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GUEST COLUMN : PAUL TOMKINSTOMKINS: THE THRILLING RIDE
Paul Tomkins 12 December 2007
We all know that three days in football, as in politics, is a short time. Barely any doors on our advent calendars have been opened between Liverpool being in some kind of ludicrous 'crisis' to back among Europe's elite. 
I'm not going to go overboard about this particular victory. It was faultless, but it's nothing we haven't seen in the majority of away games this season. Unfortunately, some people treat results like Reading as the rule, not the exception.
What I will say, as the country's top four yet again qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League, is that it shows the real strength at the business end of the Premiership.
It illustrates just how well Benítez has done to keep Liverpool in amongst Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United, all of whom have also improved since Benítez arrived in England.
Then there's the fact that not only has Benítez qualified for the Champions League every season, he's also perennially made the knockout phase. None of this was happening on a regular basis before he arrived. Before he arrived, Liverpool tended to be fairly limp in places like Marseilles.
I'd be lying if I said I had a good feeling going into this game. I had little doubt that Saturday's performance was hindered and inhibited by the prospect of this must-win match, which was looming so large it was almost in the corner of everyone's eye-line, but having lost at Reading I feared confidence might be damaged.
I expected a positive reaction from that defeat, in terms of effort, and a more focused mindset, but also feared some uncertainty and nervousness, particularly in yet another intimidating atmosphere, and with the pressure ramped up by the media.
But as ever in any big game, getting the first goal is crucial, and if you follow it up with the second virtually within the first ten minutes, everyone can relax, while the opposing fans quiet down and extinguish their flares.
There's always still plenty to do, as one costly mistake to make it 2-1 and the opposition will have their tail's up, especially when a 2-2 scoreline would lead to their success and your elimination.
But that two-goal cushion allows the players to play their natural game, and the manager to stick to his game-plan. In this instance, the timing of the first three goals could not have been better; the third killed off Marseilles' half-time dreams. The Reds started both halves majestically.
However, I have to say that with this result in mind, I am sick and disgusted with how much criticism Benítez gets in the newspapers when things don't come off for him. The reaction to Saturday's defeat was a joke.
As an example, why aren't Arsene Wenger's methods put under such incessant scrutiny? After all, he's won virtually nothing during Rafa's time here.
Have Arsenal hit a sticky bit of form, with two defeats, a draw and only one victory in their last four games, because Wenger hasn't been rotating that much? Were his team selections incorrect? I'm not saying that's the case, but just wondering why he gets so much (completely deserved) praise when his team do well, but –– and this is the crucial point –– so little of the ridiculing reserved for Rafa when his team slips up?
I am not saying Benítez is above criticism; obviously he isn't, because any manager is there to be shot at when his team loses. But until he gets sufficient (or sometimes just any) praise from certain quarters when he wins games with the teams he picks, there is a going to be a huge disparity in the reaction to those games he occasionally loses. The crime isn't the criticism, but the lack of balance.
We all know by now that Benítez picks 'unexpected' line-ups. That is not in doubt. But going into the Reading game he'd just won a series of games doing just that; in essence, he has now overseen six wins in seven games, with 26 goals scored to just four conceded, with the same methodology.
The question is, could a manager keeping the same side every game have expected to win six out of seven, including the three must-win fixtures, and to win them so handsomely? It's the kind of sequence that wins you trophies, and Rafa is averaging around four changes per game during this spell. This season he appears to be rotating more than ever, but it's also been the Reds' best start to a season in donkey's years.
Then there's the fact that even now he seems to get more criticism for omitting Torres than praise for buying him in the first place, and for helping him adapt so swimmingly. In the last two weeks I've counted at least half a dozen "why Rafa doesn't play him every I'll never understand" type comments. It's surreal.
