Rafa defends rotation policy
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has defended his policy of squad rotation, insisting that even key players need to be rested to remain fresh.
Benitez has infuriated Reds fans at times with some puzzling selections, but he believes that the fast pace of the modern game makes it impossible for players to perform at a consistently high level without the occasional break.
"We try to explain to our players why we decide to rotate," Benitez told the League Managers Association.
"It's not possible to play 60-65 games, 100 percent fit. It is impossible now with the tempo and the football.
"People talk about 20, 30, 50 years ago but it's different now. After you finish a game you might need to fly to another country to play another really, really important game, and then come back a few days later to play another important game against a tough team, with a lot of physical contact.
"It's not a big difference if you change a full back for another one if he knows what to do.
"If you have a big name (player) of course you can lose something but if the big name is tired then he's not 100 percent fit and it's better to use another member of the squad."
Benitez pointed to the success he had in Spain as an example of how the technique should benefit Liverpool in the long term.
"In my first year at Valencia we won La Liga, beating Real Madrid, Barcelona, Deportivo and Atletico Madrid," he recalled.
"In January we were eight points behind Real Madrid and we finished six or seven points ahead. Why? Because we were fresh at the end of the season.
"In the last two or three months we were really, really fresh and we were playing at another level."
Benitez accepts that achieving success in England requires a slightly different approach, and he believes he has adapted his style to suit The Premiership.
"I think you always change a little bit. Especially here, you need to learn how to approach each game," he commented.
"We are signing players for The Premiership now, more physical players.
"But the question is to find the balance between the quality and the physical approach."
Some of Benitez's foreign signings have failed to fire in The Premiership, but the Spaniard feels that the key for new arrivals is often just a case of getting to grips with the English language.
He said: "For some players, to be capable of talking with your team-mates makes a big difference.
"You can see (Fernando) Morientes now, he's scoring goals in Spain and playing really well and he had some problems here because he couldn't talk normally.
"(It was) the same with Josemi. I think it's important that they start with English lessons from the beginning."
Benitez also offered his thoughts on Peter Crouch, who took time to settle at Anfield last season but has now become a hit with the fans after finding form in front of goal.
"When we decide to sign a player normally we try to monitor the player for a period of time," he explained.
"In this case we were watching Peter for three or four months and analysing every game, every movement.
So we knew he was a good player and the only thing was to support him, because all he needed was time.
"Now the problem is everybody says he's good and we need to say 'keep on your toes because we need to see the best of you'
"Sometimes when people start talking really well about a player it's more difficult to keep a player working hard, although in this case Peter is okay."