Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:41 pmRafa Benitez has to be the only manager in England who can dump the Italian champions out of the Champions League - on their own turf - and get criticised for doing so.
Liverpool moved ominously into the last eight of the Champions League for the third time in four years on Tuesday, yet despite a European record that Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger dream about, Benitez instantly faced scarcely-veiled criticism.
It surrounded Fernando Torres, who had just leathered in his 26th goal of a wonderful season, justifying a huge Benitez gamble in spending £20.1 million on the Spanish superstar, who had scored just 14 goals the previous season for Atletico.
Liverpool had just beaten Inter, and looked comfortable doing so, so what could Benitez expect as his first question?
This is what he got: "Fernando Torres is in wonderful form, but should he have played more games at the start of the season, and can Liverpool fans expect to see him play every game until the rest of the season?" Or words to that effect.
Now I won't mention names, but anybody watching coverage of the game on T.V will know who I mean when I then turn to an even worse comment: "How many goals could Torres have scored had he not been in and out of the team all season? Wouldn't Liverpool fans swap the Champions League for the League?"
More criticism of Rafa's 'rotation policy', where apparently he has dropped Fernando Torres more times than Paul Robinson drops footballs.
So here is a fact for all those who bang on with this 'if only Torres had played more games' nonsense.
Of the Premier League games that Torres has been fit for this season, he has been rested only twice, the last of which came six months ago. The only other game he came off the bench for was on his return from injury against Fulham. A game he scored in and Liverpool won.
Cristiano Ronaldo meanwhile, has been rested three times, and United lost one of those games away at Bolton.
Liverpool aren't trailing United because Torres missed two games, they are trailing because they are not good enough over the course of the season - yet.
The two games Torres was rested for, came just two weeks before he picked up a thigh injury that saw him miss over a month of the season. Maybe Rafa knew something.
After all, Frank Rijkaard suffered similar criticism for resting Lionel Messi, right before the Argentine also suffered a muscular injury.
As crazy as it sounds, maybe Rafa knows more than these clueless pundits who continue to use magnificent victories like Tuesday night to bash the Liverpool boss.
I wouldn't bet against him having a second European Cup in his locker to prove it in May.
Liverpool moved ominously into the last eight of the Champions League for the third time in four years on Tuesday, yet despite a European record that Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger dream about, Benitez instantly faced scarcely-veiled criticism.
It surrounded Fernando Torres, who had just leathered in his 26th goal of a wonderful season, justifying a huge Benitez gamble in spending £20.1 million on the Spanish superstar, who had scored just 14 goals the previous season for Atletico.
Liverpool had just beaten Inter, and looked comfortable doing so, so what could Benitez expect as his first question?
This is what he got: "Fernando Torres is in wonderful form, but should he have played more games at the start of the season, and can Liverpool fans expect to see him play every game until the rest of the season?" Or words to that effect.
Now I won't mention names, but anybody watching coverage of the game on T.V will know who I mean when I then turn to an even worse comment: "How many goals could Torres have scored had he not been in and out of the team all season? Wouldn't Liverpool fans swap the Champions League for the League?"
More criticism of Rafa's 'rotation policy', where apparently he has dropped Fernando Torres more times than Paul Robinson drops footballs.
So here is a fact for all those who bang on with this 'if only Torres had played more games' nonsense.
Of the Premier League games that Torres has been fit for this season, he has been rested only twice, the last of which came six months ago. The only other game he came off the bench for was on his return from injury against Fulham. A game he scored in and Liverpool won.
Cristiano Ronaldo meanwhile, has been rested three times, and United lost one of those games away at Bolton.
Liverpool aren't trailing United because Torres missed two games, they are trailing because they are not good enough over the course of the season - yet.
The two games Torres was rested for, came just two weeks before he picked up a thigh injury that saw him miss over a month of the season. Maybe Rafa knew something.
After all, Frank Rijkaard suffered similar criticism for resting Lionel Messi, right before the Argentine also suffered a muscular injury.
As crazy as it sounds, maybe Rafa knows more than these clueless pundits who continue to use magnificent victories like Tuesday night to bash the Liverpool boss.
I wouldn't bet against him having a second European Cup in his locker to prove it in May.
absolutly crackin time and would love to do it all over again the Inter fans were brilliant with us swapped my shirt for one of theres and my scalf so ill have to get a new one now. NO complaints we went there to do a job and the job got done simple
