Fuente: © Liverpool F.C.
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/

LIVERPOOL FC: RAFA ON BOLTON, MASCHERANO AND GERRARD

Rafa Benitez takes five minutes out of his pre-match preparations to chat to Liverpoolfc.tv ahead of Sunday's Premier League clash at Bolton.

/noticias.info/ Rafa you travel to the Reebok on Sunday, a ground where you've had a few problems over the years...

Yes, we have some experience at that stadium but I think the last game we played there the team was playing well. We conceded a goal and everyone saw how (with Pepe Reina adjudged to have handled outside the box) but I think the team was playing well and we have experience now, we have confidence. The team is training well; we played well in the last game so we can go there with confidence.

Since last season they've obviously changed managers. Sammy Lee was there and now Gary Megson is in charge, but in terms of overall style is it a different Bolton?

I think that now they play tighter, more physical. They try to do the same things that they were doing before and we know it will be like this so we will try to keep the ball, try to pass the ball and see if we can manage.

Where will Bolton be most dangerous?

They are a physical team that play direct. Normally they play with a target man, (Kevin) Davies, and they try to support him. We know it could be like this but we will try to control and keep the ball if we can.

Given the rivalry between yourselves and Everton for fourth spot, you just have too keep on winning now, don't you?

Every game now will be a key game because we have one game in hand and we need to win the other games if we want to take advantage of that. So, every game will be important. It's so tight that you will maybe need to win every game until the last one.

Steven Gerrard has spoken of his frustration this week - what is your relationship like with him?

It's really good. I was talking with him this morning and I was reading the interview and the quotes in the press but I think it was very clear; everybody can share the same idea. We are disappointed with our position in the table, we want to improve this position and the only thing we need to do now is to be focused on the games we have and progress in the Champions League. He was telling me that the most important trophy that he has ever won is the Champions League, so he knows that the competition is amazing and he knows that to win the Champions League, or to win the Champions League and finish fourth, would be fantastic.

Is he disappointed with the manner that the interview was reported?

I think now we are in a position where everything that you can say someone can take part of the answer, or part of the question, and change things, so in this moment Steve knows that he has my support. I know that his commitment with the team is 100 per cent and he's really, really happy. He's thinking about how to win the Champions League and how to win against Bolton.

What's he doing to help you motivate the team to do well for the rest of the year?

I think that the team knows how important it is to finish in the top four. We are professionals and a lot of players here know how important it is for this club to be in Europe and also know what it means to be in the Champions League. The best memory I have in my career as a manager is Istanbul. They know what that means and they will try to be in Moscow.

We've read this week that you don't plan to rotate as much - is it difficult to keep those players who are not involved happy?

To change or rotate players depends on if you win or lose. If you win you change players, if you lose you rotate players. You can see the team selection of other managers and they change players or they rotate, it depends on the result. But anyway, the idea is that when you don't have too many games in a period, and now we have four, you don't need to change too many players. If the players are playing well, you normally try to keep the same team. I am not thinking, 'Oh, I need to change seven players.' We analyse everything, we try to change the players that we need to change and in this case if we do not need to change, we won't. But some players might be injured; some players have problems, so we can see the squad every week and decide.

We're led to believe that Harry Kewell has seen you about how he can improve his chances of getting into the team and staying with the club, you've recommended training with the reserves at first, is that right?

I did not recommend for him to train with the reserve team, he is training with us every day. The idea with Xabi Alonso, (Martin) Skrtel and Daniel Agger was that they would play part, or all, of the game (against Manchester United Reserves) because it would be good for their match fitness, which they need.

Javier Mascherano - how big a signing and how important a player is he going to be for Liverpool?

He is a key player for us. He can give balance to the midfield. If you want to see Gerrard getting into the box, it is important to have a player like Mascherano - and also with his quality. The different qualities of Xabi Alonso, Gerrard or Lucas Leiva mean we have four options in the middle and that is really good for us.

You were saying this week that a lot of clubs were interested in Lucas...

We were monitoring Lucas for a while, so in the end it was good business by the scout department. We had two or three people watching him. He is the captain of the under-20 national team from Brazil, so he's a player with experience and now has two caps with the senior team. We knew he was a good player and we know with these players they must play in Europe. After that, everybody notices them.

How crucial is Daniel Agger's return to fitness?

I think he's been a big miss, especially when you talk about games at home. Some games you might be drawing but you know if you have Daniel he can play the ball from the back, so we have been missing him. It will be very important for us if he can be fit early and he can play.

So will it be an ideal time for him to come back now for the run-in to the end of the season?

Yes, it will be very important for us but we need to take care of him and need to go slowly because we had problems with Xabi Alonso (who aggravated an injury when returning early to face Arsenal) and he will need time. He is progressing with reserve team games but he will need time.

A tournament in memory of Rhys Jones is going to involve both Liverpool and Everton, with the Academy taking part. It's nice how the two sides joined together over what happened, isn't it?

Yes, it's a positive thing if we can show our commitment to that cause.

He was an Evertonian himself but it struck a chord with all parents, didn't it?

Yes, all of us who are parents and have children will think this is very positive. notas_de_prensa_archivo