Rafa Benitez arrived at Anfield five years ago this week, and in that time plenty has occured. So what's gone well, and what badly? Nick Miller looks at the good and bad of Rafa's half decade...
THE GOOD
Signing Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso and Pepe Reina
Quite
good players, these three. Would any of them be in the Premier League
if it wasn't for Benitez? Real Madrid were Alonso's other main suitor
in 2004 (still are), Torres might still be at Atletico had Liverpool
not come up with the cash, while Reina would most likely have moved
back to Barcelona. In these three - along with Steven Gerrard and Jamie
Carragher - Benitez has created a spine around which Liverpool's
success is based, and if he does something daft (like selling Alonso)
this summer, their continued title challenge will almost certainly
falter.
Keeping - then getting the best from - Steven Gerrard
When
Benitez arrived, two of Liverpool's best players were about to jump
ship. While Michael Owen left, Gerrard was persuaded to stay (just a
couple of weeks after Benitez's appointment too) despite offers of
riches and instant success from Chelsea. It happened again the
following summer, and while Gerrard claimed it was an emotional
decision, Benitez would no doubt have been a major factor.
Keeping him was only a half-success though. After a couple of years shoving him out to the right and occasionally the left of midfield, Benitez realised that his true potential could only be brought out in his current 'free' role. While it might be a stretch to say Benitez alone has converted him from midfielder to support striker, he must be praised for allowing Gerrard to roam free.
Istanbul
The story goes that, as the entire
Liverpool side and staff were cavorting around the Ataturk Stadium
pitch, Benitez took Jamie Carragher aside and offered some constructive
criticism about his positioning during the game.
It's this sort of cold attention to detail that was the centre of Liverpool's comeback. Amid the chaos of half-time, and after setting out a formation that included 12 players, Benitez had the nous and awareness to realise that he had to introduce Dietmar Hamman in order to protect his ravaged defence and midfield. Without this Liverpool probably wouldn't have scored those three goals in six minutes, and certainly wouldn't have prevented Milan from adding more.
Reigniting a rivalry
In this generation of
football, there can be few things more flattering than Alex Ferguson
recognising you are a threat. The difference between Ferguson's
treatment of Benitez and Arsene Wenger at the tail end of last season
was telling. While Wenger received the equivalent of a ruffle of the
hair and a 'Bless 'em, they play nice football', Benitez was the
subject of a cynical and co-ordinated attack from Ferguson and Sam
Allardyce, designed to destabilise their season.
Much has been made (on these pages and others) of the 'facts rant', and while it's clear that Ferguson got under Benitez's skin, it's difficult to prove either way that it had a significant impact on Liverpool's season. Sure, they went on a poor run shortly after, but if Benitez had truly been psychologically battered and it had sabotaged Liverpool's season, how do you explain the 4-1 win at Old Trafford?
The improvement in Liverpool's league position since 2004 has been gradual, but last season they were genuine, serious and sustained title contenders for the first time since they last won the thing in 1990. With the right signings, it could be even closer next time.
Surviving the power struggle
18 months ago it
looked like Benitez's time at Anfield was done. Disagreements with the
American owners and Rick Parry over control (it always is) meant that
he was being pushed out, with Tom Hicks and George Gillett even lining
up Jurgen Klinsmann to replace him.
How much should be made of the apparent power struggle between Parry and Benitez is unclear, and who actually bought Robbie Keane, but if there really was a row, there's only one winner.
The extent of his victory is perfectly illustrated by the long negotiations over his new contract last season. He rejected every version of the deal that didn't please him, safe in the knowledge that he could ask for a monkey butler and strippers and the club would have to acquiesce, such was and is his power. He now has control over Liverpool's transfer policy, and is shaping the club into his own image.
THE BAD
Blind spots
Strange how some managers have blind spots
in certain positions. With Ferguson for a long time it was goalkeepers,
for Arsene Wenger centre-backs, but for Benitez it seems to be
full-backs. Josemi, Jan Kronkamp, Antonio Barragan, Philip Degen,
Andrea Dossena, Alvaro Arbeloa and Fabio Aurelio have been purchased,
with arguably only the latter two being successes. And now it looks
like he is about to pay a huge fee for the good, but not great, Glen
Johnson.
