Rafa - "I Don't Have To Win A Trophy"

Filed in archive Premier League on November 1, 2009

What a difference a week makes. After having romped to victory over bitterest rivals Man Utd at Anfield, somewhat taking the heat off “in-the-firing-line” manager Benitez, Liverpool have themselves imploded in dramatic fashion against a team in the Premier League which, it must be said, don’t do much to speed up the process of the paint drying.

Fulham were the home side in an annual fixture which doesn’t often bring much in the way of flair or excitement. But this year, while Arsenal had finished trouncing arch-nemeses Spurs 3-0 in the first of this season’s north London derbies, Liverpool were struggling from 1-0 behind. Bobby Zamora scored for the home side in the 24th minute, only for Torres to equalise with a goal that came from absolutely nowhere before half-time.

The second half saw a lack of inspiration from Liverpool, with Philip Degen cementing a horrible League debut with a straight red card (after what was, if even, a yellow card offence) and Jamie Carragher being sent off after an excellent tackle from behind brought down Zamora. Liverpool’s most established centre back is notorious in the world of centre-forwards for his infamously well timed tackles where others wouldn’t dare to slide in, yet clearly the referee (who also hadn’t read the rules when Liverpool played Sunderland to know that foreign objects on the pitch can not directly interfere with play) wasn’t aware of this.

The fans and the manager, though, had no excuses for a performance that was lacking in their signature fight, determination, and purpose. At 1-1, Benitez took off the only player who seemed capable (and, indeed, only minutes before had proved he was) of scoring out of nothing. He defended his decision to substitute Torres, a player who he needs to preserve for the even more crucial away game against group leaders Lyon in the Champions League.

This brings up the issue, then, of Rafa’s options. The heat was off for a week after it looked like Liverpool were back in the title race, but they are, indeed, back to square one. Yet does this warrant the comments we see from so-called “fans”, who welcome every defeat as a further nail in the boss' coffin. This is exactly what was being said by the same sort two seasons ago, and yet Rafa went on, in his trademark style, to turn things around with wins over Inter Milan and a semi-final in the Champions League, the campaign in Europe only brought to a close by an own goal from John Arne Riise.

Rafa proved then, like he did a week ago, that when his back is up and the pundits see a fixture coming that will surely end his career, he pulls something out of the bag. Lacking in consistency as the team are, they can beat any team on the day. 3-0 aggregate over Inter, 5-0 over Real Madrid, three wins in a row against Man Utd, these are all scores which prove how superior a mind Benitez has.

So who could take over, if the club could find the money to pay his £12 million get-out clause and sack him? This is the issue which all the fickle fans won’t address. Mourinho wants a return to England, but the club need to keep up their tradition of employing tactical genuises if the rather weak side is to get anywhere with a lack of money, and Mourinho is vastly over rated. Guus Hiddink outsmarted Rafa in a battle of the brains last season, Chelsea and Liverpool went head to head in the Champions League quarter final. The Dutch man and manager of the Russian squad is wasted in international football and would be a great replacement.

But this is something which will not happen. No one in the club has enough power and influence to sack Rafa, so it is a question of personnel. The rather comical and yet somehow compelling Norwegian left-back (apparently) John Arne Riise, who any fan will remember as the scorer of the impressive header that knocked Liverpool out of the Champions League two seasons ago, has issued a come-and-get-me plea to his old boss. This would at least give more options in the midfield, especially if, as we are now hearing, Benitez is to sell Ryan Babel to fund a new contract with goalkeeper Pepe Reina.

Any fan reading the discussion forums is bound to have an opinion too on fringe players such as Voronin, Ngog and Lucas, who Rafa has had no choice but to regularly play so far this season. They continue to get slated, but what must Lucas, who has been our best midfielder this season (now that says a lot, I must admit) and Ngog, who scored against Utd of all teams, do to prove themselves “worthy to wear the shirt”?

This brings about the last statistical issue which I myself only considered while in discussion with a fan after the Lyon game at Anfield (figures I have, of course, had to update slightly, and now look even more damning). Last season Liverpool dropped 28 points and came second. Nowhere near half way through the season and 15 have been dropped. What I would like to know is whether fans think the club can halt the race towards the 28 point mark with the return of Agger, Torres and Gerrard, and when Aquilani finally makes his first appearances in the League?

With Benitez’ latest comments fans will be even more up in arms. He is doing his best under the worst possible conditions, the worst state the team and club have been in for ten years. But by saying he “doesn’t need to win a trophy”, but only strengthen his team, I’m sure the fans are becoming even more world-weary.