From The Sunday Times
May 6, 2007
Empire builder
Reaching another European Cup final proves Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool revolution is beginning to reap rewards, and there may be even better times ahead
Unlike Bolo Zenden, he did not don a sombrero and salsa with Dirk Kuyt, but Rafael Benitez has never looked more Spanish than when Tuesday’s final whistle signalled him the conquistador of Chelsea again. Gone was the reserve that can make the Liverpool manager seem almost north European. After hugging Jamie Carragher, Benitez poured himself around Steven Gerrard in a considerable embrace.
Carragher and Gerrard continued the love-in later when they disclosed their keenness to grant Benitez’s wish that they be tied to Liverpool for the rest of their careers. “I’m ready to sign a new contract right now,” said Gerrard, glancing about as if looking for the pen. “I’m having talks now with the football club. I’m waiting for them to get back to me. As soon as they give me the nod, it will be signed.”
Before hailing his two mainstays, Benitez broke into a portly trot towards the first player he wanted to congratulate, the one he had to thank more than any other for Liverpool’s presence in a European Cup final for an extraordinary seventh time. Enveloped, pawed and smooched was Pepe Reina, the smiling penalty king. Reina is ebullient, yet there is nothing light-hearted about the hours of video study and daily sessions on the training ground that make him probably the world’s best at spot-kick saves. He typifies Benitez’s Liverpool: underestimated, overprepared.
Because of the remarkable final, Liverpool’s Champions League triumph of 2005 will be the Miracle of Istanbul, but they have followed that triumph with achievement; Istanbul is looking less a one-off, more the first step in a revival. In Europe especially, Liverpool are about method, not miracles. Manchester United conceded as many goals in a single tie against AC Milan as Liverpool did during the 11 important games they have played in this season’s Champions League (their 3-2 defeat by Galatasaray came in a dead rubber). The march on Athens has been ruthlessly planned and ruggedly executed.
Liverpool + European Cup = Destiny? “Not really,” said Carragher. “You get what you deserve in life, in football and in life.” How has Carragher turned round his personal form from a slump in early season? “No secrets in football,” he replied. “Work very hard in training every day, give everything you’ve got and be focused. As I say, no secrets in football.”
No secrets, no miracles, no nonsense. There is something thuddingly solid about Benitez’s side, the way it goes about its job, the way it has progressed. “The club’s domestic form has to improve. We’re not happy with the form we’ve shown in the league and in going out of the cups early, but the form we’ve shown in the Champions League has been our best,” said Gerrard. “A lot of people said 2005 was a fluke but this side proved what a fantastic team they are over two legs in Europe. Now we’ve got to prove it over one leg.”
Benitez does not want his players distracted by contract talks until the season finishes, but the morale benefits of getting Gerrard to sign a new deal before the May 23 reunion with AC Milan may be too great to miss. It is thought the captain will commit himself until 2012 and receive £120,000 a week.
“I want more money after that game,” Carragher joked following his heroism against Chelsea, but he too confirmed his intention to extend his Liverpool career. Cementing Gerrard and Carragher at Liverpool will give Benitez a foundation any manager would envy, a base on which to build a cathedral of a football club where, three years ago in Gerard Houllier’s last season, stood a parish church.
Reina, Daniel Agger and Xabi Alonso will also be offered extensions as Benitez uses the first tranche of income resulting from the takeover by George Gillett and Tom Hicks to secure the best of those players he already possesses. In Javier Mascherano and Kuyt he has two more gold bricks to build with, and there will be transfers in due course. The targets Benitez covets, such as Simao Sabrosa and David Villa, hint at the quality of squad that Liverpool may accrue.
And, having at last definitively rebuffed Real Madrid, who have been pursuing him these past three years, Benitez is part of Liverpool’s long-term future. Hicks, blown away by the passion of Anfield and the theatre of a penalty shootout, purred about his manager: “I’m a lucky guy. I had nothing to do with this but bring my good luck. I couldn’t have imagined a start like this when we took over Liverpool, but we’ll keep it up. Rafa? We should keep him, eh? He has a good contract. Rafa will be here a long time. He is a great tactical coach and a good judge of people. I have listened to him tell me about players, what their strengths and weaknesses are. And how he has used them differently. I have watched it. He has got it right here.”
Liverpool have the look and feel of a superpower in waiting. If Roman Abramovich’s interest in Chelsea continues to dwindle – and Hicks and Gillett suspect it might – and Arsenal’s mess is not sorted out, it could be left to England’s two historically most successful clubs, Liverpool and Manchester United, to rule again.
It was all so different, so fragile in 2005. Then Liverpool needed to win the European Cup just to survive as a force. The playing materials were sparse, the coffers depleted, the manager was unproven outside Valencia. Nobody knew that the Americans were coming, that Benitez was a serial achiever, that Carragher would prove world class. Gerrard embodied the uncertainty, immersed in doubts about life at Liverpool. Until Istanbul provided the better story line, 2005 was a soap opera about whether the captain was staying or going. “Yeah, I know,” said Gerrard. “I made the right decision to stay. A few people questioned it but I've been at this club since I was eight. I knew where I was welcome and where I wanted to play my football. Luckily enough for me, things turned out right.”
