In light of Liverpool’s struggles this season, Rafael Benitez currently experiencing more criticism from his own fans than ever before. Liverpool’s record in the UEFA Champions League up until now is still enough to conclusively show that the Spaniard is one of the best in the world at negotiating his way through Europe’s top competition. But the lack of quality in the squad is as painfully evident as it was when Benitez arrived at Anfield, and barring a strong 2nd placed finish last season, he has been unable to bring a Premier League title any closer than either Gerard Houllier or Roy Evans did during their tenures.
There are lots of examinations of Benitez’s record in the transfer market currently doing the rounds on the internet, so for the record here is mine:
Season 2004/05
BOUGHT
Good buys:
£10.7m – Xabi Alonso: Possibly the best deep-lying playmaker in the world.
£6m – Luis Garcia: Scored some wonderful goals and provided the unexpected at a reasonable price.
£0.75m – Scott Carson: A good young reserve goalkeeper.
Bad buys:
£2m – Josemi: No pace, no skill, fouled a lot. A very poor signing.
£1.5m – Antonio Nunez: The reasons for including him in the Owen deal remain unclear. He was clearly not good enough to play for Liverpool.
Free – Pelligrino: Never adjusted, total misjudgement. A poor signing even for free.
£6.3m – Fernando Morientes: Never settled, poor signing ultimately, but nobody could have predicted that.
Total bought: £27.25m
SOLD
Free – Marcus Babbel
£2.5m – Danny Murphy: For a lowly £2.5m, Benitez should have tried to keep him in my opinion.
£8.5m – Michael Owen
Free – Stephane Henchoz
Total sold: £11m
2004/05 net spend: £16.25m
Losing a world-class striker at the age of 25 for £11m had a catastrophic effect on the squad. Benitez made the decision that balancing the midfield was a priority, but this left Liverpool without a single top-class striker in their ranks.
Although Alonso and Garcia were great signings who played a key role in the European Cup success, other players Benitez brought in contributed equally to our dismal domestic season.
Season 2005/06
BOUGHT
Good buys:
Free – Boudewijn Zenden
£6m – Pepe Reina: Terrific signing. World class keeper bought with at least a decade of football in him, all for a very reasonable price.
£5.6m – Momo Sissoko: Eventually lost out to injuries and competition from Mascherano, but was worth the fee paid.
£7m – Peter Crouch: To the surprise of many (including me), Peter Crouch’s time at Liverpool was a success.
£5.8m – Daniel Agger: Injuries have prevented him from being a fantastic signing. Still decent value.
Free – Robbie Fowler: “Pay as you play” – no risk. A disappointment but worth a go.
Bad buys:
£4.5m – Mark Gonzalez: Had pace and came with a reputation for scoring goals from the wing, but never settled into the UK’s style of football.
Exchange – Jan Kromkamp: Swapped for Josemi. Another budget attempt to provide competition at right-back was unsuccessful.
Total bought: £28.9m
SOLD
Free – Vladimir Smicer
£3.5m – El Hadji Diouf
Free – Pellegrino
£2m – Alou Diarra
£2m – Antonio Nunez
£6.5m – Milan Baros
Exchange – Josemi
Total sold: £14m
2005/06 net spend: £14.9m
Benitez’s dealings were mainly effective and he seemed to be quick to recognise his own mistakes in Josemi and Nunez. Good work overall.
Season 2006/07
BOUGHT
Good buys:
£6m – Craig Bellamy: Value for money and sold at a profit (£7.5m).
£9m – Dirk Kuyt: Great signing.
£2.5m – Alvaro Arbeloa: Great signing, sold to Real for profit (£3.5m). Shouldn’t have been allowed to leave ideally.
Loan – Javier Mascherano: Great loan signing which put us in pole position to secure his transfer.
Bad buys:
£2m – Gabriel Palletta: Waste of time and should never have been given a game. Poor signing.
