Stubborn Rafa won't change his ways


There were no shortage of talking points after a weekend of football that witnessed nine red cards in the Premier League, but it is to Craven Cottage we turn on Monday morning and yet another defeat for Liverpool.

The focus on Rafa Benitez has intensified following a fifth defeat in 11 league games which means Liverpool's hopes of winning the title are hanging by a thread. Writing in the Independent, Sam Wallace has identified a stubborn streak in the Spaniard in the wake of his decision to substitute Fernando Torres against Fulham. In 'Benitez the forward-thinker must stop overlooking clear and present dangers', Wallace accuses Liverpool's manager of lacking flexibility and failing to respond to developing situations.

Outside Anfield on match days they sell T-shirts adorned with Rafael Benitez's face and the catchphrase "Rafa is boss. This is a fact, no?" It is a take on his unique brand of English but also it references Rafa's peculiar brand of logic, especially the forward-planning to which he so stubbornly adheres.
Benitez is the man who prides himself on being one step ahead: while his players are celebrating a goal; he is using the break in play to reorganise his defence. While everyone else is thinking about Saturday's game; he is thinking about next Wednesday's match. If the world was to witness the Second Coming, Rafa would shrug and clear a space in his diary for the Third.

The trouble with Benitez's forward-planning is that sometimes he is too clever for his own good. Never more so than when, with the score at 1-1 and 27 minutes remaining, he substituted Fernando Torres against Fulham on Saturday afternoon. He did so with a team already missing Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson. Not to mention a squad that was without Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel, Fabio Aurelio, Albert Riera and Alberto Aquilani.

If ever there was a time to gamble on Torres, then this was that moment. But Benitez is wedded to his system, to his unshakeable belief in the plan he has already decided. And so, regardless of the game, Benitez thinks thus: Torres is not completely fit, we must protect him, therefore he must come off. This is a fact, no?


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