Tactical naivete, inexplicable decisions and irrational stubbornness - how Rafa's mistakes cost Liverpool against Chelsea

Lady luck has lavished Liverpool with good fortune throughout this season’s Champions League, but it wasn’t bad luck that struck in the semi-final second leg against Chelsea – it was a series of catastrophic mistakes by Rafael Benitez that ultimately condemned the club to defeat.

Dodgy refereeing decisions have eased Liverpool’s path through the knock out stages of this season’s competition, with the club benefiting from crucial decisions against both Inter Milan and Arsenal.

As such, Chelsea presented the first real test of Liverpool’s European credentials; the players had a chance to prove they could progress without a helping hand from the referee, but sadly, over the two legs, it just didn't happen.

Rafa is often lauded as ‘the most tactically astute manager in Europe’ for his track record of outwitting top clubs in Europe, but last night’s defeat to Chelsea has, in my view, tarnished his reputation as Europe's premiere footballing tactician.

Let’s just take a look at some the decisions Rafa made that directly contributed to Liverpool’s downfall.

Baiting Didier Drogba

In the build up to the game, Rafa decided that he would have a go at Didier Drogba, and basically called the Chelsea striker a cheat in public. Drogba in turn issued a public retort rebuking Benitez for his comments – something he was well within his rights to do in my view.

Many Liverpool fans predictably slated Drogba for stating he’d ‘lost respect for Benitez’, but why should just stand there do nothing whilst he’s publicly ridiculed? Indeed, Rafa never wastes any time threatening people with court action whenever things are said that he deems to be offensive.

Rafa’s attack was totally unprovoked and completely unnecessary. Irrespective of whether he was right, his comments lacked class – a quality Liverpool fans have come to expect of the Spaniard.

It transpired that Rafa’s lame and counter productive attempt at pre-match psychological warfare failed dismally. Drogba was clearly fired-up by the personal affront and put in an excellent performance, which was capped off with two killer goals that basically dumped Liverpool out of the tournament.

Failed Formation

When is Rafa going to learn? The 4-2-3-1 formation DOES NOT WORK AGAINST TOP DEFENCES! The Gerrard/Torres partnership only works against inferior opposition, and this has been proven time and time again this season.

Examples: Inter Milan home and Away; Man U at Old Trafford; both Arsenal games at the Emirates; Both Chelsea games at Stamford Bridge this season. The list goes on.

I argued before the game that Liverpool needed to play 4-4-2 with Peter Crouch up front if they were to have any chance of winning. As per usual, Rafa’s irrational stubbornness led to yet another unacceptable snub for Crouch and persistence with a failing system.

Partly as a result of the formation, Steven Gerrard’s legendary positional indiscipline reared its ugly head again during the game, as he repeatedly deserted his post to go roaming for the ball in midfield, leaving Torres isolated up front.

Not that it mattered, considering Claude Makalele had Gerrard under his thumb for pretty much the entire game.

The system has to take some of the blame for Gerrard’s failure to register an impact in bother Chelsea games, but the fact the always seems to go missing against England’s top clubs should also be considered.

It took almost 4 years for Rafa to finally admit that his rotation policy wasn't working; Is it going to take another 4 years of playing the failing 4-2-3-1 formation before he finally admits it doesn't work?! Let's hope not!

Failure to play Peter Crouch

Given the FACT that the 4-2-3-1 formation has repeatedly failed against top opposition this season, Rafa’s refusal to play Peter Crouch is nothing short of dereliction of duty in my view.

Chelsea hate playing against Crouch! John Terry has admitted this, and whenever because whenever Crouch plays he causes Chelsea problems. Rafa should have capitalized on this, but instead he delivered an ignominious snub to a player who has score or created 41 goals in his last 46 starts.

I repeat:

41 goals scored/created from the last 46 starts.

What is wrong with this picture?! Why did Rafa ignore Crouch once again, especially when Liverpool needed goals? There is no logical or acceptable reason.

Coming into the Chelsea game, Crouch had scored 3 goals and provided 1 assist in his previous 4 starts. He was on fire and confident, yet once again, Rafa failed to utilize this.

In the quarter final second leg against Arsenal, Rafa played 4-4-2 and paired Crouch with Torres. Liverpool won 4-2, albeit with assistance from the referee.

The point is, the formation worked during the game; Crouch caused problems and even provided his customary assist. The Crouch/Torres partnership WORKED, but this was not good enough for Rafa, who for some maddening and inexplicable reason, does not rate Crouch.

As I said above, this is management negligence of the highest order, but when it comes to Crouch, this kind of behaviour should be expected from Rafa.

And it is not the first time Rafa has scandalously ignored Crouch in a massively important game. Liverpool were crying out for Crouch in the CL final against Milan last year, and Rafa ignored him until the last few minutes.

It could fairly and reasonably be argued that Rafa's problems with Crouch are not related to football, because on a purely footballing level, Crouch ticks all the right boxes.

Perhaps it's personal? Who knows. What is clear however is Rafa's treatment and management of Crouch this season has been a disgrace.

Taking off Fernando Torres

The official explanation is that Torres had some ‘trouble’ with his hamstring. Well, believe that and you’ll believe anything. As a matter of indisputable FACT, Torres did not signal to the bench at any time to inform them that he had a problem.

So how did Benitez know that Torres had an alleged hamstring problem? Telepathy?! One look at Torres’ seething expression as he left the pitch is enough to confirm the truth: Rafa’s decision was tactical. For what tactical end I have no idea, but I firmly disbelieve that Torres was injured.

Even if he *did* have a slight problem, why take him off? Torres proved during the game with his excellent goal that he only needs the slightest chance to deliver the goods. Taking off a Striker who has scored 31 goals in the most important match of the season when the team *needs goals* was a suicidal decision.

I would almost go as far as to say that in the history of catastrophic Champions League decisions, it ranks up there with Gerard Houllier replacing Dietmar Hamann with Vladimir Smicer in the 2002 CL quarter final against Bayer Leverkusen – a decision that cost Liverpool a semi-final berth against...Manchester United.

Taking off Yossi Benayoun

With Gerrard neutered by Makalele and no other player providing any kind of creative threat, the removal of Yossi Benayoun was a major mistake. The Israeli provided a sublime assist for Torres and could have done the same thing again as the game wore on.

Many Liverpool fans have criticized Benayoun’s performance, but I can’t see why. Actually, I can – the fans don’t want to blame golden boy Gerrard for his latest no-show, so someone has to take the blame, and Benayoun (along with Xabi Alonso) is the chosen one.

Benayoun played much better than Gerrard, provided the assist and rarely gave the ball away. Furthermore, he is one of Liverpool’s more technically proficient players; and in the pouring rain, he was surely a much better option that ‘non-deadly’ Dirk Kuyt, who offered absolutely NOTHING for the entire game.

Wingers and no Strikers?

So Rafa took off Torres and Benayoun and brought on Ryan Babel and Jermaine Pennant, who are both (ostensibly) wingers.

WHY PLAY TWO WINGERS WITH NO STRIKERS ON THE PITCH?!

It is beyond ridiculous. Playing Babel and Pennant with no Torres or Crouch defeats the object of having wingers in the first place! To whom was Pennant supposed to cross?! Who was the target man - Dirk Kuyt?! A player who has singularly failed to offer any goalscoring threat for the majority of the season?