By 2009 he should be leading his team out in a new stadium. The uniqueness of Anfield will be lost, but the riches possible from a vast modern arena mean that wealth can replace the Kop as Liverpool’s 12th man. Hicks and Gillett have scrapped plans for a 60,000-seat ground and are looking at a 70,000-80,000 capacity. Hicks thought big even when starting a family. All six of his sons, plus his wife, will accompany him to Athens. “My 15-year-old is in the middle of exams,” the tycoon said, smiling. “He’s going to have to get special dispensation.”
Speaking of “special”, what did Liverpool’s players make of Jose Mourinho’s claim that Chelsea were the superior side on Tuesday? Carragher smirked. “Well, I don’t think Abramovich will think that. If you’ve been at Chelsea three years and spent all that money and not made a Champions League final, he [Mourinho] may be in trouble.”
When Kuyt’s penalty went in and Liverpool were going to Athens, Carragher was the only player not to celebrate with the team. He preferred to make a beeline to a section of the crowd. “I just wanted to see my family and get the night out sorted,” he said “I won’t be getting involved in ticket requests for Athens. No glory hunters. I’ll just be getting tickets for the people I know who come every week.”
Liverpool build towards the stars on blocks planted firmly on the ground.
How Rafa’s lineup has evolved
Liverpool (May 2007) Pepe Reina (£6m Villarreal), Steve Finnan, Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger (£5.8m Brondby), John Arne Riise, Jermaine Pennant (£6.7m B’ham), Javier Mascherano (£1.5m W Ham), Steven Gerrard, Bolo Zenden (free, M’bro), Dirk Kuyt (£9m Feyenoord), Peter Crouch (£7m So’ton). Subs: Craig Bellamy (£6m Blackburn), Robbie Fowler (free, Man City), Xabi Alonso
Liverpool (v Milan 2005) Jerzy Dudek, Steve Finnan, Djimi Traore (now Portsmouth), Sami Hyypia, Jamie Carragher, John Arne Riise, Steven Gerrard, Luis Garcia, Xabi Alonso, Harry Kewell, Milan Baros (now Lyon) Subs: Dietmar Hamann (now Man City), Vladimir Smicer (now Bordeaux), Djibril Cisse (on loan at Marseille)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle1752158.ece
May 6, 2007
Empire builder
Reaching another European Cup final proves Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool revolution is beginning to reap rewards, and there may be even better times ahead
Unlike Bolo Zenden, he did not don a sombrero and salsa with Dirk Kuyt, but Rafael Benitez has never looked more Spanish than when Tuesday’s final whistle signalled him the conquistador of Chelsea again. Gone was the reserve that can make the Liverpool manager seem almost north European. After hugging Jamie Carragher, Benitez poured himself around Steven Gerrard in a considerable embrace.
Carragher and Gerrard continued the love-in later when they disclosed their keenness to grant Benitez’s wish that they be tied to Liverpool for the rest of their careers. “I’m ready to sign a new contract right now,” said Gerrard, glancing about as if looking for the pen. “I’m having talks now with the football club. I’m waiting for them to get back to me. As soon as they give me the nod, it will be signed.”
Before hailing his two mainstays, Benitez broke into a portly trot towards the first player he wanted to congratulate, the one he had to thank more than any other for Liverpool’s presence in a European Cup final for an extraordinary seventh time. Enveloped, pawed and smooched was Pepe Reina, the smiling penalty king. Reina is ebullient, yet there is nothing light-hearted about the hours of video study and daily sessions on the training ground that make him probably the world’s best at spot-kick saves. He typifies Benitez’s Liverpool: underestimated, overprepared.
Because of the remarkable final, Liverpool’s Champions League triumph of 2005 will be the Miracle of Istanbul, but they have followed that triumph with achievement; Istanbul is looking less a one-off, more the first step in a revival. In Europe especially, Liverpool are about method, not miracles. Manchester United conceded as many goals in a single tie against AC Milan as Liverpool did during the 11 important games they have played in this season’s Champions League (their 3-2 defeat by Galatasaray came in a dead rubber). The march on Athens has been ruthlessly planned and ruggedly executed.
Liverpool + European Cup = Destiny? “Not really,” said Carragher. “You get what you deserve in life, in football and in life.” How has Carragher turned round his personal form from a slump in early season? “No secrets in football,” he replied. “Work very hard in training every day, give everything you’ve got and be focused. As I say, no secrets in football.”
No secrets, no miracles, no nonsense. There is something thuddingly solid about Benitez’s side, the way it goes about its job, the way it has progressed. “The club’s domestic form has to improve. We’re not happy with the form we’ve shown in the league and in going out of the cups early, but the form we’ve shown in the Champions League has been our best,” said Gerrard. “A lot of people said 2005 was a fluke but this side proved what a fantastic team they are over two legs in Europe. Now we’ve got to prove it over one leg.”
