BENITEZ HIT IN THE GHOULIES
Halloween horror as Liverpool hit rock bottom
RAFA BENITEZ was hit in the ghoulies as Liverpool's season hit rock bottom.
The Reds ended with NINE players in the humiliating 3-1 defeat after Swiss defender Philipp Degan and stand-in captain Jamie Carragher were both sent off.
It was Liverpool's SIXTH defeat in seven games and to make matters even worse, Kop superstars Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are both crocked.
First it was the beachball, now Benitez has been plagued by a dose of Halloween horrors from his red-shirted pumpkins.
Benitez looked utterly stunned as he reflected on yet another defeat which looks to have finally have blown Liverpool's title hopes.
"The situation at the moment is not helped by the fact that we have got more and more injuries," he said.
"I am now without eight or nine of my first team players."
The most significant absentee is Liverpool skipper Gerrard.
Benitez will find out in the week if he needs an operation on a groin injury. That would be a massive blow to Benitez as he battles not only to save Liverpool's season but also save himself from the sack.
Should Liverpool lose Wednesday's Champions League group game in Lyon then their European campaign would appear doomed.
Asked whether Benitez now felt under greater pressure than at any time during his five-year reign, the Spaniard responded: "People were asking me all that a couple of weeks ago ahead of our match against Manchester United.
"We then go and win that game, get three points and everybody starts talking in different terms again.
"That's how quickly things can turn around in football. And that's how we must look at things. We must remain positive.
"We have confidence we can do it but we have to take our chances and not make mistakes like today. You have to be calm and keep working hard and find solutions. We have to be realistic. We have to get three points in the League in the next game against Birmingham.
"It's always a huge blow and disappointment when you lose any game."
Benitez admitted he took off star striker Fernando Torres in the 63rd minute as a precaution because the player is carrying an injury.
"We decided to play Torres against Manchester United (last Sunday) and it was a difficult decision because he was not 100 per cent fit," said Benitez.
"He needed four days to be ready and is still not 100 per cent fit. We decided to put him on the pitch but we had to protect him and that's why we took him out after 60 minutes.
"I don't want to lose an important player like Fernando for one month."
But Benitez was fuming over the two red cards.
Liverpool ended the match with just nine men after left-back Degen had been sent off in 78th minute for the rash lunge on Dempsey.
And four minutes later referee Lee Mason brandished a red card at Carragher after he appeared to haul down Zamora when the striker seemed clear through on goal.
Benitez insists he will appeal against both dismissals.
Degen faces a three-match ban for violent conduct although Carragher would escape with just a one-match suspension because his red card was for a last man offence.
Benitez complained: "I didn't think either were sendings off. The first one, it was a bit rash to go in like that but it was no more than a yellow card.
"As for Carra's sending off, it simply wasn't, as far as I'm concerned. He managed to get his foot to the ball and even Zamora admitted that.
"They were two incidents in a few minutes when we were losing and they were difficult to take.
"The first one was a yellow card. The second one you can clearly see that Carragher was kicking the ball."
Bobby Zamora put Fulham ahead and equalised in a first-half in which Liverpool dominated possession.
But when Erik Nevland put Fulham ahead for the second time and Torres had been substituted there was only one winner, Clint Dempsey scoring a late clincher for the home side.
Benitez added: "It's hard to take the defeat, especially when we were in control of the game. The first half was one-sided. We made one error and we conceded a goal.
"The second half they were more offensive and we made a massive mistake when we conceded the second goal. We worked hard with nine players but it was very difficult."
Jubilant Fulham boss Roy Hodgson saw his side extend their unbeaten run to six matches.
He said: "Sometimes our performances, or the thrill of them, have been spoiled by last-minute goals but in this one we got our noses in front and kept them there. Every time you take a scalp the size of Liverpool's you have got to be very happy.
"We have a habit of playing just one good half - we did against Roma and Manchester City - but fortunately today it led to a victory rather than a draw.
"The changes were forced upon us by injuries to Damien Duff and Diomansy Kamara.
"I am really pleased with the lads who came on. They did a fantastic job.
"We closed them down better, got around the ball better and passed the ball better. We created quite a few chances on top of the three goals.
"I don't think people will begrudge us the victory because we were worth it over the 90 minutes."