Free – Fabio Aurelio: Injuries have prevented him from being a great free transfer, but Rafa did know all about his injury problems before he came.
£6.7m – Jermaine Pennant: Bad choice, and badly man-managed. The collapse of the deals for Simao and Alves were not Benitez’s fault, but his solution to the problem failed miserably.
Total bought: £26.2m
SOLD
£1.5m – Bruno Cheyrou.
£3m – Fernando Morientes
Free – Didi Hamann
£2m – Djimi Traore
£500,000 – Neil Mellor
£1.75m – Jan Kromkamp
£1.5m – Steven Warnock: A very poor bit of business.
Free – Salif Diao
Total sold: £8.75m
2006/07 net spend: £17.45m
A very mixed bag of transfer deals off the field saw the team’s league challenge on the pitch slide backwards.
Season 2007/08
BOUGHT
Good buys:
£6m – Lucas Leiva: Made sense to acquire a young winner of Brazil’s Golden Ball, but he’s been average value for money so far.
£20.2m – Fernando Torres: One of the world’s best strikers for a quarter of the price Real Madrid paid for Cristiano Ronaldo.
£5m – Yossi Benayoun: Excellent value for money.
£1.3m – Emiliano Insua: A good early signing, will hopefully settle into a world class full-back but still very much a work in progress.
£6.5m – Martin Skrtel: Value for money (although an alarming dip in form threatens that).
£18.6m – Javier Mascherano: Completion of loan deal
Bad buys:
£1.8m – Sebastian Leto: Never looked good enough for Liverpool.
Free – Andriy Voronin: Worth a punt for free, but things haven’t worked out for him.
£11.5m – Ryan Babel: Possibly the most talented yet inconsistent player I’ve ever seen play for Liverpool. Expensive, badly utilised, under performing. Not good at all.
Undisclosed – Charles Itandje: Not good enough for Liverpool. Now released.
Total bought: £71,425,000
SOLD
£2.7m – Florent Simana-Pongolle
Free – Jerzy Dudek
Free – Zenden
Free – Robbie Fowler
£4m – Luis Garcia
£6m – Djibril Cisse
£7.5m – Craig Bellamy
£3.5m – Mark Gonzalez
£1.2m – Gabriel Palletta
£3.5m – Chris Kirkland
£8.2m – Momo Sissoko
Total sold: £36.5m
2007/08 net spend: £34,925,000
Benitez was given more money to spend than he’d had at his disposal before. And for the most part he used it pretty well. Torres and Mascherano are world class. But having spent that money, Benitez came under pressure for the first time when the league title seemed no nearer.
Season 2008/09
BOUGHT
Good buys:
£8m – Albert Riera: Good value and adds balance on the left flank, but poor man-management seems to be causing an issue.
£1.5m – David N’gog
Bad buys:
Free – Philip Degen: Came with a reputation for being injury prone and has been constantly injured. In conjunction with the subsequent sale of Finnan, a very poor bit of business.
£7m – Andrea Dossena: Dreadful.
£3.5m – Diego Cavalieri: If the transfer fee is correct then it is poor business.
£19m – Robbie Keane: A total fiasco.
Total bought: £39m
SOLD
£4m – John Arne Riise
Free – Harry Kewell
£11m – Peter Crouch: Should not have been allowed to leave.
£2.25m – Danny Guthrie
£3.25m – Scott Carson: Benitez dithered on the deal and lost money as a result.
£1m – Steve Finnan: Should have been kept on.
£16m – Robbie Keane
£1.5m – Jack Hobbs
Total sold: £36.5m
2008/09 net spend: £2.5m
Although Benitez cannot be expected to revitalise a squad for £2.5m, the 08/09 season saw some dreadful business. The decision to sell Crouch and replace him with Keane was a catastrophic blunder. Benitez was all for replacing Alonso with Barry also, sowing the seeds for his eventual departure, awful. Although Liverpool actually mounted their strongest title challenge in over a decade, the squad’s quality overall took a big step back.
