Benitez – Aquilani will make a difference to Liverpool
The Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez saw his new £20m signing Alberto Aquilani play his first 15 minutes for the team against Arsenal last night, and was inpressed with his commitment.
He also feels that the Italian could have earned his team an equaliser in injury time, when a scissor-kick from the Italian hit the hand of Phillipe Senderos in the Arsenal box.
“It could have been a penalty,” said Benitez, “Aquilani said it was a penalty and they did on TV. But you can’t change the situation, so we have to carry on. It would have been the perfect start, and always when you start doing things good, the fans support you more. But hopefully he will be more lucky in the future.
“The worst thing was the defeat but there were positives – passion, character, quality and Aquilani was one of these players. He still needs to improve his fitness but he can pass in the final third and make a difference to us. We need that kind of player.”
Aquilani still doesn’t have enough match fitness to play the full 90 minutes so he is likely to start on the bench again this weekend.
