Benitez fed up with words and no action

The Liverpool manager likes to use colourful imagery to put a point across and was at it again in the team's Athens hotel on Thursday as he once more pictured himself in a store and said: "If you have £5 to spend, you might struggle to find something you want. But if you have £5,000, it is much easier."

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Anfield chiefs may be tempted to shrug their shoulders and dismiss it as just another example of his occasional eccentricity. If they truly want him to become as much a part of the furniture as Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley were before him, they would be well advised not to.

Benitez's mood, as he held court shortly before heading for Athens airport, was every bit as dark as in Valencia, when he blinked in disbelief at sporting director Jesus Garcia Pitarch's response to his shortlist of handpicked transfer targets and decided it was time to go.

After three years of steadfastly supporting his players and arguing that progress was being made, he finally lost his patience, in the aftermath of the 2-1 Champions League Final defeat by AC Milan.

But not with those who had fallen agonisingly short a few hours earlier and been found wanting again in the Premiership.

Benitez is never afraid of being ruthless with his squad, as he showed by denying Robbie Fowler even a place on the bench in Athens.

Mark Gonzalez, Bolo Zenden and Craig Bellamy will be added to the list of departures, with question-marks remaining over John Arne Riise, Sami Hyypia and Harry Kewell.

On Thursday night it emerged that Newcastle might be prepared to offer terms to Fowler, while goalgoalkeeper Jerzy Dudek interests Benfica.

But Benitez's real anger was reserved for what he perceives as transfer intransigence by chief executive Rick Parry.

In a rare show of dissent towards his own employers, Benitez implicated the long-serving Parry as he warned that any more dithering over incoming deals could wreck their hopes of a title challenge next season, and even leave his own future shrouded in uncertainty.

Benitez has become increasingly unhappy at an apparent lack of decisive action on the transfer front and believes it has scuppered a series of prospective signings, from Arsenal trio Theo Walcott, Abou Diaby and Denilson to Nemanja Vidic, who ended up at Manchester United, and Sevilla wing back Daniel Alves, who could have been snapped up a year ago.

The frustration has previously remained pent up, but it came pouring out as he sent out a blunt message to new American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks that he not only expected funds for at least two major signings but wanted changes off the pitch as well.

"Now is the time for doing things not just talking about it, and the first thing is to improve the squad," said Benitez.

"Manchester United have just paid £20million for a midfield player [Owen Hargreaves], and that shows how far away we are in terms of spending.

"It is not about working in August. Forget that. If you don't get your first-choice signings in now, you end up having to make do with second or third options. And then you get nowhere.

"It needs to be done quickly. Not just numbers, either, but real quality. The players gave absolutely everything against Milan but can't maintain that effort for nine months.

"That is why we have finished 21 points behind United in the Premiership. Even last season, with a record tally of 82 points, we were still nine adrift of Chelsea.

"If we don't act now, a place in the top four is going to be as much as we can hope for. Chelsea, United and Arsenal are all improving, so if we don't do the right things now, we will be heading for another missed opportunity. Third or fourth, 20 points behind top place.

"If you spend two or three weeks waiting then talking and talking, you can't sign the player you want. We have two clear options at the moment, two players we can sign right now for 15-20m euros, and we must say: 'Sign them. Do it now'."

Benitez added: "I''m tired of us talking and talking. We talk and talk, but we never finish. Talking to players we want to sign for one, two or even six months, then losing them, bothers me greatly. I want things done.

"It would be easier for me to say just forget it, we can't get to the top of the Premiership. But I want to fight for that. I want first place, rather than third with a record number of points and people saying: 'Bad luck'.

"The club now have the power and potential to achieve all these things, but we cannot hesitate any longer. We have new owners who have invested £400m. They want a new stadium filled to capacity every game, and they know what is required.

"But maybe they need to understand that this is the right moment for getting things done. As a manager, I can't understand just talking and knowing your team will finish 20-odd points behind the champions."

Benitez has worked his way through nearly £100million in his three seasons at Anfield, but he insists the time has arrived for concentrating on quality, rather than quantity.

"We signed some good players after the last Champions' League final and finished third with 82 points the following season," he said.

"People keep saying we are getting close, when we are not. We have finished 21 or 30 points behind with a team that cannot give any more.

"I have confidence in the American owners. They say they will back me, so I must trust them. But I want to see things happening right now."