Liverpool FC Forum

by **Ciggy** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 8:50 am

Some great articles about us in the papers. Excellent reading.

Benitez aims to be Liverpool manager for 20 years

By Neil Johnston (Filed: 21/01/2006)

Rafael Benitez has not even been in the job 20 months, yet the Liverpool manager would like to emulate Sir Alex Ferguson as one of the longest-serving managers in the English game.

Ferguson is 10 months away from celebrating his 20th anniversary in charge of Manchester United, although a Liverpool victory in tomorrow's eagerly awaited second-versus-third duel at Old Trafford could yet damage his prospects of reaching the milestone.

Nevertheless, Benitez is clearly impressed by his rival's longevity and intends to dominate Anfield for as long as Ferguson has ruled at the Manchester end of the East Lancs Road.

With one European crown safely tucked away, the Spaniard knows he must continue to deliver success if he is to stand any chance. Steering Liverpool to their second Premiership win in eight attempts against United would help.

"I would like to be here at Liverpool winning trophies for 20 years, for sure," said Benitez, who has failed to celebrate a victory over his Old Trafford counterpart in three attempts. ''Why not? If you're happy and you can win trophies at a big club, it's an ideal situation for a manager.

"It's not natural in Spain to be manager of one club for so long. I was at Valencia for three years, but in Spain it can be one year, or one week, depending on the chairman. I am very happy at Liverpool and want to carry on for as long as possible."

While the rivalry between both sets of supporters burns as fiercely as ever, Benitez, 45, and Ferguson clearly have a healthy respect for one another.

Not only did Ferguson throw open the gates to United's well-guarded training ground at Carrington, when Benitez embarked on a mission to discover the training methods of Europe's leading clubs before joining Valencia, the Scot also wrote his Spanish rival a personal letter of congratulations after Liverpool were crowned champions of Europe.

Benitez plans to return the compliment by masterminding a victory which would prove what some already suspect - that Liverpool have leap-frogged Arsenal and United as Chelsea's most coherent domestic challengers.

"When you play Manchester United, you cannot go there and relax," Benitez added. "But the difference between the two sides is not big. I think we're a better team than when we drew 0-0 with them at Anfield in September. We're now winning a lot of games, keeping clean sheets and scoring well. Games against United are a test, but all teams have weaknesses and United are no different. They are not the perfect team."

Liverpool, who have taken 34 points from the last 36, have been boosted by John Arne Riise's decision to pledge his long-term future to the club.

The 25-year-old Norwegian left back has signed a three-year deal, which has delighted Benitez. "He will be more comfortable, calm and happier now his future is settled," he said.

http://sport.telegraph.co.uk/sport....v21.xml

Benítez seeks to learn from blueprint for success laid down by 'exceptional' Ferguson

By Oliver Kay

FLATTERY, it seems, will get you everywhere. Almost as soon as José Mourinho arrived in England, he was currying favour with Sir Alex Ferguson, not only antagonising Arsène Wenger but also calling the Manchester United manager “boss” and bringing him bottles of wine. Now that he is receiving similar reverent treatment from Rafael Benítez, before their meeting at Old Trafford tomorrow, maybe Ferguson should be starting to worry.

Benítez, the Liverpool manager, spoke fondly of Ferguson yesterday, citing an ambition to emulate the Scot’s achievements in Manchester by spending two decades in charge at Anfield and revealing that they sat together on a recent flight to Geneva — “discussing lots of things, football, also business” — but, like Mourinho at Chelsea, the Spaniard is more interested in crushing what remains of the Old Trafford empire than following the blueprint that brought United such success in the 1990s.

Benítez knows a bit about that blueprint. Out of work after his departure from Extremadura in 1999, when United were at their peak, he and his right-hand man, Pako Ayesteran, spent a week in Manchester watching and learning from Ferguson and his assistant at the time, Steve McClaren.

“We learnt a lot about the style of football and the style of coaching over here,” Benítez said yesterday. “It was mainly Steve I was with. Ferguson was really busy trying to renew the contract of Roy Keane. I think that was more important than talking to a Spanish coach.”

Six years later, though, that Spanish coach was winning the Champions League and Ferguson was sending him a congratulatory letter, complete with tactical breakdown of Liverpool’s victory over AC Milan in the final. “That wasn’t normal,” Benítez said, presumably meaning that the gesture was exceptional rather than freakish. “He said some things about the match and tactics. But he can teach me more than I can teach him.”