Season 2009/10
BOUGHT
£17.5m – Glen Johnson
£17.1m – Alberto Aquilani
£2m – Sotirios Kyrgiakos
Total bought: £36.6m
SOLD
£250,000 – Paul Anderson
Free – Jermaine Pennant
£3m – Sebastian Leto
£3.5m – Alvaro Arbeloa
£30m – Xabi Alonso: Although we made a good profit on him, Liverpool are supposed to keep their best players.
Total sold: £36.75m
2009/10 net spend: £-150,000
No money for Rafa again, and the cracks that began to appear last season become visible. It’s too early to judge the signings made most recently, but so far this season the squad seems roughly similar in quality to the one Benitez inherited.
Total Players Bought: £230,531,000
Total Players Sold: £143,600,000
Total Net Spend: £86,931,000 = about £15m per season.
Leaving to one side the very pertinent issue of Rafa Benitez’s working relationship with Rick Parry, the list of transfer deals above seems to me to be patchy at best. Some poor signings can be excused through mitigating circumstances, but others cannot. Also Benitez doesn’t seem to be able to make the best use of certain players, with many leaving the club amidst rumours of a poor relationship with him.
It worries me that Benitez’s dealings have been worse of late than they were earlier in his reign. This can partly be explained by the fact that he has been forced to sell to buy or buy cheap recently, but even so the Robbie Keane fiasco and the departures of key players such as Alonso and Crouch were surely avoidable.
But having said all of that, every manager makes mistakes. Benitez is being asked to build a team capable of challenging for the title, but he is not being given a transfer budget that compares to the two teams who have won the league for the last five seasons.
If Benitez was as good in the transfer market as he is tactically, then Liverpool would have a stronger squad, there is no doubt of that. But he cannot be expected to win a league title with an inferior budget. Even Arsene Wenger, possibly the most shrewd transfer market operator the Premiership has seen, has been unable to achieve domestic success since Roman Abramovich arrived at Chelsea.
So overall, I feel that although Benitez should not be exempt from criticism, he deserves more support than he is currently getting.
It’s at times like 2030 BST last night when I have no inclination to write about football, especially Liverpool FC. But it has to be done, so I’ve duly posted my view up on Liverpool Banter. You can read it here:
http://www.liverpoolbanter.co.uk/2009/09/an-evening-of-frustration.html
Filed under: Liverpool FC
Tom: Howdy partner?
George: Tom – good to speak to you. What’s up?
Tom: Tryin to figure out some new ways to milk our cow, ya know?
George: Sure! Gotta keep up the payments and still leave some room for skimming off the top, there’s a recession on.
Good that the Spaniard didn’t walk when we cut his transfer budget to zero – he figures he’ll beat us by winning the title anyway, can you believe? But we still need another 20m for the interest due till the next refinancing of the loan. You got any ideas?
Tom: I have a humdinger of an idea, it’s so cool: we bring in a membership scheme, and make 5000 seats available for each home game to sell online to the ‘official members’.
George: You mean ‘official mugs’, right?
Tom: Right. The loyal patsies will sign up in numbers far in excess of the available tickets, – so that’s just money in our pockets for nothing – and even those who do occasionally get tickets will be paying the regular rate PLUS their membership subscription for them: close to a 100% price hike if they are successful just once! And we’ll make sure the system is so bad they won’t succeed often. Whaddya think?
George: Gotta admit, I am impressed Tom. But won’t they get mad and want their money back when they all try to get online to buy their tickets and the system buckles every time? I mean: I assume we are not going to upgrade the server to cope with the traffic? That would cost us money.
Tom: Are you kiddin? We ain’t gonna spend a damn thing! Believe me, they’ll still be comin’ back all season long, bright and early, every time a sale is on, refreshing and refreshing, reloading and reloading, redialling and redialling.
George: Yeah, ain’t that strange? I mean, ain’t it curious how they go on paying, and putting up with us? Go figure.
