It's all over for Liverpool. Official.
by Paul Tomkins
----------------------------------------------------------
Paul Tomkins is an ex semi-pro footballer who has written four books
on Liverpool to date and has a weekly column on liverpoolfc.tv...
----------------------------------------------------------
11/01/2007 14:45:00.
"According to The Guardian's Richard Williams, Rafael Benítez cannot
even accept any credit for his success in Istanbul, but must get
this! shoulder the blame for the Arsenal "glorified reserve match"
debacle?"
So that's it. Sack Rafa Benítez. Hand back the European Cup now on
permanent display at the club. Forfeit third place in the current
league campaign, and cancel the tie with Barcelona. It's all over.
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum bring out the coffin, let the
mourners come.
What is the world coming to? More importantly, what is sports writing
coming to? To say I'm livid at some of the stuff being written about
Liverpool FC this week would be an understatement. The only thing
worse than Liverpool's defending and goalkeeping against Arsenal the
other night has been the unmitigated tripe written about the state of
the club as a result.
According to The Guardian's Richard Williams, Rafael Benítez cannot
even accept any credit for his success in Istanbul, but must get this!
shoulder the blame for the Arsenal "glorified reserve match" debacle?
On what planet does this pass as logic?
The latter shouldering of blame is of course due; Benítez chose the
side, and it failed. Even though it was capable of winning, as both
sides had a similar look, with a mixture of kids and reserves, plus a
couple of first teamers. So as manager, that's his rap to take. He
apologised.
But to discredit the man for winning the Champions League with the
average side he inherited is, quite frankly, the kind of comment that
should have a football writer's licence revoked (okay, so we don't
need licences, but it's something to campaign for).
While we're at it, let's strip Mohammed Ali of a few of his belts, and
declare five of Michael Schumacher's Grand Prix titles null and void.
I have no axe to grind with Williams in general, and this is not a
personal attack on him. But he might be better off returning to
reviewing films if he cannot see the most basic aspects of Liverpool's
monumental achievement in 2005.
Liverpool overcame Juventus and Chelsea the expensively assembled
Champions-elect of Italy and England on the way to Istanbul, as well
as two of the previous season's semi-finalists in the group stage
(Monaco and Deportivo La Coruna). Plus the mighty AC Milan in the
final. Yes, it needed Milan to take their eye off the ball in the
second half; although it still took the drive of Steven Gerrard to
scare the life out of them. And yes, it needed Shevchenko to miss the
unmissable (credit as well to Dudek, who was as inspired that night as
he was insipid against Arsenal).
But that comeback came on the back of Rafa's tactical changes at
half-time. When Steve Finnan went off injured, Didi Hamann came on not
your unimaginative like-for-like replacement. Liverpool switched
formation, to 3-5-1-1. Harry Kewell had already been replaced by
Vladimir Smicer, so Rafa had to work extra hard with all his
reshuffling, such as when switching Steven Gerrard to right-back late
in the game, to deal with Serginho, and moving the lightweight Smicer
into central midfield.
Who decided to introduce Hamann ostensibly a defensive player knowing
it could positively change the game? Was it one of Ken Dodd's Diddy
Men? (No pun intended.) Might other managers have gambled by throwing
on a second out-and-out striker, such as Djibril Cissé?
And who switched the formation? Was it Cilla Black?
Rafa cannot live off Istanbul forever; however, he doesn't deserve to
have his achievement belittled or wiped out, as it just gives more
rope to his purblind accusers. Can Rafa still take credit for last
season's 82 points, the highest the club has managed for 18 years, and
enough for other teams to have won the league with in the interim? Can
he take credit for last season's FA Cup, where Manchester United and
Chelsea were bested in the earlier rounds?
This is a man who was the first in the Reds' history to win trophies
in his first two seasons. He won an extremely important trophy in his
first season, and a 'nice' one in his second. Wenger had a comparable
haul from his first five seasons; Ferguson had an inferior haul from
his first five seasons. Wenger, as great as he is, won nothing between
1998 and 2002, and infamously saw his team do far worse in the
Champions League than Liverpool have been lately. Now Benítez is under
pressure after six months without a trophy?
Wenger has had eleven years to get his youth and reserve systems
right, and boy has he done so. But, unlike Benítez, who was still
trying to make wholesale changes last summer, Wenger and Ferguson are
at the stage where they've had their 'own' players for years now, and
simply need to add a couple every summer to maintain their vision.
