It is obvious from scanning today’s papers that Rafa Benitez has a serious problem, in fact he is addicted…to rotation. You just can’t leave your players alone can you, you fiddle and fiddle some more, you can’t stop. The Daily Mail‘s Des Kelly has noticed this too, and condemns his ‘fiddling for fiddling’s sake’ policy, Kelly also shoots a load of numbers at us 6, 6, 4, 7, 5, 5, 6, 2, 9, 7, 5, 5, these are all the changes that Rafa has implemented in every game this season. This is clearly a problem, perhaps Rafa needs to be taken to Rehab? Whatever the case, Wales manager John Toshack wants to stage an intervention and cure Rafa of this terrible compulsion and stop the ‘confusion’ that is swirling amonst the players.
Toshack said:
“I really hope Rafa knows what he’s doing, as it’s clear people at Liverpool are starting to get a bit nervous. His constant choice of rotating his squad is really angering the fans, and within the club, I think there is a good deal of confusion right now. Having spent a very significant amount of money on around 40 players in just over three years, I hope Rafa hasn’t bitten off more than he can chew. It’s the case that if you change the team so regularly then the players simply don’t have time to gel together on the pitch.”
The Times meanwhile highlights Liverpool’s sudden dip in form, especially in Europe where ‘they were lucky to earn a 1-1 draw away to FC Porto before falling to a 1-0 home defeat by Marseilles last Tuesday.’
Stevie G however, told the Times that talk of a crisis is rubbish, Stevie G said:
“We haven’t been ourselves of late. The results haven’t been good and the performances could have been better. We’re going through a dip in form, which all top teams do at some stage, and we just have to make sure we play our way through it. We’re not performing to the standards we can do, but that will change. I’m asking the fans to trust me when I say there’s no crisis here. We have fantastic players and a world-class manager and we will get things right again. There’s no doubt about that.â€
The fact remains that after the international break Rafa has two tough games Everton on October 20, and then four days later a tough must-win game against Besiktas in Istanbul, will he be able to resist his unsatiable itch – the constant desire to tinker….