Tom: Don’t knock it, George. It’s making us richer.
George: Amen to that partner.
This video might be a little bit close to the bone for Liverpool fans, but you have to be able to laugh in the face of adversity. Hats off to Jaimie Kanwar at Liverpool Kop for this one, as long as you don’t speak German, it is utterly superb:
http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2009/08/video-exclusive-hitler-discovers-rafa.html
PS The actual film is pretty good too.
It’s been a ridiculously long time coming, but Alonso has finally signed for Real Madrid. Rafa Benitez himself confessed yesterday day that Alonso had voiced his desire to leave way back in May, so the fact that it has taken 3 m0nths for the transfer to finally conclude must be frustrating for all concerned. Certainly from a Liverpool fan’s perspective, the fact that the whole thing has become a public saga chronicled daily on the back pages of every newspaper suggests that the trend of poor administration which saw Owen leave and Gerrard nearly follow him a few seasons back has not ended with the departure of Rick Parry.
Reports in the media suggest that Liverpool have already agreed a fee with Roma for their midfielder Alberto Aquilani. However, since Liverpool have been in contact regarding the player’s availability for weeks, this is not really significant news. Aquilani’s medical is the next major hurdle in that particular transfer. Either way, Alonso was widely regarded as a key player at Anfield, and Aquilani does not represent an exact replacement. So as many Liverpool fans make their voices heard in protest at what they perceive to be a voluntary and thus misguided sale on the part of Benitez, it’s interesting to ask the question, how badly will Alonso be missed by Liverpool this season?
Jan Molby was one of the finest central-midfield playmakers to play the game. His control and awareness were 2nd to none to the extent that he achieved a reputation as a truly top-class footballer whilst carrying an extra couple of stones in weight for his entire career. Indeed, since Alonso delivered his first passing masterclass on English shores on his home debut (Norwich gave him space and didn’t know what had hit them), he’s often been described as “at least the best passer of the ball since Molby”. So the fact that the rotund Dane regards Alonso as at least Liverpool’s 3rd most influential player is significant. And while I wouldn’t like to say that Alonso is necessarily more influential than the likes of Pepe Reina, Dirk Kuyt, Jamie Carragher and Javier Mascherano, I do feel that Alonso had an outstanding 2008/2009 season. At his best, he shows a wonderful ability to make maintaining possession significantly easier for his team mates by offering for the simple pass and then moving the ball on to another teammate who is in a decent amount of space. In terms of the process pundits refer to as “recycling possession”, there are none better than Xabi.
On the other hand, you could argue that during a season in which Liverpool scored more league goals than any of their domestic rivals, Alonso’s relatively meagre contribution of 3 goals and 4 assists suggests another view. Moreover, arguably Liverpool’s best result of last season (their 4-1 win at Old Trafford) was achieved with Lucas Leiva in central midfield, not Alonso. Dave Prentice, the Liverpool Echo’s Deputy Head of Sport, recently put forward his views on the matter in an interesting v-log. Although I’m not sure about the accuracy of his statistics, I think his argument that Alonso represents something of a luxury in midfield is worth considering. Prentice suggests that having 2 deep-lying central midfielders places too much responsibility of wide players to create and score goals, and argues that the money from Alonso’s sale could be used to strengthen those wide areas whilst bringing in a more attack-minded central midfielder. And the fact that recent successes of teams such as Man Utd, Barcelona and Chelsea have been achieved with only 1 holding midfielder supports this. So perhaps Liverpool will have a better balance next season if they replace Alonso with Aquilani (or a similarly attacking central midfield player) and use the surplus money from Alonso’s sale plus anything extra raised from selling remaining fringe players to reinforce the wide areas. It’s an interesting argument, but not one I actually buy into. Last season, Liverpool scored more league goals than any other team, and Alonso was voted the fans’ player of the season. As far as I’m concerned, any debate about his contribution and how he affects the balance of the team ends with those two simple facts. He was a key player, and not one who ought to have been sold voluntarily.
