Benitez forced to revise Reds’ targets as dismal run continues
RAFAEL BENITEZ has played down Liverpool’s title credentials for the first time – insisting fans need to be “realistic” as to the club’s ambitions.
Benitez’s side have won only one of their last nine matches in all competitions and lie 11 points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea after being held to a 2-2 home draw by Birmingham City on Monday night.
Injuries to star players Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres have also rocked the Reds in recent weeks, leaving under-fire Benitez to admit that season targets may well have been altered.
“We have to be realistic and think what our target is now,” the Spaniard said. “For me it is just the next game, the next point, to see whether we can climb a little higher in the table. Then you never know what can happen.
“We did win six games in a row; if we did that again everything would be different. The main thing now is to get players fit, and see who we have available for the next game after the international break.
“We will then wait for some months to pass and see whether we can win some games in succession. That is all I am looking at now.”
Torres missed Monday night’s game with Birmingham amid fears he requires surgery on a groin injury, but Benitez is hopeful a course of treatment will not keep his star striker out for too long.
“Torres was not confident and we have now started a three-week course of treatment,” he added. “We will have to see how he reacts. We are not considering an operation yet.
“I don’t know if he will be ready for Manchester City on 21 November, the only thing I can say is we’re talking about two or three weeks working with the physios.
“We haven’t got a deadline, we just need to see how he is every day.”
Torres has been left out of the Spain squad for the forthcoming friendlies with Argentina on Saturday and Austria next Wednesday.