The worst thing has been the injuries to Torres. Maybe if Torres had not been injured so much things would be different.

He has been our main striker and scored a lot of goals for us last season. And this season could have been totally different with him.

With the former Valencia manager pointing out this very obvious fact, is he admitted that he has made Mistakes this season, mainly in the shape of not getting the best out of Robbie Keane and his teams inability to convert chances?

Fernando Torres was, no doubt, the star of Liverpool’s 2007/2008 season. The Athletico Madrid idol arrived in July for a hefty £23 million and proceeded to score 29 goals in all competitions. This season, Liverpool were expected to challenge Manchester United’s dominance at the top of the Barclay’s Premier League, and for a time they did so.

However, Liverpool faltered, having drawn 6 of their 13 league matches at Anfield and also drawing 3 times and losing once since the turn of the year. Benitez has been criticised for failing to break down teams like Stoke, Fulham and West Ham.

Benetiz has pinpointed the lack of a striker of Torres’ quality as the main problem, but that leads to more questions. If you have noone beyond Torres that can score goals, why let Peter Crouch leave? Why let Robbie Keane leave? Why not focus on bringing in a backup striker in the summer instead of endlessly chasing Gareth Barry? Did he seriously think that he could rely on N’gog and Babel to lead the line?

With this admission, Benitez has taken a small step in admitting that the title is lost and that he made Mistakes. The summer will tell us if he further admits those mistakes, by bringing in a true squad striker who can bring the title closer to Anfield.

He finished the conference by stating:

The squad is good, but there are too many games when things go wrong and that makes a massive difference

Try telling that to Sir Alex’s defence over the past month, however, Manchester United pulled through. Liverpool need a squad, not a handful of stars.

Of course, everyone knew he meant Gareth Barry, but he refused to name the Aston Villa midfielder.

Although Villa boss Martin O’Neill conceded last week that Barry might leave, it’s always been rumoured that a proposed fee of £18m was the sticking point.

“The situation is not a question of money,” Benitez told reporters.

“He is English and can play three different positions, but I am talking about someone who can play on the left…I am talking about one player, but I won’t say the name.”

This has to be Barry, 27, who can play central midfield, on the left and left-back.

It’s been touted that midfield maestro Xabi Alonso will have to make way for Barry, funding Benitez’s forays into the transfer market. But from what Benitez said last night, the EURO 2008 winner and firm fans favourite looks set to stay.

“We have a good player (Alonso) and we have another good player coming in soon,” gushed Benitez.
“We can improve the squad, so we will try to do that. We will bring in one more player if we can.
“I do not know when but clearly we have problems on the left, Kewell has gone, Aurelio is injured and Leto cannot get a work permit.
“Who comes in? It could be another left-sided player rather than a central midfielder.
“Maybe he can play in three different positions, that is a positive thing. I am talking about one player, but I won’t say the name.” (Source: BBC)

Ordinarily it’s a 5-nil victory that sends the manager delirious, not a dull encounter in a pre-season friendly. Gareth Barry as a creative, forward-thinking left-back or left-winger? Er, no, Rafa. What was in your pre-match paella?

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As Anfield co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are still refusing to bail Rafa out with extra funds for Gareth Barry, the Spaniard needs to sell off some of his dead-wood squad players. Hamburg came sniffing around Dirk Kuyt, the Holland international. However, they ran off to look at other targets after Liverpool vastly overvalued the player to the tune of a stunning £16 million:

Hamburg coach Martin Jol tried to sign former Feyenoord striker Kuyt for Tottenham nearly three years ago and launched another attempt after selling Rafael van der Vaart to Real Madrid. But the Bundesliga club soon dropped their interest after being told the fee was £16m.

Daily Mail

Liverpool paid Feyenoord £10m for the Dutchman two years as he arrive from Feyenoord, scoring 25 goals in 92 appaearance, so a £6m price hike is a bit steep for the 28-year-old.

