This is best Liverpool squad ever! (Since Rafa Arrived)

[RedPuppy]

Well thats what Rafa says.
In an "exclusive interview" with the Daily Mirror, not a bad interview, and positive too.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2008/08/08/exclusive-rafa-benitez-interview-this-is-best-liverpool-squad-ever-115875-20688748/

It is almost a cliche, but as the season approaches the question must once again be asked of Liverpool: is this finally their year?

Kop boss Rafa Benitez greets the inquiry with a grin. It is the same question he has fielded every year in what is now his fifth at Anfield.

He replied: "A big year for me, no? Another 'big year'!".

Yet he answers with a more relaxed air than in previous seasons.

That is because after four years of wheeling and dealing, he has a squad he believes is ready to challenge for the Prem crown.

The title has eluded Liverpool for two decades, and during that time they have barely made a challenge to the elite of Manchester United, Arsenal and latterly Chelsea.

For all his talk in previous seasons, Benitez knew that he did not have the personnel to make a sustained challenge. Now he feels he does.

And yet he is at pains to stop well short of any predictions about winning the Premier League.

He said: "I am confident about my squad, and I am happy that we have the best squad since I arrived at Anfield. But the key is not to say we will win the title, because the Premier League is now the best - and most difficult - in Europe.

"The standard has gone up so much since I arrived here.

"Back then, there were good players in the league, but Spain, Italy and Germany all signed some of the best players in the world.

"Now, everybody wants to come here, and that quality is amazing.

"Just look at the Champions League. Three of the last four were from England, and Arsenal played really well in the competition too.

"So you have to get past the three best teams in Europe to win the Premier League.

"That will not be easy, but it makes for an incredible league. We have improved and progressed every year since I arrived, but look at the history of the league.

"We got 82 points which was a record for Liverpool, and that has allowed us only to finish third. The standard has risen massively, and we have had to work to keep up."

Benitez was faced with a similar situation at Valencia, when he took on the financial might of Real Madrid and Barcelona and won, despite never matching them in the transfer market.

This challenge though, he argues, is even harder, because United, Chelsea and Arsenal are even better.

He said: "They are the best in Europe. They can spend £20million on players just for the bench. But my belief is unshakeable that we can compete with them.

"We are not the richest club, and we have had a lot of work to do, but I have kept my desire and my confidence that it is possible to win."

Despite European success, the Spanish coach is loathe to raise expectations, but has lost none of his drive for the title.

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Every season he has crept closer to the sort of squad he wants in a masterplan that has taken five years. But despite his caution, Rafa is happy and quietly confident.

"When I arrived maybe I didn't realise exactly how big a job it would be, but once inside you learn little by little the things about your club that nobody knows.

"It has been slower than we like because the others are so strong, but last season was the best squad we have had, and this year could be better.

"It has not been ideal, because we have had to bring in maybe seven or eight players a year, and that can't help you win things.

"The squad we had at the start did not have a very high value, and this squad is the equal in value of the other top teams. We have been spending big, but selling big, and the net is less than the other big clubs.

"They were spending to add to very strong squads already, where we have created a totally new squad.

"There are only three or four players now from when we arrived, but they are very, very good players, and we have a very, very good squad. Maybe our European success hasn't helped us, because it made people believe we were ready to challenge for the league when we were not.

"Now though, we are in the position we always wanted to be. You can say it's the starting point in a way, but we have the benefit of learning from the mistakes of recent seasons, and we are at another level now."

Benitez also wants to repay the faith of the supporters who stuck with him through his darkest hour last season, when it looked like he would be forced out of Anfield.

He said: "I always had confidence I would be here, because I went through a similar thing in Spain.

"The only thing you can do is work harder, and keep confidence in yourself.

"I had fantastic support from the staff, and I think we learned a lot from it.

"The fans were amazing too, and I feel a responsibility to them, because they give so much. It would be nice to give them something back."

YEAR ONE: THE NEW BOY
Benitez laughs about his side that won the Champions League in this season. Biscan, Baros, Nunez, Josemi, Smicer, Hamann and Morientes were also regulars, but Alonso arrived.

YEAR TWO: STOP GAP
Reina was key, along with Crouch, as a procession of players were bought and sold, heralding the brief Anfield careers of Kromkamp, Gonzalez, Paletta and Zenden.

YEAR THREE: GOING DUTCH
More recognisable as Benitez's team, Mascherano was the key signing, along with Agger, to give more quality to the team that reached the Champions League final.

YEAR FOUR: TORRE DE FORCE
The record signing of Torres transformed Liverpool and suggested they could go further, but Babel, Lucas and Skrtel were also key signings.

YEAR FIVE: MISSING LINK
Keane is already secured, and if Barry follows Liverpool will have a completely new look again. With Babel, Kuyt, Alonso, Degen in reserve, this may be Rafa's strongest squad yet.

*Rafa Benitez was promoting the live coverage of Liverpool's final pre-season friendly against Lazio, available exclusively on LFC TV, part of the Setanta Sports package and Liverpool's opening Premier League game of the season against Sunderland, available exclusively on Setanta Sports 1 on Saturday, August 16.

Fingers Crossed.

