Jose Mourinho, the manager of Inter Milan, made an interesting observation the other day. He was having his usual pop at Arsene Wenger, saying he was lucky to be at Arsenal where he could get away with not winning anything, and he expanded his rant to include Rafael Benitez, manager of Liverpool.
He said Benitez could keep his job without success, too. Carry on like this and Mourinho’s theory may be tested sooner than he thinks.
There is a difference between not winning anything, and not looking likely to win anything. Wenger drew another blank last season, but he reached the last four of the Champions League. He didn’t win anything in season 2005-06, either, but lost in the final of that tournament to Barcelona.
Liverpool lost to Chelsea in the semi-final of the Champions League in 2008 and narrowly missed out on the title last season, having taken up a strong position after winning 4-1 against Manchester United at Old Trafford. There would have been uproar if Benitez had been sacked in the summer, and rightly so.
This season brings a new development, however. Here is a Liverpool team that no longer looks capable of beating good opponents, indeed has not beaten what would be termed a serious rival all season. With no draws, Liverpool have defeated Stoke City, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Debrecen, West Ham United, Leeds United and Hull City, and lost to Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Fiorentina, Chelsea, Sunderland and Lyons. In the sport of cricket, they would be termed flat track bullies, the name given to batsmen who plunder big scores on easy wickets, but fail when the going gets tough. And this time, the buck does stop with Benitez. As Graeme Souness, the former Liverpool manager pointed out, he has had five years to mould his team, so cannot continue hiding behind the skirts of a fractious board.
Also, it was his decision to replace the hugely influential Xabi Alonso with a player who arrived injured: Alberto Aquilani of AS Roma, £20m and yet to be seen. Losing Alonso was a blow, but he had already been alienated by Benitez’s pursuit of Gareth Barry a year previously. Never forget that if Barry’s deal had gone through Alonso would have been a Juventus player 12 months earlier. Benitez was certainly willing to sell.
This week brings Manchester United and, after defeat by Lyons, a good deal of whistling to keep spirits up. It is said that there is no better way for Liverpool to get back on track than by beating their greatest rivals. Yet Liverpool are meant to be more than a glorified cup side, able to raise their game and pull it off in one big match. That is where they were five years ago under Benitez, winning the Champions League with a series of excellent, isolated, performances, holding on to a slender lead against Chelsea, defeating Juventus, making a stunning second-half comeback against AC Milan.
Liverpool are trapped in the past. If they beat United — and Sir Alex Ferguson’s team is vulnerable, make no mistake of that — what does it matter unless that form is maintained and turned into something tangible? Not winning is one thing. If Benitez cannot contest, he will be out, whatever Mourinho says.