This is why Peter Crouch needed to be on the pitch. At least then, the likes of Pennant and Babel have someone to aim for. And after The Pennant/Crouch super-show against Birmingham - which prompted Crouch to publicly sing Pennant’s praises - the partnership was definitely worth a shot for the final phase of the game.

Failure to buy first team wingers

Expanding the point about wingers – Rafa has been at Liverpool for 4 years now and the club still has no first choice wingers, i.e. specialists, not square pegs in round holes. Liverpool lined up with Kuyt on the right and Benayoun on the left, neither of whom were playing in their natural positions.

If Rafa had actually addressed this issue at any point over the last 4 years then the Liverpool team that lined up against Chelsea would have been far more balanced, and would not have been relying on a failed striker to provide a creative threat.

We also had the usual Gerrard no-show and lack of real leadership when it mattered, but I’ve explored those issues at length recently, so I won’t do the same here.

All of this was compounded by the pre-match arrogance of Liverpool’s players, something that has become worryingly epidemic this season.

I am so sick of the boasting and inflated self-importance of Liverpool players. I want a return to the quiet dignity and modesty of the past, but I just can’t see that happening.

There are other things that contributed to the defeat, but Rafa’s mistakes are the main reason Liverpool are out of the Champions League.

If only Rafa had kept his mouth shut before the game, made sure his players did the same and played 4-4-2 with Crouch and Torres up front, then I am sure that today, we would all be looking forward to a once in a lifetime game against Manchester United.

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Nice one, Rafa! Your stupid Drogba mind games have backfired

Half time: Rafa's pointless comments about Didier Drogba's diving have come back to haunt Liverpool, with the Chelsea striker scoring the goal that may knock Liverpool out of the Champions League.

Drogba is obviously fired up by Rafa's comments, as emphasised by the fact he sprinted over to the Liverpool dugout and took great delight in celebrating right in in front of Benitez.

Overall, Chelsea look like they're really up for it, and they've no doubt been motivated by Liverpool's cocky arrogance leading up to the game.

And quelle surprise, Steven Gerrard has been anonymous against Chelsea again, but that's no suprise, is it?

And Rafa has gone with the 4-2-3-1 formation that has never yields results against top defences.

Ridiculous decision all round, Rafa.

having said all that, if Crouch comes on, Liverpool still have a chance. The big man's hold up play alone will be worth his introduction, as so far, Liverpool's hold up play in the final third has been sub-par.

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Cometh the hour, cometh the predictable cocky overconfidence

The most important game of the season is upon us, and as per usual with this Liverpool team, the days leading up to an important game have been saturated with the usual pre-match routine of endless public pronouncements proclaiming the team’s apparent superiority.

Self-important overconfidence is not the Liverpool way, and never has been, but of course, none of that matters in the egocentric world of modern football.

It is disappointing to see the current Liverpool team increasingly adopting a "we’re the best so bow down at our altar" attitude, but it's been this way all season, and whilst the build up to today's game is not as bad as some examples earlier in the season, it's a growing trend that I feel needs to stop.

Why can’t Liverpool players and management just keep their heads down and let their football do the talking on the pitch? Why must *every* important game be preceded by tiresome boasting in the press about how Liverpool are the best and are certain to win?

Let’s start with Rafa – surely a humble, low key approach from him? No. After the CL semi at Anfield game, he said:

“It was clear that we had the better chances, had more control and played better than them. You can see we were clearly better than them”.

That may be the case, but why say this in public? Added to this we have Rafa’s blatant antagonism of Chelsea, with his remarks about Drogba diving and obvious Alex Ferguson-like attempts to try and influence the referee.

This is the kind of behaviour I expect from Chelsea (!), not Liverpool; from Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson, not Rafa Benitez. Clearly, it's a case of if you can't beat them, join them - a policy, incidentally, that Steven Gerrard has adopted when it comes to Didier Drogba and diving.

On the subject of Gerrard, he clearly agreed with Rafa's view about the first leg: "We were on top for most of the time [in the first leg] and Chelsea scored their equaliser without really producing anything. We know their weaknesses. We know how to beat them”.

Liverpool know how to beat Chelsea? Well, if that’s true, and as Gerrard says, Liverpool know Chelsea’s weaknesses, how come the club hardly ever beats Chelsea?! It’s a conundrum.

Gerrard went on to slam Stamford Bridge: "Stamford Bridge is a big stadium, but it's got nothing of the aura that Anfield has".

Alvaro Arbeloa chimed in with his belief that Liverpool have a ‘psychological edge’, and like Benitez, he was emphatic about the outcome of the game:

“We have confidence. We beat Inter Milan, we beat Arsenal and we will now beat Chelsea”.

Jamie Carragher and Gerrard have also piled the pressure onto the shoulders of Fernando Torres, suggesting that the reason for Liverpool’s long running failure to score at Stamford Bridge is the club's lack of a player like Torres. Gerrard said:

“We may not have scored or won at Chelsea in four years, but we haven't been there with Fernando in the team before”. Carragher added:

“A lot of people are talking about the fact that we haven't scored at Stamford Bridge for a few years but, as Stevie (Gerrard) said after the first leg, we've never been there with Fernando Torres. He has been the stand out striker in world football this season and he is capable of scoring against anyone at any time."

So what happens if Liverpool lose and Torres doesn't score? One of the reasons Torres left Atletico Madrid was the fact the everybody put pressure on him to make sure the team was successful. Is this pressure from Gerrard and Carragher any different?

It’s probably just me, but I do not see the point of any of the above comments or strategies. Indeed, this kind of posturing is unnecessary and counter-productive.

For example, Didier Drogba has publicly defended himself against Benitez’s diving claims, which means he will probably be even more fired up to score in the game tonight.

And Chelsea’s players will be even more motivated to win after all the comments from Liverpool players about being the best. Chelsea already have the advantage, and given Liverpool’s atrocious record at Stamford Bridge, was there any need to rile Chelsea up even more?!

Contrast Liverpool’s comments with those of Chelsea and there is a big difference. There has been no goading or boasting from Chelsea players or Avram Grant, just typical, nondescript comments that do not attract attention or allow tabloid hacks to create hyperbolic headlines.

Once again, it appears that I am living in the past, clinging onto the Liverpool tradition of humility and respect for opponents. At the height of the club’s powers in the 79s and 80s, there was none of this self-congratulatory garbage.

Players were respectful towards other clubs and did not boast about being the best before anything had actually been won.

And even when trophies were won, the club remained humble in victory. This is no longer the case, and the conduct of the club this season has consistently proved that to be true.

The ultimate irony comes from perennial press-whore Dirk Kuyt, with his contention that it is Chelsea who are afflicted by misplaced overconfidence:

“When the final whistle blew I think some of them were thinking they had already reached the final".

Yes, Dirk. And I suppose if Liverpool had scored an away goal in the 95th minute of Champions League Semi-Final you would have been completely calm...

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Forget Gareth Barry and Michael Johnson. Alexander Hleb should be Liverpool's no 1 target.

Alexander Hleb is exactly the kind of player Liverpool should be trying to sign, and if there’s any truth in reports that the Belarus magician is on his way out of Arsenal, then Liverpool and Rafa should do everything in their power to snap him up.

