Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness

Ok, he's left, and there's no need to continue to put the boot in, but a commen t from Rafa Benitez, to a press conference introducing the new Inter manager to the Milan media, made me snort with derision. "I am different to Mourinho.  I have the mentality of (winning) with good football."  Er, no Rafa.  You have the mentality of drawing with tedious football.  Ultimately that's why you are no longer manager at Liverpool and its why, unlike Mourinho, you were never able to win a Premier League title.

It’s beginning to look like Fulham manager Roy Hodgson could be the man to take over from Rafa Benitez at Anfield.  Several outlets report that Liverpool will approach the London club in the next 48 hours.  It is not considered likely that Fulham asking compensation of £2 million or so would derail any deal.   The move could raise a dilemma of ‘heads over hearts’ for Liverpool fans.  Because it appears that Kenny Dalglish has expressed his readiness to take up the reins at the club, for the first time since resigning as manager, way back in 1991. Dalglish was the last man to deliver a league title to Anfield and he went on to do an astonishing job at Blackburn Rovers.  The Scot is now in charge of Liverpool‘s youth Academy, but he hasn’t managed at senior level since 2000, when he spent a brief period in charge of Celtic. It had been reported that Dalglish was tasked, along with managing director Christian Purslow, with compiling a shortlist of candidates.  For the Liverpool fait

The formalities are not yet taken care of, but it appears that Rafa Benitez will finally leave Liverpool.  The Spanish manager has had six seasons to deliver success at Anfield and sadly, during that time, the team has gone backwards. Benitez will always be remembered for the dizzy heights he scaled in his first season at the club, leading Liverpool to its fifth European Cup, in astonishing circumstances.  The following season saw the reds pip West Ham in a thrilling FA Cup final. Unfortunately those early triumphs were to be the highlights of Benitez’ reign.  Under the Spaniard Liverpool were well equipped for Europe and reached another Champions League final in 2007.  And last term a remarkable second half of the season witnessed Rafa’s first convincing push for Premier League glory. That unsuccessful bid told a story, however.  Disappointing, negative home performances earlier in the season ultimately cost the team its first title since 1990.  Only when its chances of success

You are the manager. There's twenty minutes to go in a must win match against Birmingham City. Your star striker is on the pitch and at your disposal on the bench are several forward thinking players. One, David Ngog, has all the skills and goal-scoring threat of a block of wood. What do you do? If you're Rafa Benitez you take off the star striker and replace him with the block of wood. You also showcase your talent for signing some of the most bog standard donkeys ever to have donned a red shirt. Step forward Mr Insua, Mr Kyrgiakos and the latest pointless addition, Maxi Rodriguez. Cometh the hour cometh the man. Rodriguez ballooned a sitter over the bar in the closing moments. That said Ngog had already duffed a selection of chances which, no doubt, Fernando Torres would have had nestling in the back of the net. And whatever new depth of incompetence Rafa manages to plumb the majority of Liverpool supporters continue their perverse practice of singing his name.

Liverpool's prospects of claiming some silverware this season could end at Anfield tonight. If Rafa Benitez' side cannot overturn a one goal deficit against Lille the Europa Cup will have gone the same way as the League Cup, the F.A. Cup and the Premier League. Fernando Torres has indicated that he might have to look elsewhere to pursue trophies, Albert Riera has highlighted the manager's lack of communication with players and Steven Gerrard's recent conduct suggests that he is feeling the strain. On the pitch, a comfortable win against Portsmouth not withstanding, Liverpool's form has gone from bad to worse. Lille are a plodding, mediocre team and the 1-0 victory they were handed in France came courtesy of a deplorably negative display by the Anfield men. Liverpool couldn't muster a goal either at Wigan Athletic. Even a team as gutless as Tottenham Hotspur was able to run in nine goals against the Latics. Torres is conservative when he suggests that five

Could things get any grimmer for Liverpool and Rafa Benitéz? Marooned in mid-table in the Premier League, bounced out of the Carling Cup by a set of teenage Arsenal reserves, flung out of the Champions League at the group stages and now, the piece de resistance! Reading, without a full-time manager, languishing towards the foot of the Championship, last night knocked the reds out of the F.A. Cup - at Anfield. And this wasn’t a battling cup upset, ground out in the teeth of wave after wave of Liverpool attacks! The Royals outplayed their Premier League opponents in the replay, as they did in the first game at the Madejski Stadium. Benitéz’ side proved fortunate that afternoon, scraping a draw despite a lethargic performance. Lethargy doesn’t begin to describe the dross served up at Anfield. Liverpool’s one-nil half-time lead was a travesty and an embarrassment. There is actually an argument that supporters should welcome this exposition of just how dismal their team has become. Th

Benitez' new player gets a medical? I am, it should be said, rather cynical about experimental medicine of any type. However the basting of Liverpool Football Club's players with horse placenta I fully support. Better yet, play the placenta at centre forward instead of Andriy Voronin.