Which brings me to the next issue in the Alonso saga. Did Rafa Benitez decide to sell him? Could he have kept him? As I said above, Rafa Benitez admitted yesterday that Alonso had made his desire to leave clear right back in May, and Alonso confirmed this when speaking to the Spanish press following the completion of his transfer. Last summer, Gareth Barry and Cristiano Ronaldo were examples of clubs managing to withstand the rise of “player-power”, but those are the exceptions to the rule. These days, when a player wants to leave, he leaves, and a contract only gives the club who hold the player’s registration a little bit of extra bargaining clout in terms of the transfer fee. So in defence of Benitez, he might have had no choice. But actually, whether or not it would have been possible to deny Alonso his wish this summer, I think Benitez himself has contributed significantly to that the player having that wish in the first place. Firstly, it was clear to everyone last summer that Benitez wanted to sell Alonso and buy Gareth Barry, only financial constraints prevented him from doing so (and if he’d succeeded, then bearing in mind that he also signed Robbie Keane and Andrea Dossena, it would have been a summer of business on a par with Houllier’s infamous Diouf-Diao-Cheyrou fiasco). Ever since then, Alonso must have felt less wanted and valued on Merseyside. Secondly, even if he was wanted after last season’s vast improvement, since Benitez is notoriously aloof with his players, he may never have felt properly appreciated. Finally, although agents and journalists ensure that there can actually be plenty of smoke without an actual fire during the transfer window, I think Javier Mascherano has flirted with the idea of a move abroad this summer. Benitez’s response has been to completely deny him that option, so it can be done if the manager really wants it. Therefore, in my opinion Rafa Benitez will stand or fall by what I regard as his decision to allow Alonso to leave. If we slump back into a race for 4th place next season, with a midfield that lacks the balance of last season, then he’ll definitely have reason to feel hot under the collar. On the other hand, if our squad is stronger overall, then it will go down as a wonderful judgement. For now, all we can say is, “we’ll see”.
Don't shake his hand Xabi!
In the meantime, Liverpool fans will remember Alonso as one of the finest passers of the ball to wear the red shirt. His penalty in Istanbul, both his goals from inside his own half, his tremendous display during the 10-men demolition of Everton and his constant and total level of professionalism and dignity will not be forgotten. He travels to Madrid with the best wishes of every proper Liverpool fan.
Oh the man is a midfield maestro
And his passing is so delightful
Everyone wants to know
Alonso, Alonso, Alonso.
Good luck Xabi (I’ll miss that song).
Here’s a pair of handsome devils:
And saving the best till last:
Liverpool's 1st new signing of the summer?
These pictures are genuine, having been released on Liverpool’s official site. But I must say I’m not bowled over by them. The last time Liverpool began a season wearing a black away kit having finished 2nd the previous season, they went on to endure their worst run of form for 50 years and eventually failed to qualify for the Champions League. So from a superstitious point of view, the colour choice isn’t great news for Reds fans. Moreover charcoal and gold, whilst being a nice combination when considered in the abstract, are not really traditional colours for a football kit. I’m reminded of Spurs brown and purple efforts, which is definitely not a good thing. However, in football, looking alright is not the main thing. It’s a results business after all.
Next up, Manchester City’s gear for next year:
A fairly standard Umbro offering, suitably mediocre.
I’ve got that horrible early May feeling, a niggling sense of unease and foreboding, the season is nearly over. Following today’s victory in the Manchester derby, which was achieved with remarkable ease whilst resting several key players, Man Utd need just 4 points from their next 2 games to seal their 18th league-title. As I write, Barcelona are closing in on victory against Villareal, a victory that will confirm them as the champions of Spain. Hell, even my own Sunday League team played their final game of the season today (we won the league by the way). Unfortunately, this summer there is no World Cup or European Championships to keep my appetite for football satisfied. so what am I going to do with myself for the next few months?
