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| NEWS STORY |
RAFA ON VILLA, AGGER AND BABEL
Serafino Ingardia
19 January 2008
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Rafael Benitez takes five minutes to talk to Liverpoolfc.tv ahead of our Premier League clash against Aston Villa at Anfield on Monday.
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Rafa this is probably your toughest season at Liverpool, don't you think?
It has been different, but we always try to do our best and the best for the club at the moment is to prepare for the game against Aston Villa and win it.
Do you think the players know how to handle this difficult situation?
They showed character and quality against Luton. Things that have been said off the pitch do affect them, but they are professional and they must be ready for every game. If you want to change things and make people talking just about football then you have to score and win. The players know that in football everything can change, but the most important thing is to win and to be concentrate.
Do you think Aston Villa have got a chance to be in the top four?
They are close as well as Everton and Manchester City. We know that, and we will try to win also because we have a game on hand. We want to be in the top four and as high as possible in the table.
Villa are a threat from set-pieces, how are you planning to stop them?
Our record in set-pieces is good. I think we are the best in the Premier League. We will try and do the same against them, maybe adding one or two details.
What do you make of Martin O’Neill?
He is a great manager and a man of experience. That is why it will be difficult against them.
By the time Liverpool play Aston Villa, you could be 15 points behind the league leaders. How much pressure does that put upon you?
We know that the only way to change things is to keep winning. Expectations were high at the beginning of the season, but we are not thinking about that. For winning the title you need around 85 points this year, and the record of our team is 82. Sometimes if you want to win the title you have to be perfect, but we cannot look at the table every week because we could lose confidence. It is important to try and win week by week.
How are you hoping to reduce the gap between you and the others?
We have two important competitions and the key now is to think only about the next two, three games in the league and not look at the top teams. We will play against Chelsea, Manchester and Arsenal away, so we will have a chance to reduce the gap. Normally our performances against these teams away are not great so we need to change it. Aston Villa is the next game, we need three points and then we will look forward.
How is Daniel Agger recovering?
Daniel was ready to come back, but then during training he felt something so he had to stop again. It was disappointing, but it is not serious. Now he needs again to find out what happened. I think it was really bad luck.
Ryan Babel has been impressing recently, are you considering to play him up-front with Torres?
He prefers to play as a striker but we have four very good strikers. Ryan is Dutch and like Bergkamp and Van Persie he will need one or two years to settle down. He will need time and we have time to support him. In the future he could be a striker, but at the moment we need him to play on the left side.
You can listen to the Aston Villa game live on Liverpoolfc.tv. Click here to sign up for an e-Season Ticket>>
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