Has Rafa made mistakes? He certainly has. As have Wenger, Mourinho and
Ferguson. And in the last three seasons, Rafa's record stands up
against any of them, especially when weighted against both budget
and/or time in charge.
Also, Rafa cannot say he's had the luck of the draw in any
competition. This league campaign started with consecutive away trips
to Everton, Bolton, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United a cruel
fixture list. And in the domestic cups Benítez, unbelievably, is still
yet to face a team below mid-table in the Championship. It's worth
noting, especially in a week when Chelsea have played Macclesfield and
Wycombe, and given United have twice faced non-league teams in that
time, as well as lowly league opposition. Rafa has not had one 'easy'
cup tie that essentially passes as a bye to the next round.
Yes, I'm pro-Benítez, as I think he's a top class manager who should
be indulged, mistakes and all. As I also write for the official
Liverpool website, I'm prone to defending the club (especially on that
site, as it's what you'd expect). When I have nothing good to say
about something such as Tuesday's game I'll say next-to-nothing.
Scapegoats are not my stock-in-trade.
Argentine centre-back Garbiel Paletta is currently being rounded on,
and yet he's 20 a mere babe for a position that takes years to grow
into. Unlike many of Arsenal's impressive kids, he's been in England
for just six months. Jamie Carragher was similarly lambasted in the
position the late 90s, especially after two own goals against
Manchester United. Look at him now.
Paletta wasn't bought to be in the first team at this stage of his
career; he's here to learn. And sure, he had a harsh lesson. Perhaps
Williams never made mistakes as a young rookie? Paletta's lack of pace
is a concern, but it never harmed Sami Hyypia, who was rejected by
Oldham and other English clubs when older than Paletta now is.
While Tuesday represented the Reds' best chance of silverware this
season, the game has to be put into context. For a start, it was for
silverware that everyone discredits as soon as it's won. The game came
after the crazy festive schedule, which also dealt Rafa the task of
facing Arsenal in the FA Cup; hardly the easing into the competition
you'd want.
Rafa put out a similarly mixed team against Burnley in 2005, just a
few months after the Reds' youth side beat Spurs' first team at White
Hart Lane, and while I was busy arguing about the long-term view after
Burnley, others went hysterical. And by May the Reds were celebrating
arguably the club's greatest success. His decision may not be
similarly vindicated this time out, but the precedent is there to at
least give the man some leeway.
Liverpool's senior players have played more matches in the last two
and a half years than those of any other club: a ludicrous ten
Champions League qualifying ties, two World Club Championship games,
and all the extra ties that come with making it to not one, not two,
but three cup finals in that time.
If Rafa wanted to protect many of his senior players in what is a
competition of low value, who can blame him, with Momo Sissoko already
seriously crocked in the Carling Cup? I bet he now wishes he'd also
totally omitted Mark Gonzalez and especially Luis Garcia, whose
midfield goals will be missed in his six-month absence, not least in
the tie with his old club, Barcelona.
Making money has never been my motivation in writing about Liverpool.
I've made a living from writing books, and but for ill health (and
great frustration) I'd be doing a 5th. But my motivation has always
been righting some of the unjust criticism the club receives, and if
I'm no longer in a position to write new books, I can still stand up
(or sit down) and be counted at a time like this, especially with my
blood boiling.
The game against Arsenal was bad. Muy malo, Rafa might say. There's
little to defend about the performance. But there's still plenty to
defend about the manager, the club, and its players. In Kuyt, Agger,
Alonso, Garcia, Reina, Sissoko and Bellamy, Benítez has spent his
money extremely wisely, while Pennant and Gonzalez still have the
potential to join that list.
Peter Crouch, ludicrously described as 'hapless' by Williams, despite
top-scoring for Liverpool and England in 2006, has been worth every
pence of the £7m paid, when at the time people said he wasn't even
worth £2m. He's now apparently valued at £12m. Crouch's Champions
League goals four in just five games took the club through to the tie
with Barcelona. He also grabbed the crucial goal in the qualifying
round.
So there you have it, a club in crisis managed by a man who played no
part in his own greatest success. Next week, how Winston Churchill had
nothing to do with WWII.
