RAFA'S ROD OF IRON
All the pieces falling into place for Benitez
FULHAM 0, LIVERPOOL 1
RAFA is cracking up. With laughter. Asked about the significance of Rome in Liverpool's history, he mishears.
He thought the questioner had said Roman . . . as in Abramovich. Relaxed chortles all round.
Any more laid back and it would be siesta time for the Spaniard. But don't be fooled.
Benitez may have all the pieces of his Anfield masterplan in place - a Steven Gerrard deal for life, his own control guaranteed, a Champions League quarter-final looming - but he still rules his empire with a rod of iron.
Ask Fernando Torres. Despite Rafa's best efforts to put you off the scent, Liverpool want to give the striker a brand new deal.
A contract to go alongside Gerrard's and form a double-barrelled statement of intent to the Premier League and the rest of Europe.
And Rafa's way of persuading his countryman? A cuddle? A cosy chat? A lump of cash? No, a hard time.
Torres explains: "I can score 25 goals and the boss says, 'You missed a chance you shouldn't have, now stay behind after training and practise your shooting'.
"I much prefer this than, 'Oh, wonderful Fernando, you scored 25 goals so go and relax' - that is not going to improve me. His knowledge of the game is maybe the best I have ever seen, it is quite amazing. He is a total perfectionist."
But gushing praise from his players is hardly likely to soften the stern Spaniard.
"You have to have a relationship with your players but you cannot be their friend," Benitez says after a fortnight devoted to making or breaking some of his squad's Anfield careers.
During the international break, some Premier League managers opted to recharge their batteries in warmer climes. Some took just a couple of days off.
Even Sir Alex Ferguson opted for a brief change of scenery, attending the morning work of his horses on Newmarket Heath.
There was no rest for Benitez as he prepares for two months of unremitting tension.
"No, I was too busy, talking to players and to agents. It is such a crucial time of the season," the 48-year-old says.
Benitez wanted to get signatures on long-term contracts before the club boots were laced back up.
Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt obliged. And make no mistake, Torres is top of the remaining names on his hitlist. And the 24-year-old striker will follow his captain's lead.
Torres said: "I have said many times the only club I would leave Atletico for was Liverpool, and nothing has changed there. They are the only two clubs that are in my heart.
"I have supported Liverpool since I was a boy and I intend on staying here a very long time."
One of the lower points in Torres' Liverpool career came 12 months ago when he was substituted during the second leg of last year's Champions League semi-final - a game that ended in a 3-2 defeat for Rafa's team - and a 4-3 aggregate exit.
And maybe that is why Torres clearly sees European success, which would mean revenge over Chelsea, as the priority in these closing weeks of the campaign.
He says: "Domestic titles are very important but to win the Champions League you are saying we are the best team in Europe.
"This club has a great record in the European Cup but now I want to be a part of that history.
"Winning the European Championship was a great thing for me and I understood what it was to win a major trophy and what I had been missing.
"On the way home from the European Championship I made a promise that I wanted more of this success with Liverpool and it does not come any bigger than the European Cup."
Benitez disagrees. He knows that 19 years without a league title is too long for most Liverpool fans.
Benitez said: "What will be more important to Arsenal fans? The Premier League or the Champions League? The Champions League. Why? Because they have not won the Champions League. We won it after 21 years - so now we have another challenge.
"Don't get me wrong, both are massive competitions. But right now, the Premier League is more important because we have won the Champions League."
To have a chance of winning it again, they will have to get past Chelsea, who they face in the first leg at Anfield on Wednesday.
Benitez knows the key to success on both fronts lies with the Gerrard-Torres combination. So much so that he even makes the shock admission that rotation and tinkering could be shelved for the rest of the season.
He explained: "Now, Stevie and Fernando are in a physical position to play more games in a row. Torres has had some problems with his ankles but he is much better than before.
"Stevie is playing behind Torres but he is so good he can play in different positions. If you need to change him for one specific game, we can do it.
"But the team has balance with Gerrard and Torres, so maybe we don't need to change too much. The qualities of both players are so good. For the team, it is the best combination and we have to think about the team always."
Benitez repeats his mantra that the only important game is your next one. But he has special reason to relish yet another meeting with Chelsea.
"Losing in the semi-final against them probably hurt more than losing the final in Athens," he admits. "We played well in the final but anything can happen and we lost to a good team.
"But in the first leg of the game at Anfield against Chelsea, we were much the better team and then conceded the own goal late on. That changed the entire tie."
The winners of the all-English quarter-final will face Barcelona or Bayern Munich in the last four.
And I remind Rafa that Sir Alex Ferguson believes Barca will be United's main rivals when it comes to lifting the Champions League trophy.
"Manchester United have to play Porto first," he reminds me in response.
And with that - and the mischievous suggestion that an out-of-sorts United could come a cropper against the Portuguese - Benitez breaks into another broad smile.