Without question. Increasingly, though, there are aspects of Liverpool’s play — like Chelsea’s under Mourinho — that Ferguson and his assistant, Carlos Queiroz, could learn from.

Liverpool’s midfield is full of pace and power, imagination and inspiration; United’s is flat. Liverpool’s defence is a tight and cohesive unit; United’s is a collection of individuals often pulling in different directions; Liverpool, even going forward, play with a tactical discipline that is second only to Chelsea; United, more reliant on the inspiration of Wayne Rooney and others, play off the cuff.

It is a ludicrous myth that Ferguson has failed to adapt to change over the course of a remarkable managerial career, but the defence-first formula used so successfully by Mourinho and Benítez of late is one that, sticking to his principles, he seems reluctant to grasp.

“They were very sound defensively,” Ferguson said of Liverpool’s European triumph yesterday. “Gérard Houllier did exactly the same in Europe and they came close a couple of times. If you get a 0-0 away from home and get back to your own ground, that can work. You can do it different ways. Everyone has different ways.”

The inference is that the method favoured by Benítez or Mourinho would not be good enough for United’s fans, but the wealth of attacking talent at Ferguson’s disposal — Rooney, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Louis Saha, Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo — has not always produced quality to compensate for a lack of silverware.

Faced with this challenge from the European technocrats, Ferguson would always prefer to beat them than join them — as shown by the way he has galvanised his troops to defeat Arsenal in recent years and Chelsea at Old Trafford in November — but defeat tomorrow would leave Liverpool two points clear of United having played two games fewer.

And, to paraphrase a famous soundbite that Ferguson once used about Liverpool, it would knock United even farther off their flipping perch.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,291-2002784,00.html

by **Ciggy** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 8:57 am

How Benítez built Liverpool

The side that plays Manchester United tomorrow bears the mark of a manager who has figured out the English game

Kevin McCarra
Saturday January 21, 2006
The Guardian

Tomorrow brings a landmark anniversary for Rafael Benítez but it is not of the sort he will have marked up on his kitchen calendar. On January 22 2005 Liverpool were beaten 2-0 by Southampton, who had few other distractions of that sort as they homed in on bottom spot in the Premiership. The third defeat in a week cracked the manager's defences and there was a dam-burst of condemnation over all his doings on Merseyside.

It was unthinkable then that he would be held in such esteem as he prepares for tomorrow's away match with Manchester United. That defeat to Southampton was pored over and Alan Hansen wrote that the first-half display was "the worst I've seen in the 14 years since I left the club". The former captain decried Benítez's penchant for signing his fellow Spaniards and declared that Liverpool "are not going to win the Champions League".

Jeers for Hansen have to be stifled because every piece of opinionated punditry creates another batch of hostages to fortune and, above all, his views were shared by most people on the football scene. Liverpool overhauled a 3-0 deficit in the European Cup final but they have had to sustain the transformation in order to enjoy their current standing. With their all-round strength and consistency they will continue to be treated as the best-equipped team to keep pace with Chelsea in the years ahead, whatever the outcome against Manchester United tomorrow.

Liverpool's progress owes a little to signings and other alterations to the line-up. During the misery at St Mary's, Jamie Carragher played at right-back because the old and slow Mauricio Pellegrino was in central defence. There is no longer bed-blocking of that kind in the side. None the less, the more influential changes have occurred within Benítez himself, who has become far more flexible in his reaction to the idiosyncrasies of the Premiership.

The career of the Wales manager John Toshack includes two spells in charge of Real Madrid and three at Real Sociedad, giving him an appreciation of how odd English football looks to a Spaniard such as Benítez. "Everyone gets railroaded into 4-4-2 because if you don't play that way they call you negative," said the former Liverpool striker, conscious that such systems are somewhat alien to the Anfield manager. "There is no doubt that Rafa has adjusted, because he never used two outright strikers at Valencia."

In the defeat at Southampton and another by the same margin at Birmingham Benítez employed Fernando Morientes up front, with Milan Baros drifting deeper and wider until he reached vanishing point. At the moment Liverpool, when taking on palpably weaker teams, utilise the more assertive threat of Morientes and Peter Crouch, who made a painful impression on Benítez with his goal at St Mary's a year ago. "Against sides from the mid-table downwards he will have decided that he can afford to take more of a chance with his tactics," said Toshack.