In the last week, Hleb’s representative Nikolai Shpilevski has revealed that three European giants have joined the chase for the Arsenal star but no formal bids have yet been forthcoming. Shpilevski explained:

“I’m often approached about Hleb. I have nothing to hide; Alexander is a world class player. Real Madrid, Juventus and Barcelona are interested in him, but there are no official offers.”

Hleb is a gifted, intelligent footballer, blessed with fantastic technique, genuine creativity and a superb range of passing.

He also plays football the Liverpool way: direct pass and move with an emphasis on retaining possession. If he is available for as little as 12 million, then there is no excuse for Liverpool not to at least make a bid.

To not do so would be tantamount to professional negligence in my view. There is no argument about Hleb's ability - he is a top class player and would seamlessly fit into Liverpool's system.

For me, Hleb could be Liverpool’s new Peter Beardsley, and instead of buying more unnecessary central midfielders like Gareth Barry and Michael Johnson, Hleb should be Liverpool’s number 1 transfer target.

I’ll be emphatic on the point: If there is any possibility of landing Hleb then Liverpool should pull out all the stops and make it the priority of the summer.

Hleb is clearly worth more than 12million, and if Liverpool can offer more than that to ensure they get him, then that is what the club should do.

With figures of 12million being touted for Man City’s comparatively unproven Michael Johnson, it’s easy to see how Hleb represents an unmissable bargain.

With Hleb in the team, Liverpool could line up like this (using Liverpool’s current squad):

--------------------------- Reina

Carragher ----- Skrtl ---- Hyypia ----- Aurelio

------------- Mascherano --------- Alonso

Benayoun --------- Gerrard --------- Hleb

------------------ Torres

Hleb is better than any other player Liverpool have in terms of midfield creativity in my opinion, and if the club invested in top class wingers and full backs, we could be looking at something like this:

--------------------------- Reina

New Right Back ---- Skrtl ---- Carra ----- New Left Back

--------------------- Mascherano

New R. Winger ----- Gerrard ----- New L. Winger

--------------- Hleb

------------------ Torres

Or this, which is my preferred formation:

--------------------------- Reina

New Right Back ---- Skrtl ---- Carra ----- New Left Back

-------------- Mascherano ------ Gerrard

New R. Winger ----- Hleb ----- New L. Winger

------------------ Torres

Hleb could alternate with Gerrard in the role just behind Torres, and could also play out wide on occasion. With Mascherano protecting the back four, Gerrard could still be free to roam, and he and Hleb could do serious damage together.

As I said above, why does the club *need* more central midfielders? Having too much competition for midfield places is a negative thing, as Momo Sissoko discovered.

Liverpool have Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, Lucas Leiva and Damien Plessis knocking on the door. There is no need to for Michael Johnson or Gareth Barry…unless Alonso is to leave of course, which doesn’t appear to be an imminent possibility.

So forget Barry – good player that he is. Forget the likes of Johnson and Behrami or any other unproven squad players who would stop Liverpool’s youth players from breaking into the first team.

Hleb is a proven premiership player and is the real deal NOW. He is exactly the type of player Liverpool lack, and I for one would be ecstatic if the club could sign him.

And if Liverpool can steal Tomasz Rosicky from Arsenal as well…

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Rafa, you should have kept your mouth shut. Now, you’re just another clown in the circus.

Last week, Rafael Benitez implored his team to ignore the embarrasing off-field crisis afflicting the club, and stay focused on matters on the pitch. This was good advice, and the team showed against Blackburn that they had taken his words to heart. So why is Rafa not following his own advice? His latest public comments just add fuel to the fire, and could ultimately put him in a precarious position.

In an interview with The Independent, Rafa made it clear he was unhappy with recent reports that Rick Parry had met with Jurgen Klinnsman:

"It was a surprise to me to read about some meetings. I will talk with the board about this as soon as possible, today (Sunday) or tomorrow.

“I want to clarify everything. I was surprised with some meetings with another manager. I was surprised by the people who were at the meeting. It is not the first time I heard about the meeting but about the people who were at the meeting. My position is being undermined.

"I don't want to speak to one specific owner. I want to speak to all of them. They were all in a meeting together and I want to know something more. I want to speak to all the owners, preferably all at the same time."

What I don’t understand is this: After his public spat with Hicks in November and with everyone else at the top making a mockery of the club by airing their grievances in public, why does Rafa feel he has to do *exactly the same thing*?

He didn’t need to say any of the above in public; it doesn’t help anyone and just makes the club seem like even more of a laughing stock, especially since it now appears that every level of management within the club is involved in public civil war.

And these comments are not just off the cuff and harmless – Rafa *demands* to speak to the owners and publicly states that his position is being ‘undermined’. He even has the audacity to try and dictate the format of the meeting, demanding that all the owners attend.

Now, I agree that Rafa should seek clarification from Parry, Gillett and Hicks regarding the Klinnsman situation, and I can understand his anger, but why talk about it in public in such strong terms? What does he gain? What does the club gain? What possible benefits could flow from his statement?

Rafa was doing so well, and was handling the turmoil around him with the dignity expected of a Liverpool Manager. Now, he has just become part of the problem yet again, proving that he hasn’t learnt a single thing over the last six months.

Furthermore, his latest public demands will no doubt antagonize Hicks, who made it clear after ‘Rafa vs Hicks’ debacle that he would take a dim view of any further public outbursts.

Perhaps Rafa thinks that because the team is doing so well, it puts him in a stronger position, which allows him to push his luck. I can’t help thinking that if Liverpool had been knocked out of the CL and 4th place in the league was at risk, Rafa would have kept his mouth shut.

In response to Rafa, Rick Parry has released his own statement, claiming that he is ‘more than happy’ to meet with Rafa and discuss the Klinnsman claims.

And on it goes, with each person who is supposed to have Liverpool FC’s best interests at heart perpetuating the pathetic and damaging tit-for-tat.

Sadly, Liverpool FC is becoming more and more unrecognizable by the day.

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Is it time for Liverpool fans to consider giving Tom Hicks a second chance?

Ask any Liverpool fan's opinion about Tom Hicks and the chances are you'll be greeted by a tirade of rasping criticism. But is this entirely fair? A closer examination of the whole Tom Hicks saga reveals that he may not be the ogre he's portrayed as by fans and groups like 'Spirit of Shankly'. According to Liverpool-Kop's new writer John Wallen, it's time to consider giving Hicks a second chance.

The present controversy over the ownership of LFC is really quite mind-bending. First fans were happy with the American owners, believing that a new era of high investment into the club was just beginning.

However, after the volte-face over the too expensive stadium, the highly publicised argument with Rafa, the tete-a-tete with Klinsmann and the putting of debt directly onto the club in the refinancing of the loan they used to buy the club, most fans now want them out.

Demonstrations continue inside the ground on a regular basis and “SOS” or “Spirit of Shankly” have even recruited the great man's grand-daughter as a vocal supporter of their “Americans Out!” policy.

Meanwhile, pie-in-the-sky plans are developed for the supporters to buy the club. If this was such a good idea, why didn't they do it when Moores was selling a year or so ago? They could have got it a lot cheaper than is possible now. In fact, Hicks' valuation of the club at around a billion dollars effectively scuppers this plan.

