Mar 10

Rafael Benítez defends Steven Gerrard over V-sign controversy

• Midfielder accused of making gesture towards referee Marriner
• ‘We are not considering it,’ says Liverpool manager

Rafael Benítez has defended Steven Gerrard following allegations the midfielder made a V-sign gesture towards the referee Andre Marriner during Liverpool’s defeat to Wigan on Monday.

“Sometimes you move your fingers. It was nothing. We are not considering it, it was nothing,” said Benítez. “All the players know they have to behave on the pitch. I was more worried about the silly fouls we were giving to Wigan.”

Liverpool are struggling to claim fourth spot after losing a game many expected them to win. And the Wigan chairman, Dave Whelan, was critical of the club following their surprise victory.

That drew an angry response from Benítez, who said: “I do not talk about Wigan. I prefer to concentrate on my team. He [Whelan] should talk about his own club.”

Liverpool have the chance to recover from the loss to Wigan when they face Lille in the Europa League tomorrow. The squad leave for France this evening.

“We had been working well in the last 10 games, more or less. Sometimes these things happen. Now we have to move forward,” added Benítez. “Hopefully there will be a reaction in Lille. This is an opportunity to put things right and try to get a good result.

“In football you sometimes prefer to rest but at this time it is good to have a match quickly after what happened at Wigan.”

Rafael BenítezSteven GerrardLiverpoolPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk

Mar 09

Liverpool lacking in confidence, says Ryan Babel

• Dutch winger admits morale is low at Anfield
• ‘We can’t create a kind of confidence with winning games’

Ryan Babel has admitted Liverpool’s confidence is at such a low ebb that they were lacking in self-belief prior to their defeat at Wigan Athletic.

Liverpool had hauled themselves back into contention for the fourth Champions League qualifying place with a run of only one defeat in 10 league games before the trip to the DW Stadium yesterday. Their subsequent performance and first ever league defeat against Wigan prompted rare public criticism from the manager Rafael Benítez towards his players, who he accused of having the wrong attitude and showing a lack of character in the first half of the game.

Babel suggests Liverpool’s problems are more deep-rooted, however, with the frank admission their hard-fought recovery in the Premier League could not remedy fragile confidence in a season of frequent set-backs. “It is disappointing that we can’t create a kind of confidence with winning games. One defeat seems to spoil all the confidence that we have and then we have to start again,” said the Dutch international.

Liverpool remain in sixth following yesterday’s defeat and only one point behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, although Spurs, Manchester City and Aston Villa all have games in hand in the congested race for Champions League qualification.

Babel added: “We still have hope and faith that we can get fourth place. It will be harder in every game. It was going to be difficult even before this game. We needed to get three points and that’s why the disappointment is so big that we failed.

“We will analyse everything. We have made it a little difficult for ourselves. We had space in the first half to play football but then they scored and it upset things. They stayed behind the ball and it was hard for us.”

Roberto Martínez, the Wigan manager, admitted his tactics had succeeded in producing a frustrated reaction from Liverpool at the DW Stadium, where they collected five bookings. The Spaniard said: “You have to give us credit. We caused them to be frustrated. They couldn’t find a way through and there was a frustrated reaction from Liverpool, but that was down to the work ethic and understanding between the Wigan Athletic players.”

Liverpool travel to France on Thursday ahead of the Europa League last-16 first-leg tie against Lille, who are fifth in Ligue

Mar 09

Steven Gerrard unlikely to be punished for V-sign at referee

• Liverpool midfielder gestured at referee after yellow card
• Andre Marriner deemed incident unworthy of punishment

Steven Gerrard is unlikely to face censure from the Football Association for allegedly flicking a V-sign at the referee Andre Marriner during Liverpool’s costly defeat at Wigan Athletic last night.

Footage of Gerrard’s reaction to his 82nd minute booking at the DW Stadium appears to show the Liverpool captain gesturing towards the match official and mouthing an obscenity. Marriner, however, is believed to have witnessed the incident at the time and deemed it unworthy of further punishment.

Unless the FA are informed the referee has reconsidered his initial verdict, no charges are expected to be brought against Gerrard, who captained England against Egypt last week in the wake of the John Terry controversy.

The FA is likely to let the matter drop with Liverpool officials, who spoke to the midfielder after the game, adamant Gerrard’s gesture was not offensive or intended for the referee.

Steven GerrardLiverpoolPremier LeagueRefereesAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

Num	Team	PTS	G	GD
1	Manchester United	63	29	43
2	Chelsea	61	28	39
3	Arsenal	61	29	37
4	Tottenham Hotspur	49	28	23
5	Manchester City	49	27	17
6	Liverpool	48	29	16
7	Aston Villa	45	26	16
8	Birmingham City	43	28	-1
9	Everton	41	28	4
10	Fulham	38	28	3
11	Stoke City	35	28	-5
12	Blackburn Rovers	34	28	-15
13	Sunderland	30	28	-8
14	Bolton Wanderers	29	29	-22
15	Wigan Athletic	28	28	-26
16	West Ham United	27	28	-9
17	Wolverhampton Wanderers	24	28	-25
18	Burnley	24	29	-31
19	Hull City	24	28	-33
20	Portsmouth	19	28	-23

Watch Liverpool

Rafael Benítez defends Steven Gerrard over V-sign controversy

Liverpool lacking in confidence, says Ryan Babel

Steven Gerrard unlikely to be punished for V-sign at referee

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