It misses the point that Torres has been playing pretty much every game lately, and that most of those he did miss were down to injury. And despite missing several weeks with an abductor strain, he's still played more games this season (19, with 15 starts) than Christiano Ronaldo (18). Benítez is still being hammered for leaving out Torres in the draw against Birmingham in September, but Ferguson gets little or no criticism for omitting Ronaldo in the recent defeat at Bolton.
While on the subject of quick, skilful players, Ryan Babel continues to really impress me. His form is such a bonus, given that he is essentially playing a series of cameos rather than starring roles, as with the manager's help he adapts to the team and the league, but also because I'd pretty much written off his first season as a sharp learning curve given his tender years and his more laid-back style of play.
Super-sub can become a demeaning term, as if suggesting the player isn't good enough for longer on the pitch, but that's not the case here. He is not playing every 90 minutes, but he is certainly contributing. It also shows a great attitude: not sulking at being only on the bench, and being mentally prepared to make an impact when entering the game.
Babel's pace and skill, along with that of the sensational Torres, has added a whole new dimension to Liverpool's attacking play. Benítez has finally got the pace up front (allied to special technical abilities) that he was crying out for.
These two players are the antithesis of Marseilles' Djibril Cissé, a player who had some of the attributes and instincts of a genuine striker, but whose game lacked subtlety and an adequate touch, and whose mind seemed to be all over the place during games.
Something Benítez gets nowhere near enough credit for is the kind of players he buys. He simply does not purchase flawed characters. You simply do not find many skilful forwards who not only work as hard as Torres, but who refuse to be intimidated by the opposition, or rise to their provocation. He's pretty unique.
As with all managers' signings, not every player has proved a roaring success, but there's a consistency in the types of mentality concerned, be it flair players like the two just mentioned, or gutsy battlers like Kuyt and Mascherano.
On a night in France, it's worth mentioning the names Cissé, Cheyrou and Diouf: £30m of recently-acquired talent that Benítez inherited in 2004.
And while talent is the right word, in that each possessed at least some, they were far too flawed in one way or another when it came to the mental side of the game: be it composure, confidence or commitment. Diouf, for example, has bags of skill, but give me Dirk Kuyt any day of the week, because you need winners, not whingers, to win things.
Bolo Zenden, another ex-Liverpool connection with last night, may not have done much better on the pitch for the Reds than those three Houllier signings, but it was always interesting to hear Benítez talk about how valuable Zenden was as a positive influence within the dressing room.
It was also interesting to hear Zenden so full of praise for Benítez this week. Zenden, like a mature Robbie Fowler, had nothing bad to say about the manager after he was released. And as a thinking footballer who respected Benítez's philosophies, even if it meant he was never a regular, I think Zenden knew what the Reds were capable of last night.
For me, the Champions League is a bonus this season. I'd prepared for the worst after the defeat in Turkey.
The next round promises a great encounter, with pretty much only Europe's elite clubs awaiting in the draw. I'm almost always happier to see Liverpool pitted against a top team, as seen against Barcelona last season, than the 'banana skin' ties where you face talented but unfancied opposition. You get a great occasion, without excessive expectations. And you can rest assured no-one will want to be facing the Reds in the draw on this form.
The Marseilles match, as far as I was concerned, was more about the confidence boost ahead of the Manchester United game, in order to keep momentum going, combined with the psychological lift the club receives by still being in Europe next February/March.
Win or lose, the tournament was going to be put to bed for a few months, but the belief around the club will have been helped by knowing that when it comes out of hibernation the Reds will be there, too. The financial benefits are a bonus, as is the continued strength of the Reds' rankings in Uefa's seeding system.
Once it becomes a knockout competition, you have to accept it might not be your night during any given game, but there'll be no shame going out at any stage to any of the opposition that remains.
You can't wish to go out of Europe in order to do better in the league, as it doesn't work that way. I do think making it to the semis or the final again will only make winning the Premiership harder, but I'm happy to sit back and see where these thrilling rides take us.
Paul Tomkins' new book Above Us Only Sky is now available. For details about the book and how to buy click here>>
These views are those of the author and are not necessarily shared by Liverpool FC or its official website.
