Rafa Benítez's six years in English football can be measured by buzzwords. If his first two years were dominated by "rotation" and zonal marking, his fifth will be best remembered for his "facts".
There are the old stalwarts of "possibilities" and "game intelligence." To that list, add his leitmotif for the coming season: "managing expectations."
It seems a phrase straight from the corporate jargon handbook, equal parts meaningful and meaningless. On Merseyside, though, it makes sense. Benítez, a victim of his own success, suddenly finds himself with plenty of expectations to manage.
Last season brought with it Liverpool's first genuine title challenge for seven years. For the last three months of the campaign, they were unquestionably the best team in the country, destroying Manchester United, the eventual champions, at Old Trafford, and humiliating Real Madrid. That is the barometer by which they will be judged.
"We have to manage the expectations," said Benítez. "We know the situation. If you talk about the title, everybody is saying that we have to win it this season. But I don't think so. I don't feel any extra pressure because we haven't won anything for three seasons. We have to be realistic, we want to be in the top four and to be contenders.
"I was asked the same questions this time last year, and I said we wanted to be in a good position come January. We were, and we stayed in a good position all the way through to the end of the season. We have to have that same approach this season."
It is hardly the optimism Liverpool's fans, laden with hope after the rousing crescendo to their last campaign, wish to hear from their manager.
Benítez, though, has hardly had the sort of pre-season to inspire such a mood. His team have failed to impress, he has sold Xabi Alonso, the conductor of the attacking orchestra that swept all before them from March until the end of last season, and his replacement, Alberto Aquilani, will not be fit until October.
The club were boosted on Friday by the news that Fernando Torres has signed the new, £110,000-a-week contract he agreed in May, tying him to Anfield until 2014, but that, along with Steven Gerrard's acquittal on a charge of affray last month and the £17.5 million signing of Glen Johnson, has been a rare fillip in a summer tempered by doubt.
Benítez has not received the financial backing he perhaps expected when he signed his own new contract in March. His side look short of options in defence and attack, the spectre of injury to Torres or Gerrard still unthinkable. There has been no marquee capture to complement his strike duo, to turn the draws that cost Liverpool so dearly last season into wins.
Benítez has thus far stopped short of criticising the club's owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, for their failure to provide a budget of any sort beyond what he himself has raised from sales. It is clearly an issue he is not prepared to go to war on, at least not yet.
"You have to sign the players you need," he said. "To bring in a big, big name, you often have to change everything. There aren't many managers in the world happy with the amount they have to spend, but to me that just mean you have to work harder. It does not impact on my commitment at all."
There are the old stalwarts of "possibilities" and "game intelligence." To that list, add his leitmotif for the coming season: "managing expectations."
It seems a phrase straight from the corporate jargon handbook, equal parts meaningful and meaningless. On Merseyside, though, it makes sense. Benítez, a victim of his own success, suddenly finds himself with plenty of expectations to manage.
Last season brought with it Liverpool's first genuine title challenge for seven years. For the last three months of the campaign, they were unquestionably the best team in the country, destroying Manchester United, the eventual champions, at Old Trafford, and humiliating Real Madrid. That is the barometer by which they will be judged.
"We have to manage the expectations," said Benítez. "We know the situation. If you talk about the title, everybody is saying that we have to win it this season. But I don't think so. I don't feel any extra pressure because we haven't won anything for three seasons. We have to be realistic, we want to be in the top four and to be contenders.
"I was asked the same questions this time last year, and I said we wanted to be in a good position come January. We were, and we stayed in a good position all the way through to the end of the season. We have to have that same approach this season."
It is hardly the optimism Liverpool's fans, laden with hope after the rousing crescendo to their last campaign, wish to hear from their manager.
Benítez, though, has hardly had the sort of pre-season to inspire such a mood. His team have failed to impress, he has sold Xabi Alonso, the conductor of the attacking orchestra that swept all before them from March until the end of last season, and his replacement, Alberto Aquilani, will not be fit until October.
The club were boosted on Friday by the news that Fernando Torres has signed the new, £110,000-a-week contract he agreed in May, tying him to Anfield until 2014, but that, along with Steven Gerrard's acquittal on a charge of affray last month and the £17.5 million signing of Glen Johnson, has been a rare fillip in a summer tempered by doubt.
Benítez has not received the financial backing he perhaps expected when he signed his own new contract in March. His side look short of options in defence and attack, the spectre of injury to Torres or Gerrard still unthinkable. There has been no marquee capture to complement his strike duo, to turn the draws that cost Liverpool so dearly last season into wins.
Benítez has thus far stopped short of criticising the club's owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, for their failure to provide a budget of any sort beyond what he himself has raised from sales. It is clearly an issue he is not prepared to go to war on, at least not yet.
"You have to sign the players you need," he said. "To bring in a big, big name, you often have to change everything. There aren't many managers in the world happy with the amount they have to spend, but to me that just mean you have to work harder. It does not impact on my commitment at all."
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