Benitez continues defiant approach

Benitez didn't crack - he said what needed to be said. Unfortunately for him, if you are going talk the talk, your team needs to walk the walk. Yesterday, was terrible timing for a poor performance on the pitch and just when the general needed his soldiers to back him up they left him high and dry.

Typical Liverpool really.

Good post Phil. To me it seems benitez is definitely cracking, a response like that and then a performance that was poor to say the least.

Today is a massive game and if United win i think they are massive favourites for the title.

Fergie will be grinning in delight at the benitez saga, and his comments might just inspire fergie to rally the troops for victory today and send a huge warning message in liverpools direction.

I think it is a good move on Benitez's part. The neutral fans in the game are bored and tired of Utd getting things their own way. Perhaps his comments might even lead to a penalty decision being given against the home team at Old Trafford some time in the next millenium.

Good article Phil - do you think Benitez' pre and post match comments were a good or bad idea?

Awaiting so much moderation?

Something's up.

I think Rafa Banitez just threw away one of his chances to remain top of the league table at the Britannia Stadium...how sad, he did that just a day after he lashed on the man (Fergie) that will overtake him on the top of the table.

Benitez is just another notch on the Ferguson bedpost of successes in the clevfer world of mind games

8 points down, 3 games in hand.

For Newcastle in 96 and Arsenal last season, read Liverpool this season

Good article as ever Phil.

As an ardent Liverpool supporter, I feel Benitez may have blown our title chances out of the water. A manager should only use such comments if he is sure his team is mentally strong enough to withstand Chelsea and Man Utd's challenge.

I am afraid that, with no experience of challenging for the title, Rafa should have kept quiet and let us challenge sneakily.

I am amazed; at Valencia he mainly let others (Real and Barca) do the talking and Valencia quietly got on with business (winning 2 La Liga's).

Not only is our squad weaker than the other two mentioned above (Lucas really is a terrible player and we struggle when Alonso is not fit), but we are not positive enough to win the league - would the other two really have been as defensive at Stoke and played with one striker (Kuyt) who is not really a striker !? Why Keane or Torres didn't play is beyond me. Benayoun is marginally better than Lucas and that's not saying much.

Anyway, back to the original thread, Rafa should have kept quiet and not exerted more pressure than our players can handle. I hope I am wrong but I think the other two will slowly pull away as, although we won't lose may, we will draw far too many to be champions - you must seize the moment Rafa..

Phil I have to say I think your bang on the money with your view about benitez. Im a liverpool fan and I think anybody who doesnt feel the pressure of their own supporters after waiting nearly two decades for a decent shot at the title doesnt deserve to be in the game because they obviously dont have any connection with those that are important-the fans.

Fergie is the master of the mind game and he has stood toe to toe with the likes of Jose and Arsene but Rafa is taking a different approach. Rather then be reactive he's being proactive and I think Benitez will be ready to equal his opposite number slug for slug so this just adds another layer to what is already a very interesting season.

P.S
I think Liverpool have a chance but I remember seeing Arsenal fall last season after a very good first half of the season so Im waiting until next month to tout my trumpet about us being title contenders!

Benitez now faces, perhaps, the greatest challenge of his managerial career. Can he keep cool, calm and collected as the second half of the football season unfolds and lead Liverpool to their first domestic title win since 1989?

Umm... with his fiery, mercurial Spanish temperament, a majority of onlookers would probably say no!

For does he actually have the nerve to withstand a concerted mental attack from Ferguson as the tension builds and the winning post draws ever closer? Wenger has yielded; Keegan has folded; why should Benitez be any different?

Perhaps, the Liverpool manager should seek help from a hypnotherapist like Paul McKenna; or learn a relaxation practice like meditation or yoga.

I have been a Liverpool supporter all my life but sorry, the idea that Benitez will suddenly become an emotionless, relaxed English gentleman under pressure is like asking Kevin Pieterson to become average and compromising.

I fear the worst but hope for a miracle!

Good post Phil, though I usually disagree with most of your comments on Liverpool but I think you are spot on this time.

I just wished Benitez did his speech after the game, as i feel the players had unneccesary pressure on them.

I just hope these comments do not have the same negative comments as Mr Houllier's "ten games from greatness" comment".

However, Mr Benitez nrever backs down to a fight, eg Mourinho, Hicks, Parry and now Mr Ferguson.

Great article again from you Phil, we have to wait and see who blinks first, Benitez or Fergie, I am one of the very few if not the only one, who thinks that Fergie is overated! why do I say that, Man utd for such a long time have been the richest club in the world and as such that could buy any player and thats why they have achieved what they have. Benitez managed to do that in Spain against the likes of Real and Barca. When Abramovich came on the scene Utd coudnt compete, lost out with Essien, couldnt win the title twice in a row! So really Fergie is not a genius. What did he achieve at Aberdeen?

To be honest if Liverpool fans weren't worried about Benitez before this post match interview they should be now. Stoke may be a tough place to go to, however the best case scenario for Liverpool today is that United and Chelsea draw and the table remains the same as it was prior to this weekend. If you had offered that to Scolari and Ferguson prior to the Liverpool match they would probably have been happy with it.

Post match Benitez said he was "thinking about my club and Mr Ferguson's comments on Liverpool this season", but Ferguson has barely mentioned Liverpool and his comment that he expected them to get nervous was understandable given they have only three players who have ever won a league Championship and of them Aurelio is the only one to have won a major European league. Indeed Benitez himself can hardly complain about Ferguson's criticism of the fixture list given that two years ago he went so far as to collate a dossier of percieved injustices against Liverpool.

When all's said and done this weekend Benitez chose to raise the stakes against Ferguson despite being under no pressure to do so. Its a big gamble for him and immediatley he failed to deliver against Stoke, if United do not win today he may try to claim some form of victory however it would be a hollow claim. Even if they lose today United will have the opportunity to move within two points of Liverpool by next weekend if they win their games in hand. Indeed such a result would place Chelsea within two points of Liverpool as well.

Since his rant failed to galvanise his players if it also fails to effect either the Uniter player and staff actions or indeed those of the match and FA officials then legacy of his comments will simply be that the pressure on his own players to deliver has increased.

Totally agree with Rafa - he said what most of us non-Man U fans think , and do stop accusing him of ranting - it was controlled. The only one of the so-called top 4 who don't bleat all the time is Liverpool, I'm sick of Man U and "The" Arsenal putting out reserves and disrespecting games/cups and saying the FA and world is against them. Man U flew half way round the world for a pointless cup then moan about the fixtures. Get on with it - if only you had half the problems long-suffering fans have at present with finances etc then you could moan. Think of those poor Man City and Blackburn fans yesterday who paid good money to get to grounds only to find the games off. And while I'm on the rant myself, isn't it about time teams like Portsmouth came into the 21st century with their facilities and I don't just mean undersoil heating. There should be good facilities, catering and toilets and the ability to see the game and a screen for BOTH fans. The FA /Barclays should be looking more at these problems.