Liverpool’s Champions’ League victory recedes ever further into the rear-view mirror of history. It is now the fifth season since that campaign, which climaxed in Istanbul, and to celebrate the club has tumbled out of this year’s competition at the group stages. Rafa Benitez’ side was not eliminated on the strength of its performances against Debrecen. Although last night the team delivered another unconvincing one goal victory against the minnows. Liverpool, under Benitez, have a habit of doing ’just enough’ to beat substandard opposition in Europe and have often advanced on that basis. This time two fortunate victories against the Hungarians could not offset a defeat at Fiorentina and, crushingly, one point from six against Olympique Lyonnais. The brutal truth is that Benitez’ team deserves to be eliminated from the Champions’ League, just as it deserved to be beaten by Arsenal’s second string in the Carling Cup and just as it deserves to languish seventh in the Premier League.

‘The Fink Tank’ is the Times’ attempt to unravel the mysteries of football by statistical analysis. It usefulness is circumscribed by the fact that the sport does not, in reality, bear much resemblance to a game of Championship Manager. Rather, it is determined by the attributes and performances of flawed human beings, forged into a team with the help of another flawed human being. And both players and manager are, in turn, subject to the vagaries of wind, rain, beachballs and several million other variables. Nevertheless ‘The Fink Tank’ is useful for exploding various statistics based fallacies which are common currency for fans and football journalists alike. Take, for instance, the widespread assumption that Rafa Benitez’ Liverpool squad has been expensively assembled. In actuality the 2009-10 panel is ranked fifth in the Premier League by cost. Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Spurs’ squads each required a larger budget to build. Hard statistics also show tha

A quick Premier League transfer snippet. I was aware that Russian Cup winners CSKA’s teen prodigy Alan Dzagoyev had attracted interest from Chelsea. But Ria Novosti believes Liverpool are also chasing ‘the new Arshavin’. The youngster has played down suggestions that he will leave Moscow this summer, but where there’s a will in football there’s generally a way. Although it would’ve been better had Benitez’ side made a meaningful attempt to sign the real Arshavin when he left Zenit, perhaps the club’s first Russian player might yet arrive before the new season.

Liverpool supporters should enjoy the next four hours, because I strongly suspect they will be the last the club spend, this season, at the pinnacle of the Premier League. Although I have frequently criticised Rafa Benitez and his side, I have to acknowledge that topping the table in May, even for twenty two hours, represents the type of progress which defined the club’s aspirations at the start of the season. Of course fans will ruefully remember points carelessly cast away as the team spluttered to home draws against teams which it was expected to beat. Indisputably, though, the manager has managed to iron out inconsistencies as 2009 has progressed. 2008-09, then, will have to serve as a dry run for Liverpool’s ’big push’ in 2009-10. I tend to agree with the Observer’s Paul Hayward that the team’s spine is its strength and the positions around this core should form Rafa‘s focus when the transfer window reopens. I read with apprehension reports that the manager still views Gare

When Liverpool demolished Real Madrid last Tuesday night, Benitez’ team played the brand of football I like to watch. When the opposition had the ball, Liverpool hassled, harried, pressed and pressurised the Spanish side. More often than not possession was stolen from Madrid, frequently by the dogged Argentinian, Mescherano. When the Anfield Reds had the ball, they pushed forward, purposefully, and attempted to score a goal. It is a style which suits Liverpool. They won 4-0. Naturally I was delighted to see the team progress into the Champions League last eight. There was, however, a certain degree of frustration, having watched such a splendid performance, that Liverpool do not attempt to play a high tempo pressing game more frequently. Benitez is much more comfortable instructing his players to sit in deeper positions, ceding possession of the football to the opposition, particularly in European matches. With his side facing Manchester United at Old Trafford this lunchtime I

BBC’s football service reports that Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez faces a ’make or break week’ . The Spaniard feels that the club’s season hinges on two games. One being tomorrow’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid, another being Saturday’s Premier League match at Old Trafford. Rafa does face a ’make or break’ week. He must ensure that his charges salvage some possibility of winning a major prize this season by retaining their first leg advantage over Europe’s most decorated club. Saturday is just for pride. And if there is even a shred of complacency shown by the home team tomorrow, then all hope of adorning the cabinet with another trophy will be gone for another season. Liverpool could easily lose 2-1 or allow Madrid to take the match to extra time. Especially if Benitez does not set up his side to go and win the game. Positivity is key. And Reds supporters haven’t seen much of that since Newcastle were beaten 5-1.

No, not Caitriona Ruane this time. Although it hardly represents an excuse for some dismal on field performances, Liverpool’s high league position has been achieved despite an unseemly boardroom civil war which has drawn in manager Rafa Benitez. The club’s American owners have not delivered on promises which they made when they took over the club. In addition the relationship between the pair has deteriorated to the point that the tandem is unworkable. Ominously George Gillett does not appear to have agreed to negotiations, but if the Kuwaiti family with whom Tom Hicks is discussing a sale is even reasonably conscientious, they would offer a distinct improvement to the Americans. To Hicks and Gillett I say – sell, go away, don’t come back.

