Fruits of the Rafalution: Mentality
- Chakrit Narula on Dirk Kuyt's irrepressible performances for Liverpool.
Plethoras of history books are filled with chapters that lament on the intricate tactics and mentality that great generals utilized in their days of glory.
All great leaders in fact.
Alexander the Great, on his quest to conquer India, once beheaded several of his own men (men that had left their wives behind for years to follow their leader’s quest to conquer the rest of the known world) just to find a single traitor amongst his ranks. He believed that one weak link, one faltering spear in an entire legion, could be a liabilty to the entire army. Thousands of years later, here we are in our present day coffee and aspirin for breakfast Sky-esque generation where we witness a similarly cold-blooded regime gathering momentum. No Macedonian Prince this time. Just a Rafael Benitez.
The eleven men who represent Liverpool on any given day have to earn the right to wear the red shirt. And rightly so. It might be distorted to constant rotation in the media, but it is in fact a system that has paid dividends for Liverpool since Benitez has taken over. Players that don’t cut the mustard and don’t suit his mentality will be left behind.
A player’s commercial value, his international stature, even his ability to juggle a football while strumming “Eruption” will not guarantee his place in the first eleven. It is the raw desire to chase down every ball and hound an opponent even in stoppage time that earns players the right to wear the glorious red shirt. Benitez has devised a system where players are merited on their commitment to the team instead of themselves. And that has made all the difference in the world.
Finding an example of this mentality in the Liverpool team isn’t difficult. Let’s forget the captains that feature so regularly in Benitez’s team (Gerrard, Mascherano, Torres, Keane, Benayoun, Hyypia, to name a few).
Instead, the epitome of a player who suits Rafa’s mentality is none other than Dirk Kuyt.
Here is a player who runs tirelessly for as long as his lungs allow him to. Last season Kuyt was ostracized for his lack of goals. Forget that he had only the world’s best striker in the same team to be compared to; his contribution was criminally under-rated because of the explosive Torres. What he may lack in flashiness and raw pace, he makes up with matters most to his boss: his mentality.
Now with Liverpool top of the table and his own name top of the club’s goal scoring charts what would a player that is the epitome of the Rafalution do? Show a little less determination on the pitch? Maybe allow himself a breather every 15 minutes instead of breaking down opposition play as ruthlessly as Johnny Cochrane? Believe that he has finally cemented a place in the boss’s coveted eleven?
Let’s just say that if any player responded to this question with a flashy grin and a confident “yes”, they’d find themselves leaving Anfield in a bigger hurry than Besiktas circa 2007.
- Chakrit Narula on Dirk Kuyt's irrepressible performances for Liverpool.
Plethoras of history books are filled with chapters that lament on the intricate tactics and mentality that great generals utilized in their days of glory.
All great leaders in fact.
Alexander the Great, on his quest to conquer India, once beheaded several of his own men (men that had left their wives behind for years to follow their leader’s quest to conquer the rest of the known world) just to find a single traitor amongst his ranks. He believed that one weak link, one faltering spear in an entire legion, could be a liabilty to the entire army. Thousands of years later, here we are in our present day coffee and aspirin for breakfast Sky-esque generation where we witness a similarly cold-blooded regime gathering momentum. No Macedonian Prince this time. Just a Rafael Benitez.
The eleven men who represent Liverpool on any given day have to earn the right to wear the red shirt. And rightly so. It might be distorted to constant rotation in the media, but it is in fact a system that has paid dividends for Liverpool since Benitez has taken over. Players that don’t cut the mustard and don’t suit his mentality will be left behind.
A player’s commercial value, his international stature, even his ability to juggle a football while strumming “Eruption” will not guarantee his place in the first eleven. It is the raw desire to chase down every ball and hound an opponent even in stoppage time that earns players the right to wear the glorious red shirt. Benitez has devised a system where players are merited on their commitment to the team instead of themselves. And that has made all the difference in the world.
Finding an example of this mentality in the Liverpool team isn’t difficult. Let’s forget the captains that feature so regularly in Benitez’s team (Gerrard, Mascherano, Torres, Keane, Benayoun, Hyypia, to name a few).
Instead, the epitome of a player who suits Rafa’s mentality is none other than Dirk Kuyt.
Here is a player who runs tirelessly for as long as his lungs allow him to. Last season Kuyt was ostracized for his lack of goals. Forget that he had only the world’s best striker in the same team to be compared to; his contribution was criminally under-rated because of the explosive Torres. What he may lack in flashiness and raw pace, he makes up with matters most to his boss: his mentality.
Now with Liverpool top of the table and his own name top of the club’s goal scoring charts what would a player that is the epitome of the Rafalution do? Show a little less determination on the pitch? Maybe allow himself a breather every 15 minutes instead of breaking down opposition play as ruthlessly as Johnny Cochrane? Believe that he has finally cemented a place in the boss’s coveted eleven?
Let’s just say that if any player responded to this question with a flashy grin and a confident “yes”, they’d find themselves leaving Anfield in a bigger hurry than Besiktas circa 2007.
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