I don't think anyone can argue with the facts pionted out by Benitez. I am surprised that Grahaem Poll agrees as he seemed to be like one who was intimidated by Fergie himself. I am also surprised Wenger did not back him because several years ago he had accused the FA of orgainsing the league victory for Man U and when he was threatened with legal action he challenged the FA to take him to court so he would be in a position to elabirate on it, naturaly the FA retreated as they knew Wenger had a case.
Well done Benitez for speaking out against this maipulation which has NO place in sports,,,this is not politics so we expect integrity from our officials and the FA

Sounds very Keegan-like to me from Rafa- though even he waited until nearer the end of the season to sound the death knell on his team's title chances by rising to Ferguson's bait. Ferguson is a master of the mindgames and only Wenger seems able to compete (shame he hasn't had an able or consistent enough squad to back him up these last few years.) Mourinho knew this and flat out avoided the mindgames by befriending Sir Alex during his title winning years (of course the millions at his disposal didn't hinder him either.)

I don't think it's case of Benitez personally cracking, though that may be part of it. Just look at the recent run of results, Liverpool have lost a lot of momentum, people are learning to play against them, like Stoke, and they have few convincing answers...

In this country when somebody makes a comment of this sort, the media & public don't concentrate on what matters, which is whether the comment is right or not.

Instead they move away from the facts and start unfounded, irrelevant and invalid psychological analyses about 'pressure'.

Exactly the same happened with Gallas the other day.

Somebody has an outburst - it doesn't matter if it's justified or not, even if it's correct they aren't supposed to say it. They don't have the right of free speech, they are not humans with reactions.

They deviate from the POLITICALLY CORRECT well-behaved smiley robotic model people in this country are brought up and are supposed to be.

They should instead shut up and let pundits such as the writer of this article perform the fine art of spin and form public opinion at will.


So down to what really matters and what should be talked about.

BOTH Liverpool and United have equally benefitted from numerous and memorable refereeing attrocities, particularly in Europe, which played a large part on their progress to the latter stages - FACT.

BOTH Liverpool and United have squads of mediocre quality and their form is unsurprisingly poor this season, repeatedly facing embarrassing struggles against weak opposition - FACT.

End of story.-

I just wish he would shut up.

I am not a fan of Ferguson by any stretch of the imagination, but Benitez. It's one thing to make a comment when asked by a journo, it's another thing to be so prepared to make notes before hand - I noticed Liverpool fans are saying this shows how prepared and methodical he is. I don't think this means he has cracked as some people say though.

I am sure, as most neutrals seem to be, that Liverpool won't be top come the end of the season. I honestly just don't think they are close to Chelsea and Man U - those two will probably lose the league as opposed to Liverpool winning it. It must be frustrating to not be in control of your team's destiny, especially when you've got your hopes up by being top of the league for the first half of the season!!

Ultimately I doubt this is going to have any effect on anything, but any pressure from this whole sorry affair it is likely to get to Liverpool and Benitez before it gets to Man U and Ferguson.

I watched rafa's original rant in a pub with the sound turned down. Try it, no confidence, shaky....not the air of a man throwing down the gauntlet. I may be wrong as who am I to criticise a football manager but his words didn't match either his body language or his teams display against stoke. Like or loathe saf but he does have an uncanny knack of getting into rival managers heads.

Putting aside all the mind games, I'd like to know how Rafa goes from paying £20 million for Keane (which most observers thought at the time was at least £5 million more than he was worth) in the summer to not playing him at all in a match when Liverpool really needed a goal? And why sub off Riera, who is their only proper left sided midfielder and who at least poses something of a goal threat, unlike Ryan Bobble?

As for Lucas - utterly hopeless at both ends of the pitch. Thank goodness the free kick he conceded at the edge of the penalty area didn't lead to a Stoke goal.

Can't quite believe I'm typing this, but go Chelsea this afternoon!

Oh dear Rafa. He's fallen into the trap of every other manager over the past 20 years. You dont mess with Mr Ferguson when it comes to a war of words. You keep quiet until you have proven yourself and unfortunately for him he has yet to do this in the premiership despite his excellent record in cup competitions. I would love for villa to be in the position they are in right now and im fairly sure that if we are in a couple of years Martin O'Neill will not fall into the same trap.

It's nice to see the two managers for which I have the most contempt belittling themselves in this way.
I'd rather that neither of them wins the league but if it has to be one of them I'd prefer it not to be Benitez. Some of Liverpool's illegal moves are so well worked, they must be practiced on the training ground.

Although I usually delight in picking your anti-Liverpool rhetoric apart, I must congratulate you on a very fair article which didn't fall into the obvious traps.

We were awful, simple as that, and to be fair I'd say it was a point gained rather than two points lost given our shambolic performance during which the only Liverpool players to emerge with any pride in their display was, yet again, Sami Hyypia and Carra.

There's still a long way to go in this title race, and points will be dropped by the others.

And Benitez was still spot-on in what he said, despite our shocking performance yesterday.

Those comparing it to Keegan's rant are missing basic points - this was a scripted outburst, something he had been preparing - not an off the cuff rant at the camera.
Secondly - anyone who thinks Liverpool failed to beat Stoke yesterday because of the pressure Rafa put on the players after his outburst is also missing basic points - Liverpool have regularly dropped points this season against those who play 10 men behind the ball, this isnt something new, so to find a new reason for this draw in comparison with other draws is a bit naive.
The media will lap it up to Ferguson because they know the more they do, the more likely they will get a response.
The best scenario for todays big game is a Chelsea win, they've been as bad as Liverpool this season and I would rather be level with Chelsea than Utd.

spionkop,
you don't have to admire ferguson, you don't have to like him, but you have to respect his achievements. he took over united when we were a sleeping giant. we had an average, ageing squad full of gamblers and alcoholics, and he got the team going again with great training, great signings, removing the deadwood, and most importantly, using the youth when he saw it was good.
he brought, neville, neville,giggs, scholes, butt and beckham through at the same time in the mid 1990's, and 3 of them still play for us, while the others all play for top/fair teams!
granted, ferguson may complain a bit too much about officials, but you show me a successful manager with the absolute desire to win, and show me someone who doesn't complain. all managers do it, and the most successful ones these days are perceived to do it more; if you've got a microphone in your face half the day, you're bound to want to get something off your chest!

SpionKop are you being serious??? What did Ferguson achieve at Aberdeen? How about, 3 league titles, 4 Sfa cups, 1 league cup, Ufea Cup winners Cup, and the Uefa super cup?

And the reason United have so much money is because of Ferguson winning so much with them.

Back on topic. Rafa's has cracked. Ferguson is king of the mind games and Rafa has just proved that he should just keep quiet in future.

Seems like Benitez is starting to feel the pressure a bit, surely he should be wise enough to know not to rise to Fergies pathetic attempts to bait him.

#12 - I'm no united fan but I don't agree that Fergie is overrated. How many managers have won two european cups, countless domestic titles, and lasted over 20 years as manager? he had won domestic and european trophies pre-premier league (though first title was not until the start of the premier league) and before united were the richest club in the world - and at a club that had not won the domestic title in decades.

money doesn't guarantee success, and also many of the players in his treble winning side were brought through the ranks (neville, scholes, butt, beckham, giggs, etc) so the money wasn't even a factor there!

as for his record at aberdeen, 3 league titles, domestic cups and a uefa cup winners cup in scotland with a non-old firm side sounds pretty good going.....

Fergie is (unfortunately) one of the best managers the UK has ever produced.

