We must be better at the back, says Benítez
Dominic Fifield
Tuesday August 24, 2004
The Guardian
Some managers are never satisfied. Rafael Benítez's new side may be unbeaten in the Premiership and virtually through to the Champions League proper but for him there remains considerable scope for improvement.
The Austrians of Grazer AK are likely to feel the brunt of that desire for perfection this evening as Liverpool, comfortable 2-0 victors in the first leg, aim to reach the lucrative group stage. Progress would generate more funds for Benítez to spend in the winter transfer window, though for the moment a new mentality rather than new personnel occupies the Spaniard's mind.
"Anfield needs to see the best teams in this competition but the money is also very important for the club," said Benítez, who may play some of his younger players tonight. "Whether we look to strengthen or not is down to the players. If they play well, we may not need anything.
"I'm happy with the team but we need to improve our level. I like my teams to control situations all the time but sometimes we've been in trouble. We have to work harder because sometimes we have opportunities in attack but problems in defence. If you control the situation, those defensive problems can be cancelled out. It's not just about the defenders, it's about the mentality of the team.
"We have to have more confidence in ourselves. We can play better and we will. We have to stop teams in the build-up well short of our box. When I arrived at Valencia we were very powerful in defence but had problems in attack. Here they don't have a big defensive mentality. We have to find a balance. We can always improve more in defence because defensive work is down to time, whereas with attackers it can come down to talent."
Milan Baros may be rested tonight with Florent Sinama-Pongolle given his first start this season.
Liverpool (4-4-2; probable): Dudek; Finnan, Hyypia, Carragher, Riise; Kewell, Gerrard, Biscan, Warnock; Sinama-Pongolle, Cissé.
Grazer AK (4-4-2; probable): Schranz; Standfest, Tokic, Ehmann, Dollinger; Ramusch, Aufhauser, Muratovic, Amerhauser; Kollmann, Skoro.
Referee: L Medina Cantalejo (Spain).