Paul Tomkins
11 January 2007
by Paul Tomkins
----------------------------------------------------------
Paul Tomkins is an ex semi-pro footballer who has written four books
on Liverpool to date and has a weekly column on liverpoolfc.tv...
----------------------------------------------------------
11/01/2007 14:45:00.
"According to The Guardian's Richard Williams, Rafael Benítez cannot
even accept any credit for his success in Istanbul, but must get
this! shoulder the blame for the Arsenal "glorified reserve match"
debacle?"
So that's it. Sack Rafa Benítez. Hand back the European Cup now on
permanent display at the club. Forfeit third place in the current
league campaign, and cancel the tie with Barcelona. It's all over.
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum bring out the coffin, let the
mourners come.
What is the world coming to? More importantly, what is sports writing
coming to? To say I'm livid at some of the stuff being written about
Liverpool FC this week would be an understatement. The only thing
worse than Liverpool's defending and goalkeeping against Arsenal the
other night has been the unmitigated tripe written about the state of
the club as a result.
According to The Guardian's Richard Williams, Rafael Benítez cannot
even accept any credit for his success in Istanbul, but must get this!
shoulder the blame for the Arsenal "glorified reserve match" debacle?
On what planet does this pass as logic?
The latter shouldering of blame is of course due; Benítez chose the
side, and it failed. Even though it was capable of winning, as both
sides had a similar look, with a mixture of kids and reserves, plus a
couple of first teamers. So as manager, that's his rap to take. He
apologised.
But to discredit the man for winning the Champions League with the
average side he inherited is, quite frankly, the kind of comment that
should have a football writer's licence revoked (okay, so we don't
need licences, but it's something to campaign for).
While we're at it, let's strip Mohammed Ali of a few of his belts, and
declare five of Michael Schumacher's Grand Prix titles null and void.
I have no axe to grind with Williams in general, and this is not a
personal attack on him. But he might be better off returning to
reviewing films if he cannot see the most basic aspects of Liverpool's
monumental achievement in 2005.
Liverpool overcame Juventus and Chelsea the expensively assembled
Champions-elect of Italy and England on the way to Istanbul, as well
as two of the previous season's semi-finalists in the group stage
(Monaco and Deportivo La Coruna). Plus the mighty AC Milan in the
final. Yes, it needed Milan to take their eye off the ball in the
second half; although it still took the drive of Steven Gerrard to
scare the life out of them. And yes, it needed Shevchenko to miss the
unmissable (credit as well to Dudek, who was as inspired that night as
he was insipid against Arsenal).
But that comeback came on the back of Rafa's tactical changes at
half-time. When Steve Finnan went off injured, Didi Hamann came on not
your unimaginative like-for-like replacement. Liverpool switched
formation, to 3-5-1-1. Harry Kewell had already been replaced by
Vladimir Smicer, so Rafa had to work extra hard with all his
reshuffling, such as when switching Steven Gerrard to right-back late
in the game, to deal with Serginho, and moving the lightweight Smicer
into central midfield.
Who decided to introduce Hamann ostensibly a defensive player knowing
it could positively change the game? Was it one of Ken Dodd's Diddy
Men? (No pun intended.) Might other managers have gambled by throwing
on a second out-and-out striker, such as Djibril Cissé?
And who switched the formation? Was it Cilla Black?
Rafa cannot live off Istanbul forever; however, he doesn't deserve to
have his achievement belittled or wiped out, as it just gives more
rope to his purblind accusers. Can Rafa still take credit for last
season's 82 points, the highest the club has managed for 18 years, and
enough for other teams to have won the league with in the interim? Can
he take credit for last season's FA Cup, where Manchester United and
Chelsea were bested in the earlier rounds?
This is a man who was the first in the Reds' history to win trophies
in his first two seasons. He won an extremely important trophy in his
first season, and a 'nice' one in his second. Wenger had a comparable
haul from his first five seasons; Ferguson had an inferior haul from
his first five seasons. Wenger, as great as he is, won nothing between
1998 and 2002, and infamously saw his team do far worse in the
Champions League than Liverpool have been lately. Now Benítez is under
pressure after six months without a trophy?
Wenger has had eleven years to get his youth and reserve systems
right, and boy has he done so. But, unlike Benítez, who was still
trying to make wholesale changes last summer, Wenger and Ferguson are
at the stage where they've had their 'own' players for years now, and
simply need to add a couple every summer to maintain their vision.
