asked them. We beat them 3-0 (last season) and you don't get a result like that by luck."
Stubbs also believes Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez's controversial squad rotation policy is partly responsible for their recent poor run.
He added: "The thing about Liverpool is that I don't know if he has found his best team. I don't know if he has found the balance he's looking for.
"He keeps saying he will pick players who are looking good in training. I think sometimes you get training-ground players who don't do it in a game. And sometimes you get players who aren't good in training but are much better in a match situation.
"Benitez has done a good job since he arrived but a lot of Liverpool fans are getting disgruntled.
"They want to be challenging but have seen them getting draws at home to teams they think they should be beating because he has been resting players."