Tal Ben Haim has accused Fernando Torres of deliberately using his
elbow on him during Liverpool's crushing defeat at Portsmouth on
Saturday.
Ben Haim, 27, was caught in the face by the Spain striker
during the second half of Pompey's win and admitted he had to stay
calm to protect the lead against Rafael Benitez's men and boost his
side's hopes of Premier League survival.
"I thought he came with the elbow," said the Israel
centre-back.
The former Chelsea player insists Avram Grant's men had the
last laugh by earning their valuable win.
"At the end of the day, this challenge and other challenges
are not important," he said.
"In the game, there are many challenges that you could say
maybe it's yellow or maybe it's red. It's part of the game and you
need to continue playing.
"I don't pay much attention to that stuff because after that
immediately you have to be focused and you don't want to make
stupid challenges to get yourself sent off and leave your
team-mates a man down. You need to control yourself. It was good
for me to be like that."
Ben Haim was also involved in the tackle that led to Javier
Mascherano getting a straight red card in the first half, which
Benitez felt changed the game.
"I thought that it was a good decision by the referee," he
said. "Especially as I moved the ball when he came. It's part of
the game so you have to take it."
Midfielder Jamie O'Hara believes Fratton Park's atmosphere
played a part in Liverpool's dismal performance, along with a lack
of confidence running through Benitez's squad.
"No one wants to come to Fratton Park," he said. "The fans
are fantastic and over the last few weeks we've made it a hard
place to come."
On Liverpool, he added: "Something maybe isn't gelling in the
team. Maybe something isn't quite right. They lost a couple of good
players and it's going to be difficult to replace people like Xabi
Alonso.
"I still fancy them being up there at the end of the season
challenging for the Champions League spot because you can never
write them off."
Ben Haim points finger at Torres
Tal Ben Haim has accused Fernando Torres of deliberately using his
elbow on him during Liverpool's crushing defeat at Portsmouth on
Saturday.
Ben Haim, 27, was caught in the face by the Spain striker
during the second half of Pompey's win and admitted he had to stay
calm to protect the lead against Rafael Benitez's men and boost his
side's hopes of Premier League survival.
"I thought he came with the elbow," said the Israel
centre-back.
The former Chelsea player insists Avram Grant's men had the
last laugh by earning their valuable win.
"At the end of the day, this challenge and other challenges
are not important," he said.
"In the game, there are many challenges that you could say
maybe it's yellow or maybe it's red. It's part of the game and you
need to continue playing.
"I don't pay much attention to that stuff because after that
immediately you have to be focused and you don't want to make
stupid challenges to get yourself sent off and leave your
team-mates a man down. You need to control yourself. It was good
for me to be like that."
Ben Haim was also involved in the tackle that led to Javier
Mascherano getting a straight red card in the first half, which
Benitez felt changed the game.
"I thought that it was a good decision by the referee," he
said. "Especially as I moved the ball when he came. It's part of
the game so you have to take it."
Midfielder Jamie O'Hara believes Fratton Park's atmosphere
played a part in Liverpool's dismal performance, along with a lack
of confidence running through Benitez's squad.
"No one wants to come to Fratton Park," he said. "The fans
are fantastic and over the last few weeks we've made it a hard
place to come."
On Liverpool, he added: "Something maybe isn't gelling in the
team. Maybe something isn't quite right. They lost a couple of good
players and it's going to be difficult to replace people like Xabi
Alonso.
"I still fancy them being up there at the end of the season
challenging for the Champions League spot because you can never
write them off."