THE Government is often accused of burying bad news and I think this is a new tactic being employed by Liverpool FC.
On a day when they flopped at home against their arch-rivals manager Rafael Benitez tried to deflect criticism off his own team by stirring up controversy after labelling Everton a “small club”.
Many Evertonians seem to have taken the hump with the kopite’s comments but I think it’s quite funny. Everytime his team perform badly Benitez squirms in the post-interview match interview and blames everyone except himself and his team.
Of course it was Everton’s fault for playing defensively – silly me.
I’ve said it time and again but it’s not just teams who play open and attacking football who deserve praise but being able to defend for such long periods of a game is an art in itself.
Stubbs was outstanding, seemed to enjoy every minute of the game and showed Crouch and Bellamy to be a poor forward line.
One person who does deserve praise was the referee – little was said about him during and after the game and that’s the way it should be. I’ve always been wary of Alan Wiley ever since he gestured to his linesman to keep a special eye on Duncan Ferguson during a game at Highbury but he controlled the derby well.
As for Benitez’s comments – he knows Everton isn’t a small club and shouldn’t have said it. Liverpool are a massive club and financially much stronger than Everton. He would have done the same in Moyes’ shoes – what was he supposed to do – play an attacking game and get beat? Let’s see what tactics Benitez employs over at the Nou Camp later this month.
Surely for such a big club Liverpool should be challenging for the league title on a regular basis – but oh that’s right they’ve not had a sniff for over a decade.
Here’s a question for you: which team has been in the top-flight the longest and therefore played the most games in the top division of English football?
Yes, you guessed it that “small club” Everton. I rest my case.