[lfc-news] Hyypia staying focused on the challenges ahead - Post

Liverpool Daily Post, 3 Mar 2005
Hyypia staying focused on the challenges ahead
By Laurence Francis, Daily Post

THE feeling of disappointment may still be acute inside the Liverpool
dressing room but Sami Hyypia insists the Reds are ready to tackle the
enormous challenge ahead of them.

Though still bitterly upset by the Carling Cup final defeat against
Chelsea last Sunday, Hyypia is well aware of the need to bounce back as
quickly as possible as the race for the fourth Champions League place
intensifies.

With Everton extending their lead in the table to eight points over
Rafael Benitez's men last weekend, Liverpool have no margin for error in
the remaining 11 games of the campaign if they are to bridge the gap,
starting against Newcastle on Saturday.

There is no doubt that the idiosyncrasies in Liverpool's play have cost
them dearly this season. But, as Hyypia points out, the prospect of
missing out on a ticket to next year's Champions League is something the
players will not even contemplate.

"We have to know that fourth place is very important to the future,"
said Hyypia. "I think we have been a bit inconsistent. But if we can
change it and find the reason why we are doing it then we will stop
being inconsistent in the future."

There will be nobody working harder in the remaining weeks than Anfield
manager Benitez to find the magic formula that will help his
underachieving side finish the campaign with a flourish.

Whether it is poring over videos in his office at Liverpool's Melwood
training retreat or bellowing instructions from the technical area, the
assiduous Benitez will leave no stone unturned in the final push.

Before the Carling Cup final, John Arne Riise spoke of how Benitez has
made such a difference to his game since the coach arrived from Valencia
and Hyypia appreciates where the Norwegian is coming from.

The Finland international has certainly recovered some of his old
sparkle this year and he credits that to Benitez's innovative ways.

"I have been here a bit longer than John but of course the new manager
has brought new things to our game and for some people it has changed a
lot," Hyypia observed. "For others, it doesn't. But it has been a good
time to work with Rafael Benitez.

"Hopefully, he can make us an even better team and it's up to us to find
that consistency. His record with Valencia was very good and I'd like to
think he'd be able to do the same stuff here.

"He tells me that I have to be more aggressive! I have tried to do that
but it is very difficult to do that right away. I think that's the main
thing that he wants me to do. And tactically, the game has changed from
Gerard Houllier's time.

"Rafa gives a lot of technical advice and if we do something wrong in
the game, we watch a video and he tells us what to do when we are in a
certain situation next time. If there are not many goals, then the
defenders are doing their job properly."

There is, however, still plenty of room for improvement. The defence
that Benitez is looking to shore up has not kept a clean sheet in the
Premiership since December 28 and Newcastle's strikers will give them a
searching examination.

Liverpool have not won on Tyneside since September 2001 and that is a
statistic that will need to be remedied immediately if they are to keep
tabs on Everton.

And even though 31-year-old Hyypia warns that Liverpool are still very
much a team in transition, trying desperately to adapt to Benitez's
methods, he knows the time has come to find that elusive consistency.

"It takes time to adapt," Hyypia said. "Of course it does. But we still
need to learn a bit more. I think we have still got to find that
consistency, especially in defensive situations."

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