Statement

Long before Robbie Keane's official return to Spurs, he was gone. You could even see the smile on his face when he was in the stands during the Chelsea game. He must've known he was getting rid of his boyhood dream/nightmare.

Keane was never at his best at Liverpool. His partnership with Torres hardly got going and he was not able to play in his prefered position. One might argue that he was not played enough. And that he got to play only because Torres was injured for most part of the first half of the season. People might compare the Keane situation to the Berbatov situation at United. Berba took sometime to settle in but Sir Alex continued to play him and now they are gelling as a team. Perhaps Rafa should've done the same thing.

But this one goes beyond Robbie Keane. Its all about the man-Rafael Benitez. According to his comments in the recent past, it was Rick Parry and not Rafa who got Keane to Anfield. This clearly frustrated Benitez since the purchase of Keane meant a certain Gareth Barry would not be heading to Anfield.

Benitez did not play Keane and was even dropped for many crucial matches, the latest being the Chelsea game.

The reason is simple-Keane was NOT Benitez's player.

Now that its looking more and more likely that the owners are giving Benitez complete control over transfers, I think, the sale of Keane was a test of character for the American owners. More like an audition before Benitez signs his new contract.

Keane out-Round 1 belongs to Benitez. Statement made.

I guess the real Rafa-lution starts now.

R.I.P 4-4-2

A few years ago, if you even dare to suggest anything other than a 4-4-2 to a manager of a top club, he would look at you as if you are from Mars. Teams used to stick to 4-4-2 so much so that the game was crying out for a change.

And change it did. Nowadays, the top sides rarely play a 4-4-2 during the course of the game and almost definitely not from the start. And even if the sides do play a 4-4-2, you have players like Rooney, Kuyt, Henry, Ronaldo etc who can play anywhere in the final third. This is particularly necessary against a mid-table team(if you can call a team that) since they can mark the life out of you sometimes. You need players like the above mentioned to move around and create space for others. I was watching the Barca-Valencia game the other night and I was shocked to see Hleb in a central striker position sometimes.

Barca, Real, Liverpool, United, Chelsea, Roma, Valencia are some of the top sides who rarely stick to a 4-4-2 formation in recent times. Even England has changed its formation from a traditional 4-4-2(which never seemed to work). Not that I call England a top side in terms of results.

There are downsides to not playing a 4-4-2 too. Players like Robbie Keane, Henry, Tevez etc may miss out because of the change in formation. Even Michael Owen was dropped from the England squad because, apparently, all he did was score goals.

Scream!!!!

When Andy Gray said the following quote during the Liverpool-Marseille match last week, I decided to blog about it.

"Of all the TOP sides, I've not seen anyone shout so many instructions to the players during a football match".

Yep he was talking about Rafa Benitez. And till the time Mr.Gray pointed it out, I didnt realise he was actually right. Benitez does seem to scream an awful lot of stuff to the players. And I think he uses the little black book(the one used by managers to make notes during a match) more than any other manager in the EPL.

On the contrary, someone like Sir Alex Ferguson just lets his players do the talking for most of the time. And it helps as a player if your boss has some confidence in you and you dont have someone breathing down your neck all the time. Dont get me wrong, Alex has a fuse and he knows how to blow it.

Analysing the quote, it either means that Rafa's team is not prepared(I dont believe it) or Rafa demands perfection. You can demand perfection during a keep ball session or during a training ground match. But to demand perfection and to actually shout his heart out during the course of a football match is something else. If I was playing, after a while, I would stop listening. Might lead to a substitution though. Robbie Keane? Listening?

By the way, I would give anything to see Rafa's black book.