The necessary pledge has already risen from five thousand pounds to eight thousand pounds a person and, as we all know, the promise of money is different to the giving of money.

This plan is, quite frankly, a non starter and supporters who are thinking of pledging (in some cases) their life's savings, should be aware that the whole business is almost sure to end in bitterness and recrimination.

DIC: Friend or Foe?

What about DIC then? Lots of supporters seem to be putting their faith in this Dubai based company and their smart talking go-between Amanda Staveley who, bizzarely enough, used to be Prince Andrew's girlfriend.

The truth is that this mega-company has acted very strangely during the last year. We now hear that they are prepared to pay the world for Liverpool Football Club, yet just a year ago they backed down in the face of the Gillet-Hicks offer, declaring that they weren't prepared to pay over the odds for the club.

Now they are happy to value the club at five hundred million pounds! It doesn't take a genius to figure out that their behavior has been more than weird. Anyone who knows a little about the way Arab companies do business will feel concern about the inconsistencies in the DIC position.

Perhaps Sameer really is a fan, but he will have to go to the Sheikhs every time a big decision is needed. As Hicks said when pulling out of the recent talks, DIC involvement would mean control by committee: interminable delays in getting the money needed—for players in particular.

Furthermore, this deeply conservative organization is said to want Rafa out and their own man in place as a condition of their involvement. Surely, this is unacceptable to most fans?

A second chance for Tom Hicks?

What then, about the one remaining possibility? Should everyone give Tom Hicks a second chance?

No-one is going to suggest that Hicks has made it easy on himself. He was drafted in at the last minute by George Gillet to give his own bid for the club credibility.

Since that time, Hicks has succeeded in alienating both his business partner and the Liverpool fans. However, the picture changes somewhat if we look at it in a more step by step manner.

First of all, Hicks knew little about “soccer” when he first joined the partnership. In particular, he knew little about English soccer. He didn't realise just how important the team is to so many Liverpudlians. Hicks assumed that soccer in Britain was much like sport in the US: no more than an entertaining family activity for the weekend.

It would seem that Hicks is now aware of his mistake in this regard and even wants to see some of his US franchises acquire the kind of fervent support that Liverpool has.

Of course, Hicks also knows that he has bought into a great brand. Liverpool FC is the most successful team in England and the name itself brings back memories of the mop topped foursome who conquered America not so many moons ago (even though John, Paul, George and Ringo were actually Evertonians!).

Hicks is a businessman and he knows that Liverpool will make money. In order to facilitate this process, he needs to spend money himself in the shorter term. We will take a look at this in a moment—but let's first finish off looking at Hicks' gaffes to date.

Most importantly, he and Gillet argued with Rafa Benitez. This was not a good move, but you can also see his point of view. At the time, Rafa seemed to have blown success in both the Premier League and success in Europe, in spite of the acquisition of Torres, Babel and Benayoun in the summer.

Nevertheless, he was still asking for another 18 million pounds for Mascherano who was tied up with the club until the end of the year anyway. Perhaps in the circumstances, we can forgive Hicks for telling Rafa that the club needed to wait a bit before making the Argentinean's deal permanent.

As for the heated words that were exchanged around this time, Rafa was as much to blame as Hicks; particularly insensitive was his apparent belief that he could only get the Americans to act by speaking out against them publicly.

Rafa was naive in this regard and no large company would allow its public relations to be handled in that way. It is perfectly possible that Hicks did genuinely believe Rafa might leave the club in the lurch around that time and, for this reason alone, joined Gillet in sounding out Jurgen Klinsmann for the job.

As I understand it, the whole thing was totally conditional. The Americans didn't say to Klinsmann “Do you want a job?”, but “Would you consider taking a job in certain circumstances?”.

There is a world of difference between these two propositions and the second action might not be considered unreasonable given the situation at the time.

Financial issues

There is also the fact that Hicks and Gillet have used the club to guarantee the loan they've taken out recently and also revised their too costly plans regarding the new stadium.

The first point to make here is that Hicks cannot predict the state of the global financial market. There has been a downturn and this has made the old stadium plans unviable. As for putting debt on the club, this has only been done through the subsidiary company “Kop Holdings” and only to the tune of 105 million pounds.

Again, financial realities can change earlier plans and we are all well aware of that from our own lives. Perhaps then, Hicks' actions don't quite suggest the ogre that SOS and others have portrayed? Are there, in these circumstances, other less well publicised factors which might suggest that Hicks has not done a wholly bad job for the club?

Firstly, Hicks has got a company to design and present a new stadium design which is very similar to the original and better than the earlier plans. In my opinion, Hicks' credibility depends on either building this stadium or selling out.

If he has any problems in raising the capital surely he will sell up rather than see his investment deteriorate in value.

Secondly, Hicks has backed Rafa in the transfer market. I don't think Moores and Parry would have sanctioned the signing of Torres for more than twenty million pounds, whatever finance had been raised by the selling of other players. Since the summer, Skrtel has also been signed.

Furthermore, Hicks seems to have accepted that he made a mistake in publicly arguing with Rafa. Now he sends congratulatory emails and has even sanctioned the 18 million pound signing of Mascherano.

Surely, these are the actions of an owner who trusts his manager and is determined to see the worth of his assets increase?

Torres has been a sensation and I'm sure that Hicks appreciates the probability that the removal of Rafa would result in a mass exodus of the Spanish contingent from Anfield—and no-one, including Hicks, is ready to say goodbye to Fernando Torres just yet.

Hicks + DIC: A recipe for disaster?

Finally, what about the DIC angle? Would they be better owners than Hicks? There is certainly no clear reason to make that assumption. Hicks is right in believing that the figure-heads like Sameer and Amanda Staveley are only the front men and women for the real decision makers who would need to OK every detail.

Anyone who has done business in the Middle East knows that there are often long and totally avoidable delays while go-betweens wait for decisions from Sheikhs who are often too busy enjoying themselves to pay a lot of attention to business decisions.

Eventually, a terse refusal might arrive—or perhaps the delay itself will result in a lost opportunity. Either way, fans should open their eyes and realize that DIC is just like Hicks and only wants to make money out of Liverpool FC.

I should finish by saying that I am not an unconditional supporter of Tom Hicks. However, I feel he can deliver the things that Liverpool FC most needs: a new stadium, money for transfers and a quick decision making process.

We should give him the chance to get on with doing his job.

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Drop the spin, Rafa. Four defeats in seven games proves that Steven Gerrard is not an 'inspirational captain' for England

In response to speculation that Fabio Capello is about to snub Steven Gerrard for the permanent England Captain role, Rafael Benitez has argued that Gerrard should retain the job as he has ‘shown he can do the job well’. However, a cursory glance at Gerrard’s 7 games leading the team show that this is, in fact, pure nonsense.

In Gerrard's defence, Benitez argued: "Steven has captained England before and he has shown he can do the job well so I am surprised that there is talk that he might not be captain in England's next game.

"It is not up to me to make the decision and Capello is lucky because he has some very good candidates for captain but if he was to ask me I would tell him that Steven is the right man.

"Terry and Barry are both good players and good captains for their clubs so they are good options for England. But I see Steven every day, in matches and in training, so I know what he brings to Liverpool and that is why I think he would be the right man”.

