Thursday, May 01, 2008

Benítez Left With Empty Feeling And Unclear Future

Rafael Benítez owes his reputation in England to achievements abroad. Liverpool supporters may crave the league title above all else, but even those who cavil at domestic campaigns that have faded with the snowdrops have to acknowledge his unarguable Champions League record.

Europe will provide no succour this season, however. In their third Champions League semi-final meeting in four seasons Liverpool were finally thwarted by Chelsea, and for Benítez the prospect of glory has given way to the reality of a season without silverware.

The Spaniard has much to contemplate, not least whether he will still be in his post next campaign. He is manager of a club with a dysfunctional boardroom, the co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett in open conflict and Benítez's tensions with the chief executive, Rick Parry, barely concealed. Hicks went to the dressing room after last night's defeat to commiserate with the team, but whether it was a valedictory visit remains unclear, as Dubai Investment Capital continues to circle the club. Should Benítez remain in the post come August, and the ownership of the club be sufficiently clear to allow him to invest in the four or five players he believes he needs to progress, the priority will be to close the gap in the league.

After four seasons under Benítez Liverpool are no closer to Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal in the league than they were in 2004 when Gérard Houllier left Anfield. It is a rebuke to Benítez's claims that he is making progress, but for every critic he will always have Istanbul.

As insurance policies go, winning club football's greatest prize in your first season takes some beating, even if the manner of that Istanbul victory ensures that regardless of what transpired last night Benítez should never be considered an unlucky manager. Having selected the wrong team to face Milan in the 2005 final and only changed it when, at 3-0 down, it should have been too late, Benítez owed victory to one of the more notable chokes in sporting history from the Italian side, aided and abetted by an indefatigable display from Steven Gerrard. It bought him time as well as respect, and was bolstered last year by yet another final appearance. But last night his sure-footedness in European competition appeared to desert him.

Twice at this stage of the Champions League he has seen off Chelsea, but on both occasions the decisive leg came at Anfield. Jose Mourinho will forever attribute the "phantom goal" that decided the 2005 tie to the hostility of the Kop, and last season the same supporters contributed to Chelsea's startling collapse in the penalty shoot-out.

Required to conjure a result at the sharp end of a semi-final at Stamford Bridge, a ground every bit as kind to Chelsea as Anfield has been unforgiving, it proved beyond him and his players. Benítez had not won in eight previous visits and Fernando Torres' goal last night was Liverpool's first on the Fulham Road since January 2004.

Neither did Benítez help himself with his pre-match comments aimed at Didier Drogba. The Spaniard's pre-match observation that the Ivorian is prone to diving proved disastrous. It may have been a statement of the obvious but it ensured a hostile reception for his players and stoked a devastating response from Chelsea's most potent striker. He left Benítez in no doubt about their effect when, after lashing home Chelsea's goal in the 33rd minute, he ran 50 yards to celebrate in front of the Liverpool dugout. Benítez affected not to notice, but the significance was lost on no one.

By that time Benítez had more on his mind than losing a war of words. His side showed one alteration from the one that dominated at Anfield, Yossi Benayoun replacing Ryan Babel on the left, but they floundered as Chelsea dominated a rollicking opening apparently designed to demonstrate that regardless of the nationality of the personnel this was to be an truly English football occasion.

Benítez employed Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso to screen the back four, but in the opening exchanges they were repeatedly bypassed and with Pepe Reina's goal sustaining an early barrage there was little sign of the potency on the break that Liverpool would require to reach Moscow. Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt and Benayoun were wasteful, and Benítez spent much of the half trying to effect a transformation.

Gradually his side gained a foothold in the sodden conditions and for 20 minutes after half-time, thanks largely to the pace and poise of Torres, they found their way back. Inevitably Torres offered Benítez his lifeline, latching on to a Benayoun pass to equalise 20 minutes into the second half. From then extra-time seemed inevitable. Ultimately, though, Benítez had no answer to opponents who last night deserved to be dreaming of Moscow as the Spaniard ponders an uncertain future.

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