Rafa Interview
Rafael Benitez has revealed that Reds winger Harry Kewell will be free to leave the club at the end of the season. The Reds boss also discussed the future of John Arne Riise, Peter Crouch and the club's interest in Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry. Here's what Rafa told reporters in full at Melwood this afternoon.
Rafa, just one game of the season remaining...Are you looking forward to a break?
I think it's always important to have a break but you must know that it is always important to do your job, be focused and concentrate and I have enough energy for this.
You are looking to get some transfer business done early...What is happening with Gareth Barry?
We are working hard with different players but with this case Martin O'Neill is clear and we must wait until the end of the season.
Can you give us any details on the offer you have made to Villa?
No and I think he was telling everyone...but not really, we want to wait and we will try to talk again about the possibilities.
What players have you offered to Villa?
Okay, I will say something. I was talking with Martin O'Neill privately before so he knows our ideas, clearly. I will not talk with the press about speculation, he knows directly because I was talking with him, so it is very simple.
Are you likely to go back in with a renewed bid?
We will talk about the future with him (O'Neill) that is our idea.
How confident are you that a deal can be done?
I don't know. I was very clear. We want to respect his decision and wait until the end of the season, so we will wait and we will talk with him.
In terms of players leaving the club - are Harry Kewell and John Arne Riise definitely leaving?
With Harry Kewell we were talking with his agent and we tried to progress and reach an agreement but we didn't make any agreement, so he will be released at the end of the season.
What about Riise?
With Riise and the rest of the players they have one or more years left on their contracts, so he is still our player at the moment and he knows if we receive a good offer - good for him and the club - it could be...but he is still our player and I am really pleased with him because he is a fantastic professional.
There is continued speculation about the future of Peter Crouch. Are you resigned to losing him in the summer?
You know my idea, we offered him a new contract. When nobody was talking about him we signed him from Southampton, when everyone was criticising us, especially me, because he was not scoring goals, I was supporting him. So I have the same idea. He is a good professional and a good player and he wants to play every week. We know about that. That is the situation. We know that Portsmouth and other clubs are linked with him in the press, but as of this moment we haven't received any official offer. If we receive an offer we will talk because I want the best for Crouch and the best for my club.
If he were to leave what would you believe is a good price?
I think £15million would be a good price.
Do you get the impression he wants to leave?
He wants to play every week. I was talking with him before and two days ago. He knows my position and I know his position, so we are professionals and we want the best for each other.
Will he be involved this weekend against Spurs?
He could be. We have two more training sessions so at this moment I cannot say.
How important is it to finish the season in the right way?
It's always important. To achieve 76 points would be fantastic. We want to win trophies but can't so if you can score more than 117 goals and have another clean sheet and get three more points, it will be better.
Do you feel Spurs have almost taken things a bit easier since winning the Carling Cup?
I think that they are playing well now and Juande Ramos is doing a good job so they must be worried about themselves and we can focus on ourselves.
Traditionally this is one of English football's more attractive fixtures - is it a good game to end the season with?
Yes I think so. The last game can be an open game, so there could be some goals - especially in their goal - that would be good.
The title will be decided this weekend. Any thoughts on who might win it?
No not really. I cannot be involved so I will try to be focused on my team.
The reserves won the national title last night. It was a good performance wasn't it?
Yes, it was a fantastic achievement for them, a very good season and to win it in style was important. We could see good goals and quality so I always say the same thing. The scouting department has done a good job and the staff are doing a good job. These young players with quality are progressing and will be the future of the club.
Gary Ablett has come in and done a good job hasn't he?
Yes he's doing a good job. Everyone close to the first-team is doing a good job.
Do you expect the situation regarding the ownership of the club to be resolved this summer?
The only thing I can say is that I am in contact with them. We are trying to progress with the different issues that we have, so I don't know the situation in terms of shares and things like that, but with my business and my responsibility we are progressing and doing our job.