In my opinion, one word is sufficient to describe Benitez, he is USELESS.

Are the mods at lunch?

Every United Fan thinks the league is in the bag as they have some games outstanding. Well I know that Chelsea is either going to win or draw Today at Old T. It is time someone tell Alex F. some truth. Man U is not winning this yr period

Liverpool have the edge in points but Benitez's rant, and that's what it was, has given the psychological edge to Man Utd and Chelsea. I would have thought he would do the same as he did at Valencia - keep quiet and get on with winning. Sir Alex Ferguson has just taken another scalp. Only Liverpool fans would say otherwise as expected.

@SpionKop. You sound like you really know your stuff. Man Utd lucky? No. They are Champions.

It's normal behaviour for those that do not have to be bitter about those that do have. And it does not get any more bitter than Benitez - a so-called professional writing down wrongs on a piece of paper. Very bitter.

Benitez is as bad if not worse than Sir Alex Ferguson when it comes to complaining. Ask Drogba. He called Drogba a cheat but he has one of the biggest divers in his team, Gerrard. Funny how Liverpool fans overlook that.

Benitez is wrong. Man Utd have many penalties given against them this season at Old Trafford. The opposition need to be shot at Anfield to get a penalty.

Sir Alex Ferguson has been around a long time and is one of the best managers around. I doubt a frustrated hypocrite like Benitez can outsmart Fergie using a piece of paper.

At 12:10pm on 11 Jan 2009, SpionKop wrote:
Great article again from you Phil, we have to wait and see who blinks first, Benitez or Fergie, I am one of the very few if not the only one, who thinks that Fergie is overated! why do I say that, Man utd for such a long time have been the richest club in the world and as such that could buy any player and thats why they have achieved what they have. Benitez managed to do that in Spain against the likes of Real and Barca. When Abramovich came on the scene Utd coudnt compete, lost out with Essien, couldnt win the title twice in a row! So really Fergie is not a genius. What did he achieve at Aberdeen?

SPIONKOP you should do your homework

Scottish Premier Division: 1979-80, 1983-84, 1984-85
SFA Cup: 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86
Scottish League Cup: 1985-86
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1982–83
UEFA Super Cup: 1983

Benitez has definitely cracked and this is moe accentuated by Fergie's silence on the matter.

Why did Rafa feel the need to blurt out those words especially as Fergie was just fined £10,000 and given a two match touchline ban in November?

He definitely sounded irrational to me and I'm sure it's obvious to most football followers he is talking a load of bull.

We all know these Refs constantly blunder and we all know Fergie always makes a lot of noise. Rafa coming out like he's just made a fantastic new scientific discovery was laughable.

Good article Phil.

It was a spot on article, Phil, but some of the comments from the ABU's are laughable. Everyone knows Sir Alex is no saint when it comes to referees, but all these conspiracy theories are ridiculous.

Is everyone conspiring against Liverpool winning the title? No, they just are not strong enough at this moment in time. As a United fan, I hope they never are. Chelsea are a stronger opponent and like SAF said jus moments BEFORE the Benitez rant - Chelsea are our main challengers this season. So, I do not think he is unduly concerned with the noises coming out of Anfield.

And to the Liverpool fan questioning the record of "Mr Ferguson" at United and Aberdeen - what planet are you on? He won the Scottish Premier Division 3 times to break the Rangers-Celtic stronghold, many Scottish Cups, the Cup Winners' Cup and the Super Cup. At United, he took on a fallen giant with years of history and slowly turned them around into what they are today. And if you think that all that was just because of money then you don't really know much about football. I for one can remember exactly where United were at when Sir Alex took over.

"So really Fergie is not a genius. What did he achieve at Aberdeen?" - unless your comment was tongue in cheek, let me spell it out for you.

He took a team that had some good foundations from the two previous managers, spent a few quid (but nothing compared to the Old Firm at times) and dominated the game for six years.

Won the Cup Winners' Cup, beating Bayern Munich and Real Madrid on the way, then beat Hamburg in the Super Cup when it meant something.

Three league titles, three Scottish Cup wins in a row (four in total), and became the dominant team in Scotland - showing the smaller teams that they could still go to Glasgow without fear, and IMHO that influenced Dundee United's title win in 1983 and Hearts' last-day near miss in 1986.

Ferguson is canny too - he saw the Souness revolution at Rangers and chose his moment to finally head south with his reputation unchallenged.

All that, and I'm not even an Aberdeen fan - just a follower of Scottish football and someone who recognises greatness.

Benitez was 100 % right and what he said was true, But i believe he mistimed it ! he would have conducted that press conference after the game or during any other day when his team is not playing , i think that press conference distracted his players or it gave more preasure to them to perform well, any ways his team's perfomance did not helped him to support his digs at Alex Ferguson and M.U, Benitez craked it and fell prey for A.F's mind games, Mourinho tackled it brilliantly and stood against the Monster of Mind games Alex ferguson, Infact Mourinho had bunch of brilliant players and excellent squad and results to support his claim and mourinho always came out as a winner against Ferguson in mind games but he slipped only once when he joked about Ronaldo's educational and family background. in short Benitez simply does not have the team to back his claims by winning more games or his teams results does no good for him!
his tactics where sooo negative y'day and i wonder how can he expect to win a game with a negative game plan like that !! he was lucky to get a point , he stuck with benyaon and lucas neil instead of sending robbie kean to break the defence he should have paired keane with gerrad and torres to give more preasure to opposite defenders! instead he stuck with the game plan and the ball was always inside liverpools half and he was sitting in the stand talking over the headphones ( may be he was listening to some music or trying to learn scottish accent to figure out alex ferguson's response to his barbs)
Liverpool is not going to win the league with his squad they will be behind M.U by the end of January !
Note :- Gerrad tried his usual trick during the final minutes of the game! he tripped and fell down( dived!!) inside stoke penalty box to claim a cheap penalty .. that shows the quality of the squad ! they cannot get a result through normal game plan and they have to try cheap tricks to score goal and win against a low table club like stoke!

No timing is good for ranting but best to do it now as next week Liverpool could be third and it would be seen as losing the plot. Rafa is the best thing Liverpool have at present. I thought this season should be a dummy run for next year. Each year we progress.

Sounds very Keegan-like to me from Rafa- though even he waited until nearer the end of the season to sound the death knell on his team's title chances by rising to Ferguson's bait.
-------------------
Did you actually see the press conference or are you just relying on the typical spin put on things by the media.

This was not an emotional filled rant ala Keegan. It was a slow deliberate planned retorte to 'Mr Fergurson's comments concerning Liverpool and fixtures. It was delevered with relatively little emotion and everything in it would be agreed with by every non-utd fan or non-Fergie loving media, of which there are many.

I wonder how many Journos agree with Rafa but are so terrified of SAF that they won't show their heads above the parapet and will sit on the fence like you Phil.

What people may not have agreed with is Rafa doing it at all, I would have prefered him to keep it zipped.

#14 - you are a spanner! LOL - I will love it if we beat Chelsea, love it!

The number of people claiming that benitez has only spoken the truth really need a reality check.

Benitez claim 1. "We have seen players sent off at Old Trafford and we do not see our opponents sent off."

