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[U]Liverpool, who won a European Cup final against Real Madrid, are now enjoying European success with a Madrilenno on the bench. Next week sees the first round of the battle with Chelsea for a place in the final.[/U]
Rafa Benitez, Paco Herrera, Paco Ayestaran and Ochotorena – Are you the new Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Tom Saunders and Roy Evans?
If only! They made history here and we've done nothing yet. They're icons here and, of course, they're the standard by which we must judge ourselves. If one day we're remembered in the same way as they are it'll be a good sign, so talking about them is another motivation to do well.
They plotted their path to history in the famous boot room, forging the great Liverpool sides there. Do you go there too?
Oh yes: every home game we invite the opposing manager to pop in and have a little something with us. It’s a little corner with a lot of history and we see respecting that as important. The whole stadium, the whole club, it’s all the stuff of living legend.
Is Anfield that impressive?
Oh yes. It’s a very emotional ground, and when the Kop sings YNWA it’s amazing. It’s impossible not to feel something inside when that happens. It’s a privilege to work here with that atmosphere.
Your fans will have to contribute a lot if you’re to beat Chelsea and get to the CL final.
We’ll see, but we know it’s going to be very difficult. But we’ve got a chance. Chelsea are favourites because they’ve got such a good squad and they’ve invested so much money in the last couple of years. And now they’re bringing it to bear in Europe and at home, so we can’t deny that they’re favourites.
What would you do if Abramovich’s money was yours to spend?
I don’t like to speculate, and given that that’s never going to happen, it’s better not to think about what we might do. We’ve got what we’ve got, and we hope it’s enough to knock them out. As I say, we’ve got a chance – everyone saw that in the Carling Cup.
It must have hurt to lose that final like that.
Well yes, because we were winning until the 80th minute, and Chelsea needed an own goal to equalise. But we’ve got to learn from that – against such powerful opposition you’ve got to look after every detail, even the little ones, because they’ve got the quality to take advantage of any weakness.
Mourinho paid you a compliment this week, saying that if he can’t win the CL he’d like you to do it.
Yeah, that’s nice of him. It’s always good when people speak well of you. I hope we can make him happy and win it.
You’re the only manager in the semi-finals who doesn’t know what it’s like to lift the European Cup.
It’s another incentive to do well, but I’m not obsessed by it. I’m young and I know that the CL will come. I don’t know if it will be this year, but my time will come.
You seem very certain…
Well, one should always have faith in one’s own ability and one’s methods – and I do. I believe that hard work done well brings its rewards, so I believe that my time will come. I’m very keen for it to be this year and I hope it will be. It’s not an obsession, though – I want to win [U]every[/U] game, so the CL isn’t the be all and end all.
People have you down as the surprise package of this competition.
We’ve got here on our own merits, of that I have no doubt. At the start of the group stages there were lots of clubs with strong teams and chances to win, but the competition puts everyone in their place, and it’s seen us into the semis, with a chance of getting to the final, difficult though it may be.
Coming back to your opposite number, is Mourinho as arrogant as people make out?
I’ve never had any problems with him. I don’t know him that well but he’s always seemed a decent sort. Other people can say what they like about him, it’s nothing to do with me.
Do you think it would be fair to describe you two as coming from the same stable?
I wouldn’t say so. It doesn’t happen that way for coaches like it does for players. As players you grow up together and move through the teams together, and it’s not like that for coaches. We are both young and ambitious, though, I’ll give you that.
What do you like best about him?
He’s methodical, and that always gets results. We’re like that too, because I’m convinced that it’s the best way to success.
As regards the make-up of your squads, you could say there are similarities. You’ve both got a French League top scorer (Drogba and Cisse), a top-of the range English midfielder (Lampard, Gerrard), a big-hearted local boy in defence (Terry, Carragher), an ex-Madrid player (Makelele, Morientes) and plenty of your own compatriots (Tiago, Carvalho, Ferreira, Alonso, Nunez, Luis Garcia, Josemi).
We seem to have a common pattern, but we definitely don’t have prices in common. Chelsea can come into the market for the very top players when they need to strengthen their squad, and that’s an advantage, I wouldn’t try and deny it. That said, a lot of other big teams have spent a lot of money and not got this far.
In different circumstances, the managerial head-to-head in this semi would have happened in this year’s Super Cup.
I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right, yes. We both won our league and a European competition last year. It shows we did a good job, but as far as this game’s concerned, it’s just another statistic.
You and your band of Spaniards have become the team most Spanish people want to win the CL.
That’s nice. It means a lot of people remember us, and value what we did in Spain even though we’ve come to England now. They can rest assured we’ll be trying to make them happy!
They’ll need it---best not to talk about the performance of the Spanish clubs this year.
As I said earlier, there are a lot of big clubs who’ve spent a lot of money in the CL, and they can’t all win. I thought at the start of the season that a Spanish team would get this far, but Barça and Madrid were knocked out by great teams.
Your Liverpool side is brilliant in Europe but inconsistent in the Premier League. Do you think that’s something to do with your experience in the CL and your lack of it in English domestic football?
Maybe so. We all need some time to adapt, and it’s certainly true that the EPL has its own characteristics, its own style of play. But the plague of injuries we’ve had are a factor too. We’ve had so many this season. At one point we had nine people out with injuries that had required sugery – nobody had seen anything like it.
So that’s why you’ve not brought your famous rotation system over from Valencia…
Well, no, I’ve not been able to rotate things much, for precisely that reason. It’s a big blow, because there’s an extra competition over here (the Carling Cup, the final of which Liverpool and Chelsea contested). Besides, at Valencia we won the UEFA cup, which doesn’t take as much out of you as the CL.
What are you getting out of your time in England?
It’s a great experience, getting to know another type of football from the inside, another way of life. I like the respect you get as professionals over here. In Spain we’re different.
Better or worse?
No, just different. Here you can lose and you’ll still be clapped off. People have a lot of respect for professionals. It’s not like that so much in Spain, people forget things more easily.
I heard one of your players here called you a ‘maestro’.
It’s the way they are over here, they don’t mind recognising the work of others. The players looked at the work we did in Turin, at the tactical changes, and that’s what they thought of it. Of course it’s nice, because it doesn’t happen often.
Especially not at Valencia…
I’d rather not talk about Valencia, to be honest, because every time I say something I see them twisting it and using it against me. So I’ll concentrate on the good part, and thank the city, the fans and the club for the good times I had there. I’ll never forget those memories.
Do you think the Ches (Valencia) will want you to win the CL?
I left loads of friends there, so I’m sure they will. As regards the board I couldn’t say, as it’s changed so much.
Are you going to sign Reina from Villareal? Valencia are after him too.
We’ve got three excellent goalkeepers and we’re not after any more.
But you’ll come to Spain in search of new players, won’t you?
We’ll look for the best and we’ll look worldwide. But I don’t want to talk about signings at the moment, because we’ve got plenty left to play for this year.
And Gerrard going?
Same applies. He’s a Liverpool player and I hope he continues to be one for many years.
нечовек (: !
In Rafa we trust
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