Rafa ready for long term Chelsea battle

There is no doubt that Chelsea have transformed the Premiership pecking order in a short amount of time mainly due to the vast amounts of money always available both for transfers and wages. However Rafa remains defiant that we will compete with them over the coming years:

"Nobody in England before has had to play against a side which spends £100million every year on players," he said.
"But I'm not afraid of them. I know we can achieve everything we want at Liverpool.
"I know we need to reduce the gap, but we played well against Middlesbrough, Tottenham and Manchester United and could have won those games. I feel we are at the same level as Manchester United now.
"I know we have a good team and a good squad, but I also know that we must improve and that's what we're continuing to work towards. I believe we should look to the future with confidence.
"The Chelsea game is gone now. When you can't change anything, all you can do is forget about it, analyse why it happened and make the necessary changes to ensure it doesn't happen again in the future."
But he accepts improvements have to be made, adding: "We need to learn from the mistakes and put it right. Arsenal and Manchester United will also be thinking the same. Over nine months of a season a side can beat anyone.
"It's true this year Chelsea have started well, but it's dangerous to think too much about what they do. We must concentrate on our own club, nothing else.
"I know we have a good team and a good squad, but I also know that we must improve and that's what we're continuing to work towards. I believe we should look to the future with confidence."
Hopefully Rafa is right. It will also help if some other teams can compete with them as well because a decent title race is already looking unlikely this season.
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