So Rafael Benitez is gone from Anfield. If you've been following Bleachers' Brew you'd know that I've been highly critical of the Spaniard for the last several years (even dating back to Liverpool's return to the Champions League final where they lost the rematch to AC Milan). I did so because I thought that their system and substitution patterns had their obvious flaws. Yes, they have been a consistent top four finisher in the English Premier League but they could have gone further.
There's nothing wrong with sticking to a certain formation and style of play. To say that 4-2-3-1 is the most superior is erroneous. Teams win using different formations and at the end of the day, I'd say that it boils down to the way players make quick adjustments and decisions on the field, their mindset, training, focus, talent, and health as well as the decisions a manager makes. This is especially common to football (Grant Wahl: it's football, okay?) and basketball. The criticism levied towards the triangle offense employed by Phil Jackson is when it falls apart, then the plan was to give the ball to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant to make it happen.
Maybe I'm an advocate of making use of what available talent there is and finding how to best harness that. In the case of Brazil, we're about to see what happens on a bigger stage when Dunga ditches the samba for a more controlled tempo that suits Kaka (hey, he played on a boring AC Milan team and had trouble playing in the blistering pace that Cristiano Ronaldo prefers).
One of Benitez' sins was his signing players then blaming management that he didn't have enough funds. Dude, you got these players! Even this season with the acquisition of Alberto Aquilani, Glen Johnson, and Maxi Rodriguez -- what happened? As much as I despise Manchester United, I'm not going to go trashing Alex Ferguson. Reds fans hate him because he's tied 'Pool for the most number of top flight domestic titles. That was unthinkable two decades ago. In that time, the Red Devils have become perhaps the world's most popular team. More than Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, and -- gulp -- Liverpool.
I think that was looking to blame others for one's troubles. He found Liverpool ownership a convenient target and the fans towed that line too (sure management left the club in debt and screw them for that but Benitez is part of team management and it doesn't look good for someone considered a manager to be sniping). And c'mon, when he won that Champions League, that was still with Gerard Houllier's team! In 2007 in Athens, that was more or less his squad already and well, they lost. And he should have put in Peter Crouch a lot earlier! You create your luck on the pitch not by hoping that lightning will strike twice.
The cracks in Liverpool were beginning to show following the departure of Benitez' longtime assistant Paco Ayesteran. And last year, Rafa thought that he'd spur his team on when they were on top of the Premier League by bashing Ferguson. The horrible December 2008 and January 2009 eventually told heavily on the Reds' title campaign. How many draws was that? That cost them the title. And what did he do? He continued to rant and go back to his belligerent ways. That in my opinion was unbecoming of a manager. At the end of it all, Manchester United won again -- their 18th title. This season they wanted to shove it down our Scousers' throats with a 19th but Chelsea and well, Liverpool played spoilers.
And now in a World Cup summer, Liverpool will avert its gaze somewhat to the fortunes of England where it has Steven Gerrard in national colors. Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres will be wearing the Spanish colors while Javier Mascherano and Maxi Rodriguez suit up for Argentina. There's a possibility that El Niño (Torres) could leave now that Benitez is gone. What they should do is immediately snap up another manager -- Martin O'Niell is still a possibility and so is King Kenny Dalglish -- to give the club some footing this early.
Nevertheless, I want to say thanks to Benitez for his six years at Anfield. Last summer, there was a huge banner brought by my Indonesian friends to the Kallang Stadium that had a sign: "Deep down inside us we all do believe that he'll take us back where we belong."
He did. And we should be ever grateful for Istanbul. But it looks that the laborious task of salvaging that wounded pride and bringing back glory to Anfield lies elsewhere. There's a new kit sponsor (Standard Chartered) and a new boss coming in. There's the rite of renewal and spring flows. Life goes on and we're going to hear those chants from the Kop.
Thanks, Rafa Benitez. Good luck in Milan.
No comments:
Post a Comment