“I’m not having a battle of words with Alex Ferguson,” said Benitez, “but I believe that he can see that we are the better side, and that we are very close to United.
“He has been accustomed to playing these types of mind games for many years.
“Nobody has ever said anything against him, or stood up to him, as he has a very good team that can win trophies.
“It seems like he has a licence to do these sorts of things.
“I try not to talk too much. But all I do when I speak is to defend my own team.
“I did not say that he seems frightened. But I said that he looks nervous, as he can see that we are very close to his team.”
The thing I find ridiculous about this is not so much the first bit, the "we're the better team", "everyone thinks they have the prettiest wife at home", as someone once said, it's the second bit, the no one has stood up to him before rubbish. He seems to want to portray himself as the defender of the weak (which, to be fair, as Liverpool manager, he is), fighting the big bully Sir Alex, while all around him other managers cower. It is pretty arrogant, and fairly insulting to every other past and present Premier League manager. Arsene's never had words with Sir Alex has he? Jose, he really was quiet when it came to expressing himself wasn't he? Benitez, it must be said, is a seriously deluded man.
Liverpool are, it is reported, keen on signing Tevez, which The Times state is a "bold move", not exactly sure what's so bold about it...
Rafael Benítez is preparing to antagonise Sir Alex Ferguson once more with an audacious bid to sign Carlos Tévez.
The Argentina forward is increasingly resigned to leaving Manchester United at the end of the season, with Real Madrid his most likely destination. Benítez has signalled Liverpool’s willingness to join Chelsea, Manchester City and Inter Milan in the mêlée for his signature.
The Times has an alternative voice on the Tevez/Berbatov thing, courtesy of Oliver Kay, who argues that actually, Tevez might not be that good:
Cut through the emotion and the case for keeping Tévez is far from overwhelming. In 24 Premier League appearances this season, two thirds of them in the starting line-up, he has scored only three goals. Two of those goals, a well-taken opener away to Liverpool in September and the late winner away to Stoke City on Boxing Day, were set up by Berbatov. The debate is far from clear-cut, but it is approaching a resolution. And it will not be the one that pleases the Berba-sceptics among United’s support.I saw something on Sky Sports News that argued much the same thing, but used a range of stats to demonstrate that Berbatov was better than Tevez, none of which I remember now. The one that counts I've just worked out myself: In the Premier League Tevez gets one goal every 536 minutes (3 in 1607 minutes on the pitch), compared to Berbatov who has one goal for every 276 minutes (8 in 2208) (for comparison Ronaldo is on 1 every 163, Rooney 1 every 189, Tevez is in the same region as Fletcher (580 minutes), and Carrick (598) info taken from here). Throw in Berbatov's assists and there's not a lot of comparison. The problem is that this is seen as an either or thing at all. Isn't Tevez's problem that he's a very similar player to Rooney, not that Berbatov keeps him out of the team. Anyway, Carrick has a few words to say on the matter, saying nice things about them both; on Tevez:
“We want him to stay, Carlos is a top player. He has scored some very important goals for us over the last few years.
“We’ve got a world-class squad, we’ve got world- class players and Carlos is one of them.
“We want to keep moving forward as a team and as a squad so we’d like to keep our best players here.
“But it’s down to the manager. I’m sure he knows the best way to make sure we do keep progressing.”
And on Berbatov:
“Berba has been terrific this season.
“He’s added a new dimension to our game.
“Against Inter at the San Siro I felt he showed his quality, he was world class that night.
“He’s just got that ability that can open up defences. It’s great to have that to tap into.
“He can open up defences and score goals.
“He’s a vital player for us and I think he’ll show that in these important games we’ve got coming up.
“There’s no doubt he’ll come good. Some of the things that have been said about him have been a bit harsh.
“I think people get a bit carried away with certain aspects or performances but over the season he’s been top drawer.
“And Berba is only going to get better the longer he stays at United.”
Hopefully Berbatov will play on Saturday, score a couple (including one well struck penalty...) and lay one on a plate for Tevez to score from, and then we can forget all the rubbish of the last few days.
Elsewhere, Sir Alex says he'll continuing rotating the squad, which seems so obvious I'm not sure why it deserves it's story in several papers, here, from The Telegraph:
This is the time I love the best. Non-stop football, with every match now of immense significance, and the challenge of competing on a couple of fronts.
"But I will be deploying the full range of our resources as I seek to give the players the energy you need at this level. It's what I did when we won the Treble, resting players and bringing others in as I tried to pick teams fizzing for the fray.
"Life at the top of the English game is fierce and relentless. The pace and intensity takes a toll, especially with so many fixtures coming so quickly on the last lap for trophies.
"You have to be up for every game or you can get punished, so I will juggle the squad in the hope that we can progress in both the Premier League and Champions League. We have a quality squad which is rich in terms of both ability and numbers, and I intend to make full use of it."
“Scholesy’s been the best midfielder of his generation in the Premiership although he’s in a different role these days.
“He doesn’t go box to box, – he sits in there and orchestrates the play and controls the game.
“He’s great to play alongside because if ever you’re in a bit of trouble, he’s always making an angle and he’s free to take the ball.
“He’s a great player and a great professional. He doesn’t like the limelight or accolades or anything like that. He kind of gets embarrassed about it but he has been a great servant to the club.
“And Ryan Giggs was fantastic again. Left wing, right wing, dropping off into the hole playing forward passes... he’s been one of the best players, if not the best player, and with the PFA awards coming up, I think he’s the favourite.”
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