Liverpool signalled their intent in Europe tonight by thrashing a woeful Real Madrid side at Anfield. 4-0 wasn't harsh on Real; the fact that Iker Casillas was their best player by a long distance tells a story all of its own.
Steven Gerrard was inspirational, as so often has proved to be the case for Liverpool in recent years. Fernando Torres said afterwards that the pain [from his recent ankle problems] doesn't matter against Real Madrid. Of course, one would like to think any player would break the pain barrier to score against the Kings of European football. Torres, though, danced across in front of the Real fans after scoring the opener, with his name in clear view - just to remind them that Atletico will always have a place in his heart.
And the mastermind behind yet another wonderful European night for Liverpool? Rafael Benitez. You might think I'd only have good things to say about the Liverpool boss after their exploits tonight. Not so fast.
On the eve of this tie, Benitez had the audacity to suggest that he has not been given credit that he has been due, thanks to his team's performances in Europe, since he has arrived. Just a few things to note, Mr. Benitez. Not one man should ever believe he is bigger than any football club, not least a club steeped in as much history and tradition as Liverpool are.
Benitez's recent wranglings over his new contract, apparently demanding complete control over the club's dealings, may have started the alarm bells amongst a few inside Anfield. Could he believe he is, in fact, bigger than the club? His statement yesterday might just reinforce this possibility. Yes, he has been the catalyst for the club's success in Europe over the previous four years, but credit can not be claimed by one man.
What about Gerrard, Torres, Carragher, Benayoun, Hamann, Crouch, Alonso, Garcia, Reina and Dudek? What about Traore? What about the so-called 12th man, the commoners who have made Anfield a seemingly European fortress? Those are the players that won the Champions League, these are the players who reached the semi-finals a year ago and the final a year previous.
Onwards amigo, I hear you cry.
"The facts are there to see. Anyone can see what I have done here."
The facts are there, indeed, Rafa. You have failed to steer Liverpool Football Club anywhere near a prolonged challenge on the one that the fans want. The bread and butter; the holy grail; the Premier League title. Liverpool appear to be closing the gap, and at Christmas the season looked like it could be very productive - it wasn't. 37, 9, 21, 11; the facts.
Tonight, the gap between Liverpool and the summit of the Premier League is potentially 10 points (should Manchester United win their game in hand, before even considering Saturday's game at Old Trafford). As mentioned above, the players must take some of the "credit", but the fact is that Benitez has failed domestically. He doesn't deserve any credit for that.
Liverpool's title challenge this season is likely to be remembered as the season that Benitez decided to jot down "the facts" for Sir Alex Ferguson. Liverpool promptly blew their chance to stop Manchester United from equalling their long-standing record as the team with the most league titles to their name. Even the most optimistic Liverpool fan would agree that should Liverpool record an unlikely win at the home of their fiercest rivals on Saturday, it will merely be prolonging the pain of another arduous season.
"Maybe some people don't realise how difficult it is to keep succeeding in the Champions League."
This, Mr. Benitez, is unlikely. There is no denying his spectacular achievements in Europe, especially that memorable night in Istanbul. Furthermore, no-one can argue that Liverpool have been much improved in the Premier League this year. But the difficulty of succeeding in the Champions League means nothing if you can't mix it with the top sides in England.
Many of you will think this is ridiculous considering Liverpool's masterclass performance tonight. Maybe it is. But I would genuinely love to hear what anyone else thinks. Do you think this is an overreaction (bar the timing)? Would the Liverpool fans out there settle for a European run every year at the expense of a prolonged tilt at the Premier League title?
Maybe Rafa can answer one question: who deserves the credit for tonight's performance? He may offer an eponymic answer, whilst the rest of us would suggest Gerrard, Torres, Babel or Alonso. One more question Rafa: have you signed that contract yet? And one more fact for you to absorb: best team in Europe over the past five years, statistically? Yes. Fourth best team in England over the past five years?
Marginally.
5 comments:
Well said Paddy. One superb performance doesn't mask over the poor showing in the premier league. The fact that the team did play so well actually proves how negative Rafa is when playing lower opposition. His focus will always be 'not to lose'. Liverpool do play well in Europe, but the standard in Europe has plummetted. Madrid are the 2nd best team in Spain. Inter the best team in Italy. A mid table English side would have given either a decent game. Until Rafa does it over 38 games, and picks his best team, he will never win the league. Keep up the writing. Bru.
