Liverpool Proposal: Co-Managers?

You know the old joke about having two girlfriends--one for Monday-Friday and one for the weekend? I can’t get past that feeling when it comes to Rafa Benitez and Liverpool. Perhaps the Reds need co-managers; one for the Premiership and Rafa for Europe.

The Times of London’s Oliver Kay writes a fascinating piece quoting Rafa in a shocking admission that he’s not built for the Premiership.

This is straight from the article:

“In Europe you can approach a game tactically in a different way,” the Liverpool manager said when asked to explain the contradiction between their domestic and Champions League form. “In England, it is a different style of football and more difficult for the manager to influence what goes on. It is not as simple to influence the game with tactics in England the way it is elsewhere in Europe.”

OK, my cynical side says Rafa is trying to talk his way out of Anfield, forcing the hand of his American owners. Who would tolerate such an admission?

The other side of me says Rafa is arrogant and living off his two Champions League final appearances--one win--the Premiership be damned. It’s doubtful Liverpool supporters are OK with this. The Reds haven’t won the title in England since 1989-90 and there’s no convincing me that situation is acceptable.

I’ve been back and forth of Rafa’s future, and today, I’m sure he’s out the second Liverpool is excused from the Champions League. Of course, watch him win the thing again and muck up the gears for another year.

Rafa's Last Stand?

Bad karma haunts Rafa Benitez--has to. Teetering on unemployment already, not only has he basically coached Liverpool out of contention in the Premier League, and suffered this weekend's humiliating FA Cup ouster (Barnsley?!?!), but today he gets runaway Serie A leaders Inter Milan in the Champions League.

Don't buy a lottery ticket today Rafa, it's a loser for sure.

Ironically, these teams haven't clashed in Europe since 1965, and it was a classic. 101 Great Goals has an excellent recap of their European Champions Cup semifinal tie, featuring one of the great Liverpool collapses (or Inter comebacks, pick your poison) of all time. More bad karma?

We don't need to recap Liverpool's charmed European life of the past few years, and Rafa has proved himself a better coach in these two-game series' than over the long haul of a 38-game Premiership season.

OhYouBeauty previews today's match. This excerpt sums it up:

"It goes without saying that this has become the most important game of the season so far, with rumors flying that Benitez’s job is now (again?) linked to Champions League progress. I’ve no desire to rehash that debate again, but I still believe it's an unfair ask.

But it shows the disappointment that this season’s been. The squad may be better from top to bottom, but results haven’t been. An exit from Europe would mean that the fight for fourth is the only thing left this season. That’s unimaginable."

Check out the whole post, which includes a pretty good guess at Liverpool's Starting Eleven for today's match against Inter.

Liverpool Pushes Through in Champions League; Steamroll Marseille, 4-0

Rafa Benitez put it to Liverpool from the moment the Reds stepped into the dressing room at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille today: treat the game like a cup final.

Having been in their share during Benitez's run at Liverpool, the Reds knew the necessary attitude and applied it early and often, securing a 4-0 win on the road as well as a spot in the knockout stage of the Champions League.

"When the manager says it's a cup final situation you know you have got to give everything you've got. From the goalkeeper to the front men, every one of us has done our job. We made it difficult for ourselves in this group. We are disappointed it came down to the last game. We needed to perform tonight. It was a performance full of character and hard work. We knew we'd got the quality so we're very happy with the performance."

Steven Gerrard uttered those words to the Sun following the match. Gerrard set the tone with a fourth minute penalty, which he missed but smacked home the rebound. Fernando Torres, Dirk Huyt and Ryan Babel also scored for Liverpool, which finished second in its group behind F.C. Porto, which blanked Besiktas, 2-0. Liverpool, 2005 winners, will face a group winner in the round of 16.

Reportedly, Liverpool's American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett were in France for the match and are expected to meet with Benitez regarding the January transfer window and Benitez's future with the club. Will they offer him a new deal? Will they spend according to Rafa's wishes? The Guardian has an analysis from this angle.

Of Liverpool, Rafa Benitez and Money Well Spent

Here's the biggest no-brainer, duh-analysis you're going to get about Liverpool's 4-1 over F.C. Porto yesterday in the Champions League: Money Rules.

