Benitez blasts back at critics

iverpool boss Rafael Benitez has rounded on critics who "don't have a clue" about last week's controversial substitution of Fernando Torres. Benitez made the surprising decision to take off his top scorer with 25 minutes remaining at Birmingham on Sunday while the score was locked at 1-1.That proved the final score and left Liverpool's hopes of fulfilling Benitez's "guarantee" of a top-four finish in the Premier League looking increasingly unlikely.But with the striker troubled by a knee complaint and weary after a draining European tie at Benfica, Benitez is adamant he made the right decision, despite the result."I have been listening to many things," Benitez said. "People don't have a clue when they talk about the substitution or that he cannot be tired."Some people say he cannot be tired because he didn't play too many games. That doesn't matter."We played 60 minutes with 10 men against a very good Benfica team and we had to work very hard."We had (Javier) Mascherano, (Daniel) Agger and Torres really tired and you have to manage them."We wanted to start with Torres because he can make the difference but as soon as we could see he was not making the difference, we needed fresh legs."David Ngog made the difference - we then had six chances in 30 minutes."We can talk about Torres being there or not but Ngog created chances. With Torres we didn't have those chances."The manager, staff and physios working with players have a better idea because they know how he feels and what he has said."Torres put his St Andrew's frustration behind him to score twice in Thursday's stunning 4-1 win in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Benfica.Liverpool can now look forward to a semi-final against Atletico Madrid later this month in which victory could set up a clash against Fulham, visitors to Anfield in the league on Sunday.Fulham secured their place in the last four by beating Wolfsburg and will now play Hamburg for a place in the final.After such an exhilarating week for both clubs, Benitez admits there could be a slight drop in intensity on Sunday but he needs his Reds to carry over the momentum to keep their top-five bid alive.Benitez said: "It will be an interesting game but we can play with confidence."You always expect after a great win to see the team playing better and scoring goals."The Premier League is different but still we will have confidence and you could see some players playing really well."Hopefully they can play at the same level and we can score more goals."Aside from the ever-dangerous Torres, another player to catch the eye on Thursday was the often-derided midfielder Lucas.The Brazilian delivered one of his best displays for the club and, as well as scoring the second goal, played a key role in the fourth.That earned up a thumbs up signal from Benitez as the players celebrated.The manager hopes 23-year-old Lucas will now start to earn some recognition from a wider audience, particularly the armchair supporters who often call phone-ins.Benitez said: "It was a great tackle and he was doing really well."When you have a player who has worked so hard, playing well and scoring goals - I was really pleased for him."I think the fans in the stadium can see Lucas running and working hard. They know he is doing a great job."Some people maybe watching on TV, comfortable on their sofas, just pick up the phone and criticise."We are not talking about a player like (Steven) Gerrard or Torres but we are playing an important player for the team."Torres is expected to be fit to face Fulham despite more ice treatment on his knee after Benfica and Daniel Agger may continue at left-back in the absence of Emiliano Insua and Fabio Aurelio.

Source: Team_Talk