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This article has 45 comments
leave rafa alone.many players have past their time and the club is in mess with huge debt.Where is the money to hire Jose and the ready made players he will sign, then liverpool will be declared bankrupt.My advise is for liverpool is to start afresh and be patient with rafa.let the directors and rafa learn from arsene wenger how to manage resources and plan for the future instead of immediate beneft.This is the secret why i will remain GONERR 4 LIFE AND IN ARSENE WE BELEIVE.
By lekan. Posted November 2 2009 at 7:56 PM.
yes i am a big liverpool fan and allways will be win or not it allways got to me when the others use to say we only sing when were wining but now i see that they are so right so stop all the crying you big babys so all you so called fans who are saying rafa as to go you go coues we dont need part timers that only sing when there winning steve
By stephen osbaldeston. Posted November 2 2009 at 2:13 AM.
yes i am a big liverpool fan and allways will be win or not it allways got to me when the others use to say we only sing when were wining but now i see that they are so right so stop all the crying you big babys so all you so called fans who are saying rafa as to go you go coues we dont need part timers that only sing when there winning steve
By stephen osbaldeston. Posted November 2 2009 at 2:14 AM.
yes i am a big liverpool fan and allways will be win or not it allways got to me when the others use to say we only sing when were wining but now i see that they are so right so stop all the crying you big babys so all you so called fans who are saying rafa as to go you go coues we dont need part timers that only sing when there winning steve
By stephen osbaldeston. Posted November 2 2009 at 2:10 AM.
liverpool fans...........stop worrying.........manure fans learns to spell .................
By Ron. Posted November 1 2009 at 11:15 PM.
Out of the Champions League this week, out of the top four so no CL next year, a debt larger than a small country, foreign owners with no allegiance to the city or the club, a manager that should be wearing a coat that does up at the back and the two players that the club depend on injured. But apart from that things are looking good maybe it’s Liverpool’s year after all or maybe they wil be playing Leeds in a season or two.
By John Quinlan. Posted November 1 2009 at 6:37 PM.
please get rid of rafa it enorgh.
By geogie. Posted November 1 2009 at 2:45 PM.
We must sack Rafa Benitez, right now. He has lost the plot, how many seasons did he play with Stevie Gerrad on the right wing, he bought Robbie Keane, put him on the left wing. Robbie lost his confidence, could not score. Then he played him up front, he scores so what does Rafa do , drop him for the next game. Crazy he has just got his confidence and then he is dropped. He then wants Gareth Barry, so he tries to sell Alonso , can't sell him so he stays. He now knows he is not wanted at the club, so next season he leaves. What does the manager Benitez do, does not get Barry who he wanted and so we loss Barry and Alonso. We would of won the league last season but Rafa lost the plot with Fergie, why why get involved. There is only one man for the job Jose Mourinho, he will win as the league, lets get him now before he goes to Man Utd. Ok some people might not like him. I think he is very clever, he does what he does to take the heat of his players. Everyone talks about him while his players can get on with the game.SACK RAFA NOW GET JOSE MOURINHO. I would sack Rafa just now and put King Kenny as caretaker Manger until we get Jose.
By Richard. Posted November 1 2009 at 2:19 PM.
let's face the facts ..Liverpool are out of the title race..out of the champions league..and Rafa's head is for the chopping block..United,Chelsea and Arsenal are way ahead...even Man City look better placed to finish 4th!
By busbybabe. Posted November 1 2009 at 1:45 PM.
little mike
Lokks like we have done one already...ye moaner!!!
By Yashin. Posted November 1 2009 at 1:18 PM.
i'm sick of all of ye moaners, either get behind yer team or shut yer mouths. and all you mancs and chelsea fans........... do one!
By little mike. Posted November 1 2009 at 12:53 PM.
Rafa must stay, Rafa must stay, Rafa must stay! lol
By Shay. Posted November 1 2009 at 1:00 PM.
Lets face it lads theres now way on this planet we are going to finish in the top 6, its over, the only way out of this mess is to get shut of Raffa and the yanks and keep purslow, if not then i can assure you that messers gerrard torres masc aquilano will be off, besides the new contract sigerd yesterday by masc was merely to increase the fee for when he goes in january
By john foster. Posted November 1 2009 at 12:41 PM.
Get Mourinho in quick before the scum beat you to it.....
Then it will surely be the end of days for ManU....
Top 4 next season Chelsea Arsenal Man City Liverpool.............(Man U) depending on where Mourinho goes???hope he doesnt end up at Real as then we are done for in ECL.......