Those of you who long for the days when players were entrenched at their clubs, playing for the love of the color of the shirts on their backs, forget it. Captain Obvious calling: "Those days are over." Euros, pounds, dollars make the football go 'round, and it's never been more true than right now, especially in the FA.

Rafa wants more money to buy more players, after getting a boatload to buy players in the offseason. Yesterday, Liverpool--well Rafa anyway--got a return on its investment when Fernando Torres potted two goals. The win over Porto not only saved Rafa's job, but put Liverpool in prime position to keep moving forward in the Champions League, which I hear pays better than the UEFA Cup!

But on the other end, Liverpool's American owners want to put a cap on Rafa's spending during the coming January transfer period. They also suggested that Rafa concentrate on coaching and less on his Christmas player-wishlist. This of course came on the heels of Rafa's very public tongue-lashing of his bosses, proclaiming they don't understand the ways of the footballing world, much less how the transfer period works. Well, put the claws away ladies! Neither of you is correct; and both of you are correct.

Today, however, Rafa has the cache over the Yank duo of bill-payers. He's got legions of Liverpool supporters on his side, a European championship trophy on his mantle, a second-place medal around his neck, an FA Cup on his mantle too--and don't think Liverpool can't come back and win the Premiership this year. It's hard to knock success and even harder to justify sacking a manager who's winning and capable of winning more. He's got a viable plan for winning, and proved it yesterday. That kind of direction and focus is invaluable; could Liverpool afford to watch him leave and take that ability to another European team? When Jose Mourinho left Chelsea, his stock was never higher. The same would be true for Rafa, who, like Mourinho, could name his price at Inter for example and his absence would be lamented for months by Liverpool fans, just like their Chelsea brethren.

Winning cures many ills, but it's money well spent that makes the football go 'round. Rafa spent his owners' money well. Fernando Torres had a brace of goals, Liverpool looks right to qualify for the knockout stages where Rafa knows how to win--um, just ask Mourinho. Rafa is money well spent.

More on Liverpool and Rafa:

Thousands march in support of Rafa
Rafa's thank-you to Liverpool fans
"I want to be involved at Anfield"
Benitez brushes off transfer row

Rafa On Outs at Liverpool: Culture Clash with American Owners

The English press is having a field day with Rafa Benitez’s flap with Liverpool’s American co-owners George Gillett Jr. and Tom Hicks, predicting that the Anfield boss won’t last the season.

The flap is over Benitez’s angst over the owners’ insistence that player transfers be handled through chief executive Rick Parry. Benitez bristled at that notion as he tried to lock up Javier Mascherano to a long-term deal with the Reds, and pursued Racing Santander’s Garay, a defender. Liverpool is six points off the pace in the Premiership with a game in hand.

This has disaster written all over it. Rafa has won a Champions League and an FA Cup at Liverpool, and finished second in Europe last year in an unlikely run at a second title. He’s done it primarily with an array of Spanish and French imports, making Anfield one of the true melting pots of English football. Rafa’s style isn’t always the most amicable, but it’s difficult to argue with the results. That’s definitely stoking his fire as he tangles with Liverpool’s new American owners over players.

And there’s the rub. Rafa has said publicly that the American brass aren’t familiar with the way things are done during the transfer windows, and that they should essentially step aside until they learn the ropes.

The conflict comes on the American end. Culturally, American sports separate their on-field coaches from the front office. True it’s done to some degree in football, but with winning comes some cache. If you’re a manager of a big club, you get to buy the players. Gillett and Hicks are used to a general manager who buys the players, and a coach who coaches them on the field. Hicks lashed out at Benitez, telling him to “quit talking” and worry about coaching. The co-owners have said they’ll see him in mid-December to talk about transfers.

The rub is, Rafa may bolt before then--or be asked to leave. Could Liverpool survive this kind of turmoil? Doubtful any club in contention would thrive in a mid-stream coaching change.

The odd thing is that Gillett and Hicks have already opened their wallets and given Rafa the green to bring in Ryan Babel, Fernando Torres and Benayoun. Liverpool had a torrid start to the English season and looked like it would run away from the pack, but it has cooled considerably. Its balky showing in the Champions League thus far isn’t helping Rafa’s case for more power internally. Liverpool takes on F.C. Porto Wednesday in the Champions League when a loss essentially ends their bid for a third appearance in the finals in four campaigns. Could it end Rafa’s reign at Anfield?