There is nothing genius about Rafa's tantrums, they are just crazy
31 January 2009
They say the only way to measure the distance between madness and genius is with success.
Using that yardstick, Rafa Benitez is due a visit from the men in white coats any day now. At the point where Liverpool were in their best Premier League position for almost two decades, with the Kop finally threatening to establish a grip on their title rivals, the Anfield manager suddenly came over all One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
Benitez began arguing on all fronts, throwing his toys out of the pram about his contract, feuding with his own chief executive, snubbing his £20million striker and accusing the world of co-ordinating a conspiracy to favour Manchester United.
Far from invigorating the team like so many of Sir Alex Ferguson’s rants, or deflecting the pressure from the players as Jose Mourinho used to do, the Liverpool manager only succeeded in spreading anxiety and doubt through his camp.
Whether it is a fair reflection of his state of mind or not, the players, their rivals and the wider public ow regard Benitez as brittle, often illogical and so consumed by petty feuds that he has allowed his focus to drift away from the real fight at hand.
Since the day Benitez waved pieces of A4 paper in front of the cameras and complained about a pro-Ferguson plot by the FA, United have gone on a juggernaut sequence of six straight wins. That run is timely, but coincidental. What is certainly not unconnected is that Liverpool have collected no Barclays Premier League victories during the same period.
Defender Jamie Carragher let slip how he was concerned that all the unrest could filter through to the dressing room in an interview last weekend: ‘It’s just a few months, a great chance to win the League,’ he said.
‘We don’t want to look back with regrets. We all have our own issues, contract negotiations or whatever, but you just have to make sure it doesn’t distract from the job at hand’.
Unfortunately, nobody informed the manager. Benitez couldn’t have been more of a distraction if he had set fire to his beard. He dragged a boardroom power struggle with Rick Parry out into the public arena.
Even his tactical decisions now appear to be based more on spite than need, with Robbie Keane cast as the highest-paid leper in the land for supposedly being an acquisition of Parry and not the manager’s darling. Robbie Keane
Tactical struggle: Robbie Keane has not settled at Liverpool and has been substituted in 18 of his 23 starts for the Reds
‘Crazy,’ said Benitez after another botched midweek draw. ‘It’s a crazy game when you can’t control things. Why was it crazy? Because it was crazy!’
Not exactly a philosophical insight, but the inescapable thought was that the things which were really crazy and uncontrolled were inside the manager’s head. Benitez cannot help himself.
Rather than leave his best players to perform, he fiddles and frets and becomes more consumed by the fear of losing than emboldened by the prospect of winning. This approach works in the cup competitions, but that caution eventually tells in the League.
He is either toying with the self-destruct button or over-analysing everything. It’s paralysis through analysis.
St Andrews University released a study this week that confirmed golfers perform increasingly poorly when they ‘over think’ their game. Researchers found that the ability of skilled players was reduced if they consciously reflected on their strokes and described the process in detail, rather than carrying on without too much introspection.
But Benitez is always looking for a reason to worry, a reason to play safe, which might explain how Liverpool have amassed seven draws in 10 League games. He’d have been better risking a defeat or two and picking up the rewards from a couple of victories, rather than crawling to draw after draw.
Peculiarly, a side that has lost just one Premier League game all season is beginning to look shaky in pursuit of an automatic Champions League qualifying spot.
Another tumble against Chelsea tomorrow could prove fatal. Of course, there could be some method to his madness. Should Benitez prove unable to resolve his internal struggles at Anfield, it will give him the perfect excuse to flounce off to Real Madrid at some point. Next month’s Champions League quarter-final between the clubs will be a convenient dress rehearsal.
The Liverpool boss is not the victim of some psychological war. He is a good manager who has tried to be too clever with his team and his own situation and left everyone with the impression that he has lost his mind instead.
The red half of Merseyside will hope this is only a temporary affliction and that he regains control of himself this weekend, instead of trying to control everything else.
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There is nothing genius about Rafa's tantrums, they are just crazy
31 January 2009
They say the only way to measure the distance between madness and genius is with success.
