Greeny of R5

Some love him, some hate him. I can only listen to so much of him before he begins to annoy me, whatever the situation is on the pitch, bu he's a good commentator-pundit and knows the game.

WHY REDS WILL ONLY GET STRONGER UNDER RAFA Alan Green 19 December 2005

Esteemed Five Live broadcaster Alan Green on the respect and admiration he has for Rafael Benitez and why the Spaniard is the man to lead Liverpool Football Club into a new glory-laden era.

I think Rafael Benitez is the best thing to happen to Liverpool Football Club for some time and what he has done in such a short space of time has just been remarkable.

It has startled me and surprised me just how much he has changed things for the better at Anfield. I thought it would be at least a three to five year job to get Liverpool back to this successful team who Europe would fear, because in my opinion it was going badly wrong under Houllier.

I think Benitez has made far quicker progress at Anfield than I would say he himself or anybody would have anticipated. I think there is a way that Liverpool play now that suits them really well and it is good to watch. I don't think Liverpool get enough credit for their exciting attacking play.

A key player for me is Xabi Alonso, who I think is just magnificent. His range of pbutting is sensational and he is a great player. With him and Steven Gerrard in the team Liverpool are a real force to be reckoned with. People talk about hype, well this is not hype this is the real deal, as it were.

I must confess although I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the man, I have never spoken to Rafael Benitez. I just really like what he is doing at Liverpool but it should still be considered as work in progress because it is a club that achieves success not talks it.

I am currently reading a book about Benitez by his friend Paco Lloret and I have found it absolutely fascinating. Benitez is a man who lives and breathes football. He wants nothing but success and that is fantastic news for Liverpool Football Club.

I was astounded by the run that led to the glory that was Istanbul. I commentated on most of the games and each pivotal moment was superseded. First there was Gerrard's goal against Olympiacos, then the away win in Leverkusen after Dudek's last-minute error in the first leg had given the German's a vital away goal, then it's past Juventus and onto Chelsea.

The second game against Chelsea at Anfield was just the most startling atmosphere I have ever experienced at a football game. I was with the former England manager Graham Taylor that night who was summarising for Five Live and I asked him before the game had he been to many European nights at Anfield? He replied 'never,' and I said Graham I promise you will never experience anything like this tonight.

He looked at me and said 'well I am the manager and I know you are wrong. Sure enough at the end of the game Graham turned to me and said 'you were right, I have never experienced anything like this.' He was literally moved by what he heard that night at Anfield and the impact of the crowd, the noise, the atmosphere. People are sometimes corny saying the hairs on the back of your neck stand up but this game it did. And for the whole game!

For me it was a bigger evening than Istanbul. The reason I say that is Liverpool thoroughly deserved to beat Chelsea and they were the better side in both the semi-final games. As for Istanbul I am still to this day scratching my head and thinking how on earth did that happen.

At 3-0 down I was just sitting there thinking I just hope Liverpool can make this respectable and even if they lose 4-1 they would retain at least some kind of respectability. At the time I thought Milan could have been five or six nil up as they were that good and Liverpool were that bad.

I remember hearing the start of You'll Never Walk Alone during half-time and it started in a corner of the ground then it just grew. The Milan fans had one quarter of the ground and Liverpool had the other three quarters. Suddenly this sound is all around the ground and I tell you the Milan fans were stunned. They were like 'what is going on,' our team is winning 3-0 and why aren't we singing?'

I think when the Liverpool and Milan players came back out for the second half they could not fail to be moved by that singing from the travelling Kop.

Benitez has followed on from that success this season and Liverpool are getting stronger and stronger. There is no way Liverpool will finish 37 points behind Chelsea this year. Even though I don't think they are ready to win the Premiership title yet this season, the title is coming back to Anfield and maybe even sooner than you think."

Alan Green Current position: Commentator for BBC Radio Five Live, used to be on Radio Two, been there 23 years.

Most memorable match covering Liverpool: The 4-4 game with Everton in 1991, Kenny Dalglish's last game as Liverpool manager. It was just sensational for all the right reasons.

Best player seen in your time covering the Reds: Kenny Dalglish.

Team you support: There are some very strong feelings about which club I allegedly support which I keep private. What I would say though is I am actually harder on the team I follow than any other club."

-- "i'm just a soul whose intentions are good, Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood"