Football

From Whiskynose's new book:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2471410/Alex-Ferguson-book-Brendan-Rodgers-needs-players-make-Liverpool-Premier-League-title-contenders-Rafa-Benitez-silly-man.html

*The stinging attack on Liverpool: Rodgers needs EIGHT more to win the title, Rafa is a billy no mates and Gerrard isn't a top player

By Matt Lawton and Ian Ladyman

Mr. Ferguson tears into bitter rivals Liverpool, claiming Brendan Rodgers is 'eight players short of becoming genuine title contenders, in his new autobiography.

Nobody is spared at Anfield, with Rafa Benitez described as a ‘silly man’ and a control freak who has no friends in management.

But there is wider criticism for Liverpool as a club over the Luis Suarez affair, and even the appointment of Rodgers as manager.

Ferguson also dares suggest that Michael Owen became a better player once he had joined Manchester United and dismisses the qualities of Kenny Dalglish signings’ Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Andy Carroll.

But his most scathing words are reserved for Benitez who he says would rather destroy a game than win it and claims his own players could not understand what he was saying from the touchline. He also says he consistently played Steven Gerrard in the wrong position.

While he says he could see a strategy in the signings Gerard Houllier made at Liverpool, he could see nothing of the kind during Benitez’s tenure.

He describes Benitez’s team as the ‘most unimaginative Liverpool side I ever went up against’. ‘The mistake he made was to turn our rivalry personal. Once you made it personal, you had no chance, because I could wait. I had success on my side.’

He also claims the famous ‘facts’ press conference was staged with a planted questions, adding that ‘the facts were all wrong’.

He says Benitez showed no interest in forming relationships with other managers, declaring it a ‘dangerous policy’. He also criticises Benitez’s transfer policy, questioning the quality of the players as ‘not of true Liverpool standard’.

One Benitez signing he does compliment is Fernando Torres, a player he tried to sign two years before his arrival at Liverpool. He describes him as a player of a ‘great cunning’, a ‘touch of evil’.

On Gerrard, Ferguson says he was ‘baffled’ that Benitez ‘did not trust’ his captain as a central midfield player. He says Liverpool have stopped producing home-grown talents, identifying Owen as probably the last but Ferguson is sure to incense Liverpool for claming that had Owen joined United at 12 years old he ‘would have been one of the great strikers’.

He does credit Benitez with getting his players to work for him, acknowledging that you never see a Benitez team ‘throw in the towel’.

But he adds ‘Benitez had more regard for defending and destroying a game than winning it’.

He says Jose Mourinho was more astute with dealing with players.

On Dalglish’s return to Liverpool, Ferguson says few of the Liverpool manager’s signings gave him nightmares. Ferguson believes that Jordon Henderson’s gait will cause him problems later in his career because he runs from his knees with a straight back.

He identifies Stewart Downing as a £20million player who was neither the bravest, nor the quickest. He is no fan of Carroll either, citing problems with his ‘mobility’ and ‘his speed across the ground’.

He also criticises Dalglish for his blind defence of Luis Suarez over the Patrice Evra race row. ‘If it had been a reserve player, would Kenny have gone to such lengths to defend him?’

On the Suarez T-shirt stunt, Ferguson adds: ‘I thought it was the most ridiculous thing for a club of Liverpool’s stature.’

He expresses surprise that Brendan Rodgers was appointed as Dalglish’s replacement, given that he was ‘only’ 39 years old. He also highlights the American fly-on-the-wall documentary that followed Rodgers at the start of his tenure as a ‘mistake’.

Meanwhile, Steven Gerrard is not a 'top, top player,' according to Ferguson.

The former Manchester United manager felt the England captain 'seldom had a kick' when coming up against a midfield of Roy Keane and Paul Scholes.

But despite this, Ferguson admits he did try to sign the Liverpool player when word reached Old Trafford in 2005 that his days at Anfield were numbered.

Among considered musings about Gerrard, Ferguson questions why he was not played centrally more often under Rafael Benitez - who often positioned him out wide - and claims he was the only midfielder who could hurt United with bursts forward through the heart of his team's defence.

He concluded Gerrard had the ability to beat team's single-handedly.

But he suggests Gerrard only had more success at international level than Michael Carrick because of 'bravado', with the United man suffering because of a quiet personality.

Likewise, Ferguson believes Frank Lampard deserves credit for his club performances, but doesn't not consider the Chelsea midfielder an 'elite international footballer'.

Gerrard has spoken of Ferguson's desire to sign him from Liverpool and the story is confirmed in the Scotsman's autobiography.

'We made a show of him in the transfer market, as did Chelsea, because the vibe was that he wanted to move from Anfield,' writes Ferguson. 'But there seemed to be some restraining influence from people outside the club and it reached a dead end.' *