So let’s examine Benitez’s assertion that Gerrard has ‘shown he can do the job well’. Below is table detailing every game in which Gerrard has captained England.

Date	Opponent	Competition	Score	Result
31/03/2004	Sweden	International Friendly (Away)	0-1	Loss
07/02/2007	Spain	International Friendly (Home)	0-1	Loss
13/10/2007	Estonia	Euro Qualifier (Home)	3-0	Win
17/10/2007	Russia	Euro Qualifier (Away)	1-2	Loss
16/11/2007	Austria	International Friendly (Away)	1-0	Win
21/11/2007	Croatia	Euro Qualifier (Home))	2-3	Loss
06/02/2008	Switzerland	International Friendly (Home)	2-1	Win

How exactly does 4 defeats in 7 games prove that Gerrard has shown he can do the job well?! Against the minnows, England do well under Gerrard’s ‘leadership’, but when the going gets tough, he does not have what it takes to motivate the team.

This is most obvious from the two crucial defeats against Russia and Croatia in the Euro 2008 qualifiers. These two games were vital to England’s qualification hopes, and this is where Gerrard’s so-called ‘inspirational leadership’ was needed.

It never materialized though, as England put in two shocking, directionless displays that led to England embarrassingly failing to qualify for the tournament.

If there is one game that sums up Gerrard’s failure as England captain, it is the ignominious defeat to Croatia.

All we’d heard in the week leading up to the game was Gerrard eulogizing in the press about how much he loved England; what an honour it was to Captain the team and how the Croatia game would be the biggest moment of his career.

But when it came to the crunch, the fabled ‘world class’ ability and much vaunted passion and inspirational leadership was nowhere to be seen.

There was a woeful lack urgency in the players as the Croatians were given all the room in the world to weave their magic. Gerrard barely said a world all night to his team-mates, and the real lack of proper leadership on the field was palpable.

A real Captain would not have let the heads go down after Scott Carson’s howler, and would’ve had a quick word with the stricken keeper in an attempt to restore his confidence.

A real Captain would have been pushing the players on and cajoling all night. A real Captain would have fought tooth and nail to keep the confidence and self-belief flowing.

Gerrard did none of these things. As per usual in the big games, whether it’s England or Liverpool, he hid and singularly failed to shoulder the responsibility.

Of course, Rafa is obviously going to say that Gerrard should be captain of England. After all, he probably knows that the only way to keep Gerrard happy is if everything is going his way.

If Capello dumps Gerrard from the England captaincy, it will inevitably mean a period of sulking, which will no doubt affect his performances for Liverpool.

Benitez also managed to crowbar-in the ultimate Gerrard cliche: "If you think back to Istanbul and the FA Cup final against West Ham in Cardiff you will remember how inspirational he can be as captain."

This is all we hear from Gerrard apologists in response to any criticism of Gerrard's leadership ability. My question is this: When has Gerrard ever inspired England (as a player or a captain) in the way Benitez describes?

Never is the answer.

This is why he is the wrong choice to be England Captain. As much as Liverpool fans loathe John Terry, club-bias should be put aside and the facts should be taken into account.

In 13 games as Captain, England have won or drawn 11 games under Terry and lost only 2. Terry is clearly a more vocal, motivational, successful England captain than Gerrard and I would argue he has more of a ‘common touch’ than Gerrard, in that he isn’t a sulker, isn’t as self-absorbed and probably commands more respect.

Of course, I will be slated by short-sighted fans who can’t understand how as a Liverpool fan, I can praise John Terry.

Tunnel vision is not the mark of an intelligent fan in my view; Liverpool fans have always been thought of as knowledgeable precisely because they know when to accord respect and praise to rival teams/players.

In any event, I’m sure Capello’s feelings will have been swayed by Gerrard’s recent public rant – not the best example of someone being an inspiration to the team.

Capello may also have taken note of how Gerrard Stabbed John Terry in the back by shamelessly lobbying for the captain’s role when there was speculation that the FA wanted a change.

Rafa can spin the situation all he wants, but if the reports about Capello are true, then it (thankfully) proves that the Italian can see what I’ve been arguing for years: That Gerrard is a poor Captain for England.

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Change the record, Tomkins. There's no credible comparison between Ferguson and Benitez’s early years

When are blatantly pro-Liverpool FC writers going to stop using tired clichés to back up their tenuous arguments and start telling the truth about the way things really are?

Paul Tomkins is a case in point: In his latest article, he castigates Jamie Redknapp for having the temerity to suggest that Liverpool would not win the title under Rafael Benitez due to his incessant rotation policy.

To many Liverpool fans who prefer to see things the way they really are, Redknapp merely stated the obvious truth.

The thing that strikes me about pro-Liverpool writers is the way they always use the same tedious excuses to back up their arguments. For example, if the topic is whether or not Steven Gerrard is world class or a good captain, you can guarantee that the response will include any or all of the following:

1. But what about Istanbul?
2. What about Olympiakos?
3. What about the FA Cup Final vs. West Ham?

Everything after those events is ignored, and they are held up as an answer to any criticism leveled at Gerrard.

Paul Tomkins has a similar set of excuses whenever someone criticizes Benitez, as this excerpt from his article proves:

According to Jamie Redknapp, Liverpool "have got no chance" of ever winning the league under Rafa Benítez. Presumably Redknapp would have said the same in 1990 about Alex Ferguson, who had taken a top four side at United for the previous four seasons under Ron Atkinson and turned them into ninth placed finishers (on average) over his first four seasons?

Benitez's league record outstrips Ferguson's in every possible way when comparing their respective first four years in charge, and while football has changed, and the past cannot be compared to the present with total accuracy, the fact is that no-one in the world thought Alex Ferguson could ever win a league title at United, and certainly not the United fans holding up banners asking for him to be sacked.

The comparisons between United back then and Liverpool now are apt: England's two biggest clubs, with all the monumental pressure that comes with it, both trying to end a two-decade drought without the league title. Except Ferguson took four years to win his first trophy, and spent most of that time in the bottom half of the table.

Change the record! There always seems to be this ridiculous comparison between Alex Ferguson’s first years at Man United and Benitez’s first years at Liverpool. The reality is that the comparison is redundant and is just serves as a pathetic excuse to deflect criticism away from Benitez’s appalling impact in the premiership.

Anyway, Mr Tomkins is focusing on the wrong comparison. A more accurate comparison would be between Ron Atkinson and Benitez. Like Benitez, Atkinson was a nearly-man in the league, finishing in the top four in his five seasons in charge.

Despite having a talented squad and ample money to spend, Atkinson could never get the best out his players, and was never able to break the Merseyside monopoly, which was the principal reason he was sacked in 1986.

Sound familiar?

Benitez is going through the same thing – good players and lots of money to spend but for various reasons (mainly flowing from Benitez’s stubbornness) Liverpool cannot seem to break the Man United/Chelsea/Arsenal monopoly.

Indeed, in the premiership, Liverpool are arguably going backwards. After finishing on 82 points in Benitez’s second season in charge, the third season saw a drop to 68 points – a total that will be tough to beat this season if the team continues it’s frustratingly inconsistent run of form.