By Yashin. Posted November 1 2009 at 12:13 PM.
Unfortunately all you did last week was to show just how poor Man U are....2 clubs on the decline and I would not be surprised if both struggle for top 4 this season if oter clubs discard the fear factor against Man U....................
Big changes to the top 4 over the next 2 years however no problem for Chelsea and Arsenal...
I wonder if Gerrard will be so faithful come the end of the season...off to Madrid with Torres one thinks?.................
By Yashin. Posted November 1 2009 at 11:47 AM.
totally fed up talking about the whole thing, until rafa goes its going to be more of the same, the mans a joke, his decisions are bewildering and everyone knows it, why are the fans still singing rafa benitez, theres support then theres stupidity, its a joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! time for a change and its going to have to happen soon, for the 1st time in a long time im dreading wed nite, shouldnt be the case supporting one of the biggest and best clubs in the world.
By gareth. Posted November 1 2009 at 11:15 AM.
Im no liverpool fan but rafa looked ill after that rout
By phill m. Posted November 1 2009 at 11:10 AM.
In Rafa we trust,heheheheheheeeeeeeeeee
By spirit of shankley. Posted November 1 2009 at 11:12 AM.
no manager has ever won EPL with a moustache...go and shave ur goatee Rafa
By deola. Posted November 1 2009 at 10:59 AM.
Rafa is clueless and has made some terrible transfers since he joined Liverpool. Fact is he has spent more than Man Utd but he still cannot compete with them or Chelsea and Arsenal. His team are totally reliant on Torres and Stevie GBH and have absolutely no strength in depth. This is all his fault and it's great to see the deluded scousers suffering. YNWA - You'll Never Win Anything!
By Af. Posted November 1 2009 at 10:55 AM.
no manager has ever won EPL with a moustache...go and shave ur goatee Rafa
By deola. Posted November 1 2009 at 10:53 AM.
Paul...it's scum like you that belong in the gutter
By Jonathan. Posted November 1 2009 at 10:50 AM.
we carnt blame the ref for this defeat,carra should have gone against the mancs, but thats the way things go,the ref nearly always favours the home team when a big decision needs taking..yesterdays team and the subs just show were raffas priorties lie,bad decicions made all day
By roy. Posted November 1 2009 at 10:44 AM.
Its time to pull together not make wholesale changes. Rafa has had his hands thee in the transfer market thats why we still have Vronin. The talk will change when Aqulani is playing, Gerrard is back, Riera fit, Johnson back. Rafa may sell the Monster and keep Lucas to fund buying David Villa. Rafa has got to keep his eye on the CL thats why any game yesterday would be difficult as we have made a bad start in the CL. In Rafa we trust !
By JugglaMan. Posted November 1 2009 at 10:38 AM.
Maybe next year hey? Seams to be that every year, we'll still finish 4th aston villa and tottenham are no way in a million years good enough to finish there, arsenal to win it, man utd 2nd chelsea 3rd chelseas away form will kill them this year!!
By jason. Posted November 1 2009 at 10:24 AM.
i hate all these fickle fans torres is coming back from an injury so he had to take him off no use losing him for amonth by pushing it rafa knows the title gone this year like it or not its the truth so wednesdays game is the priority when we win it 6 times in madrid all will be forgiven
By steve. Posted November 1 2009 at 10:23 AM.
Look at all the Man u fans coming on here and giving all that they have got.
I did not see any man u fans after your defeat last week (Maybe all hiding under a rock).
Lets face it that you wont win the league either because without your one man show of Ronaldo you dont look half as good.
By Matt. Posted November 1 2009 at 10:20 AM.
I think that ref should get all the United vs Liverpool games ......then we'd have a level playing field. Carragher woul have been sent off and had a penalty conceded last week and United would have won!!!
By ROBERT POVERELLO. Posted November 1 2009 at 10:08 AM.
Torres is the only great player liverpool have.Stevie G is past his best Carragher would not get in united or chealsea's first team as for babel and lucas they would be lucky to play every saturday for Hull !!!!
By jersey bean boy. Posted November 1 2009 at 10:01 AM.
1. Rafa has never been given any decent money to spend by the yanks apart from year one - when he forced their hand and got Torres
2. Too much pressure on him to balance the books before he buys therefore 2nd rate players come in
3. Full Alonso funds should have been used to buy Fabregas - think Wenger last summer would have taken it
4. Asked who he would transfer in - money no problems and he'd bring in the likes of Aguero, Villa to support Torres and a couple of decent midfielders
By fastjohnny. Posted November 1 2009 at 9:35 AM.
