[centraal] Liverpool FC, Rush #9

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GERRARD SENDS WARNING TO EVERTON

Steven Gerrard issued a derby warning to local rivals Everton as boss Rafael Benitez insisted he never lost faith in his strikers despite their goal famine.
The Liverpool boss has now seen his side scored 15 goals in three games, after managing only 15 in their previous 16 matches.

The tide has turned dramatically for Peter Crouch, Fernando Morientes, Djibril Cisse and Robbie Fowler, who prior to last week's 5-1 win over Fulham had scored just one goal between them in 51 hours of playing time.

A 3-1 win at Newcastle United followed on Sunday before Tuesday night’s 7-0 mauling of Birmingham to reach the FA Cup semi-finals, their 33rd appearance at this stage - including replays - in their history.

For Gerrard, the chance to make a psychological point with Saturday's 203rd Mersey derby against Everton next up, was not going to be lost.

He said: "I was listening to some of the Everton players saying they were happy to be coming to Anfield full of confidence but it's the same for us now, and that makes the derby a lot more interesting!

"We've been getting criticised for not scoring goals of late but hopefully we have proved the critics wrong. We were really pleased with our performance at Birmingham.

"Nothing has changed in terms of why we're suddenly scoring goals. I just think we're getting more luck now. We've always been playing well but the strikers hadn't been having much luck. Now they're starting to go in and we're delighted."

Crouch has now scored four in three games, and has a very impressive record of 11 goals in his last 24 matches for the club, having suffered much criticism for not scoring in his first 18 games.

Now Crouch is even thinking in terms of hat-tricks.

He said: "I was a bit gutted to be substituted at Birmingham and not to have a chance of a hat-trick. But the manager was thinking about the Everton game.

"It was a great performance by us and a good result. It's always the case that when you score a couple of goals then the next ones tend to go in a bit easier. Hopefully we can keep this run going now."

Benitez is just delighted the goals are starting to flow again and claims he never lost confidence in his strikers.

He said: "I was happy with the final result but also with the performance of the players. They scored goals.

"Sometimes you cannot score after 30 attempts in a game, this time every time we had a shot we seemed to score.

"It is all about luck. We have quality and I have always believed my strikers were good players, but you always need luck.

"We always said we had confidence in them, they have quality and we have different strikers with different skills. But I knew they could score.

"It is not normal to score 15 in three games, but it was not normal not to score in the previous matches when we were creating so many chances in each game."

Prior to the victory over Fulham, Morientes had not scored in 15 games, Cisse 14, Fowler eight while Crouch had managed one in 13.

Benitez added: "Now I want to see more goals right to the end of the season, we want to get to the FA Cup final and finish runners-up, those are our aims now."

Benitez was also delighted with the return of midfielder Mohamed Sissoko, just a month after the shocking eye injury it initially was feared could end his career.

The Spanish manager said: "Sissoko's return was the best thing for us. He showed character and he wants to play for us and win, it was really good to see him out on the pitch."

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Op donderdag 23 maart 2006 17:13 schreef methodmich het volgende:
Zenden doet het toch zo gek niet?

Defoe voor Cissé lijkt me redelijk lood om oud ijzer.

en Zenden terug naar Chelsea

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Op donderdag 23 maart 2006 18:21 schreef Barnet_Bee het volgende:
Defoe voor Cissé zou een goede ruil zijn. Snap alleen niet waarom Jol Cissé wil hebben.

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Op maandag 3 april 2006 08:55 schreef stevengerrard het volgende:
Jaja we leven nog....Maar we zijn achter de schermen hard bezig

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Op zondag 16 april 2006 18:04 schreef stevengerrard het volgende:
Blackburn haalt europees voetbal nog wel Timo......