[lil cisse]

True we do buttt at the same time, this is said every season. He is always asked if this is the best squad in his time at liverpool and every year it is a yes, but thats not a bad thing because its the truth, our squad has improved every year.

[Semple]

True we do buttt at the same time, this is said every season. He is always asked if this is the best squad in his time at liverpool and every year it is a yes, but thats not a bad thing because its the truth, our squad has improved every year.

To be fair tho, he keeps saying "this is the best squad I have had here" because each year we are progressing. Look at the squad we have from the summer 2 years ago and compare it to the current one and the current one is easily a hu ndred tgimes better. In saying that, I dont want to get too excited as I really dont feel we will win the league.

[el nino9]

Hear, Hear fully agree. It has been a struggle but we have a top squad now. Let us not forget when we had the best squad around up until the mid 90's and then bar a few top players we never got a foothold again ...........  until now.

What would Shanks have said if he witnessed the previous names to Grace the hallowed turf of anfield over the last few years, I can only imagine....

[Chico Banderas]

I think its pretty straight forward really... We've definatley got a much better squad then last season which has been the case every year since Raffa has been here but, I just think that player for player this time around were catching up with Chelski Manure and the Arse..

[el nino9]

Yep agree, this year we will beat a couple of the other big four and convert last years silly draws into wins!!!!

This is the best the team has been for a long time that includes the youngsters, look at Ngog for example.

[lil cisse]

To be fair tho, he keeps saying "this is the best squad I have had here" because each year we are progressing. Look at the squad we have from the summer 2 years ago and compare it to the current one and the current one is easily a hu ndred tgimes better. In saying that, I dont want to get too excited as I really dont feel we will win the league.

Thats exactly what I said. but thats not a bad thing because its the truth, our squad has improved every year. See.

[robbyr]

Liverpool now hava a fantastic team..............I am in agreement, I think we will be pushing for the league title all year, as long as we dont have one of those blip months............. .wtf...what happens in them months, how can you play so good in one match then crap in another..........I cant get my head around this fact, is it just tactical or players not being consistent

[Don-mascherano]

Definitely the Best Liverpool squad on Paper I've seen. (Only 20 so wasnt around for the Glory days of the 80's/90's) Rafa has done a brilliant job in building a team with a solid core. The addition of Keane will give us many more options.

A liverpool team described as 'solid' 2005-2007..should now hopefully described as 'balanced'. Agger being back is key for a title push..he can bring the ball out of defence. which will allow Alonso to Push forward into a more Xavi type role which I think will benefit the team. I think players like Masch, Babel, Kuyt, Torres, Skrtel etc will only get more consistent.

Lucas, N'gog, Plessis, Nemeth, Insua to develop around the first teamers..providing strength in depth in years to come

[Billy1]

I think this is he best squad since Souness arrived,It has taken RAFA a while but he is on the right track despite the antics of Tom and George trying to undermine him every step of the way.

[crouchinho]

Of course its the best side, its Rafa's job to improve us other wise he would be out the door. I just hope this is THE side to bring home that title.

[el nino9]

I think this is he best squad since Souness arrived,It has taken RAFA a while but he is on the right track despite the antics of Tom and George trying to undermine him every step of the way.

Yep, Souness who dismantled our beloved team which we have payed for ever since. Good player and f***in nails but a sh*t manager, I think McDonalds wouldn't even entertain his management credentials. Anyway he'd probalby defect to burger king after he kept f***in up the food orders.

[JD]

Agree.  Better squad than we've had for a long while.

Two proper goalscorers up front - none of this can they can't they.  Both of them know where the net is in the Premiership. 

We have four, in my humble opinion, world class central defenders, three world class midfielders and a world class keeper.

Some decent players have been lost along the way - Luis Garcia and Momo Sissoko stand out for me - but for the first time in a long while I think our side is brimming not only with class, but also now with some decent Premiership experience.

[redkenny]

I do believe this is the best squad we've had for a very long time.

It's how we can attack as a unit and defend set pieces, that needs to justify it. We need to be ruthless in attack as a team this season and we need to concentrate more when we're on the back foot or defending the corners.

Torres was obviously fantastic last season and Gerrard once again put his graft in when scoring goals was concerned. But this very good squad needs to be more dangerous against the ones we are truly competing with. That's where we fell short last season. I'm so hopeful that Robbie Keane can be the key to that but we need danger as a unit going forward against the other three.

Tricky teams like Pompey etc, we need to be sharp at the back against. Unfair draws last season resulted from us hammering the possession and having a fair few chances, but coming unstuck by a bit of sloppiness or confusion about who's picking up who.

Hopefully that's being worked on and hammered into the players minds.

I have no doubt Rafa will be trying his best to deliver this season. He knows the majority of reds believe in him. It's up to this very good squad to deliver when they cross the white line as well though. No passengers.

[dunlop_liddell_shankly]

It is the best squad we've had for a while. Cover of a good standard in every position. Even down the flanks where we still lack that killer player in my opinion we have good cover. Babel/Kuyt/Pennant/Benayoun/Gerrard all good Premiership quality players. But it's a good squad on paper, as we know football isn't played on paper so it's how we perform that's more important. Sort out silly mistakes from last year and we'll be OK if we continue to do the things we did well last year, this year. I have high expectations this year and have every faith that our 19th league title is comin home.