What I found mystifying was that in the same interview Benitez said we now have the players to combat the physical game of Bolton and the like, and mentioned Sissoko and Crouch as two players who would make a difference in such games. Then he goes and leaves Crouch on the bench? HMMMM!!!!!
I honestly think Beni doesn't know what he's doing from one day to the next and just buys a shedload of reasonably good players in the hope that it will all come off for him. Chances are it will come off against most teams, but if you want to win the Premier League, you have to have something special, something a bit more than a random selection of good players and a general idea of what you want them to do.
I also think he doesn't know how to accommodate both Gerrard and Alonso in midfield, which has been one of his biggest failings so far. You just can't have two talents of this calibre in central midfield, especially if one likes to push forward but the other doesn't want to defend. This means Beni has to drop one or play one out of position, which is exactly what he has been doing. I wouldn't have a big problem with Gerrard playing on the right but if that's Beni's long-term plan why buy Pennant?
It's all a muddle to me. One thing is for sure, it's not working, and that's what matters. It's not going to improve either, at least not enough to make that decisive breakthrough which transforms you into genuine title challengers. It might change enough to get another good run going, which might be enough for us to secure 2nd or 3rd again, but that's just not good enough, given Parry's insistence that the successor to Houllier would have to make a genuine challenge for the title.
Nope -- not good enough Mr Benitez. Go away and do your homework and learn something about the English game before imposing your arrogant way of doing things on us in a vain effort to fit a square peg into a round hole. -- + His Holiness Pope Pompous XVIII
"This is all Blarney!" -- Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth I