Paul Tomkins 12 December 2007
We all know that three days in football, as in politics, is a short time. Barely any doors on our advent calendars have been opened between Liverpool being in some kind of ludicrous 'crisis' to back among Europe's elite. I'm not going to go overboard about this particular victory. It was faultless, but it's nothing we haven't seen in the majority of away games this season. Unfortunately, some people treat results like Reading as the rule, not the exception.
What I will say, as the country's top four yet again qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League, is that it shows the real strength at the business end of the Premiership.
It illustrates just how well Benítez has done to keep Liverpool in amongst Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United, all of whom have also improved since Benítez arrived in England.
Then there's the fact that not only has Benítez qualified for the Champions League every season, he's also perennially made the knockout phase. None of this was happening on a regular basis before he arrived. Before he arrived, Liverpool tended to be fairly limp in places like Marseilles.
I'd be lying if I said I had a good feeling going into this game. I had little doubt that Saturday's performance was hindered and inhibited by the prospect of this must-win match, which was looming so large it was almost in the corner of everyone's eye-line, but having lost at Reading I feared confidence might be damaged.
I expected a positive reaction from that defeat, in terms of effort, and a more focused mindset, but also feared some uncertainty and nervousness, particularly in yet another intimidating atmosphere, and with the pressure ramped up by the media.
But as ever in any big game, getting the first goal is crucial, and if you follow it up with the second virtually within the first ten minutes, everyone can relax, while the opposing fans quiet down and extinguish their flares.
There's always still plenty to do, as one costly mistake to make it 2-1 and the opposition will have their tail's up, especially when a 2-2 scoreline would lead to their success and your elimination.
But that two-goal cushion allows the players to play their natural game, and the manager to stick to his game-plan. In this instance, the timing of the first three goals could not have been better; the third killed off Marseilles' half-time dreams. The Reds started both halves majestically.
However, I have to say that with this result in mind, I am sick and disgusted with how much criticism Benítez gets in the newspapers when things don't come off for him. The reaction to Saturday's defeat was a joke.
As an example, why aren't Arsene Wenger's methods put under such incessant scrutiny? After all, he's won virtually nothing during Rafa's time here.
Have Arsenal hit a sticky bit of form, with two defeats, a draw and only one victory in their last four games, because Wenger hasn't been rotating that much? Were his team selections incorrect? I'm not saying that's the case, but just wondering why he gets so much (completely deserved) praise when his team do well, but –– and this is the crucial point –– so little of the ridiculing reserved for Rafa when his team slips up?
I am not saying Benítez is above criticism; obviously he isn't, because any manager is there to be shot at when his team loses. But until he gets sufficient (or sometimes just any) praise from certain quarters when he wins games with the teams he picks, there is a going to be a huge disparity in the reaction to those games he occasionally loses. The crime isn't the criticism, but the lack of balance.
We all know by now that Benítez picks 'unexpected' line-ups. That is not in doubt. But going into the Reading game he'd just won a series of games doing just that; in essence, he has now overseen six wins in seven games, with 26 goals scored to just four conceded, with the same methodology.
The question is, could a manager keeping the same side every game have expected to win six out of seven, including the three must-win fixtures, and to win them so handsomely? It's the kind of sequence that wins you trophies, and Rafa is averaging around four changes per game during this spell. This season he appears to be rotating more than ever, but it's also been the Reds' best start to a season in donkey's years.
Then there's the fact that even now he seems to get more criticism for omitting Torres than praise for buying him in the first place, and for helping him adapt so swimmingly. In the last two weeks I've counted at least half a dozen "why Rafa doesn't play him every I'll never understand" type comments. It's surreal.
It misses the point that Torres has been playing pretty much every game lately, and that most of those he did miss were down to injury. And despite missing several weeks with an abductor strain, he's still played more games this season (19, with 15 starts) than Christiano Ronaldo (18). Benítez is still being hammered for leaving out Torres in the draw against Birmingham in September, but Ferguson gets little or no criticism for omitting Ronaldo in the recent defeat at Bolton.
