The shopping is over - now Rafa simply has to deliver - Sport

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After falling short in the league again last season, Rafa Benitez warned George Gillett and Tom Hicks that Liverpool had to "take two steps at a time" in the transfer market if long-held ambitions were to be fulfilled.

Great expectations: Fernando Torres

An outlay in excess of £50million may have put the Liverpool manager under more pressure to deliver the club's first title since 1990, but there was little sign of it as he said: "Every manager is under pressure so I'm no different in that respect. Who do you think is under the most? Is it Sir Alex Ferguson as he tries to defend the title after spending big money, Jose Mourinho after finishing second and spending a lot over three years or Arsene Wenger after a few years without the title and now losing Thierry Henry?

"Make no mistake, we are all under pressure to deliver. Over the course of nine months last season we fell short and that was why we needed to take two steps forward after the Champions League Final. We have taken those strides now and that means we can be closer to top place."

Benitez once more resisted calls to decide on his best starting 11 and stick to it as much as possible. He said: "I know the expression about not changing a winning team but it is also true that a tired team become a losing team. In modern football you have to change players.' If Benitez can expect to be under close scrutiny so can Fernando Torres after arriving from Atletico Madrid for a club record £20m.

Benitez said: "I think Fernando will be ready for the challenge. There will be talk of him being under pressure, but he had seven years of that in Madrid."