The Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has spoken ahead of todays clash with West Ham on Liverpool's current fortunes.

"If you win the Champions League then people expect the Premier League the next season but it is not so easy. I am not afraid if people want more; I will try to give them more. I am not the kind of person to see a problem as impossible to solve. I am more anxious than ever to win every game, starting with West Ham."

"There was a crisis in 1929 [the Stock Market crash which led to the Great Depression]; maybe for some people we are suffering one now but I don't think so. In football everything can change in one week. I remember how amazing it was to see all the Liverpool fans out on the streets after we won the Champions' League and I want to bring them back out again."

Rafa on... squad rotation

"If you play one game every week it's easy (to play the same team), but if you're playing two or three games in eight days or two games in one week, it's more difficult. I don't feel a need to repeat the team. I think about picking the best players for each game. When you change the team and win, people say, 'Fantastic, the squad is good'. If you lose, people say, 'Maybe he needs to think about changing the team.'"

Rafa also insisted that he looks at the job in a very philosophical fashion.

"The club is a train and I am sat in the engine. If we go forward quickly, then the rest of the train can follow. I need to work on the engine and improve it so it so that it runs faster. After I know the engine is running in the right way, I can start to have a look at things travelling beind it. My priority is to improve the first team. I am sure the fans will give us more time. I remember when we won the Champions League and it was amazing when we came back to Liverpool and I want to see that again."

He has urged his players to cause the net to bulge this weekend.

"We need to create more chances. I want to see goals on Saturday, then people can start talking about other things. The attitude in training has been fantastic and they have been working hard this week. What I have seen on the training ground gives me confidence for this game."

"If you are a player and you don't shoot the next time after missing, then you won't score. If you put the ball in the stands and people whistle at you, if you don't try again you cannot score. If you pass badly, if you want to improve you must want to receive the ball and try again. If you cannot do those things then you are not a player for a top team."

And summing up, he said

"I have confidence in myself, in my team and in my staff. I have been training teams for 18 years and I know there is always another day. Each week things can change. Look at the En gland manager. I remember hearing so much after England had lost to Denmark, everyone was against the manager but they have qualified for the World Cup. Things can change quickly. I was told last season that it was the worst Liverpool team in 40 years yet we won the Champions League. I am now being told after two months of the season that we are no good, I say we must wait until the end of the season before making judgements."

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