It is not known whether Rafael Benítez is a fan of Shakespeare — you suspect not — but, amid all the headlines about whether the Liverpool manager is “cracking up”, it is that line from Hamlet, delivered sotto voce by Polonius, that keeps coming to mind.
Benítez may have behaved curiously of late, but to dismiss his actions as those of a swirling, raging madman is to miss the point entirely. Whether it is waging war on Sir Alex Ferguson, dropping Robbie Keane or publicising a contract dispute with the club’s owners, the one thing that Benítez can never be accused of is failing to engage his brain. If his detractors can accuse him of one thing, it is of thinking too much, although Liverpool’s position in the Barclays Premier League table, enriched by yesterday’s 2-0 victory over Chelsea, hardly puts them down as a classic case of paralysis by analysis.
The Liverpool manager is no Hamlet, driven to madness by a desire for revenge. He is no King Lear, stripped of his dignity as he descends slowly into insanity. Benítez would probably prefer to regard himself as King Henry V, a man notable for military genius, a powerful leader whose air of nobility concealed a devilish, scheming side to his character.
Should Liverpool fail to win the Premier League — and even in the heady days of November and December they were never regarded as anything like favourites — many of the inquests will focus on January 9, the day when Benítez “lost the plot”.
Except that he did not. The tirade against Ferguson, accusing him of holding undue influence over referees, was calculated in the extreme. Benítez had armed himself with the relevant statistics and assured himself that he was on safe ground before proceeding to deliver his thoughts in a methodical manner. As these things go, it was as far removed from Kevin Keegan’s infamous “I’d love it” rant as can be imaginable.
Yet the perception of a manager “cracking up” in the heat of the title race is too much for some to resist, particularly when Ferguson is on the other end of the equation. Now that Benítez is off the critical list, however briefly, the spotlight will be shone ever more intensely into the eyeballs of Luiz Felipe Scolari as we — media, supporters, perhaps even his players — look for signs that he, too, has lost the plot. Then there is Arsène Wenger, another who has dared to show signs of fallibility. And that is before we look farther down the league at managers such as Mark Hughes, Tony Adams and Joe Kinnear, the ones really under pressure.
If Benítez had gone mad, he would probably have cause, given the absurdity of life at Liverpool over the two years since the Hicks-Gillett takeover. The co-chairmen sat in the Anfield directors’ box for the first time in 14 months yesterday, but, grown up as ever, insisted on being seated more than a dozen places apart, not exchanging so much as a glance. It has become a basket-case of a club — not quite in the Newcastle United class, but unravelling at such a rate that it has taken quite a feat of management to keep the team on some kind of even keel.
Nor is the handling of Keane the sign of a manager who has taken leave of his senses. Keane has been treated shabbily, left to feel a pawn in a political battle between Benítez and the board, but he is not the victim of muddled thinking. Benítez simply does not view him as a player deserving of a starting place at present or as a player who can change a game as a substitute, so he prefers David Ngog, a raw French teenager of 19, who is perceived to have the pace to stretch opposition defences in the closing stages of matches. Some would cite Keane’s price tag as a reason why he should be on the bench, even if only for the sake of his confidence. Benítez, who spends as long contemplating his substitutes as his starting line-up, would disagree.
If there is a frustration for Liverpool supporters, it is that there is too much method, a tendency to over-complicate things rather than get by on instinct. It was put to Benítez on Friday that Steven Gerrard, more than any player, remains a match winner even when seemingly dead on his feet and that, whatever his condition, he would never have been substituted by Ferguson under such circumstances (in the 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic on Wednesday).
They were valid points. But Benítez never has been a manager like Ferguson and never will be. Asking him to manage by instinct, rather than by analysis, would be like asking Ferguson to do the reverse. You would lose many of the qualities that have made him successful, which, in the case of Benítez, are self-assurance, clarity of thought and tactical genius — the things you associate with madness.
Benítez may have behaved curiously of late, but to dismiss his actions as those of a swirling, raging madman is to miss the point entirely. Whether it is waging war on Sir Alex Ferguson, dropping Robbie Keane or publicising a contract dispute with the club’s owners, the one thing that Benítez can never be accused of is failing to engage his brain. If his detractors can accuse him of one thing, it is of thinking too much, although Liverpool’s position in the Barclays Premier League table, enriched by yesterday’s 2-0 victory over Chelsea, hardly puts them down as a classic case of paralysis by analysis.
The Liverpool manager is no Hamlet, driven to madness by a desire for revenge. He is no King Lear, stripped of his dignity as he descends slowly into insanity. Benítez would probably prefer to regard himself as King Henry V, a man notable for military genius, a powerful leader whose air of nobility concealed a devilish, scheming side to his character.
Should Liverpool fail to win the Premier League — and even in the heady days of November and December they were never regarded as anything like favourites — many of the inquests will focus on January 9, the day when Benítez “lost the plot”.
Except that he did not. The tirade against Ferguson, accusing him of holding undue influence over referees, was calculated in the extreme. Benítez had armed himself with the relevant statistics and assured himself that he was on safe ground before proceeding to deliver his thoughts in a methodical manner. As these things go, it was as far removed from Kevin Keegan’s infamous “I’d love it” rant as can be imaginable.
Yet the perception of a manager “cracking up” in the heat of the title race is too much for some to resist, particularly when Ferguson is on the other end of the equation. Now that Benítez is off the critical list, however briefly, the spotlight will be shone ever more intensely into the eyeballs of Luiz Felipe Scolari as we — media, supporters, perhaps even his players — look for signs that he, too, has lost the plot. Then there is Arsène Wenger, another who has dared to show signs of fallibility. And that is before we look farther down the league at managers such as Mark Hughes, Tony Adams and Joe Kinnear, the ones really under pressure.
If Benítez had gone mad, he would probably have cause, given the absurdity of life at Liverpool over the two years since the Hicks-Gillett takeover. The co-chairmen sat in the Anfield directors’ box for the first time in 14 months yesterday, but, grown up as ever, insisted on being seated more than a dozen places apart, not exchanging so much as a glance. It has become a basket-case of a club — not quite in the Newcastle United class, but unravelling at such a rate that it has taken quite a feat of management to keep the team on some kind of even keel.
Nor is the handling of Keane the sign of a manager who has taken leave of his senses. Keane has been treated shabbily, left to feel a pawn in a political battle between Benítez and the board, but he is not the victim of muddled thinking. Benítez simply does not view him as a player deserving of a starting place at present or as a player who can change a game as a substitute, so he prefers David Ngog, a raw French teenager of 19, who is perceived to have the pace to stretch opposition defences in the closing stages of matches. Some would cite Keane’s price tag as a reason why he should be on the bench, even if only for the sake of his confidence. Benítez, who spends as long contemplating his substitutes as his starting line-up, would disagree.
If there is a frustration for Liverpool supporters, it is that there is too much method, a tendency to over-complicate things rather than get by on instinct. It was put to Benítez on Friday that Steven Gerrard, more than any player, remains a match winner even when seemingly dead on his feet and that, whatever his condition, he would never have been substituted by Ferguson under such circumstances (in the 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic on Wednesday).
They were valid points. But Benítez never has been a manager like Ferguson and never will be. Asking him to manage by instinct, rather than by analysis, would be like asking Ferguson to do the reverse. You would lose many of the qualities that have made him successful, which, in the case of Benítez, are self-assurance, clarity of thought and tactical genius — the things you associate with madness.
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