Rafael Benitez yesterday placed Liverpool's title credentials into stark perspective yesterday when he conceded the club are still playing catch-up with their main Premier League rivals. The Liverpool manager's admission came as he mounted a firm defence of his reign and dismissed criticism that, following the home draw with Wigan that left his side 12 points adrift of Arsenal, he has not made significant progress in the Premier League in four seasons at the club.
While claiming Liverpool have prospered not only in the Champions League but also domestically, however, he admitted that the progress of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea had made winning the club's 19th league title as difficult as ever.
"Expectation is a problem," Benitez said. "When we started this season everybody was talking about how we can be title contenders this year. I think so too, but the other teams are also improving their squads. If it is just a race against the watch, then we are faster than before. But if it is against the other teams, then it also depends on them whether you finish first, second or third."
The Liverpool manager added: "We finished third in the past two years, we had 82 points which was the Premier League record for the club. That's not bad. We've won four trophies, including one Champions League and reaching another final, so the progress is clear. In the league Arsenal, United and Chelsea have very good teams and are also spending big money. We are progressing but they are also. We need to progress faster than them; sometimes it's possible and sometimes it isn't."
Meanwhile, Manchester City's search for a striker has seen them admit defeat to Chelsea in the hunt for Bolton's Nicolas Anelka and fail with an audacious bid for Roque Santa Cruz, Blackburn's in-form Paraguayan. City give the Mexico striker Nery Castillo his debut at West Ham in the FA Cup today. But manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has reluctantly given up on Anelka after initially making the Frenchman his first-choice target for the January transfer window.