‘If you can meet with triumph and disaster/ And treat those two impostors just the same’. Perhaps Rafa Benitez has internalised Kipling’s words a little too literally. It seems he can’t distinguish between triumph and disaster. Last night Liverpool failed to beat limited, dogged - let’s stop beating about the bush - negative, dirty Everton, despite taking the lead through a Gerrard thunderbolt with twenty minutes to go. Rather than capitalise on second half dominance by pushing on in an attempt to kill off the opposition, Benitez withdrew his star striker in favour of woeful, deep lying midfielder Lucas Leiva. The denouement was predictable from the moment Liverpool tried to shut up shop. Everton’s goal might have been scruffy; a free kick flighted into the box from a non-existent foul, nodded in by Tim Cahill whilst Martin Skrtl looked on like the simple minded idiot in a 1920s' play. But with Liverpool’s unspeakable rivals getting into their point pilfering stride, another

Last year Liverpool crashed out of the FA Cup to Barnsley. The previous season Arsenal left Anfield having inflicting a 3-1 defeat. On both occasions Rafa Benitez fielded weakened starting elevens. This year it appears that the Reds’ Spanish manager will accord the world’s oldest cup competition appropriate respect, selecting club captain, Steven Gerrard, and other first choice players. This evening’s third round tie against Preston, therefore, might witness the start of Liverpool’s most serious attempt to win the trophy since the dramatic final triumph against West Ham in 2006. Naturally all eyes will be on Gerrard following the alleged assault in a Southport nightspot for which he has been charged. And inevitably Liverpool supporters will be inclined to afford their captain the benefit of doubt in this instance. His on field heroics have hitherto been accompanied by unobtrusive conduct off it. Gerrard has consistently shown himself to be a dedicated professional. If it transp

Paradoxically, on a night when Liverpool regained Premier League top spot, the club’s championship credentials appeared increasingly flimsy. Chelsea, who dropped home points against Arsenal on Sunday, and Manchester United, must have drawn encouragement from an anaemic Liverpool performance which failed to kill off West Ham United at Anfield. Frankly the performance was not good enough. Robbie Keane was isolated and ineffective up front and he did not receive sufficient support from Dirk Kuyt. Kuyt was brought in from the right hand side to play deep, just behind Keane, a tactic which simply did not work. Had the roles been reversed, the Irish striker might have had a less frustrating evening. Although a little fleet of foot was what Liverpool really missed last night, as evidenced by the threat eventually posed by Ngog, introduced with only 20 minutes remaining. Although Rafa Benitez insists that his side played well, my view was that the team was too one paced and predictable.

Liverpool FC could be in the possession of Dubai Investment Company right now. DIC would have financed a new stadium, taken on any debt held by the club and provided something toward a transfer kitty, in order that Rafa Benitez might rebuild his team. Indeed, having had their initial bid spurned, in favour of American owners Gillett & hicks, the Arab investors have returned several times, offering the pair substantial profits on top of their initial investment, to sell the club and unburden it of the requirement to pay debt which they incurred in its purchase. Against this background, Liverpool will announce profits of £40 million , £25 million of which will be immediately siphoned off to service the borrowing which landed the club with these parasitic Yanks in the first place! Apparently the pair reaffirmed their ‘commitment’ to Liverpool and their intention to remain owners for the foreseeable future. Their commitment is not wanted or needed. The club need new owners , who

It is much easier writing gloomy posts about football rather than upbeat ones. By that rationale, I should be devoting a blog or two to the continuing woes of Ballymena United. But rather than wallowing in the ceaseless misery which accompanies every supporter of the Braidmen, I will attempt to accentuate the positive and comment on Liverpool’s remarkable week. At the outset I must confess that I was unable to catch the entirety of last Saturday’s match. Instead, I deduced its progress from a series of initially ominous and then progressively delirious text messages, before enjoying hugely the BBC’s highlights. Although I might not have watched it live, nevertheless I feel bound to offer those readers with an inclination toward Manchester United hearty and heartfelt taunts. I was fortunate enough to attend Liverpool’s previous victory against the Mancs, when Peter Crouch secured a 1-0 FA Cup win in February 2006. Prior to that match, Liverpool had last beaten United in 2004, whe

After watching Liverpool’s anaemic display in Liege last night, I rather wished I’d been watching the full-blooded Slav derby discussed below. Leaving aside a creditable performance from the Belgian champions, Benitez’s side were truly appalling. It is difficult to name one player who emerged with credit, with the notable exception of goalkeeper Pepe Reina. The Spanish keeper was called upon to save a dubious first half penalty and otherwise dealt well with spirited Liege attacks. Liverpool’s tactical deficiencies were worrying enough. The midfield was overrun whilst Kuyt and Benayoun somehow managed neither to tuck in and prevent their central colleagues becoming out-numbered nor to provide any meaningful width. Alonso was particularly isolated alongside Plessi who looked like a deer caught in a truck’s headlights. Consequently the totality of service provided to Keane and Torres consisted of hopeful long balls struck by the left foot of Agger or flighted from 30-40 yards towar