
Benitez finds right words in language of football
By William Johnson (Filed: 23/08/2004)
Steven Gerrard, as inspirational a Liverpool captain as any of those who preceded him when the Merseysiders reigned supreme at home and abroad, revealed after this important victory in the first Anfield engagement under new management that "we had words" in the dressing room.
The manner in which those words were delivered half-way through a tough battle with Manchester City remains a mystery for the time being. Rafael Benitez has given little away so far regarding his modus operandi as he seeks to improve the fortunes of a Liverpool team who were stagnating under former manager Gerard Houllier.
It is clear that Benitez, whose command of English is more than adequate to get by, is a master of communication in the universal language of football because the response from his players after a lethargic first 45 minutes bordered on startling.
Within three minutes they had cancelled out a shock City opener by Nicolas Anelka – his third on this ground since brusquely being given the push by Houllier – and they dominated what remained of an untidy contest.
Having set up the equaliser for Milan Baros, top scorer at the recent European Championships, Gerrard fittingly added the winner 15 minutes from time after the probing Baros had forced some sloppy goalkeeping from England's David James, one of three Liverpool old boys in the City team.
Whenever Gerrard has produced that type of match-turning display, the praise until now has been gushing. Until now.
Spaniard Benitez, a massive success during his three years at Valencia, is no Houllier and preferred to be constructively critical rather than blindly enthralled by the efforts of his key midfielder.
"Steven has the freedom to go forward and work back but it might be better if he ran less and ran more properly instead," was the manager's verdict. If that was the public analysis by Benitez, one wonders what message was conveyed to Gerrard when they had those private interval "words".
Liverpool supporters will be hoping that their astute new manager is not on a mission to rid the club of another of their local favourites after swiftly engineering the departure of two other England internationals in Michael Owen and Danny Murphy.
Those fans should not worry unduly. Benitez's no-nonsense, non-sycophantic approach is what Liverpool badly need as they set out to retrieve the acres of ground they have surrendered to Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.
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