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Gerrard under scrutiny after two-fingered gesture
ESPN staff
March 9, 2010
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Steven Gerrard and Liverpool were disappointing in a 1-0 defeat against Wigan Athletic on Monday night
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Steven Gerrard's conduct is under scrutiny on Tuesday morning but Rafael Benitez insists he did not see the incident in which his captain is alleged to have made a crude gesture towards referee Andre Marriner during Liverpool's defeat to Wigan.
A photo of Gerrard's alleged insult adorns the back page of multiple newspapers in England, with reports indicating the midfielder could be the subject of disciplinary action from the Football Association. Gerrard also appeared to mouth an obscenity after being booked for a challenge on James McCarthy.
Liverpool officials have denied any wrongdoing on Gerrard's part and Benitez was unwilling to comment on the controversy surrounding the man who captained England against Egypt last week.
"I don't know if Steven did anything or not, because it was too far away to see," Benitez said following the 1-0 defeat for his side at the DW Stadium.
As well as leaving their captain fearing disciplinary action, the defeat to Wigan was also a substantial setback to Liverpool's hopes of finishing in fourth. The Reds are currently in sixth place and have played more games than their rivals for the final Champions League spot - Tottenham, Manchester City and Aston Villa.
Liverpool failed to muster even a single shot on target against Wigan and Benitez was visibly frustrated with the performance of his side as they suffered a ninth defeat of the season.
"We have to win games. We cannot approach an important game like this and then play in this way," Benitez said. "You have some good games, bad games, but at this time in a crucial moment I think we could do better.
"Sometimes you play badly but it is not a question of remembering too many games, it is a question of analysing why we didn't show the character. The first half was very poor. We didn't show character or attitude, nothing.
"There were too many mistakes. We gave the ball away, we didn't win any first or second ball, and that is difficult to explain. I think it was a question of attitude in the first half; sometimes we played too quickly, we were in too much of a hurry. It was a poor half. In the second half there was a much better attitude but it was not enough.
"We had some chances but we didn't play well. If you approach the game in this kind of way you cannot win this kind of game or maybe any game. Everyone is very low. There are too many things we cannot understand."
© ESPN EMEA Ltd
