Liverpool Stutter as Benitez Falls into Sir Alex's Trap

Liverpool extended their lead at the summit of the Premier League on Saturday with a 0-0 draw against Tony Pulis’s well organised Stoke outfit. But the feeling amongst supporters is one of deflation and yet another missed opportunity. Many will see this as two points dropped for the Merseysider’s, but in truth they were lucky to escape the Potteries with a point, such was the dismal nature of their performance. Indeed, this was one of their worst showings of the season – all the more strange following such an impressive display in their last league outing against Newcastle. Yet again Rafa Benitez demonstrated his unpredictability by selecting Dirk Kuyt as a lone striker and leaving both Torres and Keane on the bench. It has been blindingly obvious for the past two years that Kuyt is not suited to leading the line by himself. Sure enough the Reds failed to create anything of note in the first half. Benayoun, having recently vented his frustration at not being a first team regular, was dire. Frustratingly, it took Benitez until after the hour mark to introduce Torres, but even he could not find a way past a stubborn Stoke rearguard. Gerrard glanced the post in the dying minutes, but a defeat would have been harsh on Stoke. The Reds now face a difficult run of fixtures including a Merseyside derby and the visit of Chelsea to Anfield. I will be surprised if they remain top by the end of the month.

Aside from the match it was manager Rafa Benitez’s bizarre press conference on Friday which drew most of the focus at the weekend. His verbal attack on Alex Ferguson has apparently backfired already, with Manchester United easily brushing aside a hapless Chelsea side 3-0. Quite why he felt the need to get involved with Ferguson at this stage of the season, particularly in such a calculated and predetermined fashion (he produced a sheet of A4 at the press conference) is anybody’s guess. Some have pointed to Ferguson’s assertion a few weeks back that Liverpool do not have the experience to go on and win the title, but in responding to this Benitez has fallen into his trap. This is a classic Ferguson tactic – making a seemingly unremarkable observation through the press and waiting for his opponent’s response. There was absolutely no need to pick a fight. I suspect he was also trying to put Ferguson off balance ahead of a key game, but following yesterday’s result it has apparently had the opposite effect. Or maybe he is attempting to emulate Jose Mourinho’s famous ‘outbursts’ in trying to get under Ferguson’s skin. However Benitez’s mannerisms, personality and slightly fragmented English does not help him in such situations. As far as I am concerned he would have been better advised to retain the moral high-ground and just keep quiet.

Regardless of the spat, Manchester United’s recent good form looks ominous, whilst Liverpool retain an air of inconsistency. Sadly United are huge favourites now to go on and claim a 3rd successive title.