Exactly one month ago I returned home from a Christmas holiday feeling nicely refreshed, recharged and ready for the year ahead. I sunk into the settee in the happy knowledge that 2008 had been a fantastic year for United. Recently crowned World Club Champions, possessing the world’s greatest player and, as the song goes, Champions of England, Champions of Europe.
What better way to lazily amble towards the new year than to watch Newcastle nick a point off the Scousers, or so I’d hoped. Five goals and a typical Gerrard performance later and I was genuinely concerned that the 18th Premiership crown we crave wouldn’t be quite as easy as I’d thought.
After a lacklustre first half of the season is was clear we needed to step up a gear. Somebody needed to make a statement in January to put a stop to Liverpool’s march towards the title. Who though? Berbatov? Rooney? No, there was only one man for the job. One man with the courage, the timing and the knowledge of how to disrupt Liverpool’s title charge;
Step forward Rafael Benitez – the closet United fan.
To put it bluntly, 2009 has so far seen Benitez go nuts.
The wheels seem to have come off while Benitez has been going all out in an attempt to get as much publicity as a Big Brother contestant. His ‘Keegan’ moment was the first Benitez themed highlight of the month as he contrived to inspire United to thrash Chelsea. He then continued in his quest to become a laughing stock by admitting he was not going to sign the new contract he had been offered – fair enough you might think as he wanted a little more control over transfers. Again though this was Benitez and, as ever, his timing was impeccable. Just as Liverpool prepared to face their Merseyside neighbours he thought it appropriate to provide the press with plenty of ammunition to write stories about boardroom discontent.
The result after his latest outburst again wasn’t a positive one. After United had squeezed past Bolton, Liverpool were held by Everton. Surely, any sane man would think it was time for Rafa to shut up? To the delight of United fans he still wasn’t done though, not by a long chalk.
Benitez continued to keep his bulbous head on the back pages of the tabloids with his utter drivel. The novel success of having his team in the title race at Christmas had seemingly gone to his head. This time he treated us to a bitter, sulky dig at Everton when he condemned Moyes’ side for going to Anfield without a recognised striker and setting up defensively, awwww poor Rafa. Classic! He was starting to sound like Wenger in his heyday!
With January drawing to a close I thought Benitez was finally done and that he had got the frustration of seeing the title slipping away from him out of his system. Then, he unleashed his pièce de résistance. David Ngog – good grief. Need I say more?
I have always admired Robbie Keane as a player and when Liverpool signed him I thought they had acquired a top quality player even if he was a tad overpriced. Since his arrival at Anfield the way Keane has been treated by Benitez is inexplicably foolish. Admittedly, he is yet to produce his best form for Liverpool but to drop the guy for David Ngog is an insult and a confidence sapper. Then, to not even deny that your £20 million forward might be going back to Tottenham is just insanity. Surely, any other manager would have given Keane a crumb of reassurance to make him feel wanted, not to mention valued. Not good old Rafa though, that would have been too easy given his current mood.
After thinking about each of these Rafa highlights and the cumulative effect each monumental error has had, I began to wonder whether this was indeed the work of the Liverpool manager or someone/something else. There could only be one explanation for the attempted sabotage.
Is Rafael Benitez actually a United fan in disguise? If I am right then expect to see more untimely and wholly inappropriate Rafa ‘episodes’ as Liverpool’s title chase gather momentum. Who knows, it might even culminate in Rafa actually admitting that he is Malcolm Glazers’ long lost brother………….. don’t forget, you heard it here first, in Rafa we trust.
Craig Malpas
