Source: Daily_Mail
Rafa has a go at me to deflect from his own problems, blasts Allardyce
Rafa Benitez would be an unlikely visitor to the villa Allardyce is having built on the Costa Blanca, where the Blackburn manager spent his team's week off from Premier League action. [LNB]Allardyce shares with the Liverpool manager a love of Spain - and that's about it. He is not happy to lose to his rival but is delighted still to be getting under Benitez's skin. [LNB]Their mutual dislike surfaced again last week when Benitez sarcastically suggested Barcelona were thinking of copying the Allardyce blueprint after Liverpool beat Blackburn 2-1. [LNB] Best of enemies: Liverpool's Rafa Benitez and Blackburn's Sam Allardyce (right)[LNB]Last season, Benitez's apparently contemptuous 'game over' gesture after Liverpool scored a second goal against Rovers prompted Allardyce's pal, Sir Alex Ferguson, to criticise the Spaniard's lack of respect. [LNB]'Blackburn's performance at Anfield last weekend was the best any of my teams have played there,' said Allardyce. 'Benitez knows his team played poorly and were lucky to get a win, so he deflected any criticism by personally criticising me. [LNB]'That covered the true facts that we had better opportunities than them and came extremely close to beating what is supposed to be an outstanding Liverpool team. [LNB]'Being able to wind up a manager is satisfying, even if it doesn't quite work your way in terms of results.' [LNB]Allardyce believes the seeds of their feud were sown when, as manager of Bolton, his team were the first to beat Liverpool after Benitez took over.[LNB] 'He hasn't forgotten it,' he added. 'Kevin Davies had a collision with Sami Hyypia during the game and the defender had to go off with a broken nose and we won 1-0. [LNB]'He couldn't take it and to try to justify the defeat he had a go at the way we played. It was just a tag that went along with the scenario of us being able to beat the so-called big clubs.[LNB] 'He didn't even have the courtesy to shake my hand after the game. He walked straight down the tunnel. [LNB] Feud: Benitez hit out at Allardyce after last week's feisty 2-1 win over Blackburn[LNB]'It just galls him that we make things difficult for him when he plays against my teams.[LNB] 'There's no love lost between us. The truth is Liverpool are having to dig results out when they are not playing well. [LNB]'They didn't particularly earn the win last week but they dug it out. My reputation has been a perception for some time rather than a reality. It's a great shame for the Blackburn players because it's not their fault the manager is tagged by so-called long-ball style. It's just not factual.[LNB] 'I have played it and it got us very good results, particularly against teams like Arsenal. We get up and at 'em and destroy what they're good at. [LNB]'The manager gets upset because he feels his team shouldn't be losing against the likes of Bolton although, in the end, we were a top-eight side and better for five years. [LNB] 'When I left them they were fifth in the league with two games to go - Bolton Wanderers, having qualified for Europe for the second successive year. [LNB]'That wasn't playing long balls - not with JJ Okocha, Nicolas Anelka, El-Hadji Diouf, Ivan Campo and Fernando Hierro in the team. But, using some of the styles we played against Arsenal and Liverpool, we were able to shut the opposition down. [LNB]'When I came to Blackburn we had to dig ourselves out of a crater - we were bottom of the pit. There's only one way to do that and that is to fight your way out. [LNB]'There have been 10 or 11 players out and the same number in. We have a lot of up-and-coming young footballers with a lot of talent and that is an astonishing transformation in just over a year. [LNB]'You lose players who have just got too old, on top of selling £33m worth of players this season, like Roque Santa Cruz, Stephen Warnock, Matt Derbyshire and Benni McCarthy. Picking up £2m for a 32-year-old is not bad business at any time. [LNB]'To get to where we are has been great and the football we play is not like certain people make out.' [LNB] I'll quit Liverpool if I have to! Carragher admits Anfield exit could be on cardsBenitez expects uncertain Mascherano and Reina to sign new Liverpool dealsLIVERPOOL FC