The '7/10' obsession
The fundamental element of
Benitez's managerial philosophy is control. He's obsessed with it. One
imagines the sort of games that we punters enjoy (the break-neck
seven-goalers, the games we remember) are the ones that Benitez hates,
because there's no control. They're unpredictable. Anything could
happen.
This might explain his early fascination with steady, predictable players that would play quite well and run around a lot every week, but rarely created anything spectacular. It's why he persisted with Dirk Kuyt and eventually found a place for him, as well as Momo Sissoko, Andrei Voronin, Alvaro Arbeloa, Bolo Zenden, Albert Riera, even Craig Bellamy and to an extent Yossi Benayoun.
With the signing of Torres one suspected he finally realised that a mixture of flair and graft is the way to go, which is why their reluctance to chase a player like David Silva is so frustrating.
Rotation
In his early days, you suspected that
Benitez made changes to his side almost out of spite, being
deliberately obtuse. He famously didn't keep the same side for 99
consecutive games (even that he made no changes for that 100th match
suggests stubbornness), and such changes were as much about him not
knowing his best side as keeping things fresh. Now, most people could
probably name his first-choice eleven, but back then you might as well
have picked names from a hat. It's difficult to work out whether the
recent success is simply down to keeping a settled side, or the settled
side is simply because he has better players now, and can thus more
readily trust them.
Questionable transfer record
For every Torres
there's a Voronin, for every a Skrtel a Kronkamp, for every Alonso a
Nunez. In five years Benitez has signed 45 players, a massive number
that smacks of at best trial and error, at worst guessing. Obviously he
was unsure in his early days about which players would work in England,
but even last summer there were some stinkers.
Philip Degen has yet to make a league appearance (although much of that was down to injury), Andrea Dossena cost £7million, and then there was Robbie Keane. For a manager who is operating on a budget (as he never fails to remind us) much lower than his immediate rivals, he must minimise these sort of judgement errors.
Over-analysis
After Liverpool beat Real Madrid
last summer, one of the Spanish papers wrote that you should never play
chess with a grandmaster. It's true, and it might be one of the reasons
that Liverpool had such a good record in 'big' games last season, while
they dropped points against the lesser lights of the Premier League.
Clever thinking and effective tactics are required against Manchester United and Chelsea, but perhaps less so against Stoke and Hull. One suspects against those from the nether regions of the Premier League, Alex Ferguson offers little by way of tactical thinking - he simply says 'You're better than them, go and win it'. Benitez rarely lets his players loose, or goes for all-out attack in the same way that Jose Mourinho used to at Chelsea. If they were losing 1-0 after an hour, Mourinho would chuck on two more strikers and play four up front. Benitez tends to stick with the plan.
He has a tendency to over-think, to try and work out how to beat every team, when he could merely trust that his troops are better than the opposition, which they frequently are. Sometimes football really is that simple, and it might be a lesson that Benitez would do well to learn.
football365.com
agree
Liverpool was the best attacking team last season....
Originally posted by sg_forum:Liverpool was the best attacking team last season....
Originally posted by marcteng:
towards the end of the season. why cant they break down teams like fulham at anfield?
Yeah, at least he changed it towards the end of last season. I don't think he will go back to defensive play coming season. If he does, then that's it.
The most frustrating one was the one against 10 men Arsenal...DARN!!!
Originally posted by sg_forum:Yeah, at least he changed it towards the end of last season. I don't think he will go back to defensive play coming season. If he does, then that's it.
The most frustrating one was the one against 10 men Arsenal...DARN!!!
their goal difference was far superior to Man U's and Chelsea's, this meant they have put together a huge goal tally.
I'll prefer my team to score alot of goals and have a right balance of attacking and defensive attitude than have one that spurns one for the other . I feel that Liverpool has got the balance correct, the goals were pouring in for them and they were winning most of their matches.
liverpool has the tendency to sit back, absorb, then let torres run for the ball in most games. it works sometimes, doesnt work sometimes. agreeably, the goal difference is highest. yet the failure to score key goals which can change games is there. where other teams have players who can just change a game in ONE moment, liverpool cannot do so. arguably gerrard can, but he just hasn't pulled it off enough. for example, macheda at united scored twice for 4 points. thats whats missing at liverpool. plus the reserves suck. lol! they dont have reserves like united/chelsea.
they should kept Smicer wad