The FACT is that there have been more opposition players sent off at Anfield than Old Trafford this season, the only opposition player sent off at Old Trafford was Pogatetz for a two footed challenge that even he apologised for.

Benitez Claim number 2 "During the respect campaign, and this is a fact, Mr Ferguson was charged by the FA for improper conduct after comments made about Martin Atkinson and Keith Hackett. He was not punished. He is the only manager in the league that cannot be punished for these things."

Ferguson was cleared of one charge of improper conduct by an independent commission, but when charged again, the FACT is that Ferguson got a harsher punishment (£10000 fine and two match touchline ban) than David Moyes (£5000 fine, no ban), Phil Brown (£1000 fine and no ban) and Roy Keane (no fine at all) for offences relating to comments about referees this very season.

The fact that Graham Poll agreed with Benitez should've given you all a clue. Benitez spent ages making notes and still got his facts wrong,

The two issues are different and unrelated. Rafa used fact to outline what Ferguson have done for years. Whoever watches football will know of Fergusons antics and words. He does get away with a lot of things. We all agree that Rafa is not a manager that is outspoken, unlike others in the so called top 4 teams. So he got carried away but I agree with his words.

Re the Stoke game, Liverpool had a bad day at the office. It was a tactical error not to play Torres at the start. Keane should have came on and I would have played him behind Torres and push Gerrard back. Gerrard had a poor game. I don't rate Lucas at all and I would rather start with Babel instead. We live and learn and hopefully we will learn faster. The PL is not for the faint hearted, so Rafa need to dig in as it will be close this season.

There is a web site that catalog when wrong results are given and it gives an alternative league table - rightresult.net. On that site Liverpool and Chelsea tended to get the rub of the green over the last couple of seaons and Arsenal and United are the teams that tend to miss out. The truth is there are plenty of ABUs out there that turn the spotlight on occasions when other teams get lucky without applying the same objectivism to their own team. All smoke and mirrors but the truth is Liverpool get more decisions going their way.

Very, very neat move.

In a few moments he removed the spotlight and pressure off his team and onto himself.

Nobody in the meeja is talking about Liverpool will they/won't they its all about Rafa vs Fergie - who will crack first?

Brilliant Benitez.

Benitez has belied the fact that he is feeling the pressure. His Setanta interview was especially revealing - he looked embarrassed, and tried joviality to disguise it, which was painfully obvious.

Fact of the matter is that Liverpool are clearly not good enough, and I'd be willing to take any bet that they will not.

Benitez's motivation appears to be to put Liverpool on the title radar, and is such a cry for media attention.

Let's be honest, it's a little embarrassing to talk of SAF and Benitez in the same breath. Benitez's casual dismissal of SAF's title just appears a tad immature. Unfortunately for you RB, you will never be a Sir.

"So really Fergie is not a genius. What did he achieve at Aberdeen?"

Spionkop are you serious? Three Scottish premierships - the only non old firm team to win it in 40 plus years - and winners of the European cup winners cup beating Real Madrid on the way. And did you not notice that we won the premiership in the last two seasons while Chelsea still had their millions? Liverpool are in the same boat as Arsenal and in fact your net spend over the last 3-4 years has been more than ours. The only difference being that Liverpool have never won the premiership - maybe you should ask Blackburn how to do it.

First of my compliments Phil...this is a well balanced article.

What about my opinion? Well, I believe that Benitez is feeling the pressure now. Apart that I do not agree with his attack since Ferguson spoke his mind well. If you see Man. Utd fixtures, you'll notice that they played in midweek, now they are playing today and again next wednesday and then again on Saturday!! So clearly Ferguson is right...

Another thing, how the hell could Liverpool boast to win this league with such a crap side? Anybody can say what he wants but I consider these guys definitely not title contenders especially the likes of Carragher, Hyppia, Benayoun, Lucas (Oh my God!!). And without Torres and Gerrard they would be utterly rubbish!!

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Don't liverpool have the same number of points now as they did this time last season?

If so, we can only conclude that Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal are underperforming this season.

Of course home teams will have more access to referees than away teams since home teams have officials paid to look after the referee's interests. Kind of obvious really.

Didn't Mascherano get sent off last year against United for badgering the referee needlessly? Suggest Benitez cleans his own bowl out while noting that SAF got a 10K fine and match ban for comments against referees last November.

lets put this into context. what rafa said is true and everyone knows this.

what it means is that todays game is under severe scrutiny from every angle. The referee will be under huge pressure not to be seen talking to any man u staff.

fergie will be under severe pressure not to question any decision..

Scolari will be under pressure not to fall into the mind traps.

It sets it up for a very intriguing title race, one that one of 4 teams can win.

Rafa has cranked up the pressure!! Maybe thats why Fergie hasnt responded!!

Media into overdrove now over this result yesterday. As for fellow Liverpool supporters saying Rafa has blown the title..get a grip really.

The 2 games against Stoke..yes hurt but our season is not going to be decided on those games. I give credit to Stoke who were well drilled and disiciplined, harried Liverpool at every opportunity.

As a Red, I think this season when we all took stock back in August would have said a good season would be a challenge for the title. Now that we are in the position there are too many knee-jerk reactions flying with over the top comments. Rafa is a ruthless man and on his past exploits with Valencia's owners and chief executives and our own owners plus Rick Parry, so people saying he is cracking under pressure are way off the mark.

The man is his own man and won't be dictated by anyone.

In answer to Spionkop's question about what Ferguson did at Aberdeen, he won 3 Scottish Premier Division titles, 4 Scottish Cups and 1 Scottish League Cup, not to mention the European Cup Winners Cup (a very prestigious competion in the era when the European Cup was only for league winners) beating Bayern Munich and Real Madrid along the way, and the European Supercup. You only have to look at the way the old firm dominate Scottish football today, with other teams rarely even coming close, to see what an achievement this was.

who needs mind games? What nonsense. Why would Fergie wanna play games with Benitez when everyone can see Liverpool aren't good enough to win the title. Rafa doesn't even register on Mr Ferguson's radar. Media nonsense.

So much wishful thinking going on in the press and on the forums.

Benitez made a monkey of himself and his team with that little outburst. Only the most myopic of Liverpool fans would've read what he said and thought "great, that should rev the lads up!".

The LAST thing Liverpool needed was any more unwelcome attention after the Gerrard controversy.

They need a steady hand at the tiller, a cool head plotting their course.

Instead they get a bloke staying up all night and writing down a personal attack on a manager two places below him.

Full of contradictions and hypocrisy, the dossier was laughable to anyone with a half a clue and no axe to grind.

Nothing to do with Fergy's 'genius' at mind games - this was like shooting fish in a barrel.

Big Phil next please!!!

I think journalist read into things way too much. Seriously, are journalist this knee jerk when it comes to making daily judgements in their working lives.

Liverpools belief is there. And if a player does not win a 50:50 at the Brittania stadium, it does not mean they lack belief or confidence especially if wearing a Liverpool top. It is too straight forward to judge confidence on the way Liverpool went into tackles.

Assess the confidence Liverpool showed against Newcastle. You don't go from superemely confident to lacking in self belief in a few days. It is impossible.

What we say yesterday was simply Liverpool not being entirely on it. It happens. It is happened to United many times and indeed they scored in the 83rd minute against Stoke. I guess the difference is you always feel United will score. You don't always feel that with Liverpool especially when they are not on it.