Using that yardstick, Rafa Benitez is due a visit from the men in white coats any day now. At the point where Liverpool were in their best Premier League position for almost two decades, with the Kop finally threatening to establish a grip on their title rivals, the Anfield manager suddenly came over all One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
Benitez began arguing on all fronts, throwing his toys out of the pram about his contract, feuding with his own chief executive, snubbing his £20million striker and accusing the world of co-ordinating a conspiracy to favour Manchester United.
Far from invigorating the team like so many of Sir Alex Ferguson’s rants, or deflecting the pressure from the players as Jose Mourinho used to do, the Liverpool manager only succeeded in spreading anxiety and doubt through his camp.
Whether it is a fair reflection of his state of mind or not, the players, their rivals and the wider public ow regard Benitez as brittle, often illogical and so consumed by petty feuds that he has allowed his focus to drift away from the real fight at hand.
Since the day Benitez waved pieces of A4 paper in front of the cameras and complained about a pro-Ferguson plot by the FA, United have gone on a juggernaut sequence of six straight wins. That run is timely, but coincidental. What is certainly not unconnected is that Liverpool have collected no Barclays Premier League victories during the same period.
Defender Jamie Carragher let slip how he was concerned that all the unrest could filter through to the dressing room in an interview last weekend: ‘It’s just a few months, a great chance to win the League,’ he said.
‘We don’t want to look back with regrets. We all have our own issues, contract negotiations or whatever, but you just have to make sure it doesn’t distract from the job at hand’.
Unfortunately, nobody informed the manager. Benitez couldn’t have been more of a distraction if he had set fire to his beard. He dragged a boardroom power struggle with Rick Parry out into the public arena.
Even his tactical decisions now appear to be based more on spite than need, with Robbie Keane cast as the highest-paid leper in the land for supposedly being an acquisition of Parry and not the manager’s darling.
Robbie Keane
Tactical struggle: Robbie Keane has not settled at Liverpool and has been substituted in 18 of his 23 starts for the Reds
‘Crazy,’ said Benitez after another botched midweek draw. ‘It’s a crazy game when you can’t control things. Why was it crazy? Because it was crazy!’
Not exactly a philosophical insight, but the inescapable thought was that the things which were really crazy and uncontrolled were inside the manager’s head. Benitez cannot help himself.
Rather than leave his best players to perform, he fiddles and frets and becomes more consumed by the fear of losing than emboldened by the prospect of winning. This approach works in the cup competitions, but that caution eventually tells in the League.
He is either toying with the self-destruct button or over-analysing everything. It’s paralysis through analysis.
St Andrews University released a study this week that confirmed golfers perform increasingly poorly when they ‘over think’ their game. Researchers found that the ability of skilled players was reduced if they consciously reflected on their strokes and described the process in detail, rather than carrying on without too much introspection.
But Benitez is always looking for a reason to worry, a reason to play safe, which might explain how Liverpool have amassed seven draws in 10 League games. He’d have been better risking a defeat or two and picking up the rewards from a couple of victories, rather than crawling to draw after draw.
Peculiarly, a side that has lost just one Premier League game all season is beginning to look shaky in pursuit of an automatic Champions League qualifying spot.
Another tumble against Chelsea tomorrow could prove fatal. Of course, there could be some method to his madness. Should Benitez prove unable to resolve his internal struggles at Anfield, it will give him the perfect excuse to flounce off to Real Madrid at some point. Next month’s Champions League quarter-final between the clubs will be a convenient dress rehearsal.
You will note I haven’t used that cliché ‘mind games’ here. Any squabbling that has damaged Benitez has not been with Ferguson, but himself. He has manufactured this mess.
The Liverpool boss is not the victim of some psychological war. He is a good manager who has tried to be too clever with his team and his own situation and left everyone with the impression that he has lost his mind instead.
The red half of Merseyside will hope this is only a temporary affliction and that he regains control of himself this weekend, instead of trying to control everything else.
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