Benitez: Local lads the key

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has spoken of the importance in having a British flavour in his team. 
 
He said: "When you talk about players like Robbie Fowler, Carragher, Gerrard, Bellamy and Pennant then they have a lot of passion and commitment for this club and that can only help us move forward,"
 
"Having local players and a lot of English and British players is important because they are prepared to go the extra yard to help the team. I don't think you can doubt the commitment of players like Xabi Alonso, Luis Garcia or Momo Sissoko, but having players who know the history of the club and have that passion can be good for us.
 
"Other clubs have their qualities and we have ours. I think the balance is right now. I can say it is almost impossible to win a trophy only with local players in any country. We have the passion in our players, we have skill and we also have to use our brains. But I'm happy because the combination is good.
 
"I have a lot of confidence in the team. We are signing players with quality, with pace and who can play very well in attack.
 
"We'll try to keep doing the things we did properly last season, like staying strong in defence, but also we will try and improve in attack."