Rafael Benitez has been rewarded for his work in bringing Liverpool their recent excellent run of form by being named the Barclays Manager of the Month for November.
As reported on the official FA Premier League website, premierleague.com, the decision was made by the Barclays Awards Panel, "which includes representatives from football’s governing bodies, the media and fans." They were impressed with the four consecutive league wins, all with clean sheets, that the Reds achieved in the month of November.
Liverpool’s last league defeat was on 2nd October, and the Reds have so far conceded only eight goals in the league this season. All of this could change now of course with the award often seeming to be followed by a lean spell for the winners. December is a busy month for Rafa and the Reds – six league matches (one already played and won) – one Champions League match (the 0-0 draw with Chelsea) and two FIFA Club World Cup matches.
Rafa was pleased to win the award, but wanted to share the limelight with the rest of the staff, as well as his squad and the fans. He said: "It was a good month for us. We won games, scored goals, kept clean sheets and moved up the table. This award is for everyone at the club and not just me. I want to share it with my staff, the players and the supporters. Everyone involved in the club is a key player in our team and everyone has been working really hard. When you work hard then you can be successful."
Now Rafa is hoping to sustain the run: "It’s nice to receive individual awards like this but it wouldn’t happen if we didn’t have such a good group of people at the club. I have confidence that we can keep improving and win more games. That’s the idea."