Benitez's false focus
Liverpool's fans must be growing tired of sacrificing success in one competition for another
Wednesday, 12, Dec 2007 10:33
Watching Liverpool destroy Marseilles at the Stade Velodrome, I was left in something of a state of shock.
How can a team that just three days before had capitulated at the hands of one of the favourites for relegation go and turn in a performance of such magnitude?
Rafael Benitez's men went out with purpose and drive in the south of France - something that was sadly lacking against Reading at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday evening.
So why such a difference?
The fact is that Liverpool's manager seems to rate one competition much higher than the other and it is clear that despite his protestations, European success still far outweighs domestic success.
Talk to any Liverpool fan about which prize they would pick out of all the trophies on offer and the chances are that the Premier League would be their first choice.
It does not require any history books to recall the last time the Reds found success in continental competition after their historic 2005 victory over AC Milan.
But if you are in your teens or early 20s you would have to have been a lifelong fan to remember Liverpool's last league win (1990), which is simply not good enough for a team that claims to be among the most prestigious in the country.
While he frequently has to field questions about how in tune he is with the wishes of the club's owners, maybe Benitez should answer the question of whether he knows what Reds fans actually want above all else.
For all their public protests and marches in support of the Spaniard, there remain grumblings underneath.
Whether it is his obsession with rotation that is scuppering any coherent domestic league campaign, one thing is clear - he has so far failed to deliver the league title that has been missing for 17 seasons while bitter rivals Manchester United have collected nine Premier League trophies.
And on Saturday, we all saw exactly why that is.
With Liverpool 2-1 down, Benitez already had one eye on the midweek game as he withdrew Fernando Torres in favour of Harry Kewell.
Yes, Torres had not enjoyed his best game in the hour he was on the pitch. But as everyone who watched the Marseilles match - or even the game against Reading earlier in the season in the Carling Cup - should know, Torres is a player capable of producing a moment of magic in an instant.
Not only did Torres get a rest, but skipper Steven Gerrard was also hauled off shortly after Reading scored their third goal - making the last 20 minutes something of a procession for the home side.
Benitez gave up on a point - let alone three - with a quarter of the game still to play because he cared more about having his players fit and rested in time for the trip across the English Channel.
When Jamie Carragher was substituted ten minutes before the end it was a wonder that the travelling fans did not just up and leave right there - the players minds were already in the dressing room.
So fans were treated to two-third of a game of football, which in reality Liverpool had little interest in to begin with - despite all Benitez's talk of the Premier League being the priority this term.
Failure to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League is obviously not acceptable either.
But if Benitez continues to forego challenging for domestic honours in favour of progressing in continental competition, he will rile some of the club's core supporters who have been starved of this for too long.
This season looks like being Liverpool's best chance of taking the title since the early 1990s. After all, the Reading defeat was their first of the season so it is not quite doom and gloom just yet.
The litmus test will come in February and March, if and when the club are scrapping on two fronts. If Benitez allows what should be a standard three points in the Premier League to slip by in favour of keeping his key players fresh for European games, then we may see more unrest among the fans.
The fact is though, the three points lost against Reading count for just the same as any three points that may be dropped when the domestic campaign begins to ratchet up to its climax.
The only difference is that it may land Benitez in hot water with more than just the two American money men who are calling the shots on Merseyside.
Once the fans turn against him, the Spaniard may see his days numbered - and this time because of opinion on the terraces, not just in the press.
Alistair Potter