EPL Liverpool: Hard-Earned Win Gives Benitez Hope

Rafa Benitez rotation system is much maligned, but it is difficult to argue with those statistics in terms of keeping his players fresh for the Champions League.

Of course this inevitably brings us to the often assumed point that Benitez "wants" Champions League success first, with domestic success coming a distant second. While this may be true to some extent, in that the Champions League is undoubtedly a higher priority than the FA Cup and Carling Cup, whether it is a higher priority than the Premier League is open to debate.

I am a firm believer that the role of the manager is massively overplayed in the modern game, particularly by the manager-obsessed mass media. It is the players who cross the white line and perform, and undoubtedly the Liverpool players feel more confident against top European opposition than they do against even, on paper, obviously weaker opposition from home.

Can this really all come from the manager? It is far to simplistic a view in my opinion to be worthwhile, especially when such strong characters as Gerrard, Carragher, Hyppia and Torres are at the club.

What is not a debate is that the Liverpool players gave their all for the club last night, and while the tie is far from over, given their away record in Europe over recent years, Liverpool should feel pretty confident of progressing at the San Siro in three weeks' time. The long term debates about Benitez will rage on, even if the season ends in unexpected glory in Moscow.

The week began with Benitez fairly "bigging up" the achievement of two Champions League finals in three years. After all, in 13 attempts at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson has only managed one final, in eight attempts at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger has only managed one final. Liverpool fans will be hoping that the debate in the summer will be simple: 

Can you sack a manager with three Champions League finals in four years?

There is still a lot of work to do before then, but it would be brave man who bets against Liverpool in Europe.

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