SOCCER: Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has continued his attack on Manchester United by questioning chief executive David Gill's position on the Football Association board, while midfielder Albert Riera insists the Merseysiders will not be found wanting when the title race hots up.
Benitez delivered a calculated criticism of his United counterpart Alex Ferguson prior to the weekend's fixtures when he claimed the Scot was allowed to go unpunished when criticising referees, prompting the United boss to suggest the Spaniard was "disturbed for some reason".
Having watched his side held to a scoreless draw at Stoke and United beat Chelsea 3-0 on Sunday, the Anfield boss has responded today by querying the influence Gill has at the FA.
"They were saying we are not a threat," said Benitez in the Daily Mirror. "Now they know we are, they are starting mind games.
"But I don't think it's a mind game when you have control over everything, it's a mind game when you have the same level as the other people, then you can show you are cleverer than the others.
"But when you have control of everything and your chief executive is powerful in the FA and things like this, then that is not mind games.
"Is there a conflict of interest with David Gill at the FA?
"That is another fact. It is a fact that one person has a lot of power and control, and is on a lot of committees in the FA.
"To me that is very strange."
His compatriot, Riera, claims the attitude of the players in the wake of the performance at Stoke proves they are ready for the challenge ahead.
"It showed me the character of the team," he told the Liverpool Echo. "When I walked into the dressing room after the game everyone was devastated that we had only drawn a difficult away game.
"Stoke have a very good record at home and lots of teams have struggled to beat them.
"But we are top of the league and we had hoped to go there and win. We will remember this feeling and we will give everything for it not to happen again."
The Spaniard argues that in England and in his homeland there can be twists and turns in every game.
"I watched Barcelona, who are top of La Liga, play against bottom club Osasuna," he added. "Everyone expected Barcelona to win comfortably but with 10 minutes remaining they were losing 2-1.
"They ended up scoring two goals in the last 10 minutes to win the game but it was a much tougher match for them than expected.
"This is the way football is — you can never take victories for granted because every team can be a danger.
"You have to work for every point. I can tell our fans that we will compete for every single point in every game that we play."
-PA
