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Rafael Benitez criticised Blackburn Rovers to conceal Liverpool’s poor performance - Sam Allardyce
Managers' war of words continues...
7 Mar 2010 11:11:00
By Gill Clark
Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce has responded to Rafael Benitez’s withering assessment of his team’s performance in last weekend’s clash at Liverpool.
The Reds took all three points in a 2-1 victory at Anfield, with Benitez launching a sarcastic appraisal of Rovers’ physical tactics post-match.
However, 'Big Sam' has now hit back at the Spaniard by claiming Benitez was trying to deflect attention away from another poor display by the Reds.
“Blackburn's [Rovers] performance was the best any of my teams have played there,” he told the Mail on Sunday.
"[Rafael] Benitez knows his team played poorly and were lucky to get a win so he deflected any criticism by personally criticising me.
"That covered the true facts that we had better opportunities than them and came extremely close to beating what is supposed to be an outstanding Liverpool team.
"Being able to wind up a manager is satisfying, even if it doesn't quite work your way in terms of results.
"It just galls him that we make things difficult for him when he plays against my teams. There's no love lost between us.
"The truth is Liverpool are having to dig out results when they are not playing well. They didn't particularly earn the win last week but they dug it out.”
Allardyce also insisted his managerial reputation as a purveyor of long-ball football was wholly inaccurate and was not fair on his players.
"My reputation has been a perception for some time rather than a reality,” he added.
"It's a great shame for the Blackburn players because it's not their fault the manager is tagged by a so-called long-ball style. It's just not factual."
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The Reds took all three points in a 2-1 victory at Anfield, with Benitez launching a sarcastic appraisal of Rovers’ physical tactics post-match.
However, 'Big Sam' has now hit back at the Spaniard by claiming Benitez was trying to deflect attention away from another poor display by the Reds.
“Blackburn's [Rovers] performance was the best any of my teams have played there,” he told the Mail on Sunday.
"[Rafael] Benitez knows his team played poorly and were lucky to get a win so he deflected any criticism by personally criticising me.
"That covered the true facts that we had better opportunities than them and came extremely close to beating what is supposed to be an outstanding Liverpool team.
"Being able to wind up a manager is satisfying, even if it doesn't quite work your way in terms of results.
"It just galls him that we make things difficult for him when he plays against my teams. There's no love lost between us.
"The truth is Liverpool are having to dig out results when they are not playing well. They didn't particularly earn the win last week but they dug it out.”
Allardyce also insisted his managerial reputation as a purveyor of long-ball football was wholly inaccurate and was not fair on his players.
"My reputation has been a perception for some time rather than a reality,” he added.
"It's a great shame for the Blackburn players because it's not their fault the manager is tagged by a so-called long-ball style. It's just not factual."
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|
| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £50 in free bets! |
|
| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
| Sign up with Paddy Power - Bet £10, Get £20! |
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