/ 22 April 2005

Rafael paints a Red heaven

Back in August, when AK Graz rudely took the lead at Anfield, Liverpool’s Champions League adventure was at risk of stalling before it took off. What, you wonder, was whirring through the mind of Rafael Benítez? New to the place, endeavouring to make a decent impression, keen to stamp his authority on the team, well he knew that failure to hurdle a summer Champions League qualifier against Austrian opposition would test the Kop’s goodwill.

Liverpool prevailed, but not without Benítez recognising the mountain of work in front of him. The team that night, a mere four matches into his job on Merseyside, bore the heavy imprint of his predecessor: Dudek, Carragher, Henchoz, Hyypia, Riise, Potter, Gerrard, Diao, Kewell, Baros, Cissé. It was basically a Gérard Houllier team plus the new striker the Frenchman bought but never got to play. Eight months on, against Juventus, and the extent to which Benítez has reshaped the team and retuned the men in it has to be applauded. It is the subtle changes more than the blazing ones that best sum up the Benítez effect thus far.

It is all very well buying proven quality, such as Xabi Alonso and Fernando Morientes — for a top manager to import top players is not rocket science — but looking at the way the team against Graz has evolved into a collective capable of seizing control over Juventus shows how much individuals have raised their game: Jamie Carragher has turned from right-back/utility man into ultra-committed

centre-half; Igor Biscan from uncomfortable defender to holding midfielder; John Arne Riise, unshackled from full-back, marauds his flank with new authority.

Elsewhere in the team, more miracles. Bet you would never expect to see Djimi Traoré mustering enough composure to rein in European footballer of the year Pavel Nedved. (Bet Nedved didn’t either.) And Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, who has enjoyed good times and bad during Benítez’s reign, believes that it is all down to the manager.

”Above all, it was our collective effort as a team that won us the tie,” Dudek says. ”We were better tactically than Juve thanks to our coach, but we also played with a togetherness that they were unable to match. It was our willingness to work for each other that decided which side went through and which went out.”

In drawing more out of players’ personal performances in such a short space of time, Benítez has equalled the impact that José Mourinho has had in his first season in the Premiership. (Eidur Gudjohnsen, Claude Makelele, Joe Cole, for example, are far more productive than a year ago.)

Crucially, what Benítez has not done is to achieve it consistently. For all the praise Liverpool merit for advancing to the Champions League semifinals, they have this season been maddeningly inconsistent. The fans who hopped and hugged deliriously as it became evident that the habit Juventus are famed for in Italy — disgustingly late match-winners — was not going to happen are those same fans who shook their demoralised heads at their team’s clumsiness five days previously at Manchester City.

It was as woeful at Bolton, Birmingham, Middlesbrough and, of course, Burnley in the FA Cup third round. Taunted and ticked off for playing an understrength team, Benítez does not seem so guilty of dereliction now such a thrilling opportunity lies ahead. Benítez could argue that it has been nigh on impossible to achieve consistency, considering the freak injury list that has been a hindrance all season.

It makes a refreshing change, after Houllier’s tendency to delve into his big book of excuses, that the Spaniard has not whined about Anfield’s overcrowded sickbay.

His ability to improvise with makeshift squads has enhanced his reputation for tactical shrewdness in Europe.

After been sketchy in the group phase, Liverpool displayed a potent blend of discipline and determination once the do-or-die matches arrived, whoever the personnel. Auf Wiedersehen Bayer Leverkusen. Arrivederci Juventus. Bye bye Chelsea?

Liverpool need not look farther than their opponents for an example of how to upset the odds in an all-British Champions League affair. A year ago, Arsenal were cruising towards the title, heavy favourites with the supposed psychological edge of clipping Chelsea’s wings every time they played. Fat lot of good it did them when Wayne Bridge delivered the knockout blow in the Champions League quarter-finals. Not so long ago, Champions League wisdom extolled the need for experience and time to adapt to the special demands of Europe’s showpiece tournament, but Liverpool and Chelsea are excelling under fresh leadership.

Incidentally, of the 32 managers who put their energy and imagination into this elite tournament this season, who was the man with by far the most Champions League experience? Sir Alex Ferguson. The man with the next highest number of these games on his CV? Arsène Wenger. But the longer these two Premiership heavyweights chase the holy grail, the less they seem to understand what is needed. It is not difficult to imagine twinges of jealousy at Old Trafford and Highbury as Liverpool got their tactics spot on in both legs of the tie against Juventus.

Benítez encouraged Liverpool to do something that United and Arsenal have lately drifted away from in Europe. They roared into Juventus, all high-velocity, pumped-up attacking, in the best traditions of English football in Europe. Having done the damage, they were solid enough to do a far more effective job protecting their lead against the Italians than Real Madrid managed in the previous round.

”We have to congratulate Liverpool,” sighed Juventus striker Alessandro del Piero. ”They defended well, they made it very difficult for us to have any shots on goal.” Over 180 minutes against a Juve team so dreadful that they deserve Fabio Cappello’s most withering stare treatment over the next few weeks, Liverpool’s first 20 minutes was the most crucial, most unexpected and most impressive.

Can they perform like that more regularly? The quest for a more balanced, consistent Liverpool is next season’s task. They will be helped by the fact that they will earn the fat end of £20-million — at least — during this Champions League adventure and should have a more robust challenge when everyone is fit again next season.

But requalifying for the Champions League one way or another is enough to care about for now —and, oddly enough, three European games would seem a better bet in which to achieve this objective than the four remaining in the Premiership. Where all this leaves Everton does not bear thinking about on the Blue side of Merseyside. — Â