Liverpool’s win over Newcastle yesterday showed how important they feel it is to push for second place until it’s either achieved or impossible. Eight goals in two games show they’ve found their scoring boots again, and although they’ve now got two games in hand they are just two points behind Manchester United. Manager Rafael Benítez was delighted that his team had come out victorious: “I am very, very happy because it was a difficult game and we played well, scored goals and could have won by a lot more than 3-1 in the end.”
The Reds boss used a formation he’s not used before, with three centre-backs keeping Newcastle’s chances down to a minimum. Jan Kromkamp and Stephen Warnock were outstanding as wing-backs rather than conventional full-backs, and Rafa was pleased with how the system worked. He says the change to the system was done with Tomorrow’s FA Cup quarter-final match at Birmingham in mind, coming just two days after this league match: “We’re also thinking about the FA Cup. After the sending off we were in control of the game and there were two saves by their keeper at the end. We’ve not been doing anything different but we changed the system. It’s a possibility to keep the system for the Birmingham match because it was good.”
Liverpool’s troubles in front of goal look to be over now, although that’s said in the hope it wasn’t spoken too soon. For Rafa, the confidence previously missing for his strikers is back, and that is the most important change: “It’s important for the team to have more confidence – the strikers are good and if you create chances you can score.”