Source: Eurosport
Benitez: Win Was All That Mattered
Rafael Benitez is falling in love with the idea of winning the Premier League.
It has taken five years. It has meant jettisoning the notion that Europe is the priority. It has meant ditching his rotation policy.
But anyone who witnessed Benitez leap in the air as Yossi Benayoun's winner rippled the Fulham net deep into added time on Saturday night saw a man who at last gets what winning the league after 19 years would mean to those who wear Liverpool red.
Whether it was a defining moment in the destination of this year's title remains to be seen but suffice to say it had the same air about it as a certain Steve Bruce header in stoppage time for Manchester United against Sheffield Wednesday, another late winner which had Sir Alex Ferguson dancing on the Old Trafford pitch on the way to the first of his 10 Premier League trophies back in April 1993.
Liverpool lucky? Benitez was having none of it.
"The luck is reserved for the people who work hard," said Benitez. "We work hard so hopefully we will have more luck."
The truth is that after beating Aston Villa 5-0 and Manchester United 4-1, with a four-goal drubbing of Real Madrid thrown in, Liverpool should have had another hatful against Fulham.
They hit the woodwork four times, twice through Andrea Dossena and once each by Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso in a first half which was as one-sided as a football match could be.
Torres and Steven Gerrard again proved what a handful they are in tandem, but it was Benitez's ability to change the course of a match with his inevitable substitutions which was key.
Ryan Babel came on for Dossena, Benayoun for Dirk Kuyt and the Israel international especially gave Liverpool that extra thrust which eventually made the difference.
That is one of the differences with Benitez's Liverpool. In days past, even earlier this season, they would have been content to sit and protect a point in the latter stages of games like this.
Not now. In the Premier League and in Europe the scent of goals and the quest for victories are now paramount.
Benitez said: "We have never been happy to draw. Sometimes before we were a bit nervous, but now we have more confidence. You can see the team is creating more chances. When you are in a position that is so positive you do not have to talk too much. We are closer and it is easy to keep the players pushing.
"You know you have to win all your games. Arsenal have won, Chelsea have won. For us nothing else mattered, we had to win.
"If you win fantastic, if you lose or draw it is the mistake of the manager. that is the game. But we are enjoying it now and we have more responsibility because we know we have to do well in both competitions."
Benayoun, who had been suffering from a slight hamstring problem, is likely to start on the bench in the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Chelsea on Wednesday.
As for Roy Hodgson his resilient Fulham side came within a minute of being unbeaten at home by all 'big four' clubs this season.
Not that a spirited second-half performance was any consolation.
Hodgson said: "Liverpool are much more confident now obviously after having beaten Aston Villa and Manchester United and Real Madrid. And they can bring players like Babel and Benayoun off the bench.
"They had high expectations that they would walk through this game and we did not allow that to happen. They were the better team but it said a lot for the character of the boys, some of them playing their third game in a week, that they could put up such a good show."
At the end, however, it was the Liverpool fans imploring the football world to believe 'We're going to win the league'.
It brought a smile to the face of Benitez.
A smile which said with a bit more luck, sorry, hard work, they might just do so.