The balance to be struck between caution and aggression is one that preoccupies every manager. Benítez would identify with the thinking of one of his Anfield predecessors, even if the idiom would not come so naturally to him. "Bill Shankly," recalls Toshack, "used to say: 'A football team is like a piano. You need eight men to carry it and three who can play the damn thing.'" Benítez has always been aware that a certain huskiness is essential and the acquisition of Mohamed Sissoko added an athleticism to the destructive work of the Liverpool midfield, although the Mali international, who turns 21 tomorrow, still tends to be indiscriminate on occasion in the passes and tackles he attempts to make.

Benítez has always been very pragmatic and if he lets his men off the leash it will be because the method is logical. With Liverpool 3-1 down at Luton he swiftly converted to a devil-may-care 4-2-4 formation which overwhelmed Mike Newell's team. The switch was born of calculation, not romance, and even as a boy he was obsessively analytical in his addiction to a military board game called Stratego.

The lack of a career as a professional player meant that he had no prior status to draw upon in management and that must have deepened his conservatism. He could not afford to take risks. "He was the youth coach at Real Madrid when I was the manager there," said Toshack. "He has had to struggle through the ranks in Spain and he was a surprise appointment at Valencia."

Benítez won two Liga titles while at the Mestalla, as well as a Uefa Cup, and depended on a robust 4-2-3-1 formation. Though Toshack's Real Sociedad side beat them in the 2001-02 championship the Welshman recalls the formidable cragginess of Valencia. "It was as if you had to be in your 30s to play in their back four," he said, "and no one could get at the defence easily because of David Albelda and Rubén Baraja. Then they would counter-attack through Pablo Aimar."

Toshack is sure Benítez's approach is essential for success at the higher levels and he has England's generally dismal record in European football over the past 20 years to bear out his argument. "You can't play 4-4-2 against Juventus, Chelsea and Milan," he says of the clubs defeated by Liverpool last season. "If you do you will get outnumbered and cut up in midfield."

The secret of Benítez's progress lies not in any radical overhaul but in the small calibrations he has made to ensure that Liverpool are bolder against the teams they should dominate. Last season, while being unduly cerebral, they could be bullied in away fixtures where they had neglected to seize the initiative. At present, on the other hand, they are unbeaten in 13 games in all domestic competitions.

The tailoring of the tactics for specific, relatively minor occasions does not mean Benítez's principles have altered. "You won't see him using Steven Gerrard as a holding player beside Xabi Alonso because it's just not in his instinct to cover that area," said the Wales manager. As Toshack indicates, there are security measures further forward in the 4-2-3-1 structure.

"One of those three men will not really be an attacker by nature," he argues. "For example, John Arne Riise is quite often the player on the left and he is more of a full-back who will help to provide cover on that side." Just before the third of four unsuccessful attempts by a goalless Chelsea to defeat Liverpool in the Champions League, Jose Mourinho commented that his opponents "do not play with an open heart". Coming from such an arch-realist that must have sounded like a handsome compliment to Benítez.

"Why not stay 20 years here?" the Spaniard said cheerily yesterday. Why not indeed when he already has a team built to last.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1691681,00.html

Why Reds are now Chelsea's main rivals

Benítez has transformed the club's fortunes with improvements in four areas, writes Dominic Fifield

Saturday January 21, 2006
The Guardian

1 New signings

It is rare for a group of signings to slip seamlessly into a club but Rafael Benítez achieved as much last summer. Peter Crouch, Mohamed Sissoko, Boudewijn Zenden and José Reina have all suffered minor blips in personal form but their impact on the side has been beneficial: Crouch's presence has unsettled opponents, Sissoko's energy has liberated Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard, Reina has conceded in only five Premiership matches and Zenden, now injured, provided industry and experience.

Article continues
"They all gave us something extra, particularly away from home," said Benítez. "They have either experience or are suited to life in the Premiership." Add to that the recent rebirth of Harry Kewell and the invention of Alonso and Luis García and Benítez has worked wonders. Should Fernando Morientes live up to his reputation the jigsaw might be complete.

2 Tactics

At Valencia Benítez created a side capable of ripping opponents to shreds on the break, their system based on wingers in Rufete and Vicente who tormented, a rugged centre-forward in John Carew, creativity in Pablo Aimar and a miserly defence marshalled by the goalkeeper Santiago Cañizares and the centre-half Roberto Ayala. That set-up is mirrored at Anfield, though Benítez's Liverpool are also capable of offering a more "British-style" aggression.