Do you hope that a resolution is found soon?
Yes, I think so. Everyone knows the club needs to be well organised and everyone needs to know what to do and who will be in charge, so I think it is something that needs to resolved soon.
How can the club move forward before there is a resolution?
In the same way that we were doing before, so if I have an idea about signing players or something different, I talk with them, I talk with Rick Parry, talk with the owners, they say yes and we progress.
Is there a worry one might say yes and the other no?
Normally we are not asking about difficult things so normally they say yes.
In terms of the squad are you looking to get business done as soon as possible?
Yes, it is always better to do that because you can start with the players at the start of the pre-season. If you sign a player at the end of July, you cannot train with him and he will need more time, so it's better to sign players as soon as possible.
How many players are you looking to bring in?
It depends on the market. If we have some offers for players maybe we can sell and then buy but we need to wait. At this moment I am really pleased and happy with the squad. We need to wait and add two or three players but if we need to sell, we will buy new players.
Do you think Juande Ramos has done a good job at Spurs?
Yes, I think he has done a good job. He is a great manager and it is still his first year in England so I think he has done a very good job.
Do you know him well?
Yes, we met in Spain and have played some games against each other in Spain. He was a good manager in Spain too.
Did you offer him some advice about moving to England?
Not really, he had some people who he knew in England so I think he has people close to him who he spoke to.
How are you looking squad-wise for this final game with Spurs?
I think that we are okay. We had Fabio Aurelio training again and also Daniel Agger which is very good news. The mood in the squad is good so I think everything is okay and we can put out a strong team against Spurs.
How would you assess the season overall?
I think it was not bad but it was not perfect either. You always want to win trophies. I think we are in a good position in the top four in England and the top four in Europe - but it could be better and we feel that in the future it must be better.
Source
- I know parallelkites already postet something about that, but this is the full interview from the official site.
So yeah! Quite interessting: The one thing I really can't believe is that Harry didn't take what they offered him... And god, what the hell does Rafa want Barry for? For the pre-season or what! I really really hope he doesn't wanna leave Villa. Oh and Danny's training again! Great news.
Rafa, just one game of the season remaining...Are you looking forward to a break?
I think it's always important to have a break but you must know that it is always important to do your job, be focused and concentrate and I have enough energy for this.
You are looking to get some transfer business done early...What is happening with Gareth Barry?
We are working hard with different players but with this case Martin O'Neill is clear and we must wait until the end of the season.
Can you give us any details on the offer you have made to Villa?
No and I think he was telling everyone...but not really, we want to wait and we will try to talk again about the possibilities.
What players have you offered to Villa?
Okay, I will say something. I was talking with Martin O'Neill privately before so he knows our ideas, clearly. I will not talk with the press about speculation, he knows directly because I was talking with him, so it is very simple.
Are you likely to go back in with a renewed bid?
We will talk about the future with him (O'Neill) that is our idea.
How confident are you that a deal can be done?
I don't know. I was very clear. We want to respect his decision and wait until the end of the season, so we will wait and we will talk with him.
In terms of players leaving the club - are Harry Kewell and John Arne Riise definitely leaving?
With Harry Kewell we were talking with his agent and we tried to progress and reach an agreement but we didn't make any agreement, so he will be released at the end of the season.
What about Riise?
With Riise and the rest of the players they have one or more years left on their contracts, so he is still our player at the moment and he knows if we receive a good offer - good for him and the club - it could be...but he is still our player and I am really pleased with him because he is a fantastic professional.
There is continued speculation about the future of Peter Crouch. Are you resigned to losing him in the summer?
You know my idea, we offered him a new contract. When nobody was talking about him we signed him from Southampton, when everyone was criticising us, especially me, because he was not scoring goals, I was supporting him. So I have the same idea. He is a good professional and a good player and he wants to play every week. We know about that. That is the situation. We know that Portsmouth and other clubs are linked with him in the press, but as of this moment we haven't received any official offer. If we receive an offer we will talk because I want the best for Crouch and the best for my club.