The Liverpool legend Ronnie Whelan was on Irish TV last night, he's a pundit on our version of MOTD. He said that even if Fat Rafa wins a trophy he will be sacked and will never work in Europe again. He has dragged this mob into the gutter where they belong, as far as Im concerned. Carragher and Gerrard are finished at Liverpool, they will never win the PL with this mob. If Chelsea come calling again Stevie Me wont think twice this time, he will jump the sinking ship., and more luck to im.
By Paul. Posted November 1 2009 at 8:59 AM.
Rafa has to go,I feel sorry for him,but he should have some decency and feel sorry for the largest supporters in the world.He made me feel shy to say I'm a Liverpool supporter .To be fair he is very unlucky to have all these injuries, but most of the games he was the most injured one, playing his silly tactics
By Alfred Cassar (Malta). Posted November 1 2009 at 7:58 AM.
Fulham were the better team, why can't they accept that. It would be nice to read how Fulham won a game not how the other tweam lost it
By David Morris. Posted November 1 2009 at 7:54 AM.
Kiang from malacca,
we dont have such a big money to hired mourinho
n if we hired mourinho, we dont have money to sign big player as mourinho will ask for it
By yus. Posted November 1 2009 at 7:52 AM.
Liverpool on their way to mid table mediocrity.
I just luv it!
By Chris. Posted November 1 2009 at 7:34 AM.
The ONLY way to win the premier League is to bring in Jose Mourinho. I can't believe nobody in Liverpool FC see that.
Dont get me wrong, it's not that I dont love rafa, it's just that i love the club more.
Regards,
Kiang
Malacca, Malaysia.
By kiang jau sang. Posted November 1 2009 at 7:12 AM.
sorry rafa, that enough! fans are now having to monitor their high blood pressure weekly. shave off the goatee and not only is there a physical resemblence to Manuel of Fawlty Towers, but also mental one "i from barcelona, i know nothing" that sums up your tactics/substitutions yesterday
By Chui Wa Mangi. Posted November 1 2009 at 6:32 AM.
on your bike ben, your number is up, move over and let a freah air in, we will remain a one game wounders under you.
By lorry. Posted November 1 2009 at 6:08 AM.
What on earth was the fat muppet doing in taking off Torres and Benayoun????? As for Carra he deserved it. He got away last week and in the first half and so sorry not for the third time. All the talk last week about u liverfools turning the corner is just mere rhetoric the truth is ManU just did not perform!!
By Sam. Posted November 1 2009 at 5:04 AM.
As liverpool fan it is time for the changes to be made the top the managemant to the bottom. also the manager has to known how to buy players, looking at the who have been in the club, now the problem we have is in the milddle of the pich, so it will be very inportant for the manager to look at this posibilities.
By Kofi Baah. Posted November 1 2009 at 3:59 AM.
It may have been a week late but Carragher finally got his just deserts!
Looks like the title wait will be stretched out to 21yrs..but it could be worse. You could be citeh fans!!!
Now that would be embarrassing!
By steve. Posted November 1 2009 at 2:56 AM.
Oh well it makes up for last week when Carragher should've been sent off
By Mathew Dale. Posted November 1 2009 at 2:45 AM.
Hes been at the club 5 years, has changed the squad completely. all the players there apart from Stevie G and Carra are his buys. We are just the same also-rans as we were under houlier. At least under Roy Evans we played beautiful football and attacked with a flow. Rafa is an arrogant man with poor man management and poor skill in the transfer market.
We should either get Kenny Dalglish back in or persuade John Toshack to come in. Another foreign manager (other than mourinho) would be a mistake.
By Neil. Posted November 1 2009 at 2:16 AM.
Last week they beat us and everybody in liverpool were having street parties and celebrating. This week its back to the norm. You haven't won a trophy for 4 years and onece again prove your a 2 man team lol Made my day.....
By Lance . Posted November 1 2009 at 1:46 AM.
To much confidence is been giving by Rafa to **** players rafa wont get the sack the yanks cant afford to sack him and who would buy 25% of liverpool for 100m with them muppets in full control of the club the club is devalueing from the unrealistic price these idiots are asking
By mike. Posted November 1 2009 at 12:57 AM.