As Fernando Torres lifted the ball over Benfica’s keeper in the 82nd minute Anfield rose in acclaim of the Spanish marksman and roared its relief at the conclusion of a tense 12 minute spell following Oscar Cardozo's goal that hauled the visitors back into the game. On the touchline Rafa Benitez reacted, as he often does, with calm composure. Torres’s goal, superbly taken by a striker reaching his peak, was a fitting reward for a powerful and unrelenting performance by the home side displaying an intensity missing for most of the season.
It was a performance to match displays against Juventus, Bayer Leverkusen and Chelsea under the Spanish coach. There is something about Anfield and Benitez that is perfectly matched on these occasions and when his appointment was announced in 2004 many Liverpool fans were ecstatic. Having seen his Valencia side dominate and humble their team in the 2002 Champions League the denizens of L4 knew his potential. This performance against the Portuguese league leaders, built on a solid defence, tireless work rate, slick passing and ruthless finishing was reminiscent of Los Che at their peak.
As the Kop celebrated, the thought that must have crossed many minds was; why couldn’t Benitez get Liverpool to perform like this in the league, or for that matter in the Champions League this season? That argument has raged among Liverpool fans for most of a season in which 17 games have been lost. Supporters fall broadly in one of two camps; Benitez has worked wonders and the lack of investment from the owners has hamstrung him; or he is too cautious and the limits of his coaching and motivational abilities are being exposed. Performances like Thursday’s and the build up to the game only serve to add to the conundrum.
Benitez’s reputation, even among his backers, suffered a blow with the substitution of Torres at Birmingham on Sunday. His distracters charged that he had sacrificed the prospect of a precious 3 points in the race for 4th place in order to have Torres rested for this Europa League clash. Much was made of Steven Gerrard’s reaction to the substitution with the suggestion being that senior players had lost faith in the manager’s judgment. The manner in which the players tore into Benfica would seem to give lie to that particular theory. This was a performance by a team determined to prove they are better than their league position suggests and who seemingly respect their coach. The crowd meanwhile put aside any doubts they may have, preferring to send a message to the owners, both present but facing the indignity of having been forced to enter the ground under police escort, that they are not welcome.
Benitez, meanwhile, had spent the days before the match opining on the breakdown of talks with potential investors, the Rhone Group.
'For six months I was really optimistic, especially with this group. The Rhone Group were one of the groups who were there, but they are not there now. I'm not happy with the situation but I will try and do my best.
'I don't think the players can do any more. They are all trying but if we don't have a new investor it will be difficult to go one step further.
'We have been for six years wheeling and dealing and keeping the club at a very good level, but it is very difficult to stay at the level that everyone is expecting.
'For six years in a row we were in the Champions League. That was unexpected and we brought big money into the club.
’When I signed a new five-year contract I knew it could be difficult. We were waiting for the investors and the players have the same opinion. Now we have to stick together and prepare for the game properly because it is the only way.'
He also admitted to making mistakes, making this somewhat cryptic comment,
"If you can manage as a club with the mistakes you are ok," said Benitez, before admitting: "We signed one player that has had a problem for the whole season and we cannot manage."
Since Benitez signed that contract he has been noticeably quiet with regards to matters off the pitch, preferring to deflect questions rather than indulge in stirring the pot. The obvious reading of this would be that Benitez agreed to curtail comments and to accept the budget on the promise that investment was coming. With the potential for last nights game seeing the end of Liverpool’s run in Europe and a league season likely to deliver less than his guaranteed 4th place Benitez possibly chose, however, to pre-empt what would be an inevitable wave of further criticism. It could also be the words of a man preparing for his own exit (the rumors that Juventus are keen on his services resurfaced this week)
That criticism would inevitably center around his inability to get his team to perform with any kind of consistency this campaign and particularly on their travels, While few clubs have prospered with instability at the top Benitez’s complaints about lack of funds may well invoke sympathy with a wider section of supporters if his side were defeating teams such as Portsmouth, Wigan and Wolves. The budget argument rings hollow when only 1 point was secured on visits to those three clubs.
Steven Kelly, editor of the Liverpool fanzine, Through The Wind and Rain, commented earlier this season that Benitez was a ‘prisoner of the formation” of playing one up front. When this works, as it did spectacularly on Thursday night, Liverpool look unstoppable. When it doesn’t, particularly if Torres is out or lacking fitness, they look pedestrian and the lone striker is all to often isolated. There has been much more of the latter this season than the former. Benitez has stubbornly set his team up this way when many would think Ngog and Kuyt upfront with Gerrard in a central midfield role is the obvious solution when Torres is absent. Ngog, forced to deputize for the Spanish striker more than Benitez would have bargained for, has often looked out of his depth.
So Benitez remains an enigma as a manager, capable of inspiring an underachieving group of inherited players to Champions League glory in Istanbul yet unable to motivate a team of internationals, his own signings, to perform in the league against lowly opposition. If he does leave, his reported contract compensation clause of 25 million pounds should he be sacked seems to suggest he would have to jump rather than be pushed, then supporters will remember some great nights at Anfield, European and FA Cup glories and one title challenge. Unfortunately for him they will also remember the poverty of football served up for the majority of this season. Should he stay and get his side playing as they did on Thursday night then he may eventually be remembered as the man who finally brought the title back to Anfield. It will be an interesting few months on Merseyside.
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