Why Liverpool were not on it yesterday baffles me fully. Why Liverpool were not showing the assertion and arrogance they showed against Newcastle is baffling. What is the answer to that? It was more or less the same team? My own view is Gerrard should have been in the middle in the absence of Alonso because I would suggest Mascherano and Lucas don't have it in them to create the openings for Torres and Gerrard on a consistent basis. Lucas is young too which may explain the inconsistency. Having said all that, even with Gerrard in the middle it might not have happened because it looked like were not on it.

Maybe the guys were trying too hard. Maybe they were tense. Maybe Stoke deserve more credit for the way the intensity they played at. Who knows?

One thing is for certain. It is a great league and it is game on. We know however that we (Liverpool) can't afford too many slips because United are the better team. For us to win it we need to be playing at the maximum level, over and beyond, the Shankly spirit, the Istanbul spirit whatever.... but whatever the outcome I believe in Rafa and he is definitely the right man for our club.

Phil. . .you are absolutely obsessed with Liverpool. . . anyone would think you support them or something (!)

Where is the unbiased, considered opinion we should expect from the BBC? After all, this isn't a Liverpool message board.

The entire media has lost its mind. Benitez's attack on Ferguson was childish and stupid. Reading from a piece of A4 paper, pathetic.

As for what he said, it didn't make any sense:

"Are Liverpool nervous?"

"Er. . .Mr Ferguson can say whatever he wants about referees, and never gets punished. . ."

What?!

Ferguson has talked out, often quite rightly, about bad refereeing decisions etc and has had various punishments from fines to touch line bans. What does Benitez want, capital punishment?

Regarding the fixture list, there's no doubt that United's manager, players and fans would have felt they had been dealt a bad hand at the start of the season. The top 10 teams in the Premiership away from home before Christmas, as well as away trips at Chelsea, Blackburn, Everton, Arsenal, Man City and Tottenham after all 6 midweek CL group games, and a game at the Britannia (where only real title contenders can go and win!) just 3 days after flying back from Japan. Even as I write this, I cannot believe that fixture list, it was ridiculous.

Ferguson didn't suggest that the fixture list was "picked", but that he felt the process should be a little kinder to those teams representing the Premiership in foreign competitions, perhaps ensuring they have home games after CL games. Benitez would probably think this would only be done for Manchester United. . .he probably can't understand why City, Spurs, Portsmouth etc have played so many games on a Sunday. . .I mean it's just SO unfair isn't it Rafa?!

Obviously everyone has to play the same number of games to win the title, or win the Champions League, but you would rather that the tough ones were nicely spread out across the season and not after tough midweek games.

However, after seeing the list in the Summer, I said that, should United still be in touch at Christmas, they would go on to win the league. On Christmas day they were 7 points behind with 2 home games in hand on the leaders. After last nights result, United will now go top of the league should they win their 3 home games in hand.

So we can see that Benitez's comments about United now having a "massive advantage" with the fixtures are ridiculous!! He must have been in the same frame of mind when he said that he couldn't understand how "easily" United signed Tevez during that long running transfer saga in the summer of 07, compared to Liverpool's poaching of Mascherano under the radar in the previous January transfer window.

I'm sure Phil would accept this assessment. . .if he wasn't a blinkered Liverpool fan!!

I imagine no one will ever see this "comment" as it will never be anything but "awaiting moderation". . .

We should have forced our style of play on Stoke with Keane and Torres from the start, Kuyt on the right with Gerrard, Riera and maybe Mascherano in midfield. I have not been impressed with Mascherano in the last 5 or so games and yesterday he yet again did plenty of misplaced passes. Also Skrtl doesn't look quite ready to be playing. I hope that Chelsea can beat man utd today and that we have a much better performance in our next game. Hopefully without playing just one who didn't cost more than £20 million up front.

i would like to say im a passionate liverpool fan BUT benitez has played right into fergie's hands!

How can he justify leaving babbel, keane , torres on the bench for one half!!!

We need goals and he always plays the same stupid formation.

I am a chelsea fan but I don't understand why soccer pundits make so much noise about liverpool's draw at stoke city. The manager's statement have nothing to do with the result or outcome of the premiership. Banitez's comment can't help liverpool win the premier league shield nor make them lose it. The truth is somebody needs to tell the truth. Since Morinho left , Ferguson seems to be Mr Untouchable. Banitez did the right thing and next time match officials will be careful not to favor Manchester United, expercially in today match versus Chelsea at OT. The key to winning the league is to get a point on a bad day. Afterall, united is struggling to win matches and Chelsea drew at fulham. Man. United players said they lost at derby because they knew the second leg is at OT. Why did'nt Man. Utd lost at southempton since the reply will be at OT. You see teams make excuses for losing matches.

Considering Sir Alex does very few interviews, and none post match, what he does say seems to cause a stir among other second rate managers and certain members of the London press.
Everything he does say is factual and to the point.For as long as I can remember the press,media,players and managers have complained about the standard of refereeing in Britain.Recently there have been many dreadful refereeing decisions.Even last night on match of the day the studio pundits and other managers complained about certain wrong decisions.
Is Benitez really saying that all the referees and officials in England are corrupt in favour of Manchester United?If he is then he needs to prove it in court, if not then the FA has to throw the book at him for bringing the game into disrepute.
As far as I can see Benitez is a whinger and doesn't like the pressure of having United breathing down his neck.At least when Keagan blew his top it was funny,Benitez is just pathetic.

Fergie definitely got to Rafa, more way than one I think, I hope Chelsea wins today and the laugh is on Fergie, get ready Darren to take over from your OLD MAN.

When ManUnited are winning they are said to be manipulative; When they are losing they are said to have been overrated.
All I see is that Benitez optimism about Liverpool winning the title has start to turn into pessimism as they flounder at the top. Sir Alex Ferguson like any good experience captain of a ship that sees stormy waters knows how to steady the ship through to calmer waters and into to port; where as Benitez sees the stormy waters and want to blame everyone else why he had to beach the ship.

I am amazed that people respond in the first place. Can you imagine Paisley or Billy Nick at Spurs even bothering? They would have laughed it off. Rafa is an intelligent man but sometimes you wonder.

Like a lot of fans out there I completely agree with what Rafa said and its not just because I'm evidently a Liverpool fan. Man U and Fergie- sorry Mr Ferguson in particular do get away with a lot and the fact that Benitez is getting investigated by the FA for simply pointing that out, only adds weight to what he is saying. As far as the timing of what he is saying goes, its genius, just in time for such a crunch game that will obviously have a big impact on our season too. In my opinion the only fault lies with the players for not performing yesterday and backing up the manager but I guess we can't expect a sterling turn out every game. To finish with I'd just like to say that we're still not out of it...we just need to put an end to games like yesterday.

I think Rafa Benitez should concentrate on matters on the pitch.
His team selection cost us three points last night.
He put a team out to defend last night when we should have been going all out for a victory.
It wasn't until Babel and Torres were on the pitch that we looked like winning.
And by then 80 minutes had passed! this is typical Benitez trying to be clever with line ups.
His treatment of Keane is disgraceful.
We may be on top Rafa but all these nil nil draws are going to cost us eventually.

