WANTED AT ANFIELD: Rafael Bye-Nitez

Fifty-year old Rafael Benitez Maudes is an eccentric man; and while eccentricity as a trait is often an innate and unavoidable quality in the odd genius, Benitez should be spared such a glorious claim.

He deserves no long sermons about his flaws and no diatribes about the now-magnified blunders that he committed during his half-decade at the Kop.

What Rafa Benitez deserves is exactly what his personality demands - a terse, unfriendly and partially abrasive critique of the way he led England’s most storied club into a dark abyss of mediocrity.

Decorated as he may have been by coaching Real Madrid’s reserve and junior teams to success, Benitez first started grabbing headlines after he coached Valencia to two La Liga titles in three years with a refreshingly effective and deadly brand of attacking football.

He also tasted success in Europe with a 2-0 victory over Marseille in the UEFA Cup Final.

Being handed the reins at Anfield however, often works as a double-edged sword. The expectations of the old faithful Kopite coupled with the intense battle for supremacy at the top of the Premier League can turn out to be a recipe for disaster.

Fortunately, before any of this happened, Benitez enjoyed what will probably remain his greatest achievement as a coach on one Wednesday night in Turkey when the “Miracle of Istanbul” took its place as one of sport’s all time greatest comebacks.

But that’s the problem with glorious memories. They fade over time.

FA Cup aside, this is where his praises cease to be sung.

There’s a vicious cycle of human pride where confidence unknowingly morphs into arrogance and this is precisely what Rafael Benitez fell into. He could sit back and blame his results on the unfortunate and ill-timed entry of a couple of Yanks but the numbers would beg to differ.

As a wily seasoned coach, perhaps he should have realized that football was never a two-man game and even the most talented duopoly in the league would never be able to sustain top form and health for an entire season.

He should have realized that beating Chelsea, United or Arsenal mathematically awarded Liverpool the same number of points as beating a West Bromwich Albion.

And he should have realized the need to lower his profile and keep his head down when the going got tough.

What he will do with an Internazionale team that is fresh off a majestic treble is anyone’s guess.

How he will create an act that is anywhere near the genius of Jose Mourinho is a question that Massimo Moratti must have given enough thought to.  

The shoes at Anfield had gotten too small. Rafael Benitez needed bigger ones to put his feet into.

Maybe only then exactly, would they fit his mouth.