Liverpool FC Forum

by **JBG** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 2:06 pm

Liverpool bask in triumph for Benítez
By Oliver Kay

RAFAEL BENÍTEZ admits that he has often woken his wife by barking out instructions to the players he can see disobeying him while he sleeps, but slumber was likely to have been undisturbed after the Liverpool manager rolled in from Turin a little after 3am yesterday.
His first season in English football has been a learning process, one that he confesses has caused many a sleepless night for him and his long- suffering wife, Montse, but Benítez could afford to bask yesterday in the satisfaction of a mission that went perfectly to plan. For the arch strategist, there can have been no greater sensation than seeing his instructions carried out to the letter, as they were during the goalless draw with Juventus in the Stadio Delle Alpi on Wednesday.

A wholly deserved 2-1 aggregate victory secured Liverpool a European Cup semi-final meeting with Chelsea but, while supporters will relish the prospect of a midfield battle led by the head-to-head between Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, Benítez will be stirred by the prospect of pitting his wits against José Mourinho, with whom the self-effacing Spaniard has much in common as a coach but little as a person.

Mourinho sauntered into English football last year having interrupted FC Porto’s Champions League celebrations by ripping off his winner’s medal in what has become a familiar act of self-indulgent showmanship. Benítez also left his former club, Valencia, as a winner, leading them to the Spanish league title and Uefa Cup, but, by stark contrast, he broke down in tears as he announced his departure, calling it “ the toughest decision of my life”.

Liverpool made discreet inquiries about the prospect of landing Mourinho after they dispensed with the services of Gérard Houllier last May, only to learn that he was already committed to Chelsea. Benítez was their second choice, but nothing that has happened before or since — and certainly not the manner in which the Chelsea manager has antagonised just about everyone he has come across in recent weeks — has given the Anfield hierarchy reason to suspect that they settled for second best.

It has been a difficult first season in England for Benítez as he has struggled to come to terms with the language and an injury crisis, but it is one in which his rich coaching pedigree has been enhanced. He has yet to master the Premiership, where Liverpool have been infuriatingly inconsistent, but he demonstrated again on Wednesday that he has an understanding of the European game that few can match. Fabio Capello, the Juventus coach and an outstanding tactician, admitted that he had been unable to work out how to breach the three-man back line that Benítez had surprised many by fielding.

“Really, the success is down to the manager’s tactics,” Jamie Carragher, a defender revitalised under Benítez, said. “He has played some different formations in Europe and always comes up trumps, and he was up against a manager like Capello. He changed our formation and got the right result, so the credit should go to the manager for the way he outwitted their man.”

John Arne Riise, who was asked to play at wing back, offered a similar appraisal. “The gaffer got it spot-on tactically,” he said. “I was thinking afterwards how it wasn’t as hard as we thought it was going to be. But that’s because of how organised we were.”

Chelsea, presumably, will show far greater enterprise and flexibility than a profoundly disappointing Juventus team did on Wednesday, but by then Liverpool will hope to have players such as Gerrard and Dietmar Hamann available, while Xabi Alonso and Djibril Cissé will be closer to full fitness.

Already, Benítez will be wondering how to address the tactical conundrum that awaits at Stamford Bridge, but, if his players follow his instructions as they did in Turin, it could be a glorious night for Liverpool — and a peaceful one for his wife.

Liverpool FC Forum

Liverpool bask in triumph for benítez - By oliver kay (plundered by cap'n bob)

Who is online