I can’t stand the weeks of speculation in the transfer market. Scanning the papers for reports of rumours linking every player under the sun to every club under the sun? That’s not interesting, that’s really boring. I’d rather close my eyes and ears until the transfer window has closed, and then have a look at who’s playing where. But irritatingly, I know that once the final ball of the 2008/09 season has been kicked, I’ll find it impossible to resist the temptation to pick up the paper and turn immediately to the football pages. After all, what else have I got? It’s at times like these when I wished I was into cricket, but I’m not.
Cricket, people like it, but it's not really the same as football is it?
Having said all of that, perhaps I’m being a little premature. We still have the FA Cup final to look forward to, although given that it will be an all-blue contest, I will not be watching, But there is of course the final of the Champions League yet to come. When Barcelona and Man Utd meet on the 27th of May it will be the first time in 11 years that the final of the competition is contested by two domestic champions from the previous season. I’m not sure why this means anything to me, especially given that 75% of this year’s semi-finalists were from the same country, but I still believe that the European Cup would be a better competition if it were for champions and champions only. I would even swap what was a wonderful night in Istanbul for such a competition. But that’s another story, the point is the season isn’t quite over yet, and so perhaps I ought to learn to appreciate what’s left of it while it lasts.
But the fact is, I know that for 3 months that will seem like an eternity, my life will be missing a massive chunk. Then again, perhaps it will be the making of me and I’ll actually do something productive with my time. And in the meantime, COME ON BARCA!
Having let the dust settle on Liverpool and Arsenal’s bizarrely entertaining encounter on Tuesday night, here are some of the related articles I enjoyed reading.
When Chris Bascombe defected from the Echo and started making up complete rubbish for the News Of The World (causing some controversy it must be said), Tony Barrett stepped up to become the main writer for matter relating to Liverpool Football Club, and I always enjoy his articles. So first up is his official report for the Echo on the Tuesday night’s game:
Secondly, I thought Phil McNulty‘s article in his Blog for the BBC was a fairly spot on analysis of both the events of the game, the context in which they took place and how they affect what’s left of the title-race. So here it is:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philmcnulty/2009/04/rafael_benitezs_mood_was_so.html
Next up, Matt Hughes‘ comment for The Game football supplement in The Times nicely reminds the reader that Liverpool’s title challenge was not ended by Andrey Arshavin (if indeed it has been ended), but by their early season draws at home including 0-0s against Stoke, West Ham and Fulham. It’s worth a read:
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2009/04/rafa-benitez-should-have-gone-for-broke-earlier.html
And lastly, Scott Bennett’s opinion of the game for EPL Talk was certainly different. Bennett found it hard to reconcile himself with the idea that a game packed so full of defensive errors could be regarded as a classic. His argument is interesting:
http://www.epltalk.com/liverpool-arsenal-flatter-to-deceive-in-8-goal-cock-up/6133
Plus, I wanted to spare a thought for Ray Kennedy (the former Liverpool player whose 20-year battle with Parkinson’s has left him in financial crisis), and the excellent show of unity and support for him from both Liverpool and Arsenal supporters. Ray Kennedy was nothing short of a legend at Liverpool, his seemingly unlikely transformation from striker to midfielder will be remembered as one of (Sir) Bob Paisley’s shrewdest manoeuvres, which is really saying something. But he was also a member of the Arsenal side which won the double in 1971, and therefore commands a place in their hearts also. Before the game, mosaics were raised (pictured below) to raise awareness for the Ray of Hope Appeal.
I can’t remember a time when two games were played out in such bizarre and dramatic circumstances, that were also so pivotal to a team’s season. Liverpool’s last two games, both 4-4 draws, have contained a rich mixture of despair, excitement, desperation, anger, adrenaline and ultimately total despair from the point of view of their supporters. One thing’s for certain, anyone who reckons Rafael Benitez is an advocate of boring football needs a firm punch to the throat.
