Having said this though, a year on, and despite unbelievably winning the Champions League in his first season, I still feel that the shadow of Gerard Houllier hangs over Rafa Benitez to a degree. When Houllier was a new kid on the Anfield block he generated professions of undying loyalty from the Kop for the remarkable 2001 of the five cups: League Cup, FA Cup, UEFA Cup, Charity Shield and European Supercup. But the anticipated progress to Premiership success proved elusive for us. Houllier's health problems compounded by some poor transfer dealings, the distractions of the new stadium proposals plus the boardroom power game all drained energy away from the pitch. One further League Cup triumph in 2003 was all Houllier had to show over the next three years and his departure last summer was thus inevitable.
It is a well known fact that at the start of the season, myself and all other Liverpool fans hankered after a return to the good old days when we dominated football both at home and abroad. The ideal scenario would probably have seen domestic success followed by international expansion but Benitez, like Houllier before him, has turned that cliche around. A statistic of 13 defeats in 36 Premiership games was an odd platform on which to build the overthrow of Milan on that dramatic, old-fashioned glory night in Istanbul.
Was it a goal in the semi? Well the Referee was perfectly placed to judge that Luis Garcia's flick had crossed the line before the desperate clearance by William Gallas. I won't pause long to worry about the rights and wrongs. We've conceded enough controversial goals in Europe down the years, right the way back to the beating we received by Internazionale in Milan in 1965 if I'm not mistaken? We also 'owed' Chelsea one big style after the luckless own goal from Stevie which gave them their League Cup Final lifeline in Cardiff in February, and the injustice of the loss to them at Anfield on New Years Day.
It seems apparant that Benitez, having struggled with the biggest casualty list I've seen since the Civil War, goalkeeping confusion, plus the irritating uncertainty over Gerrard's future, relies on hard work not luck. That seems to be the 'secret' of his success which has so far earned promotion for Tenerife and two Spanish championships for Valencia with 2004's UEFA Cup thrown in for good measure.
But guiding Liverpool to Champions League glory must surely have outstripped anything else he has achieved as a Manager, especially given the squad he had to work with and the fact that it was his first season in a new country with a new language. Even reaching the Final was considered an unbelievable achievement, having beaten the English and Italian Champions along the way. What is for sure is that Benitez, at 44, is not only the most successful Spanish coach at the moment but also the youngest, having originally built his initial reputation as a youth coach at Real Madrid. His ambition far outstripped his appreciation of the security of a role as faithful retainer so he parachuted out in 1995 to learn his coaching craft with Valladolid, Osasuna, Extremadura and Tenerife before succeeding Internazionale-bound Hector Cuper at Valencia. Generally speaking, it's been a success ever since.
Whether that qualified Benitez for the Liverpool heritage was another matter. With Benitez came the obvious worry from some sections of supporters that he was "unproven" in this country. But hey, when Arsene Wenger arrived at Arsenal, nobody had heard of him, and look at what he has achieved down the years. Us Liverpool fans are a demanding bunch, brought up to expect maintenance of the massive tradition which has now brought five European Cup wins and 18 League titles. But our most recent domestic championship came in 1990, in pre-Premiership days and this cannot be ignored. Rafa came out after the success in Istanbul and stated that despite that magnificent achievement he was still not happy. He was not happy with our League performances and rightly so. It is this strive for excellence that will eventually put him down in Anfield folkore alongside Shanks and Paisley if you ask me.
Despite this general sense of optimism, fans should still not be kidded into thinking that we are anywhere near the finished article. We are still very much a team in transition. This summer will probably prove to be our busiest in recent memory with several players coming and going over the coming weeks. Last season, injuries carved significant chunks out of the season for main men such Milan Baros, Didi Hamann, Xabi Alonso and Djibril Cisse. Our general lack of strength in depth meant that we failed to compete with the top three and some of our domestic performances, especially away from home (Southampton, Birmingham, Middlesbrough, Man City, Newcastle), were simply awful.
Reaching Istanbul was discounted by all but the super-optimists (including myself) when we only just squeaked through, 2-1 on aggregate, against Grazer AK in the third qualifying round. Infact I recall Jamie Carragher on the eve of the Final saying something along the lines of:
“At the start of the season, we felt it would probably be an achievement just to get through the group stage under a new coach because we were rebuilding. Being in the Final now shows how far we've come under Rafa Benitez.”
Rafa once described himself in an interview as a “loner with a laptop” because of his obsession with footballing detail. He has always stressed the importance of unity. After Valencia's 2-0 UEFA Cup Final win over Marseille last year, he said:
“We had some great individual performances. But above all, we're a team whose players can all depend on each other.”
Importantly, on arrival, he quickly broke up the Anfield cliques and brought in Spainish based players he knew and trusted – Luis Garcia, Josemi, Xabi Alonso, the makeweight Antonio Nunez, the Euro-ineligible Mauricio Pellegrino and Fernando Morientes – to bolster what was already there. Finding the right blend amid the Premiership frenzy wasn't easy. Realistically, I think Benitez knows that it will be next season before our imports fully handle the physical demands of English football. Morientes himself has already admitted that he was taken by surprise by the physicality and pace of the game over here. However everybody knows the guy is a class act, and hopefully next season, we will see the best of him.
We were three minutes from going out at the group stage, before Gerrard's 87th-minute strike sank Olympiakos 3-1 and carried us into the last 16. Leverkusen were beaten (and outclassed) 3-1 both home and away before we withstood the emotional pressure of the Heysel anniversary to outrun but also outwit Juventus 2-1 at home and goalless away, despite the injury absence of Gerrard.
Following this we kept two clean sheets against Chelsea, who were reduced in each leg to hitting high balls towards the heads of Didier Drogba and Mateja Kezman. Luis Garcia's controversial strike at Anfield was eventually enough. As for the final itself, it is an experience that I will never forget and in general, is a match that will go down in folklore. Hopefully the vast distance we have come under Benitez will not be forgotten should we have a poor season next time around. I'm sure that wont happen.
THE FUTURES BRIGHT, THE FUTURE'S LIVERPOOL.
Happy anniversary Rafael Benitez and thank you.
YNWA