I disagree his timing for the outbursed was based on sundays game chelsea vs united. Everyone knows united have irritatingly 'flucked' their way past 3 teams of late with some random goal from somewhere coupled with some dodjy decisions attributing to that one goal i.e. stokes red card, Liverpool on the other hand play jus as bad but don't get these decisions i.e. Gerards disalowed goal against stoke erlier on in the season. My point is united are playing no better even on a good day but the decisions attributing to their 1 nillers are clearly frustrating Rafa so he had to speak up, if the outburst was a success? Chelsea and united will draw based on a good and fair refereeing performance.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

lookin at most of the comments, i agree with the general consensus on this blog and i feel the pressure is beggining to affect rafa in bad ways. had he not taken the time to write a list about his rival team and had concentrated more on his own team they may have scraped a win against stoke. but stoke got their deserved point and should really have won. there are also a fair few peopl agreeing with benitez sayin "wot everybody thinks" which comes across as quite bitter and envious.

even a draw will be a gd result for united today. i really fancy united and chelsea to be battling it out for the top 2 positions when it realy counts liverpool are just not gd enough and failure to turn draws into wins is going to be their eventual downfall.

I was going to comment but with a one and a half hour wait for the moderator, my point will be history!

Benitez is totally correct. Im watching the Man Utd v Chelsea game now, and asking myself why hasn't Rooney been sent off?

He has been mouthing off at the referee for the last 30 minutes, and nothing's been given!

Horrified.

Ferguson does not want Liverpool's success at any cost and he has made that obvious on a mumber of occasions, even on occasions where his team was not involved , remember his comments about the botle of wine gifted to him by the AC Milan manager, prior to the Champions League final in Athens ?
Seeing Liverpool not crack under pressure and remain top of the league simply irritates him , he will therefore utilise all kind of 'old style tactics' to see his way through.
Benitez's comments are more than justified!I strongly believe that he has said things that every genuine football fan in England, and not only, would have wanted to say.

How do we know Benitez didn't say it to fire Utd up and keep Chelsea 4 points below Liverpool?

Just a thought!

i still cant understand why so many people are sayin 'Benitez rant is lookin a bad choice now'. truth is its not. he probably said it so referees, the FA etc would take notice and buck up as (whether u agree or not just my opinion) United have been gettin a better treatment in terms of footballing decisions and such compared to the rest of the premier league..
whether its because they have bee the most succesful english team of late or whether its because of fergie.. who knows!

But ye.. us playin badly against stoke was just due to a poor performance (possibly bad team selection) nothin more nothin less.. if we go on a 10game winnin streak and unite lose 10 games in a row are people goin to suddenly say.. urmm actually Benitez' rant was a good idea.. pretty pathetic if they do and worse thing is i know some of u will lol

I have no comment to make - the results say it all!

Fergie is King of the mind games, I'm continually surprised that Managers let him get to them - isn't that the point of what Fergie has to achieve.

Makes me chuckle as I watch Benitez make united the focus of liverpools title challenge!

Manchester United have just sent a message to Rafa. The hunt has just begun.

Phil McNulty is so anti-Man Utd, he can't even bring himself so say how great Man Utd were against Chelsea. He's just banging on about Chelsea's performance when in fact Man Utd did not let them play.

Here's a fact to put in your factsheet Rafa: Manchester United 3, Chelsea 0.

Rafa, bless him, went on about dealing in facts when he didn't actually make clear what the facts were. Earlier Wenger, who is hardly a fan of Man Utd actually did cite facts to back up what Fergie said. I wouldn't say Benitez is worried or scared, (he's top of the league for goodness sake) but he didn't address Wenger's and Ferguson's concerns about the fact that Liverpool had more home games after Champions League fixtures than anyone else. That is a genuine fact.

I just wish Benitez would close his mouth and concentrate on winning the Premiership. Leaving your two most expensive strikers on the bench is not exactly giving the rest of the team the message that you want them to win! Benitez has always been too cautious, preferring to remain unbeaten to winning by risking the chance you may be beaten.

Ferguson gave the best possible answer to B's comments by having his team stuff Chelsea this afternoon. What chances Liverpool for the title now 60-70%? With the most likely probability being fourth behind Man U. Chelsea & Arsenal??

I have to laugh at some of these comments from so called liverpool supporters...

What did Fergie ever achieve at Aberdeen?

Are you kiddin me with you ignorance - he was the only manager in history to ever stop the glasgow strangehold on a regular basis in scottish football! ever.

2 points gained on the scousers, even if playing stoke is much harder than chelski and benitez banging on about Fergie this and Fergie that - if I was Fergie I would be thinking i couldn't have planned it better...

oh btw I think Benitez is doing a fantastic job long may it continue!

wonder what Maradonna would have made of stokes tactics on saturday while checking up on Mascheranno

A lot of people on here seem wrapped up in the idea that what Benitez said is 'right'. This may be the case, but here's the issue: he's Liverpool manager, not a spokesperson for frustrated fans and terrified journalists.

What I see from this is unnecessary paranoia. Why start bleating about fixtures? Fergie said they would get nervous; that's all he said about Liverpool. Rafa saying he's thinking about his team by attacking SAF over fixtures/refs just isn't true - he's merely swiping out about what he sees as an injustice.

What's the psychological effect on the team? You're gearing up for a tough, physical encounter at the Brittania, and your boss is blathering on about United? I know how it'd make me feel...under pressure and uninspired. Just like Liverpool's performance.

Comparisons with Keegan are foolish - that was suicidal what KK did. But this is definitely a blunder - how important, we'll see over the next month or so.

Rafa Knows the press are dumb. This why he spoke out at this time.
The press do not have thoughts and opinions or report on fact they just go from one piece of nonsense to the next.
Rafa did the same thing when he needed to at valencia.
Rafa has taken the sting out of the stevie g 'crisis'. The press all fell for it

How can anyone (Liverpool fans) say he didn't explode or get heated by what Ferguson said when he planned to come out armed with a paper full of what he reckons Ferguson has done going back months?

I'm curious to know weather he compiled the list himself or asked a secretary etc to do it for him and how long before the press conference he did it.

Clearly he wasn't talking like he usually does in interviews and wasn't as calm. Not only did he focus all that rant on one manager and club but he also banged the table which shows his frustration. Ferguson got at him with a reply to a reporters questions about them having pressure in the run it and he responded with a rant about fouls, refs, penalties and all sorts nothing to do with pressure.

Not sure weather he was trying to take the pressure of his team for the title, Gerrard for the trouble he's in with the police or put pressure on the ref for United v Chelsea but clearly it backfired big time.

Watching Redknapp and Carragher on Sky sports made it all the more satisfying, seeing them trying to play down United especially Redknapp who was dying to put out how poor Chelsea were but barely mentioned any positives about United.

BACKFIRED RAFA, BIG TIME!! Don't even try and test Fergie he has more medals from Scotland alone than you have anywhere.

YOU'll Never match his record (alone).

Guillem Balague has wrote a far much better article than your's Phil, and in my opinion he's the best dealing with the La Liga and the EPL.


Alex Ferguson? Rafa Benitez knows what he is doing...

I’ve read and heard a few commentators refer to Rafa Benitez’ comments about Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday as the Liverpool manager’s ‘Keegan moment.’ Nothing could be further from the truth.

