by azriahmad » Tue Sep 06, 2005 6:10 am
anfieldadorer, last season's CL win was similar to Porto's CL win in the previous season.
No doubt that Benithez pulled out rabbits out of the hat on many occassions, which illustrated his tactical nous against far superior opponents with largely average players he inherited from Houllier. Also a fact was that we had a sort of kind draws (Porto had kinder draws in the previous season) with Barca and Bayern Munich facing Chelsea (Porto had the help of Berlusconi who instructed Ancelotti to field a very attacking line-up against his usual approach and were beaten 4-0 by Deportivo, otherwise they won't get past AC Milan). We then played amazing defensive football to eliminate Juve and Chelsea. We had one amazing game in the final to come back from 0-3 down and eventually prevail.
I have no doubts on Benithez's abilities - give him the right players (not necessarily stars, as he proved at Valencia), he can make the team perform. I just have doubts on the way we play at the moment due to indifferent form and the lack of the right players like a proper RM and a quicker CB. I don't believe that we can retain the big ears this season with the way we are playing right now, unless people like Fernando Morrientes suddenly remember how to score goals. It is also hard to see us making a strong challenge on the top 3 with the present form.
I hope things will change for the better. Like I said many times before, I am absolutely in love with LFC, but the above are my views on reality at the moment.