Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has made it abundantly clear that he makes the decisions over where Steven Gerrard for his club.

The Spaniard has been stung by more criticism this week following Gerrard's display in the centre of England's midfield in Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Holland.

And, ahead of tomorrow's league trip to Middlesbrough, Benitez insisted he calls the shots after Gerrard was reported as saying that he had spoken to the Anfield manager about his unhappiness playing on the right.

Benitez said: "He did not speak to me about this, I spoke to him. I spoke to him before the Arsenal game because I wanted to explain that he will play more games in the centre, but against Arsenal he would play on the right side.

"And yes, it is a possibility that he will play in the centre against Middlesbrough now we have Momo Sissoko out injured for three months. I do not think the others are better than Steven there, but remember, I always say we must find the balance for the team."

He added: "But Steven is a great player from any position. He plays on the right and plays well, he will score. If he plays on the left and plays well, he will score and if he plays in the middle or as a support striker and plays well, he will score.

"It does not matter where you decide to play him, if he is on form he will score from anywhere. We have used Bolo Zenden in the middle and I have been really happy with him playing alongside Xabi (Alonso). But also I am happy with Steven when he plays in the middle.

"I have never had a right winger who can score 23 goals in a season. So when you have Steven who can play on the right side of midfield and score a lot of goals, while Xabi and Momo Sissoko give you the balance in the centre, I then feel we can use Steven on the right side.

"Steven can go forward and cause problems for the opposition from the right while others can stop the opponents from attacking. Using Steven where we have been is a tactical decision to suit our own team, with the players we have we used Steven on the right side."

He added: "For me Steven is a great player on the right, in the middle and on the left. This debate is because we have lost games. If we were winning home and away people would talk about other things. It was the same with the rotation system, when you win two games people don't ask about it.

"Everybody has an opinion about Steven, but it will finish if we start winning. I have no problem with Steven, if I talk with him he understands the team is the most important thing, and after we think about individuals."