Je vous colle ci-dessous un petit article sympa que je viens de trouver sur le site de l'UEFA.
These are exciting times for Liverpool Football Club. Saturday's visit of Arsenal FC will see Americans George Gillett and Tom Hicks take their seats at Anfield for the first time as club owners, following the completion of their takeover this week. Then, on Tuesday, Rafael Benítez's team will resume their quest for a second European crown in three seasons away at PSV Eindhoven.
Confidence
Having dethroned FC Barcelona in the last round, Liverpool have every cause for confidence going into their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against a PSV team they have already bettered over two matches once this season, in the group stage. Yet according to captain Steven Gerrard, this would be the case whoever stood in their way. "I think the confidence and the lift it's given us, knocking out the champions, means we don't fear anyone now going forward," he told uefa.com. "We're a really difficult side to play against and we don't fear anyone over two legs." Liverpool may still be few people's favourites to win the competition but it is hard to think of a side better adept at rising to the occasion on UEFA Champions League nights.
"Benítez is a manager that eats, breathes, sleeps football. He is 24/7. He loves the game, he is always trying to improve himself and he's always trying to improve every player"
Never say die
Gerrard cites the "never-say-die attitude" that epitomised their unforgettable fightback against AC Milan in the 2005 final. "This team that Rafa's built never knows when it is beaten. If we're a goal down or a couple of goals down we never give in until the final whistle." Yet if Gerrard has so often proved Liverpool's inspiration, he recognises it is Benítez who provides the vital intelligence. The former Valencia CF manager outwitted some of Europe's top coaches on Liverpool's unlikely path to glory in Istanbul and repeated the trick against Barcelona's Frank Rijkaard. "Unique," is how Gerrard describes him. "Benítez is a manager that eats, breathes, sleeps football. He is 24/7. He loves the game, he is always trying to improve himself and he's always trying to improve every player. I've got total belief and confidence he can continue to take us forward and bring success to this football club."
Hunger
Gerrard's relationship with Benítez has come under scrutiny in the past, and in his autobiography the England midfielder writes that the Spaniard, unlike predecessor Gérard Houllier, "doesn't think he needs close bonds with players". Such is Benítez's perfectionism, Gerrard recounts, that after his match-winning, two-goal performance in last season's FA Cup final, the boss approached him to discuss the negative aspects of Liverpool's display, and remind him, with a smile, that he had fallen three short of his season's target of 25 goals. Yet this natural-born winner knows he and Benítez share the same hunger for success. "It's come a long way since Istanbul. Rafa's made some clever signings to strengthen the squad but we know we can still get better," he said of the Reds' progress under the Spaniard. "I think the future is looking bright for the football club. Rafa's gone on record saying that if there's a signing he thinks will strengthen the team, then he will probably make it.
'Strong'
"Everyone is aware of what is happening off the pitch at Liverpool. If the people above Rafa give him the backing and the support he can make us strong." Anfield's new owners recognise as much and last week moved to reassure Benítez about their ambitions for the club, silencing in the process rumours linking him with Real Madrid CF, his alma mater. If the UEFA Champions League is Liverpool's sole remaining hope of silverware this term, Gerrard believes the aim for 2007/08 must be a long-overdue challenge for the Premiership. You have to go back to 1990 for the last of Liverpool's 18 league titles and they currently trail leaders Manchester United FC by 21 points. It is worth noting that while Benítez's win ratio in the UEFA Champions League is 60 per cent, in the Premiership it is a less impressive 54.7 per cent.
'Frustrating'
Small wonder Gerrard is frustrated. "Since I've been in the team, we've been a fantastic cup side. The next challenge is to improve domestically, in the league, and try to get involved in the title race. It's a good challenge to have, an exciting one, and as I say, if Rafa strengthens us and keeps moving us forward, we will have a good go at it really soon." Individually, the 26-year-old is not one for standing still either. He admits he has had a "difficult season" following his exertions with England at the FIFA World Cup but remains hopeful of ending it on a high. "It took me a while getting over the tiredness from the World Cup but I can feel my form coming back slowly." His two goals for England against Andorra this week suggest he may be right, and, with PSV standing in their way, Liverpool will now want to feel the benefits.
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