Plenty has already been said about the 2nd leg of Liverpool’s UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final clash with Chelsea. It was a brave show of resistance from a Liverpool side shorn of their inspirational skipper, in a game littered with defensive errors, but ultimately a result over the two legs that was essentially established after the first 90 minutes. But while Tuesday night also included most of the elements described above, Liverpool had plenty of reason to feel optimistic ahead of their must-win game with Arsenal. But they didn’t win. It’s worth pointing out that Arsenal came to Anfield with their league season all but finished, and Arsene Wenger effectively chose to rest both of his 1st choice strikers. Had Van Persie and Adebayor been playing, Liverpool might not have been able to dominate the majority of the game to the extent that they did. But as it was, merely having 3 times the number of efforts on target (Arsenal scored with each of theirs), the lion’s share of possession and numerous corners without reply was not enough to secure the right result. And as has been said often, football is a results business. Credit to Arsenal, and obviously to the irritatingly baby-faced Andrey Arshavin in particular, for finishing the 4 chances they created (or were gifted) with such lethal efficiency. But for Liverpool, some serious thought has to go into how they managed to score 4 goals at Anfield and still failed to win the game.
Either way, the league title is now all but in the grasp of Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester Utd. Fergie showed himself to be capable of stooping to levels that were possibly previously considered below even him with his pathetically engineered and downright offensive comments regarding Rafa Benitez last week. To make things personal to the extent that he did, especially in such aggressive and cruel fashion, had nothing to do with a sporting contest. If fact, his crass behaviour barely warrants a mention in the context of a proper game of football contested by two excellent sides with generally dignified managers. And for this reason, I’d expect any neutral to be disappointed with Tuesday night’s result, because Utd now have an enormous advantage going into the final stages of this season, and Ferguson’s crude behaviour looks like going unpunished. It’s not quite over, but barring a hugely surprising collapse on the part of defending champions, Liverpool will be licking their wounds this summer following another blank season.
However, at the beginning of the season, the charge levied at Rafa Benitez was that he was not capable of building a team capable of challenging seriously for the league title. That has quite clearly been shown to be complete and utter rubbish. In Fernando Torres, notably only the Premiership’s 10th most expensive player, Liverpool have the most electrifying and devastating striker in the league (his goals-to-games ratio for this season shows that if he’d started more than half of Liverpool’s games this season, their league prospects might look rather different). And their captain Steven Gerrard, homegrown and forever Red, is one of the best players in the world. But Benitez has added to these two stars with players such as Xabi Alonso, Dirk Kuyt and Yossi Benayoun, players who do not command the sort of fees and wages paid by Chelsea and Man Utd for the likes of Ballack, Essien, Drogba, Ronado, Berbatov and Rooney. And these players have stepped up and shown themselves to be capable of producing fantastic goal-scoring football within the incredibly systematic tactical set-up built by Benitez. There may not be a team capable of playing the sort of flowing football that Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal can conjure up on their day, but last night his young Gunners were made to look utterly helpless at times by the high-tempo pressing approach of Liverpool. Yet they banged in 4 goals and came away with a proud point. Nevertheless, Benitez has made his own point this season to his critics (who sadly include at least one of Liverpool’s owners), and Liverpool fans can at least bask in the knowledge that the great Spaniard has signed a new long term deal that looks like granting him the control he needs to bring the major trophies that they richly deserve.
Those fans could be loudly heard singing You’ll Never Walk Alone after Arshavin’s killer 4th goal had been scored, and before Benayoun’s potential lifeline of a 4th Liverpool goal had gone in at the Kop end. Liverpool is a special club with special fans, and they covered themselves in glory in the closing stages of Tuesday night’s game, during a week in which it has emerged that secret Police Files relating to the Hillsborough Disaster might be opened early. Bill Shankly once said that football was more important than life and death, but the families and friends of the 96 fans who died 20 years ago can tell us otherwise, and so the victory secured by the determined and defiant fighters of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign this week counts for more than 3 points ever could. They may not be able to succeed in either the English Premier League or the UEFA Champions League this season, but with more wins achieved via goals in the last 10 minutes of games than any other team this season, Rafa’s boys have shown that they never give up. And neither do their loyal supporters.