Back in the 1995/96 season, Keegan's side looked set to finally land the title after opening up a 12-point gap at the top of the table, and the Newcastle coach famously lost control of his emotions.

Rafa Benitez is a coach who is methodical in his approach to the game, and yesterday was no different. He walked in to that press conference fully prepared for what he was about to say. He produced a sheet of paper from which he read a series of longstanding complaints about Ferguson and, in particular, his attitude to referees and gripes about the fixture list; Rafa was calm and assured in his delivery.

Some have said that Benitez should not have let Ferguson get under his skin, yet this was not a man flailing wildly at his adversary, but a man in control who had prepared the terrain upon which he was about to do battle: so typically Rafa.


So why did he do it?

Well, Sir Alex Ferguson had openly criticised the Liverpool players in midweek. With Liverpool seven points in front of third-placed United, who have two games in hand, Ferguson stated that Liverpool’s inexperience will cost them. “There's no doubt in the second half of the season they will get nervous,” said the United manager.

Sir Alex was inferring that he and his players are more experienced and mentally tougher than the Liverpool players. From Rafa’s point of view, no manager has the right to insult his player’s capabilities and he was right to come out and defend them. For the sake of the dressing room, it was important that he is seen to be standing up for his team.

Remember, this was not an instant reaction to Ferguson’s comments. Benitez had bided his time and spoken with his dressing room. He had ensured that his players were totally unfazed by what the United boss had said about them, fully assessed the situation – as he always does – and concluded that to have not reacted would have been seen as a loss of authority.



And because of that, what Benitez cannot afford to do is be seen to agree with Ferguson – as Wenger did recently over the football calendar – because the United boss will be seen as leading the agenda, as the man in control who can say what he wants - when he wants; with his contemporaries following his lead. Rather than agreeing with Ferguson, Benitez made the United coach sound like a whinger: Rafa said “Then he (Ferguson) was talking about the fixtures. Two years ago we were playing a lot of early kick-offs away on Saturdays when United were playing on Sundays. And we didn't say anything.


"Now he is complaining about everything, that everybody is against United. But the second half of the season will see them playing at home against all the teams at the top of the table, it is a fantastic advantage.


"But at Christmas, United played on the 29th and the rest of the teams played on the 28th. We were away against Newcastle two days after playing Bolton. They were playing about 40 hours later, they were not complaining then.”


And when it came down to United’s treatment of referees, Benitez was letting it be known that not only do other managers share his opinions, but that this is a matter he has been prepared to tackle head on with the FA : as he did at the meeting in Manchester which he referred to yesterday. Benitez said “You can see every single week how they put (referees) under pressure, we know this. We have seen it before. We have seen players sent off at Old Trafford and we do not see our opponents sent off. It is part of the game. But to complain and to always have an advantage is not fair.”

"We had a meeting in Manchester with managers and FA about the Respect campaign. And I was very clear, forget the campaign because Mr Ferguson was killing the referees, killing Mr Atkinson, killing Mr Hackett.”

Ferguson had not got under his skin; Rafa was sending a message to the most important people of all: his players in the dressing room, letting them know that he is there to stand up for them and will put himself in the firing line if need be. All of which leads on to the final reason why he did it.


He has deflected the attention from his players and turned it upon himself. The focus no longer on the Liverpool dressing room and Ferguson’s opinion of it; it is now all about what Rafa Benitez thinks of Alex Ferguson.


Kenny Dalglish urged Liverpool “to forget about these mind games and concentrate solely on what's going on around their own club.” But, in stepping in to the firing line, Benitez had ensured that if Liverpool slip up at Stoke in the wake of Ferguson’s comments, it will be all about Benitez and less about his players. And if they win? Well then Rafa got it spot on, and the message to Ferguson is unequivocal: 'say what you like about us, we know what we’re doing.'


I have also read that this was most out of character for Rafa Benitez. Not so.
Because, aside from this being so ‘very Rafa’ to have delivered his comments armed with his meticulously researched arguments laid out in bullet points on an A4 sheet of paper, the Liverpool coach has done this before.


Following a successful title winning season at Valencia, his players felt the full force of his wrath in a disappointing second season at the club. And when Valencia lifted the La Liga title the following year, Benítez confronted Jesus Garcia Pitarch, the club's director of sport, over control of new signings and the club's failure to reinforce the squad with the players he wanted – and Benitez told the world, in no uncertain terms, what he thought of the men in suits at the Mestalla.


In England too, Benitez has previous form. Remember when he stood up to Mourinho? After their first group match ended in another goalless draw in September 2005, the Liverpool manager said the following month: "To me, Arsenal played much better football two or three years ago. They won matches and were exciting to watch. Barcelona and Milan too. They create excitement so how can you say Chelsea are the best in the world?" He did not shy away from telling Mourinho that his success was down to Abramovich’s millions either.

The point is, unlike Keegan before him, Rafa Benitez is not some novice manager confronted with a situation like this for the first time in his career. When Ferguson tries to attack someone for their inexperience, he would do well to remember that there is a world outside the Premier League and I would wager that two Spanish league titles and a Champions League trophy have taught Benitez a thing or two about coping with pressure.

Ferguson has found himself a new adversary: he knows he is in a fight for the title race now, and I fully expect the United coach to react; while Benitez, who has seen off the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona in the past, will put his piece of paper back in his pocket, and smile whenever the word ‘Fergie’ gets a mention over the next few weeks.

I wonder which one of them is really under the skin of the other...

Guillem Balague has written a far much better article than your's Phil, and in my opinion he's the best dealing with the La Liga and the EPL, and the recent acts from Rafa.


Alex Ferguson? Rafa Benitez knows what he is doing...

I’ve read and heard a few commentators refer to Rafa Benitez’ comments about Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday as the Liverpool manager’s ‘Keegan moment.’ Nothing could be further from the truth.

Back in the 1995/96 season, Keegan's side looked set to finally land the title after opening up a 12-point gap at the top of the table, and the Newcastle coach famously lost control of his emotions.

Rafa Benitez is a coach who is methodical in his approach to the game, and yesterday was no different. He walked in to that press conference fully prepared for what he was about to say. He produced a sheet of paper from which he read a series of longstanding complaints about Ferguson and, in particular, his attitude to referees and gripes about the fixture list; Rafa was calm and assured in his delivery.

Some have said that Benitez should not have let Ferguson get under his skin, yet this was not a man flailing wildly at his adversary, but a man in control who had prepared the terrain upon which he was about to do battle: so typically Rafa.


So why did he do it?

Well, Sir Alex Ferguson had openly criticised the Liverpool players in midweek. With Liverpool seven points in front of third-placed United, who have two games in hand, Ferguson stated that Liverpool’s inexperience will cost them. “There's no doubt in the second half of the season they will get nervous,” said the United manager.

Sir Alex was inferring that he and his players are more experienced and mentally tougher than the Liverpool players. From Rafa’s point of view, no manager has the right to insult his player’s capabilities and he was right to come out and defend them. For the sake of the dressing room, it was important that he is seen to be standing up for his team.

Remember, this was not an instant reaction to Ferguson’s comments. Benitez had bided his time and spoken with his dressing room. He had ensured that his players were totally unfazed by what the United boss had said about them, fully assessed the situation – as he always does – and concluded that to have not reacted would have been seen as a loss of authority.



