Source: Telegraph
Rafael BenÃtez searching for seasonturning moment for Liverpool
Where others see looming disaster, Rafael Benítez sees opportunity. Every week seems fraught with meaning for Liverpool these days but the next two games could well redefine their season. [LNB]Having lost five games already this season with Saturday's insipid surrender to Sunderland, the Liverpool manager knows he needs to put his side back on to the front foot, to regain the momentum they built up in the second half of last season. [LNB] Related ArticlesSunderland 1 Liverpool 0Liverpool with serious injury concernsBenitez needs to accentuate the positiveGerrard and Torres setback for LiverpoolJamie Carragher: I am not past itSport on televisionBeating Lyon and Manchester United at Anfield is their opportunity to do that, to make Liverpool a side to be feared again and dissipate the sense of impending crisis. This is not a club that accepts losing three games on the spin. [LNB]'People are saying 'If we lose...' but if we win what happens?' Benítez said. 'We have confidence that we will win and things can change in a positive way. We have enough quality in the squad, enough quality and experience so it's a question of approaching every game thinking that this is the game we have to win, and then it will be easy. You win one and then you have more confidence.' [LNB]In United's case, Benítez hopes that the 4-1 mauling his team gave United at Old Trafford back in March is still playing on their minds. 'To play against Liverpool isn't easy for anyone,' Benítez said. [LNB]'You can lose, you can draw but I'm sure that always any club or team in the world would think that Liverpool is difficult to beat. We were doing really well [before that game at Old Trafford] so it will be positive for the future because we know that we can beat anyone home and away.' [LNB]It hasn't looked that way this season. With the issues surrounding the club's ownership rumbling on in the background, things have been creaking on the field. [LNB]Jamie Carragher is battling the yips (he again looked uncomfortable against Sunderland yesterday), Steven Gerrard has lost form and is trying too hard to regain it and the squad has been exposed as shallow especially when it comes to strikers. [LNB]It is European football, his favoured milieu, that Benítez hopes to use as platform on which to rebuild the season, starting with Lyon on Tuesday. With both Gerrard and Fernando Torres expected back after injuries on international duty, the timing could not be better. [LNB] "I think that Torres and Gerrard will be available,' he said. 'If they are available against Lyon, I don't see any problems against United because they will have four or five days. Our priority is Lyon because hopefully we'll have players coming back from injury so we'll have different players, different options.' [LNB]'Lyon are a good team and they have experience in the Champions League because they have won the league a lot of years in a row so they have experience of the group stage. They have good players, they play with quality, they play on the counter-attack, with good attacking football. I know the manager, Claude Puel. [LNB] "I was in Paris last week and he was on Canal Plus with me. I was talking with some friends of mine in France and they were saying a lot of good things about him as well. He's a good manager, with good players and good experience.' [LNB]Benitez's affection for Puel might well be rooted in their mutual dislike of Sir Alex Ferguson. While Benitez's antipathy for the Manchester United manager is well known, you might not recall that Puel fell out with Ferguson two years ago, accusing him of his 'usual tricks' when his Lille side lost to United in the Champions League. Any good feeling will not extend into Tuesday evening though. [LNB]Having lost to Fiorentina in Florence in their last match, Liverpool know they must exploit their fans' famed passion for European nights make their home games count. [LNB]'In the last five years we were in Europe and we have had difficult moments and difficult games but we've shown character so we have to have confidence that we'll play well and we will win. I think our fans know that the Champions League is a special competition. [LNB] "For us the last years have been amazing so the atmosphere in Champions League games is always very good for our team but especially when we are under pressure. When we need the fans behind us, they know they have to support. They are the best in the world.' [LNB]While they may have lost France striker Karim Benzema to Real Madrid in the summer, Benítez is quick to point out that they have used the 41 million euros they received to rebuild their attack. [LNB]'Bafetimbi Gomis [13 million euros from Saint Etienne] is doing well and so is Lisandro Lopez [30 million euros from Porto],' Benítez said. 'So I think they have enough quality and a good manager so they know what they're doing. [LNB] "They've spent some money but the value of the player doesn't matter when you play the game. It's just the quality of the players and they're well organised and the manager knows what to do." [LNB]The issue of money, and the reinvestment of transfer fees is a sensitive one with Benítez. He has been muzzled by the owners after being a little to forthright in expressing his views in the past. [LNB] "After coming out of the summer with a net transfer surplus he is privately exasperated at the lack of funds he receives to compete with his rivals. His major signing, Alberto Aquilani is training and could be on the bench for the United game. After that, Benítez must hope Liverpool's critics will be judging the club's chances of winning a major trophy in a different light. [LNB]