Liverpool suffered the same fate under Gerard Houllier and Roy Evans – always finishing in the top 4 but never getting realistically close to winning the championship.

Mr Tomkins will have everyone believe that Ferguson’s first 4 years in charge were an unmitigated disaster on every level, as this quote from his article seems to suggest:

Benitez's league record outstrips Ferguson's in every possible way when comparing their respective first four years in charge, and while football has changed, and the past cannot be compared to the present with total accuracy, the fact is that no-one in the world thought Alex Ferguson could ever win a league title at United.

In Ferguson’s first full season in charge, United finished 2nd in the league with 81 points, beaten to the league title by possibly the most exciting Liverpool team in history. But no one would have believed Ferguson would win the league with United after that, would they?!

Utter nonsense.

In fact, in terms of trophies won, Ferguson’s record is almost identical to Benitez’s record in each Manager’s first 4 years in charge, with both clubs winning the FA Cup and a European trophy.

There are many reasons why comparing the early reigns of Ferguson and Benitez is pure folly, but the main one is this: When Ferguson arrived at United, the club was in disarray behind the scenes, with a huge drinking culture, desperately poor fitness levels, unmotivated players and general indiscipline eating away like a cancer.

When Benitez took over at Liverpool, the club was in fantastic shape. Gerard Houllier had restored pride in the club, off-field discipline and player fitness levels were excellent, and everything about the infrastructure of the club was in good order.

Ferguson had in infinitely harder job than Benitez to try and turn things around; instilling the requisite levels of professionalism, motivation and determination into United’s squad whilst having to wait for disruptive players like Paul McGrath to leave undoubtedly had an impact on the speed of Ferguson’s success.

Writers like Paul Tomkins conveniently seem to gloss over this fact though when twisting the past to fit their ultra-positive agenda.

As I’ve argued repeatedly in the past, Rafael Benitez suffers from the major flaw of irrational stubbornness – something that has hindered his attempts to mould Liverpool into a winning team.

History has proven that successful Managers in the top English league have all had the same attributes:

1. ‘My way or the highway’ approach.
2. Ability to be ruthless.
3. Stubbornness: a refusal to back down from what they believe is the right way of doing things.

Along with the likes of Brian Clough, Jose Mourinho and George Graham, Alex Ferguson is a prime example of this: an extremely stubborn Manager, evidenced by the fact he kicked Beckham and Stam out of United. He even forced out Roy Keane, his self confessed 'greatest ever buy'.

The difference is this: Ferguson is liberated by his stubbornness but Benitez is hamstrung his. Liverpool’s Manager can't adapt his La Liga style to fit the demands of the premiership, whereas Ferguson adapted and come up with a winning formula and stuck to it.

United may have struggled in the league in the first few years of Ferguson’s reign, but unlike Rafa, Ferguson was doing things the right way:

1. Playing his best 11 as often as possible.
2. Keeping the spine of thee teams intact bar injuries.
3. Rotating key players sensibly, if at all.

As long as the fundamentals are in place and things are being done the right way, success will usually follow, and it certainly did for United. Rafa fails on all three of the above points. It is doubtful whether he knows his best eleven players. How can he, when he is renowned for almost never playing the same team twice?

The question is, does it look like league success will follow for Liverpool any time soon? With the club languishing an embarrassing 19 points behind Arsenal, it doesn’t look like it.

Manchester United got rid of a Manager who finished in the top 4 five seasons running but was unable to push them to the top. Liverpool need to do the same and finally find the man who will take them to the highest level.

Rafael Benitez is not that man. The man who CAN take Liverpool to the title is already in the premiership. That man is...

That’s another article ;-)

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Liverpool's winning mentality has been eroded by a team of weak-minded LOSERS...and Jamie Carragher is the biggest culprit!

There is a sickness shrouding Anfield, and it is not the anti-football, technical ineptitude and perennial underperformance in the league – it is the death of Liverpool’s winning mentality.

Quite simply, the current Liverpool team is full of defeatist, whining LOSERS.

Bill Shankly once said: “A lot of football success is in the mind. You must believe you are the best and then make sure that you are.”

Liverpool's current squad and management have a serious problem with collective defeatist mentality, and The huge number of pessimistic comments in the press this season has exposed the 'loser' mentality eating away at Anfield.

I've chosen a selection of public comments from the last couple of months to illustrate my point, but the entire season has been full of public defeatism.
Let’s start with Ryan Babel. After the recent Sunderland VICTORY, he stated:

"Fortunately we saw off Sunderland on Saturday”.

Fortunately? According Sunderland such respect to the extent of suggesting that Liverpool struggled to beat a team in the relegation zone is ridiculous. Even if it’s true, Babel should put a positive slant on it. He continued:

"Hopefully we have taken a first step towards regaining confidence, which is a bit low at the moment".

Is there any benefit in telling the world this? And he went on:

"We haven't been doing well the past few weeks. Our captain Steven Gerrard already said that confidence is a bit low at Liverpool at the moment”.

Such comments should be no surprise coming from a player who clearly has no self-belief:

"I can't physically cope with the terrific pace of the Premier League. I invariably face a tall task, even also against the so-called small teams".

Is this what Liverpool fans want to hear from players? Here’s a thought – GROW UP. Stop acting like a baby and start acting like a MAN. If you can’t hack the Premiership, keep it to yourself, instead of inviting ridicule and making yourself and the team look weak.

It gets worse. Let’s move onto Dirk Kuyt, who recently whined:

"We are struggling at the moment in the league. We know we can do better and win games like West Ham away. It's been disappointing to lose a lot of points at home this season”.

What purpose is served by confirming the obvious fact that Liverpool are struggling in the league? The trend continued with Liverpool's so-called 'inspirational captain' Steven Gerrard offering his own inimitable rallying cry:

“Confidence is a bit low at the moment”.

Great. So after a victory, Liverpool's captain focuses on the negative. Why? Perhaps it has something to do with the pessimism spilling down from the top. Rafael Benitez is no stranger to public defeatism, as his comments after the Sunerland vctory demonstrate:

“It was important to find our confidence. We need to find the confidence we had when we had people scoring goals and winning games”

What about Jamie Carragher? Surely positivity from him? Think again! Carragher has been a fountain of pessimism over the last few months, as illustrated by the following assorted public comments:

"We've got to sort it out very quick, otherwise fourth place is going to be in danger as well. We just need a couple of results to get the confidence back”.

After the West Ham defeat:

"At the moment, the confidence isn't quite there, we're not quite at our best”.

After the West Ham defeat:

"At the moment, obviously, the confidence isn't great and we're not playing as well as we can. We realise that, we're not stupid. A draw wouldn't have been that bad, but we've got to move on now”.

In another interview:

"We should be doing a lot better, but we've just got to try to get through this period and come out the other side."

In a recent newspaper interview:

"We are not good enough. It is not one particular 'this' or 'that'. It is just that other teams have been playing better than us. We have obviously got to improve both as individuals and as a team".

Aaaagh!

There seems to be an obsession with Liverpool players telling the world that confidence is at rock-bottom. Such comments are maddeningly counter-productive and give other teams a psychological advantage: if Liverpool are weak, struggling and lacking confidence, they are BEATABLE.