Rafa is now stuck with the hard-working striker cum-midfielder and has a great big hole where money for Gareth Barry should be.

With Rafa also placing huge price tags on other players heads – £10m for Carson, £15m for Peter Crouch, £18m for Xabi Alonso – is he slightly deluded as to how good his squad really is? If he were to have made realistic demands, he would have sold Kuyt and Alonso and manged to raise enough for Barry. Instead he is without the England international and stuck with two players who are undervalued as players and overvalued as transfer targets.

Do Liverpool fans think that Rafa has made realistic valuations and I just don’t understand how good his players are? Or has he just gone a bit crazy in demanding so much for players he does not seem to want?

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“I think Daniel did OK,” Liverpool manager Rafa Benítez told the press. “The main thing for us was to see if he could play and he had no problems. He will be a good addition for the team.”

Many fans believe Agger’s absence was a major factor in Liverpool’s inability to sustain the excellent start they made in the Premier League last season. With Agger in the side they were unbeaten, without him they fell away.

Agger himself is glad to be back.

“It has been way too long for me,” he told reporters after the match. “It has been the most frustrating time of my career and I am trying to look forward now and not back on how bad it has been.

“I was low but you have to concentrate on coming back as soon as possible, keep working and that is the most important thing, don’t be sad about what happened but keep looking forward. Everybody helped me but I know myself best and I have a really strong will to get back.

“What happened is such a long story that I don’t think anyone has the time to hear it. What is important is that I am pain-free and comfortable now.”

After injuring a metatarsal in September, Agger was on the verge of a first-team return in January, only to suffer a recurrence of the injury that ended his season.

“I feel like I am starting over,” Agger said. “You can say that I have missed a lot of football or, you can say that there is a lot to come. I didn’t play and that’s how it is. I am focused on this season and I really, really have been working hard to keep my fitness level up. Of course, I worked throughout the summer and my target has been to keep my fitness high so that I am ready for the first day of the season.

“The competition for places will be hard. That’s what you expect at a club like Liverpool. I will fight for my place and the rest of the players will do the same.”

With Agger back in the side, it will be interesting to see who Benitez sees as his preferred central pairing. Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger are being tipped by many fans as the way forward.

Liverpool now decamp to Switzerland for training and a series of friendlies. In the meantime, Benitez will be hoping to bring a new striker to the squad to replace the departed Peter Crouch.

Lets hope Agger’s injury is firmly a thing of the past.

The player is starting to get a bit tetchy with Aston Villa, slating Martin O’Neill for working as a BBC pundit but not finding them time to speak with Barry regarding his future. However, the Daily Mail also reports that the Villans manager has laid down the law, stating that until Liverpool meet the correct asking price, the England international is going nowhere. Just who will win this battle of wills?

O’Neill said: ‘The chairman and myself are surprised at what Gareth has said. Contrary to what he alleges, we desperately want to keep him at Villa Park – and he knows that.

‘We asked both Gareth and his agent to consider what had been discussed in our meeting, including a variety of options to incentivise the player. ‘Gareth returned from England’s matches at the beginning of June only to reiterate his intention to join Liverpool.

He told me that directly. ‘But Liverpool’s valuation of Gareth has come short of our own. We have made our position clear. If Liverpool meet our valuation, Gareth will have his express wish to leave Villa Park granted.’

Will Rafael Benitez be Barry’s genie in the lamp and grant the player his wish to feature for Liverpool? I can just imagine the goateed-one in a genie’s outfit, although the Spaniard does seem unwilling to be held to ransom by the Midlands club, thus jeopardising the transfer. Can’t Barry just fork out the difference himself?!

Sky Sports reports that Rafael Benitez was delighted to see El Nino become the match-winner in the Euro 2008 final against Germany, thus ensuring that their country were champions of Europe. How the Liverpool manager would like to see Torres pinch a goal like that at Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge to ensure the Reds grabbed three vital league points. Would make a change wouldn’t it!