If he were to leave what would you believe is a good price?
I think £15million would be a good price.
Do you get the impression he wants to leave?
He wants to play every week. I was talking with him before and two days ago. He knows my position and I know his position, so we are professionals and we want the best for each other.
Will he be involved this weekend against Spurs?
He could be. We have two more training sessions so at this moment I cannot say.
How important is it to finish the season in the right way?
It's always important. To achieve 76 points would be fantastic. We want to win trophies but can't so if you can score more than 117 goals and have another clean sheet and get three more points, it will be better.
Do you feel Spurs have almost taken things a bit easier since winning the Carling Cup?
I think that they are playing well now and Juande Ramos is doing a good job so they must be worried about themselves and we can focus on ourselves.
Traditionally this is one of English football's more attractive fixtures - is it a good game to end the season with?
Yes I think so. The last game can be an open game, so there could be some goals - especially in their goal - that would be good.
The title will be decided this weekend. Any thoughts on who might win it?
No not really. I cannot be involved so I will try to be focused on my team.
The reserves won the national title last night. It was a good performance wasn't it?
Yes, it was a fantastic achievement for them, a very good season and to win it in style was important. We could see good goals and quality so I always say the same thing. The scouting department has done a good job and the staff are doing a good job. These young players with quality are progressing and will be the future of the club.
Gary Ablett has come in and done a good job hasn't he?
Yes he's doing a good job. Everyone close to the first-team is doing a good job.
Do you expect the situation regarding the ownership of the club to be resolved this summer?
The only thing I can say is that I am in contact with them. We are trying to progress with the different issues that we have, so I don't know the situation in terms of shares and things like that, but with my business and my responsibility we are progressing and doing our job.
Do you hope that a resolution is found soon?
Yes, I think so. Everyone knows the club needs to be well organised and everyone needs to know what to do and who will be in charge, so I think it is something that needs to resolved soon.
How can the club move forward before there is a resolution?
In the same way that we were doing before, so if I have an idea about signing players or something different, I talk with them, I talk with Rick Parry, talk with the owners, they say yes and we progress.
Is there a worry one might say yes and the other no?
Normally we are not asking about difficult things so normally they say yes.
In terms of the squad are you looking to get business done as soon as possible?
Yes, it is always better to do that because you can start with the players at the start of the pre-season. If you sign a player at the end of July, you cannot train with him and he will need more time, so it's better to sign players as soon as possible.
How many players are you looking to bring in?
It depends on the market. If we have some offers for players maybe we can sell and then buy but we need to wait. At this moment I am really pleased and happy with the squad. We need to wait and add two or three players but if we need to sell, we will buy new players.
Do you think Juande Ramos has done a good job at Spurs?
Yes, I think he has done a good job. He is a great manager and it is still his first year in England so I think he has done a very good job.
Do you know him well?
Yes, we met in Spain and have played some games against each other in Spain. He was a good manager in Spain too.
Did you offer him some advice about moving to England?
Not really, he had some people who he knew in England so I think he has people close to him who he spoke to.
How are you looking squad-wise for this final game with Spurs?
I think that we are okay. We had Fabio Aurelio training again and also Daniel Agger which is very good news. The mood in the squad is good so I think everything is okay and we can put out a strong team against Spurs.
How would you assess the season overall?
I think it was not bad but it was not perfect either. You always want to win trophies. I think we are in a good position in the top four in England and the top four in Europe - but it could be better and we feel that in the future it must be better.
Source
- I know parallelkites already postet something about that, but this is the full interview from the official site.
So yeah! Quite interessting: The one thing I really can't believe is that Harry didn't take what they offered him... And god, what the hell does Rafa want Barry for? For the pre-season or what! I really really hope he doesn't wanna leave Villa. Oh and Danny's training again! Great news.