Whilst it may be true that confidence is low, WHY SHOUT ABOUT IT IN THE PRESS? Who does this help? NOBODY. It just perpetuates the negativity hanging over the club and lets every other club in Europe know that Liverpool are there for the taking.

It doesn’t stop there! More examples include Gerrard complaining that Liverpool’s off-field problems were affecting the team and, in the last few days, Benitez criticizing Xabi Alonso in public.

With such a negative, defeatist attitude coming out the club, it is no wonder Liverpool’s season is tailing off into ignominious failure.

Anfield needs WINNERS in the team – players with an unshakeable winning mentality – not mewling ladyboys who cry about lacking confidence every five seconds.

You never heard Graeme Souness moaning about lack of confidence. Emlyn Hughes never whined about not being able to ‘cope’ with the league. Kenny Dalglish never threw in the towel and continually whimpered about how confidence was low.

Why? Because they were winners with the right mentality.

All the comments I have highlighted above are not what Liverpool FC is all about, and such an astounding level of defeatism has no place at the club.

I am not suggesting that there should be blanket optimism and blind faith – far from it. There are, however, ways to present a united, positive front in the face of adversity, and at the moment, Liverpool just do not have a clue.

A massive overhaul of the club's media strategy is needed, and this should start with players being banned from talking about poinless, negative things 'like lack of confidence' to the press.

It needs to start from the top down, but this will be difficult to achieve with arch pessimist Steven Gerrard and petulant sulker Rafael Benitez running things. Both are supposed to be club leaders but both have a tendency to exacerbate the negativity with repeatedly ill-advised public comments.

Until the club sheds the losing mentality (on and off the field) and rediscovers the never say die, winning attitude that made the club great, the mediocrity and chronic premiership failure will continue.

And won't that be fun?

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Stop criticising players in public, Rafa - YOU are the architect of Xabi Alonso's downfall

When is Rafael Benitez going to learn that club affairs, whatever they may be, should be conducted behind closed doors?! The recent public spat between Benitez and Tom Hicks made the club a laughing stock and made a mockery of the Liverpool way of doing things. Benitez should have learned from that farcical situation, but his latest comments about Xabi Alonso prove that he hasn’t learned a thing.

Quite simply, Benitez's recent public comments about Alonso are graceless and completely unacceptable:

"Xabi needs to step it up. When you are not 100 per cent fit, you want to play every game because you need to play more games to build up your fitness. But if Gerrard, Mascherano or Lucas are playing well, it means there is competition for places, which is good for the team. Xabi knows he needs to work harder if he wants to have a place in the team."

What possible benefit does Alonso gain from these needless comments?

And if, as Benitez states, 'Xabi knows he has to work harder' then why is it necessary to say the same thing in public?

Benitez has repeatedly proven that he is woefully lacking in man-management and motivational skills, and it’s no surprise if his idea of motivation is publicly criticizing players.

In my December 2007 article ‘Has Rafa’s Rush Job Inadvertently Ended Xabi Alonso’s Liverpool Career’, I argued that Benitez’s handling of Alonso would lead to the gifted Spaniard leaving the club.

Well, with new reports indicating that Alonso is set to leave Anfield at the end of the season, it seems I was right, though, of course, no one would accept my contention at the time.

What makes all this worse is the fact that Benitez himself is arguably to blame for Alonso’s demise, for the following reasons:

1. Failing to utilize Alonso properly and play to his strengths.
2. Shunting Alonso around to accommodate Gerrard.
3. Forcing Alonso to change his game from skilful, creative playmaker to defensive midfielder tasked with doing all the donkey work for Gerrard.
4. Signing Javier Mascherano and Lucas, thus marginalizing Alonso’s role in the team and making the competition for midfield players too intense.
5. Rushing Alonso back from his early season metatarsal injury.

The last point merits further analysis, as I believe Benitez's poor decision to rush Alonso back after his injury has contributed to his stuttering season and inability to find form or consistency.

Let’s recap briefly: In the first months of this season, Alonso had already been an early victim of Benitez's rotation policy, starting 4 games and warming the bench for 3, including being an unused sub in two Champions League encounters with Toulouse.

With Gerrard out injured against Derby, Alonso seized his chance and proceeded to run the show as Liverpool battered the rams, with Alonso scoring 2 of the 6 goals that day.

Then disaster struck: Alonso was injured against Portsmouth on September 15th 2007 - a devastating blow for the Basque maestro, who was clearly high in confidence after his Derby heroics.

So Alonso was injured. It happens to most players at one time or another, so need for alarm. The fatal blow came 43 days later, when Benitez inexplicably rushed him back from injury and put him in the starting line up against Arsenal.

It was gamble by Benitez that spectacularly failed to pay off. Alonso aggravated the same injury he had suffered against Portsmouth and was forced off. Just for the sake of clarity, here is the proof that it *was* the same injury:

Portsmouth Injury Report: http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/archivedirs/news/2007/sep/20/N157043070920-0839.htm

Arsenal Injury Report: http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/archivedirs/news/2007/oct/29/N157487071029-1303.htm

Alonso was rushed back after just six weeks, which was a major mistake considering every player in world football who has had the same injury has taken much longer to recover. Examples: Wayne Rooney - 14 weeks. Steven Gerrard - 10 weeks. Daniel Agger – almost three months!

Xabi Alonso was rushed back into the team after 6 weeks.

As a result of that catastrophic decision, Alonso missed a further 5 weeks of the season, and since returning from injury, he’s been in and out of the team, with precious little time to build up any rhythm or consistency.

So, given the circumstances, for Benitez to come out and criticize him in public exposes a dispiriting lack of class – something I never previously associated with Liverpool’s Manager.

Benitez is developing a habit of negative public comments about players. Indeed, earlier in the season, he accused Steven Gerrard of ‘not playing with his brain’ and scolded Peter Crouch for not having ‘the right character and mentality’

Whilst I agree with the Gerrard comments, both were unacceptable public criticisms, and given the destabilizing period recently undergone, negative public comments should be the last thing coming out of the club.

The name of the game is UNITY at the moment. Public criticism of players has never been the Liverpool way, and Benitez should know that.

Far from having a positive, galvanizing effect on Alonso, I am sure Benitez's comments will just hasten his departure.

It would be a tragedy to lose Alonso, as he is one of Benitez’s finest signings and is blessed with an essential skill that Steven Gerrard just does not possess: the ability to intelligently dictate the pace of play.

He is a quintessential Liverpool-type player, cut from the same cloth as the likes of Jan Moby and Ronnie Whelan – an exquisite passer of the ball and an asset to any team serious about challenging for honors

The sad truth is this: Benitez has a depressingly cautious, defensive mentality, with the emphasis on not losing and preference for defensive-minded players. Javier Mascherano is symbolic of this, which is why he is the current midfield flavour of the month.

Conversely, Alonso is the opposite of Mascherano, and represents flowing, creative, expansive football, i.e. EXACTLY what Liverpool FC should be about. Such a style of play is, however, the antithesis of Benitez’s painfully dull Liverpool team, which is why Alonso will be forced out.

Ultimately, Alonso leaving will be a good move for the player; in fact, I would argue that it is essential for the further improvement of his game, because what is plainly evident is this: no creative player with creative instincts can thrive in a Benitez team.

And that is the most depressing thing of all.