Has Rafa made mistakes? He certainly has. As have Wenger, Mourinho and
Ferguson. And in the last three seasons, Rafa's record stands up
against any of them, especially when weighted against both budget
and/or time in charge.
Also, Rafa cannot say he's had the luck of the draw in any
competition. This league campaign started with consecutive away trips
to Everton, Bolton, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United a cruel
fixture list. And in the domestic cups Benítez, unbelievably, is still
yet to face a team below mid-table in the Championship. It's worth
noting, especially in a week when Chelsea have played Macclesfield and
Wycombe, and given United have twice faced non-league teams in that
time, as well as lowly league opposition. Rafa has not had one 'easy'
cup tie that essentially passes as a bye to the next round.
Yes, I'm pro-Benítez, as I think he's a top class manager who should
be indulged, mistakes and all. As I also write for the official
Liverpool website, I'm prone to defending the club (especially on that
site, as it's what you'd expect). When I have nothing good to say
about something such as Tuesday's game I'll say next-to-nothing.
Scapegoats are not my stock-in-trade.
Argentine centre-back Garbiel Paletta is currently being rounded on,
and yet he's 20 a mere babe for a position that takes years to grow
into. Unlike many of Arsenal's impressive kids, he's been in England
for just six months. Jamie Carragher was similarly lambasted in the
position the late 90s, especially after two own goals against
Manchester United. Look at him now.
Paletta wasn't bought to be in the first team at this stage of his
career; he's here to learn. And sure, he had a harsh lesson. Perhaps
Williams never made mistakes as a young rookie? Paletta's lack of pace
is a concern, but it never harmed Sami Hyypia, who was rejected by
Oldham and other English clubs when older than Paletta now is.
While Tuesday represented the Reds' best chance of silverware this
season, the game has to be put into context. For a start, it was for
silverware that everyone discredits as soon as it's won. The game came
after the crazy festive schedule, which also dealt Rafa the task of
facing Arsenal in the FA Cup; hardly the easing into the competition
you'd want.
Rafa put out a similarly mixed team against Burnley in 2005, just a
few months after the Reds' youth side beat Spurs' first team at White
Hart Lane, and while I was busy arguing about the long-term view after
Burnley, others went hysterical. And by May the Reds were celebrating
arguably the club's greatest success. His decision may not be
similarly vindicated this time out, but the precedent is there to at
least give the man some leeway.
Liverpool's senior players have played more matches in the last two
and a half years than those of any other club: a ludicrous ten
Champions League qualifying ties, two World Club Championship games,
and all the extra ties that come with making it to not one, not two,
but three cup finals in that time.
If Rafa wanted to protect many of his senior players in what is a
competition of low value, who can blame him, with Momo Sissoko already
seriously crocked in the Carling Cup? I bet he now wishes he'd also
totally omitted Mark Gonzalez and especially Luis Garcia, whose
midfield goals will be missed in his six-month absence, not least in
the tie with his old club, Barcelona.
Making money has never been my motivation in writing about Liverpool.
I've made a living from writing books, and but for ill health (and
great frustration) I'd be doing a 5th. But my motivation has always
been righting some of the unjust criticism the club receives, and if
I'm no longer in a position to write new books, I can still stand up
(or sit down) and be counted at a time like this, especially with my
blood boiling.
The game against Arsenal was bad. Muy malo, Rafa might say. There's
little to defend about the performance. But there's still plenty to
defend about the manager, the club, and its players. In Kuyt, Agger,
Alonso, Garcia, Reina, Sissoko and Bellamy, Benítez has spent his
money extremely wisely, while Pennant and Gonzalez still have the
potential to join that list.
Peter Crouch, ludicrously described as 'hapless' by Williams, despite
top-scoring for Liverpool and England in 2006, has been worth every
pence of the £7m paid, when at the time people said he wasn't even
worth £2m. He's now apparently valued at £12m. Crouch's Champions
League goals four in just five games took the club through to the tie
with Barcelona. He also grabbed the crucial goal in the qualifying
round.
So there you have it, a club in crisis managed by a man who played no
part in his own greatest success. Next week, how Winston Churchill had
nothing to do with WWII.
Paul Tomkins
11 January 2007
Comment