Sissoko's energy opens space in which Alonso orchestrates, with any combination of Kewell, John Arne Riise, García and Gerrard providing width. Gerrard would prefer to operate inside but has revelled on the right. Defenders who struggled to cope with the manager's zonal marking system - not least at Old Trafford, where Mikaël Silvestre scored twice from set plays - have learnt to adapt. "I would have changed that system if it hadn't worked," said Benítez.

The Spaniard received a letter from Sir Alex Ferguson after the Champions League final complimenting him on his tactics. "He had an idea of how he wanted us to play and where he wanted us positioned, but it just took a long time for us to learn it," said Stephen Warnock.

3 Learning from his mistakes

Liverpool were humbled 11 times on their Premiership travels last season but mistakes made a year ago have been eradicated. Only Fulham, with a 2-0 win in October, have improved upon their corresponding result from last season; six sides whom Liverpool failed to beat last season have been overcome this time around to leave the Anfield club 20 points better off to date.

Benítez rarely brings up specific failings from last year's performances but he scrutinises those ineffective displays, together with videos of his opponents, around the clock. "He tries to locate weaknesses in their play," said Warnock. "He knows them inside out, every position, so we know what we're going at every time we go out there. Every team has a weakness. A lot of the improvement has been down to the manager learning more about our opponents in the Premiership than he did last year."

4 Dressing room

Every club has its cliques but there is a feel-good factor about Liverpool these days which appears to have eased any tension within the set-up. The manager's English is improving, as is that of his signings from Spain. Antonio Núñez and Josemi, who were struggling to adapt, have since been sold back to La Liga, with the resolution of Gerrard's future and, arguably, Jamie Carragher's contractual reward last summer adding to the sense of harmony.

"We've got the best blend of youth, experience and quality the club's seen in a while," said Gerrard. "We have a gang of very hungry players. Everyone wants medals. When you've got that desire in a dressing room, and when the punters in the stands and the people in the boardroom match it, then you've got a winning mixture. I look around the dressing room pre-kick-off now and you can see the will to win in people's eyes."

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,1691753,00.html

by **dawson99** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 9:20 am

excellant read for a saturday morning

by **Woollyback** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 9:42 am

fine reading ciggy, ta for those :cool:

by **dawson99** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 10:16 am

i also heard today about others speaknig of the language barrier. Apart from rafa saying he cant understand the thick scouse accent, Garcia ahs said how his dog learnt to speak pure scouse after justa few days but he is still learning. Alonso studied english at college so hes got no problems

by **laza** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 10:51 am

We must be on the up , if the papers are starting to show us in a good light

Thanks for articles, they were great read

by **Woollyback** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:01 am

all the players kids are gonna grow up speaking english with a proper scouse accent, lar :buttrock

by **Ciggy** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:04 am

Rafa said his kids are talking scouse which cant be true cause their posh over on the Wirral.
Luis dog on the other hand is a right scall, so Ive heard

by **Woollyback** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:08 am

cisses_gona_get_ya wrote:cause their posh over on the Wirral.

yeah, i've heard they even get out of the bath for a wee over there

and they take the dishes out the sink before they have a dump as well

by **Gaunt** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:11 pm

Great read CGGY, cheers for those, really psyched for the game tomorrow now can't wait, got 23-10 for Liverpool to win :buttrock

by **mighty mo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:20 pm

cheers cggy

by **gary106** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 6:23 pm

he lives about 10 miles down the road from me. he came into work the other day aswel and did somethin that tells me he's here to stay for a fair while

by **Gaunt** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:23 pm

gary106 wrote:he lives about 10 miles down the road from me. he came into work the other day aswel and did somethin that tells me he's here to stay for a fair while

Which was...?

by **gato_busta** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:53 pm

the first articles show the class benitez has. the mancs are liverpool's biggest rivals over the years and even so, he praises their manager. what has really impressed me is that he does so a day before the match. here in south america is very rare to see that, managers and player always slag each other before playing (like a certain manager of a certain team that is first place on the premiership at the moment :rasp

). great read by the way CGGY.

by **gary106** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 8:16 pm

Gaunt wrote:
gary106 wrote:he lives about 10 miles down the road from me. he came into work the other day aswel and did somethin that tells me he's here to stay for a fair while

Which was...?

cant say mate customer confidentiality and all

but its good, lets just leave it at that

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