And because of that, what Benitez cannot afford to do is be seen to agree with Ferguson – as Wenger did recently over the football calendar – because the United boss will be seen as leading the agenda, as the man in control who can say what he wants - when he wants; with his contemporaries following his lead. Rather than agreeing with Ferguson, Benitez made the United coach sound like a whinger: Rafa said “Then he (Ferguson) was talking about the fixtures. Two years ago we were playing a lot of early kick-offs away on Saturdays when United were playing on Sundays. And we didn't say anything.


"Now he is complaining about everything, that everybody is against United. But the second half of the season will see them playing at home against all the teams at the top of the table, it is a fantastic advantage.


"But at Christmas, United played on the 29th and the rest of the teams played on the 28th. We were away against Newcastle two days after playing Bolton. They were playing about 40 hours later, they were not complaining then.”


And when it came down to United’s treatment of referees, Benitez was letting it be known that not only do other managers share his opinions, but that this is a matter he has been prepared to tackle head on with the FA : as he did at the meeting in Manchester which he referred to yesterday. Benitez said “You can see every single week how they put (referees) under pressure, we know this. We have seen it before. We have seen players sent off at Old Trafford and we do not see our opponents sent off. It is part of the game. But to complain and to always have an advantage is not fair.”

"We had a meeting in Manchester with managers and FA about the Respect campaign. And I was very clear, forget the campaign because Mr Ferguson was killing the referees, killing Mr Atkinson, killing Mr Hackett.”

Ferguson had not got under his skin; Rafa was sending a message to the most important people of all: his players in the dressing room, letting them know that he is there to stand up for them and will put himself in the firing line if need be. All of which leads on to the final reason why he did it.


He has deflected the attention from his players and turned it upon himself. The focus no longer on the Liverpool dressing room and Ferguson’s opinion of it; it is now all about what Rafa Benitez thinks of Alex Ferguson.


Kenny Dalglish urged Liverpool “to forget about these mind games and concentrate solely on what's going on around their own club.” But, in stepping in to the firing line, Benitez had ensured that if Liverpool slip up at Stoke in the wake of Ferguson’s comments, it will be all about Benitez and less about his players. And if they win? Well then Rafa got it spot on, and the message to Ferguson is unequivocal: 'say what you like about us, we know what we’re doing.'


I have also read that this was most out of character for Rafa Benitez. Not so.
Because, aside from this being so ‘very Rafa’ to have delivered his comments armed with his meticulously researched arguments laid out in bullet points on an A4 sheet of paper, the Liverpool coach has done this before.


Following a successful title winning season at Valencia, his players felt the full force of his wrath in a disappointing second season at the club. And when Valencia lifted the La Liga title the following year, Benítez confronted Jesus Garcia Pitarch, the club's director of sport, over control of new signings and the club's failure to reinforce the squad with the players he wanted – and Benitez told the world, in no uncertain terms, what he thought of the men in suits at the Mestalla.


In England too, Benitez has previous form. Remember when he stood up to Mourinho? After their first group match ended in another goalless draw in September 2005, the Liverpool manager said the following month: "To me, Arsenal played much better football two or three years ago. They won matches and were exciting to watch. Barcelona and Milan too. They create excitement so how can you say Chelsea are the best in the world?" He did not shy away from telling Mourinho that his success was down to Abramovich’s millions either.

The point is, unlike Keegan before him, Rafa Benitez is not some novice manager confronted with a situation like this for the first time in his career. When Ferguson tries to attack someone for their inexperience, he would do well to remember that there is a world outside the Premier League and I would wager that two Spanish league titles and a Champions League trophy have taught Benitez a thing or two about coping with pressure.

Ferguson has found himself a new adversary: he knows he is in a fight for the title race now, and I fully expect the United coach to react; while Benitez, who has seen off the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona in the past, will put his piece of paper back in his pocket, and smile whenever the word ‘Fergie’ gets a mention over the next few weeks.

I wonder which one of them is really under the skin of the other...

thanks for the psycological boost to our players today rafa. sure many united fans will dedicate today's win at chelsea to you.

Rafa has not cracked, basically he wanted get it out of his chest as its going to be his last season in English football. I dont think Liverpool can win the league with so many uncertaintnities off the field: Benitez's new contract, Gerrard's pending court case and the owner's debt repayment

Stoke City 0 Liverpool 0
Man United 3 Chelsea 0

...... thank you Mr Benitez yet another victory for Sir Alex! Don't the rest of the Premier League ever learn? Don'y take the master on or you end up looking a prize prat.

#12 SpionKop
that is perhaps the stupidest point made on the whole board..always a feet on the internet. yes fergie has money, but he still brings through more youth players than any of the big 4, and spends his money better than any of the big 4. In recent history, his big money buys are Veron, Rooney, Berbatov, Ferdinand, Hargreaves..thats about it. Vidic, Evra, Ronaldo, Carrick, all bought for 15 or less. I mean, youve just spent 30 on Torres and 22 on Keane in successive years..so everyone has money now and again. The fact is Ferguson is the best manager in the world, in every catagory, with only Mourinho coming close. For a couple of years, Chelsea's transfer policy was to see who Fergie wanted, then bid more, and it built them a pretty decent team didn't it?
What did he do at Aberdeen????are you kidding me? Only won the league 3 times, the last team other than the Old Firm to win it, the scottish cup twice, and the Cup Winners Cup, where they knocked out Bayern Munich, before beating REAL MADRID in the final...this is with Aberdeen remember...so since you clearly have no clue what you are talking about, just save it.

EL-Liverbird, you sound just like Rafa! If the pressure isn't getting to you, if you're not worried about Fergie and United, then why the huge defensive essay? After Rafa's ill-timed, ill-judged comments and United's thumping of Chelsea, it's quite obvious who is getting nervous. The pressure is all on Benitez, and he isn't coping at all well with it.

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Chelsea are still our closest competitors. Liverpool can always be relied on to help us by taking points off Chelsea when they meet as well as giving us a shot in the arm when we're not playing particularly well.

Manchester United 3-0 Chelsea - THAT'LL SHUT RAFA UP!

Benitez, should worry more about his teams lack of playing. Stupid goings on when your team needs encouragement to be knocking another manager. Benitez couldn't carry a candle for Ferguson. What has Liverpool won lately? They have a good side but a sore loser in a manager who does not know how to play mind games in the press. I believe liverpool will end up in third place at best this campaign. Get on with your job and don't worry about anybody else. Jim from the States.

to say manutd are favoured by ref is wrong, before this weekends games

https://www.rightresult.net/ liverpool have gained from bad decisions this season by a point

Last Season Liverpool gained 5 points they didnt deserve and United lost 4 https://www.rightresult.net/lastseason/

FACT :)

Can't help thinking about Chelsea's FA Cup rematch with Southend. It's either a good time to play Chelsea, or a bad time to confront a wounded animal. Either way, the result will be worth listening out for!

Thanks Rafa for the team talk on Friday, just the motivaional speech the United troops neded? All the evidence was out there on the pitch this afternoon.

Be afraid Rafa, be very afraid, the United leviathan is beginning to go through the gears!