Well done to Liverpool for an amazing game, but also to an excellent Arsenal side for playing their part last night. I certainly wish them the very best of luck ahead of their European tie with Utd. They’ll have the support of every Merseysider. In the meantime, while their record of 18 league titles looks set to be equalled, Liverpool can march on in the knowledge that they need only to cling to the same never-say-die attitude they have shown this season, and with Rafa in charge (hopefully with the aid of “King” Kenny Dalglish), the wait for the elusive 19th will surely be short.
The war of words between Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafa Benitez has burst back into the limelight today following an incredible Friday pre-match press conference involving the Manchester Utd manager. Ferguson’s comments regarding the Liverpool manager are, in my opinion, absolutely outrageous. He calls Benitez “arrogant”, suggests that he behaves unlike any Liverpool manager before him, and even labels him “beyond the pale”, all of which seems very extreme indeed. Moreover, Ferguson has been joined by Sam Allardyce, who is apparently upset about a gesture that Benitez made following Fernando Torres’ 2nd goal against his Blackburn side at Anfield last Saturday. Benitez made a hand signal, which can be seen here (about 1 minute 20 seconds in), which Allardyce has somehow interpreted as some sort of disrespectful gesture towards he and his team. Ferguson seems to share this interpretation, but in calling for more respect, both seem to have conventiently forgotten that Allardyce described Benitez as a man who “loves to whinge” ahead of last weekend’s game. In addition to this, has Ferguson forgotten Mourinho’s dance down the touchline following Costinha’s goal in 2004? Sure that was a little bit more extreme than Rafa’s brief gesture, yet Ferguson recently described the Portuguese as terrific for football. So where is the consistency?!
Paul Tomkins article on the subject points to a few of the inconsistencies in Ferguson’s stance, but the most striking thing for me is that Ferguson has, seemingly out of nowhere, decided to abandon his “not bothered” approach to his verbal battle with Benitez and has now fully waded in. If anything, he has raised the stakes, because although Benitez has questioned Ferguson’s behaviour towards the FA and referees, as well as suggesting that the Utd manager feels under pressure from Liverpool, he has not to my knowledge made a personal attack. But, in directly calling Benitez “arrogant” and “beyond the pale” Ferguson now has.
All in all, something doesn’t sit quite right. Why did Allardyce wait so long to disclose his discontent at Benitez’s perceived contempt? Why is Ferguson making headlines talking about Benitez in the run up to an FA Cup semi-final with Everton, not Liverpool. Could it be that Ferguson is a little bit worried now that his Utd side have 10 matches to play between now and the end of the season, while Liverpool only need to prepare for 6? Benitez did suggest that it might suit Ferguson as little better if it where Liverpool who progressed to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals at the expense of Chelsea. So, Ferguson’s sudden tirade in the aftermath of Chelsea’s amazing win does tend to support that theory.
Either way, I may be biased (well, obviously I’m very biased), but Ferguson and Allardyce seem to me to be completely out of order. They are conspiring to make things genuinely personal, which is just taking things a bit far. Benitez has received much criticism for supposedly labelling Everton a “small club”, but was what he said as extreme as the wonderful comments of Bill Shankly? The great man once said “there are two good football teams in Merseyside, Liverpool…. and Liverpool Reserves”, but rather than being lambasted for disrespect, he was hailed as a great character, and rightly so.
Ferguson has definitely stepped things up a notch in his verbal sparring with Benitez, but the ultimate measure of success will be in trophies at the end of the season. Arsenal visit Liverpool on Tuesday night, and anything other than 3 points for the home team will hand the title to Man Utd on a nice silver platter. So I for one will be hoping that the jibes of Allardyce and Ferguson do not have their desired effect.
Studs Up 