The Media Reaction to Liverpool Boss Madness

The view from Liverpool fans is that Benitez is totally composed during the press conference, not anger or emotion on show, therefore he can’t have done a Keegan.

Maybe they truly believe Benitez is doing them a service in this press conference, taking some of the attention away from their jail bird captain? Or maybe they think he is playing Ferguson at his own game?

The problem with these arguments is that it is not usual behaviour, in a pre-match press conference, to draw attention to an opposing manager and team with a list of information.

What provoked it? Ferguson wondering whether Liverpool would have the bottle to win the league? Why did that convince Rafa that the most reasonable thing to do was to compile a list of complaints?

To quote one penalty decision that wrongly went in United’s favour, like that means anything, like it’s never happened to Liverpool, is either utterly moronic or utterly mad. To start off the rant by mentioning a time when Ferguson was punished by the FA for failing to uphold the Respect campaign, then a minute later claim Ferguson is "the only manager in the league that cannot be punished" does not make sense. He’s mad or stupid.

As for Rafa doing a Keegan, it is not the emotion, it is not the lack of composure, it’s not even really what he said, rather the fact he said it.

He sat in front of a room of cameras and spouted off a list of supposed facts which actually weren’t facts at all (as proven by his own admission that Ferguson has been punished for lack of respect) from a piece of paper he’d brought along with him.

This wasn’t a case of him being suddenly caught off guard with a question. The fact that it was entirely pre-meditated makes it worse than Keegan. He actually though it would be a good idea to do what he did!

The Guardian 09.01.09:

"What Ferguson makes of Benítez’s outburst is not yet clear but, after the initial shock, it is not difficult to imagine a sunrise of a smile crossing face. Benítez may have insisted he was not taking on Ferguson at mind games but, ­seriously, the only question it has posed is this: are the Premier League leaders feeling the pressure?

We have been here before, of course. Kevin Keegan is always cited as the man who lost the plot because of Ferguson’s strategic psychological ploys, but the list of those who have suffered in the slipstream of the United manager stretches even further. Arsène Wenger has been left trembling with anger at times while the debonair Jose Mourinho had dark smudges beneath his eyes by the time he left Stamford Bridge; his thick plume of once-silky hair had become a greying bouffant and his glare was wild. OK, that may have had something to do with the viperous politics at Stamford Bridge, but Ferguson’s one-upmanship certainly did not help either.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?