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Peter Crouch has scored or created a goal in 83% of his starts in the last 2 seasons. STOP IGNORING HIM RAFA.

Rafael Benitez’s illogical and infuriating refusal to regularly start Peter Crouch is an abuse of his position as Liverpool Manager, especially since the statistics prove that Crouch almost guarantees a goal or an assist when he starts games.

Just what does Peter Crouch have to do to be treated fairly by Benitez?.

As Liverpool’s top scorer last season, Crouch was an integral part of the team that got to the Champions league final. This season, he has not been given a fair chance in any shape or form, ignominiously ignored for the tragically inept Dirk Kuyt.

Benitez has fatally mismanaged Crouch and his statistics from this season and last season irrefutably prove one thing: If you start Crouch he will invariably score or create a goal.

Since Benitez is so fond of statistics, here are a few about Crouch that prove his important, measurable impact on the team when he starts games.

Season 2006/07

Premership

a) 19 starts. 13 as sub. (Total = 32 games).
b) 9 goals and 8 assists in 32 games
c) Directly contributed to 17 goals in 19 starts = A goal every 1.1 games).
d) Directly contributed to 17 goals in 32 games overall = A goal every 1.8 games).

Overall, Crouch had a direct hand in a goal in 89% of the premiership games he STARTED and 50% of games overall (Starts and sub appearances combines).

Champions League

a) 8 CL starts. 6 as a sub (Total = 14 games).
b) 7 goals in 8 starts = A goal every 1.1 games.
c) 7 goals in 14 games overall = A goal every 2 games.

Overall, Crouch had a direct hand in a goal in 90% of the CL games he STARTED and 50% of games overall.

FA/Carling/Community Shield

a) 3 games started.
b) 2 goals scored.

Domestic Totals 2006/07

a) A total of 49 games played (30 starts. 19 sub appearances).
b) Contributed 18 goals and 9 assists.
c) Direct involvement in 27 goals.
d) 18 goals from 30 starts = A goal every 1.6 games.

Overall, Crouch had direct involvement in 27 goals from 49 games (start and sub). This means he directly contributed to a goal every 1.8 games in which he played a part.

If we take Crouch’s England form into account:

England

a) 8 games played (4 starts and 4 sub appearances)
b) 8 goals scored in 8 games (Averaging a goal a game).

Totals: Club and Country combined

a) A total of 57 games: played (34 starts. 23 sub appearances)
b) 26 goals and 9 assists in 57 games.
c) Direct involvement in 35 goals.
d) 26 goals in 34 total starts = A goal every 1. 3 games.

Overall, in all competitions, Crouch directly contributed to 35 goals in 57 games (start and sub), meaning he scored or created a goal every 1.6 games.

Averages

Premiership average:
STARTS: Scored/Assisted every 1.1 games.
START + SUB: Scored/assisted every 1.8 games.

CL average:
STARTS: Scored/Assisted every 1.1 games.
STARTS + SUB: Scored/Assisted every 2 games.

England average:
STARTS: Scored/Assisted every game.

The most compelling statistic is this:

Crouch’s 18 domestic goals and 7 of his assists came from starts.

Thus, if we disregard sub appearances, his DOMESTIC stats for Liverpool read like this:

Games started: 30
Goals scored: 18
Assists: 7

So, in 30 domestic starts, Crouch was directly responsible for 25 goals!!

Okay - let’s look at the current season:

Benitez has granted Crouch a pathetic total of 4 premiership starts this season. I repeat: 4 premiership starts. This is utterly indefensible. It gets worse – in all competitions, Crouch has been given a starting berth in a measly 14 games.

His other 10 appearances have been 5 or 10 minute cameos as a sub, with precious little time to make any impact. Such treatment would be enough to shatter anyone’s confidence, but despite this, Crouch’s statistics remain impressive:

Premiership 2007/08
4 starts
Goals: 1
Assists: 2

CL Games
4 starts
Goals: 3

FA Cup
2 starts
Goals: 2
Assists: 1

Carling Cup
3 starts
Goals: 0

England
3 starts
Goals: 2

Totals – All competitions

Starts – 16
Goals – 8
Assists: 3

Crouch’s goal record from STARTS this season is 1 in 2. Add his assists on and he scores or creates a goal every 1.5 games. This is in comparison to a mere 2 goals in 12 substitute appearances.

Combining Crouch’s DOMESTIC starting stats from last season and this season, we get the following results:

Starts – 43
Goals – 26
Assists – 10

So – Crouch has scored or created 36 goals from his last 43 starts!

ARE YOU LISTENING RAFA?

Crouch has scored or created a goal in 83% of his starts in the last 2 seasons.
He scores or creates a goal every 1.2 games.

ARE YOU LISTENING RAFA?

Dirk Kuyt has scored ONE GOAL IN the last 24 HOURS OF FOOTBALL! Yet, according to Benitez, he is worth starting ahead of Peter Crouch.

I am sick and tired of the obvious vendetta against Crouch. He MUST be given a chance, and given the mediocre options of Kuyt and Voronin, he must start every game from now to the end of the season.

It is not only WRONG, it is CRIMINAL to keep ignoring Crouch. In fact, I would argue that it is bordering on professional negligence. The job of any Manager in ANY industry is to utilise his workforce to achieve the best possible result for the company/team. Benitez is not doing that, and for whatever reason, he is cutting off his nose to spite his face.

Gerard Houllier had the same unpleasant streak, illustrated by his treatment of players like Jari Litmanen, Markus Babbel and Nicolas Anelka. Disturbingly, Benitez is displaying the same negative traits as Houllier: Illogical stubbornness syndrome; refusal to change tactics or approach; obsession with statistics like (‘But we had x amount of shots on goal!’); increasingly redundant excuses and blindly persisting with out of form/poor players whilst sidelining in form/better players for no solid reason.

If Benitez continues in this intractable manner, he will have something else in common with Houllier: The status of 'former Liverpool Manager'.

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Keep Reina, Agger, Carra, Alonso, Lucas, Benayoun and Torres - Scrap the rest.

Liverpool’s wretched season reached its nadir against Havant and Waterlooville last weekend, with the non-league minnows embarrassing Anfield's lumbering primadonnas and once again exposing the obvious truth: Liverpool are as far away from winning the premiership as they've ever been, and the club's deadwood is dragging the team into oblivion.

Four years into Rafa’s reign, and the rebuilding process is only just beginning. People may not accept that, but it is depressingly self-evident. In my view, the signing of Fernando Torres heralded the start of the real rebuilding process. Until players of Torres’ standard are consistently bought and developed, Liverpool will continue to wallow in premiership mediocrity.

There are, apparently, 60 players on Liverpool’s books. 60! Unfortunately, 95% of them are not good enough. To my mind, Liverpool have only 8 players who are capable of being part of a premiership winning squad - by that I mean they:

1. Are good enough in terms of quality and technique.
2. Have a positive, winning mentality
3. Do not unbalance the team.
4. Can form part of an effective 4-4-2/3-5-2/4-1-3-1-1 system.
5. Do not symbolise the counter-productive, ultra cautious 'safety first' approach so entrenched in Rafa Benitez's Liverpool.

The list of players Liverpool should keep is below:

Pepe Reina
Daniel Agger
Jamie Carragher
Xabi Alonso
Lucas