Shock and awe at Anfield on Sunday and that was before the result too. Before the kick off, in fact.
Rafa Benitez picked the 11 players to start the game that Andy Gray expected him to! When I say Andy expected, I have to add the rider that he is nearly always stumped not just by the Spaniard's selection but also the thinking behind it.
So did Rafa play what he now considers to be his strongest starting eleven? It certainly looked that way and therefore begs the question as to whether he will play it as often as possible in the run in to the title.
The other major surprise is that the Liverpool coach allowed his captain Steven Gerrard to stay on the pitch to try and complete his hat-trick.
Fifty minutes gone and the home side are 4-0 up, game over. Having been hauled off when he'd scored two against Real Madrid the previous week, the Liverpool skipper was understandably looking anxiously towards the touchline, in fear of getting hooked.
He needn't have worried though, Rafa really wanted him to complete his first ever league hat-trick. Not for individual glory mind you, just for goal difference!
Quite simply, Benitez does not do emotion. Goal celebrations, smiles, cheers, pats on backs do not feature in his repertoire. Gerrard has said his two burning ambitions are to win the Premier League for Liverpool and get a "Well done" from Rafa. Shortening price for the first hope, very long odds the second.
Improve is Benitez mantra. He told me he was born to be a coach and even when he was a 13-year-old boy he would give his team mates marks out of 10 and tell them how they could improve.
Added to this, by his own admission, he was a modest footballer so he must have been really popular!
Off camera Rafa is often warm, hospitable and chatty, nothing like the short answering straight batsman he becomes when the red light goes on.
I've asked him many a time why he won't be himself for the media or indeed be more bullish about his team's prospects but he says that's just not for him. Talk too much and you set yourself up for a fall as well as putting unnecessary pressure on your team is his stance.
Rafa's rant? Even that was premeditated, considered and coldly delivered. Quite simply although he's hard boiled, Rafa is a good egg and as we approach Easter he's certainly not cracking up.
In fact he's on the hunt.
Rafa Benitez picked the 11 players to start the game that Andy Gray expected him to! When I say Andy expected, I have to add the rider that he is nearly always stumped not just by the Spaniard's selection but also the thinking behind it.
So did Rafa play what he now considers to be his strongest starting eleven? It certainly looked that way and therefore begs the question as to whether he will play it as often as possible in the run in to the title.
The other major surprise is that the Liverpool coach allowed his captain Steven Gerrard to stay on the pitch to try and complete his hat-trick.
Fifty minutes gone and the home side are 4-0 up, game over. Having been hauled off when he'd scored two against Real Madrid the previous week, the Liverpool skipper was understandably looking anxiously towards the touchline, in fear of getting hooked.
He needn't have worried though, Rafa really wanted him to complete his first ever league hat-trick. Not for individual glory mind you, just for goal difference!
Quite simply, Benitez does not do emotion. Goal celebrations, smiles, cheers, pats on backs do not feature in his repertoire. Gerrard has said his two burning ambitions are to win the Premier League for Liverpool and get a "Well done" from Rafa. Shortening price for the first hope, very long odds the second.
Improve is Benitez mantra. He told me he was born to be a coach and even when he was a 13-year-old boy he would give his team mates marks out of 10 and tell them how they could improve.
Added to this, by his own admission, he was a modest footballer so he must have been really popular!
Off camera Rafa is often warm, hospitable and chatty, nothing like the short answering straight batsman he becomes when the red light goes on.
I've asked him many a time why he won't be himself for the media or indeed be more bullish about his team's prospects but he says that's just not for him. Talk too much and you set yourself up for a fall as well as putting unnecessary pressure on your team is his stance.
Rafa's rant? Even that was premeditated, considered and coldly delivered. Quite simply although he's hard boiled, Rafa is a good egg and as we approach Easter he's certainly not cracking up.
In fact he's on the hunt.
Comment