While on the subject of quick, skilful players, Ryan Babel continues to really impress me. His form is such a bonus, given that he is essentially playing a series of cameos rather than starring roles, as with the manager's help he adapts to the team and the league, but also because I'd pretty much written off his first season as a sharp learning curve given his tender years and his more laid-back style of play.
Super-sub can become a demeaning term, as if suggesting the player isn't good enough for longer on the pitch, but that's not the case here. He is not playing every 90 minutes, but he is certainly contributing. It also shows a great attitude: not sulking at being only on the bench, and being mentally prepared to make an impact when entering the game.
Babel's pace and skill, along with that of the sensational Torres, has added a whole new dimension to Liverpool's attacking play. Benítez has finally got the pace up front (allied to special technical abilities) that he was crying out for.
These two players are the antithesis of Marseilles' Djibril Cissé, a player who had some of the attributes and instincts of a genuine striker, but whose game lacked subtlety and an adequate touch, and whose mind seemed to be all over the place during games.
Something Benítez gets nowhere near enough credit for is the kind of players he buys. He simply does not purchase flawed characters. You simply do not find many skilful forwards who not only work as hard as Torres, but who refuse to be intimidated by the opposition, or rise to their provocation. He's pretty unique.
As with all managers' signings, not every player has proved a roaring success, but there's a consistency in the types of mentality concerned, be it flair players like the two just mentioned, or gutsy battlers like Kuyt and Mascherano.
On a night in France, it's worth mentioning the names Cissé, Cheyrou and Diouf: £30m of recently-acquired talent that Benítez inherited in 2004.
And while talent is the right word, in that each possessed at least some, they were far too flawed in one way or another when it came to the mental side of the game: be it composure, confidence or commitment. Diouf, for example, has bags of skill, but give me Dirk Kuyt any day of the week, because you need winners, not whingers, to win things.
Bolo Zenden, another ex-Liverpool connection with last night, may not have done much better on the pitch for the Reds than those three Houllier signings, but it was always interesting to hear Benítez talk about how valuable Zenden was as a positive influence within the dressing room.
It was also interesting to hear Zenden so full of praise for Benítez this week. Zenden, like a mature Robbie Fowler, had nothing bad to say about the manager after he was released. And as a thinking footballer who respected Benítez's philosophies, even if it meant he was never a regular, I think Zenden knew what the Reds were capable of last night.
For me, the Champions League is a bonus this season. I'd prepared for the worst after the defeat in Turkey.
The next round promises a great encounter, with pretty much only Europe's elite clubs awaiting in the draw. I'm almost always happier to see Liverpool pitted against a top team, as seen against Barcelona last season, than the 'banana skin' ties where you face talented but unfancied opposition. You get a great occasion, without excessive expectations. And you can rest assured no-one will want to be facing the Reds in the draw on this form.
The Marseilles match, as far as I was concerned, was more about the confidence boost ahead of the Manchester United game, in order to keep momentum going, combined with the psychological lift the club receives by still being in Europe next February/March.
Win or lose, the tournament was going to be put to bed for a few months, but the belief around the club will have been helped by knowing that when it comes out of hibernation the Reds will be there, too. The financial benefits are a bonus, as is the continued strength of the Reds' rankings in Uefa's seeding system.
Once it becomes a knockout competition, you have to accept it might not be your night during any given game, but there'll be no shame going out at any stage to any of the opposition that remains.
You can't wish to go out of Europe in order to do better in the league, as it doesn't work that way. I do think making it to the semis or the final again will only make winning the Premiership harder, but I'm happy to sit back and see where these thrilling rides take us.
Paul Tomkins' new book Above Us Only Sky is now available. For details about the book and how to buy click here>>
These views are those of the author and are not necessarily shared by Liverpool FC or its official website.
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