Source: SKY_Sports
Lee plays down mind games
Liverpool assistant manager Sammy Lee insists the club do not want to be drawn into any further wars of words with Premier League title rivals Manchester United.
Reds boss Rafa Benitez has earned criticism from United and Blackburn counterparts Sir Alex Ferguson and Sam Allardyce for hand gestures which were perceived as arrogant during a victory over the latter on 11th April.
But ahead of Tuesday's home clash with Arsenal, which can be seen live on Sky Sports 1 and HD1, Lee is adamant that Benitez and Liverpool are not dwelling on the comments of Ferguson and Allardyce.
Lee has also dismissed suggestions that Benitez, who launched an infamously astonishing attack on Ferguson in January, is big-headed and has stated that the Spaniard was only celebrating a well-worked set piece against Blackburn.
"One thing I'll say is that Rafa is certainly not arrogant, no way," Lee told Sky Sports News.
"I think it's quite sad, really. At the end of the day, we try to get on with the job we've got to do and not worry about what other people are thinking about us.
"Certainly, any gestures that are made pitchside are to our players, not to anyone else.
"It was a reaction to what we thought we should have been doing (from the free-kick), but something else was done and it resulted in a goal.
"We only consider what we want our players to do. We don't make any gesture to anyone else at all."
Lee has also admitted his shock that, if Allardyce was angered by the gesture, the former Bolton boss, who he worked under in an assistant role at the Reebok Stadium, did not air his opinion at an earlier date.
"I'm surprised he didn't mention anything to me when we were sat having a drink after the game," added the Liverpool No.2.
"No one mentioned anything, and I'm sure if anyone felt strongly about it they would have. But we'll move on.
"It's not for us to talk about other football clubs. We very rarely do. We try to concentrate on what's going on here and let the game take its course."