Rafa is cracking up.
All the pieces falling into place for Benitez
FULHAM 0, LIVERPOOL 1
RAFA is cracking up. With laughter. Asked about the significance of Rome in Liverpool's history, he mishears.
He thought the questioner had said Roman . . . as in Abramovich. Relaxed chortles all round.
Any more laid back and it would be siesta time for the Spaniard. But don't be fooled.
Benitez may have all the pieces of his Anfield masterplan in place - a Steven Gerrard deal for life, his own control guaranteed, a Champions League quarter-final looming - but he still rules his empire with a rod of iron.
Ask Fernando Torres. Despite Rafa's best efforts to put you off the scent, Liverpool want to give the striker a brand new deal.
A contract to go alongside Gerrard's and form a double-barrelled statement of intent to the Premier League and the rest of Europe.
And Rafa's way of persuading his countryman? A cuddle? A cosy chat? A lump of cash? No, a hard time.
Torres explains: "I can score 25 goals and the boss says, 'You missed a chance you shouldn't have, now stay behind after training and practise your shooting'.
"I much prefer this than, 'Oh, wonderful Fernando, you scored 25 goals so go and relax' - that is not going to improve me. His knowledge of the game is maybe the best I have ever seen, it is quite amazing. He is a total perfectionist."
But gushing praise from his players is hardly likely to soften the stern Spaniard.
"You have to have a relationship with your players but you cannot be their friend," Benitez says after a fortnight devoted to making or breaking some of his squad's Anfield careers.
During the international break, some Premier League managers opted to recharge their batteries in warmer climes. Some took just a couple of days off.
Even Sir Alex Ferguson opted for a brief change of scenery, attending the morning work of his horses on Newmarket Heath.
There was no rest for Benitez as he prepares for two months of unremitting tension.
"No, I was too busy, talking to players and to agents. It is such a crucial time of the season," the 48-year-old says.
Benitez wanted to get signatures on long-term contracts before the club boots were laced back up.
Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt obliged. And make no mistake, Torres is top of the remaining names on his hitlist. And the 24-year-old striker will follow his captain's lead.
Torres said: "I have said many times the only club I would leave Atletico for was Liverpool, and nothing has changed there. They are the only two clubs that are in my heart.
"I have supported Liverpool since I was a boy and I intend on staying here a very long time."
One of the lower points in Torres' Liverpool career came 12 months ago when he was substituted during the second leg of last year's Champions League semi-final - a game that ended in a 3-2 defeat for Rafa's team - and a 4-3 aggregate exit.
And maybe that is why Torres clearly sees European success, which would mean revenge over Chelsea, as the priority in these closing weeks of the campaign.
He says: "Domestic titles are very important but to win the Champions League you are saying we are the best team in Europe.
"This club has a great record in the European Cup but now I want to be a part of that history.
"Winning the European Championship was a great thing for me and I understood what it was to win a major trophy and what I had been missing.
"On the way home from the European Championship I made a promise that I wanted more of this success with Liverpool and it does not come any bigger than the European Cup."
Benitez disagrees. He knows that 19 years without a league title is too long for most Liverpool fans.
Benitez said: "What will be more important to Arsenal fans? The Premier League or the Champions League? The Champions League. Why? Because they have not won the Champions League. We won it after 21 years - so now we have another challenge.
"Don't get me wrong, both are massive competitions. But right now, the Premier League is more important because we have won the Champions League."
To have a chance of winning it again, they will have to get past Chelsea, who they face in the first leg at Anfield on Wednesday.
Benitez knows the key to success on both fronts lies with the Gerrard-Torres combination. So much so that he even makes the shock admission that rotation and tinkering could be shelved for the rest of the season.
He explained: "Now, Stevie and Fernando are in a physical position to play more games in a row. Torres has had some problems with his ankles but he is much better than before.
"Stevie is playing behind Torres but he is so good he can play in different positions. If you need to change him for one specific game, we can do it.
"But the team has balance with Gerrard and Torres, so maybe we don't need to change too much. The qualities of both players are so good. For the team, it is the best combination and we have to think about the team always."
Benitez repeats his mantra that the only important game is your next one. But he has special reason to relish yet another meeting with Chelsea.
"Losing in the semi-final against them probably hurt more than losing the final in Athens," he admits. "We played well in the final but anything can happen and we lost to a good team.
"But in the first leg of the game at Anfield against Chelsea, we were much the better team and then conceded the own goal late on. That changed the entire tie."
The winners of the all-English quarter-final will face Barcelona or Bayern Munich in the last four.
And I remind Rafa that Sir Alex Ferguson believes Barca will be United's main rivals when it comes to lifting the Champions League trophy.
"Manchester United have to play Porto first," he reminds me in response.
And with that - and the mischievous suggestion that an out-of-sorts United could come a cropper against the Portuguese - Benitez breaks into another broad smile.
Rafa is cracking up.
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