“I am very proud of Fernando, especially after he has been criticised from some journalists in Spain,” he said.

“Everyone remembers the Marcelino goal from 44 years ago, and the last final Spain were in was 24 years ago.

“Now people will talk about Torres in the same way, I am very proud of him and what he has achieved.”

Despite only being at the club for a season, Liverpool’s number nine has endeared himself to the Kop in a massive way. They have a brilliant song for their star player and a lot of their hopes for next season rests on the youngster’s shoulders. While players are often said to need a season to acclimatise to the pace of the Premier League, just imagine if that was the case for Torres last term and he kicks on to score 40+ next term?!

Sky Sports reports that the Frenchman expects Manchester United to keep hold of their star player, despite it looking for all the world that Real Madrid are going to sign him instead. This will no doubt hearten Red Devils fans – could their number seven be sticking around after all?

He told the Sunday Mirror: “I think Ronaldo will stay at United because I cannot see the club making the kind of statements they have made if they have no assurance from Ronaldo that he will stay.

“Once a club of their stature say he will stay, he has to stay. If he doesn’t stay you look weak, weaker than if you said nothing at all.”

Indeed, Sir Alex Ferguson and Carlos Queiroz will end up with plenty of egg on their faces if the Portuguese forward moves to Spain, although it’s looking likely that he’ll at least be back in Manchester for pre-season training and that’s a step in the right direction. Do you honestly think he’ll be around next term?

It appears that Aston Villa are done with trying to sign Scott Carson from Liverpool without paying silly money, and are instead prepared to take a punt on Paul Robinson, the Tottenham keeper who has somehow gone from hero to zero in a ridiculously short space of time. Will this throw a spanner in the works as far as Rafael Benitez’s spending plans are concerned?

Tottenham are demanding £5million for Robinson who is keen to leave White Hart Lane after falling out with manager Junade Ramos after losing his place to Radek Cerny midway through last season.

There’s surely little doubt that Robbo needs a fresh start and it appears the Villans are on hand to provide it. They will get him for £10 million less than Carson is reported to cost and perhaps have someone just as good between the sticks next term. Will Liverpool find another suitor for Carson, or will they have the most expensive reserve goalkeeper in the Premier League next term instead?

However, Sky Sports report that the writing may now be on the wall as far as the Spaniard’s Anfield career is concerned. It had been thought that Alonso might stick around, despite Gareth Barry almost certainly moving to Merseyside this summer. However, the tune has almost certainly changed, with the midfielder making overtures in the direction of Turin.

“I’ve spent four fantastic years at Liverpool, but I have to admit that I have always been fascinated by Italian football.

“However, it’s too soon to talk about the future. In short – we’ll see.

Alonso added: “Juve are one of the biggest teams in Europe, perhaps the biggest in Italy. They have many fans, not only in Italy, but all over the world.

“They’re a team who want to get back to winning the Scudetto and who also want to compete in the Champions League.”

If the above isn’t a ‘come-and-get-me-plea’, I’m not sure what is. It’s looking increasinly likely that Alonso is going to be surplus to requirements next season, will he be sold against the wishes of many Liverpool supporters?

However, a combination of fan protest and commons sense appears to have won the day at Anfield, and the BBC report that the American pair have patched things up ahead of the new campaign. This has surely got to be welcome news for all concerned, but will the peace pact between the duo be short-lived?

Gillett had previously described his partnership with Hicks as “unworkable”.

But he told Canadian radio station Fan590: “It’s fair to say communication between the Hicks’s and the Gilletts has been substantially improved.”

Gillett said: “Time is a healer and there were things that had happened previously. It took a while for both of us to realise that we weren’t communicating very well and the huge responsibility we have to the fans to do the right thing for the club.”

Is this evidence of the passion and loyalty coming from Liverpool fans? You might imagine that the future could have been a lot different if the supporters hadn’t voiced their opinions so vehemently. Nevertheless fans of the Reds must be delighted that there is calm after the storm.