SOCCER:Rafael Benitez has rejected criticism of his managerial methods at Liverpool and indicated that the supporters' complaints should be redirected towards the club's board of directors. With a takeover imminent, Benitez felt emboldened enough to question the club's spending policies under the current regime and blame the 6-3 League Cup thrashing by Arsenal on a failure to release more transfer funds.
On another troubled day for the club, Benitez learned last night that Luis Garcia would be out for six months after rupturing knee ligaments in Tuesday's extraordinary quarter-final, the first time Liverpool had conceded six goals at home since 1930.
Amid a welter of criticism from supporters and former players, Benitez denied any culpability for the defeat and, in his most outspoken criticism of the Anfield hierarchy since replacing Gerard Houllier in 2004, he expressed his dissatisfaction about the level of financial backing and that the club worked "too slowly" in the transfer market.
"If Arsenal can play nine reserves and score six at Anfield, people should be asking why," said Benitez. "It's not because of one game, it's because of many reasons. There is a lesson for the whole of our club. That lesson is that if you want to compete at the top level you must be able to spend a lot of money - not only on your first team but on the young players and the reserves.
"My scouting department has done an excellent job but sometimes we go too slowly as a club to make signings we need. We need to work quickly. And when we do, there is not a lot of money. Arsenal spent £4 million on Abou Diaby, £4 million on Denilson, £8 million on Theo Walcott and Julio Baptista is a £22 million player. We had seven players with first-team experience and still we could not win."
The Spaniard had admitted, in private, to being frustrated by these matters on several occasions, but this is the first time he has expressed his grievances publicly and it is understood to have been timed deliberately given the advanced nature of the takeover talks.
He described the club as being several years behind Arsenal in terms of development and made it clear Liverpool would not be in a position to re-establish themselves as England's top club until the Dubai International Capital group moved into power and made significant money available for new signings.
Liverpool's directors, however, are entitled to question some of Benitez's figures. Baptista, for example, is only on loan at Arsenal and, before that, joined Real Madrid from Sevilla for £13.8 million. Benitez's complaints also fail to take into account that the £77.8 million paid out by Liverpool in transfer fees during his two and half seasons as manager is higher than at any other Premiership club in the same period, apart from Chelsea and Manchester United.
Benitez has brought in 25 players and has also put in place a loan deal for Sampdoria's 21-year-old goalkeeper Danielle Padell, a move that effectively ends Jerzy Dudek's first-team career at Anfield.
"We are signing a young Italian goalkeeper on loan with an option for longer," said Benitez. "We have also been working for many weeks to sign James McCarthy, a young Scot (from Hamilton Academicals). These are deals we are doing because we want to build for the future. But without spending money it is difficult. Arsenal have two or three players, for example, who we were monitoring but couldn't sign because we didn't have enough money."
It was put to Benitez that he had blundered by resting so many players when the tie represented Liverpool's last chance of a domestic trophy. "What is more important?" he replied. "The Premiership, the Champions League or the Carling Cup? Do people expect me to play someone like Steve Finnan every week when he's had to play in every fixture this season?"
Meanwhile, John Terry's keenly awaited return for Chelsea is in danger of being put on hold because the defender has a sore calf. Terry is due to end an eight-game absence on Saturday at home to Wigan but his readiness to play is in the balance.
Terry had surgery in France a fortnight ago on a back injury and it is understood his back is not giving him any problems, but he is feeling pain in one of his calves and will require assessment over the next couple of days.
Chelsea have drawn their past three league games, against Reading, Fulham and Aston Villa, and have conceded eight goals in the five Premiership matches Terry has missed since the middle of last month.
Jose Mourinho has said the players he most needs back are Terry and the goalkeeper, Petr Cech. The Chelsea manager has said he hopes Cech will return for the Premiership clash against Liverpool at Anfield on January 20th.