The thing is, Liverpool started the season in brilliant form, carried over from a strong finale to last season. The last three or four years have seen Liverpool finish strongly, perhaps spurred on by their efforts in Europe. However, they were never in a leading position, and this is probably why Rafa seems to have been (even more) overly negative after Christmas. Now that they are behind again, I wouldn't be surprised to see another strong finish, but they've left it much too late. All it takes is Liverpool to be dumped out of the Champion's League at the quarter-final stage. Season over, and the Kop might begin to voice their concerns.
I'm afraid I have to agree with you about the standards in Europe. Last night we witnessed a much better Internazionale team than the side Liverpool breezed past at the same stage last year; and they didn't have three of their first choice centre-halfs. Yet they were still quite poor; and they're on their way to winning a rather facile fourth Campionato on the trot. I do think, however, that Real Madrid are (at least, should) be a better team than the one we witnessed in both legs.
It will be interesting to see who next Friday's draw pairs. Ideally, I'd love to see the four English clubs draw each other, with Bayern and Barcelona avoiding each other. That way the English dominance will be diluted and the two teams most likely to upset it should progress.
Cheers for the comment Bru. Very much appreciated. If you have anything else to say on any of the matters I post about, critical or otherwise, please continue to do so. All the best.
Good piece and well argued Paddy.
I've always liked Benitez's manner and he probably is a good manager to work with (unless you are R Keane of course) but I've always thought him a LUCKY manager.
Istanbul - a one off, freak match.
When he won titles with Valencia, it was in years where Barca and Real Madrid were facing major internal club problems.
Then there is the FA Cup - thanks to a wonder goal by Stevie Me.
The trouncing of Real, I think is due to a couple of things. Madrid are a poor team; a collection of individuals rather than a unit.
Lets not forget they are managed by Juande Ramos, who has all the tactical nouse of Ossie Ardilles. But most importantly, the reason I think the 'Pool do well on big European nights is because the big players - Torres, Stevie Me, Carragher, Mascherano - take the responsibility upon themselves and play the way they see it. And they were superb. In Europe it seems as if the shackles come off the players sometimes, which hampers them in the league. And that is down to Rafa.
ps His transfer record - woeful!
Paddy,
stumbled across this on the web - you might want to check it out:
http://www.journalism.co.uk/journalists/forum/index.php/topic,1471.msg3458.html#msg3458
Slan!
Niall
Niall,
Primarily, thanks for the link. I really appreciate the fact that you thought to let me know, and will get in touch. No harm in trying, eh?
Secondly, I can see where you are coming from in why you think Benitez has had luck on his side. But you can't discount some of the performances that come before final appearances. Yes, Istanbul was a one-off "freak" match, but Liverpool did see off a number of decent sides on their way to the final, not least Chelsea and Juventus. They had a lot of luck on their side in Turkey, but with that logic, one could argue that Manchester United's famous comeback against Bayern Munchen and a comeback of sorts after John Terry's "slip" involved quite a lot of luck. Then again, Gerrard's strike against Olympiakos to keep Liverpool in the competition in the first place is the perfect counter-argument.
I agree with you on the Valencia point. I've always thought it difficult to gauge a managerial performance in Spain compared to the same in England. As we all know, politics is involved a lot more there, and it's hard to tell who really picks teams and signings. Funny you should go on to mention a certain Mr. Ramos. Again, success at Sevilla, however there's no denying that Sevilla, at the time, had one of the best and most extensive scouting networks in Europe, if not the world.
The FA Cup win - yes, wonderful goal from Gerrard to pull it out of the bag again. But again we can't forget that Liverpool saw off Manchester United and Chelsea on their way to the final that year.
I completely agree with the fact that the players take up the mantle in Europe. Spurred on by an Anfield European night atmosphere, a lot of Liverpool's recent European success has been down to players forgetting about league tribulations and just enjoying their game. Even Igor Biscan regularly performed (relatively) well in Europe. Which is why I think Benitez's claims that he should get more "credit" were slightly ill-founded and also a little rude.
Finally, his transfer record isn't great, but I think that to call it woeful is a tad harsh. He's bought some duds (Nunez, Josemi, Gonzalez, Degen, Voronin, to name but a few) but in his defense, I've always considered him to be ruthless if a player isn't good enough. This was highlighted by getting rid of Luis Garcia who was excellent in Europe but just not up to speed in the Premier League. Then you say Kromkamp. And I leave it at that.
Cheers again for the link and the feedback Niall. Great stuff.
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