Liverpool FC Forum

[Starbridge42]

from ESPNSoccernet.com

Rae's Say: Painting the town red
Derek Rae
Back in February at the start of the UEFA Champions League knockout stages, I didn't fancy Liverpool at all. In fact, I reckoned they had as much chance of reaching the Champions League final as the Conservatives had of denying Tony Blair's Labour Party their third successive election victory.

Rafa Benitez won the tactical duel with Chelsea's Jose Mourinho. (AlexLivesey/GettyImages)As it happens, the Tory leader Michael Howard is an avid Liverpool fan. The Member of Parliament for Folkestone and Hythe has decided to stand down as party chief 'sooner rather than later' in the wake of this week's general election defeat. Perhaps on 25 May, Mr. Howard will allow himself a trip to Istanbul, a bustling city quite likely to be transformed into 'Istanpool' for the day.


To be honest, part of me is thoroughly delighted to have been dead wrong about the Reds. No English club can boast a richer European pedigree than Liverpool. Their very presence in Turkey will add considerable lustre to the big night.

But how did so many of us in the media come to underestimate Rafa Benitez and his plucky squad? It's not as though I was the only one to fire the ball into Row Z when it came to pontificating about their prospects.

I can only speak for myself of course. An initial analysis of the draw for the last sixteen persuaded me that given Liverpool's crippling absentee list, Champions League progress was somewhat improbable. Furthermore, their Premier League form was erratic to say the least: the only consistent pattern to emerge was one of outright inconsistency.

On the surface, Liverpool lacked the quality, guile and overall strength-in-depth of Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Real Madrid, and the technical brilliance of Barcelona. Nevertheless, the Reds are the team heading for the plush Ataturk Olympic Stadium, while the others look on, green with envy.

Never before in the short history of the Champions League have a team so many points from top spot in their domestic league, made it to the final. How have they done it? It seems to me, by re-inventing themselves in each knockout match, to adapt to constantly changing circumstances.

Liverpool's dismissal of Bayer Leverkusen was achieved without the suspended Steven Gerrard in the first leg. We also shouldn't forget that Rafa Benitez was also minus long-term casualties Xabi Alonso and Djibril Cisse for both games against the Germans. Igor Biscan took Gerrard's place and performed splendidly in the middle of the park. Luis Garcia sparkled in both legs. Showcasing a refreshingly carefree approach, Liverpool deservedly cruised to the quarter-finals.

Juventus appeared to be an even tougher nut to crack, yet Benitez fractured Fabio Capello's tactical framework in the opening twenty five minutes of a pulsating first leg. On a poignant night at Anfield - the two teams' first meeting since Heysel - Liverpool's up-tempo, harrying style rattled the Italian side for the first twenty five minutes.

After that blistering start which produced cracking goals from Sami Hyypia and Garcia, it was a good deal more watchful. When goalkeeper Scott Carson, making his European debut, blundered badly in the second half to concede Fabio Cannavaro's headed goal, it made Liverpool's task much harder.

Yet in Turin, Liverpool stood even taller than they had at Anfield. Walking a quarter-final tightrope without the injured Gerrard this time, Liverpool never lost their equilibrium. Xabi Alonso, out for more than three months with a broken ankle made a majestic return, and dominated the game from his deep-lying position.

Biscan hassled the ineffective Emerson all night. Antonio Nunez and Steve Finnan on the right, and Djimi Traore and John Arne Riise on the opposite flank, nullified the threats posed by Mauro Camoranesi and Pavel Nedved. By the end, Juventus were reduced to pumping long balls forward for giant striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who got nothing out of Jamie Carragher and Hyypia.

It was more of the same from Liverpool in the two matches against Chelsea: staunch rearguard action, combined with tactical discipline. Oh and of course, we shouldn't forget, opportunism. The fact is, Liverpool have been extremely resourceful during this Champions League campaign and that was never more true than at Anfield the other night. Regardless of whether you think the ball was over the line, Liverpool had the wherewithal to construct the one telling sequence, the move that settled the tie.

Benitez would surely have a future as an alchemist, if ever he decides he has had enough of football management. His tactics have been spot on in every knockout match. Benitez has created a whole (in the Champions League if not in the Premiership) that's greater than the sum of the individual parts.

Who could honestly have predicted that a team featuring Jerzy Dudek, Steve Finnan, Djimi Traore and Igor Biscan as regulars would scale such dizzy heights? Carragher was supposed to be a poor man's version of his England teammates Terry, Campbell and Ferdinand. Look at the big man from Bootle now.

Milan Baros was that lightning fast Czech who could only score for his country. Luis Garcia, that flashy winger deemed not quite good enough at the Nou Camp. Gerrard's mind was elsewhere, presumably focused on a new pad in Kensington.

So many reasons to count out Liverpool before now, yet Istanbul bound they are, and deservedly so.

Benitez has already outfoxed Klaus Augenthaler, Fabio Capello and Jose Mourinho. Is Carlo Ancelotti next on his list of victims?