Benitez does not want his players distracted by contract talks until the season finishes, but the morale benefits of getting Gerrard to sign a new deal before the May 23 reunion with AC Milan may be too great to miss. It is thought the captain will commit himself until 2012 and receive £120,000 a week.
“I want more money after that game,” Carragher joked following his heroism against Chelsea, but he too confirmed his intention to extend his Liverpool career. Cementing Gerrard and Carragher at Liverpool will give Benitez a foundation any manager would envy, a base on which to build a cathedral of a football club where, three years ago in Gerard Houllier’s last season, stood a parish church.
Reina, Daniel Agger and Xabi Alonso will also be offered extensions as Benitez uses the first tranche of income resulting from the takeover by George Gillett and Tom Hicks to secure the best of those players he already possesses. In Javier Mascherano and Kuyt he has two more gold bricks to build with, and there will be transfers in due course. The targets Benitez covets, such as Simao Sabrosa and David Villa, hint at the quality of squad that Liverpool may accrue.
And, having at last definitively rebuffed Real Madrid, who have been pursuing him these past three years, Benitez is part of Liverpool’s long-term future. Hicks, blown away by the passion of Anfield and the theatre of a penalty shootout, purred about his manager: “I’m a lucky guy. I had nothing to do with this but bring my good luck. I couldn’t have imagined a start like this when we took over Liverpool, but we’ll keep it up. Rafa? We should keep him, eh? He has a good contract. Rafa will be here a long time. He is a great tactical coach and a good judge of people. I have listened to him tell me about players, what their strengths and weaknesses are. And how he has used them differently. I have watched it. He has got it right here.”
Liverpool have the look and feel of a superpower in waiting. If Roman Abramovich’s interest in Chelsea continues to dwindle – and Hicks and Gillett suspect it might – and Arsenal’s mess is not sorted out, it could be left to England’s two historically most successful clubs, Liverpool and Manchester United, to rule again.
It was all so different, so fragile in 2005. Then Liverpool needed to win the European Cup just to survive as a force. The playing materials were sparse, the coffers depleted, the manager was unproven outside Valencia. Nobody knew that the Americans were coming, that Benitez was a serial achiever, that Carragher would prove world class. Gerrard embodied the uncertainty, immersed in doubts about life at Liverpool. Until Istanbul provided the better story line, 2005 was a soap opera about whether the captain was staying or going. “Yeah, I know,” said Gerrard. “I made the right decision to stay. A few people questioned it but I've been at this club since I was eight. I knew where I was welcome and where I wanted to play my football. Luckily enough for me, things turned out right.”
By 2009 he should be leading his team out in a new stadium. The uniqueness of Anfield will be lost, but the riches possible from a vast modern arena mean that wealth can replace the Kop as Liverpool’s 12th man. Hicks and Gillett have scrapped plans for a 60,000-seat ground and are looking at a 70,000-80,000 capacity. Hicks thought big even when starting a family. All six of his sons, plus his wife, will accompany him to Athens. “My 15-year-old is in the middle of exams,” the tycoon said, smiling. “He’s going to have to get special dispensation.”
Speaking of “special”, what did Liverpool’s players make of Jose Mourinho’s claim that Chelsea were the superior side on Tuesday? Carragher smirked. “Well, I don’t think Abramovich will think that. If you’ve been at Chelsea three years and spent all that money and not made a Champions League final, he [Mourinho] may be in trouble.”
When Kuyt’s penalty went in and Liverpool were going to Athens, Carragher was the only player not to celebrate with the team. He preferred to make a beeline to a section of the crowd. “I just wanted to see my family and get the night out sorted,” he said “I won’t be getting involved in ticket requests for Athens. No glory hunters. I’ll just be getting tickets for the people I know who come every week.”
Liverpool build towards the stars on blocks planted firmly on the ground.
How Rafa’s lineup has evolved
Liverpool (May 2007) Pepe Reina (£6m Villarreal), Steve Finnan, Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger (£5.8m Brondby), John Arne Riise, Jermaine Pennant (£6.7m B’ham), Javier Mascherano (£1.5m W Ham), Steven Gerrard, Bolo Zenden (free, M’bro), Dirk Kuyt (£9m Feyenoord), Peter Crouch (£7m So’ton). Subs: Craig Bellamy (£6m Blackburn), Robbie Fowler (free, Man City), Xabi Alonso
Liverpool (v Milan 2005) Jerzy Dudek, Steve Finnan, Djimi Traore (now Portsmouth), Sami Hyypia, Jamie Carragher, John Arne Riise, Steven Gerrard, Luis Garcia, Xabi Alonso, Harry Kewell, Milan Baros (now Lyon) Subs: Dietmar Hamann (now Man City), Vladimir Smicer (now Bordeaux), Djibril Cisse (on loan at Marseille)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle1752158.ece
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