As with business, success in football is generally achieved from the top down and credit must go to Rick Parry for his shrewd acquisition of Benitez. At a time when many clubs in Spain dallied, Parry took action and got his man. Under appreciated outside of Valencia, Rafa was overlooked for the Real Madrid job, despite having been a former player and youth team coach at the Bernabeau, and his fantastic track record at Valencia. Even everyone's favourite Spaniard, Guillem Balague, at the start of the 2002/2003 season, voiced his concerns that Benitez's Valencia did not have a proven goal-scorer on the books and contended that they would find it hard to compete with Real Madrid and Barcelona for the title. Undeterred Rafa moved Mista from midfield to up front and was rewarded with some 19 goals from his newly converted striker and Valencia went on to win the league despite Benitez being denied significant funds to strengthen his team. What does this tell us? Well if he can overhaul the Spanish giants without an established striker or a decent transfer budget, surely he can overtake the lowly Chelsea and Man Utd, given some funds and an established goal-scorer. Famously Rafa said of his struggles to get the Valencia board to sign his transfer targets “I asked for a bed-side table but they bought me a lamp”, his frustration at not being able to improve his team one of the main reasons for his departure. And boy did those Valencia fans cry when he left. If Rafa were still there you can bet you bottom dollar that Valencia would have pushed Barca all the way last season.
2) Gerrard par excellance
A world class player that is frequently the difference between us and them, regularly stepping up to score the crucial goal or turn a match. All title winning teams need at least one and our one is as good as any of the current crop. He outdid Kaka and Pirlo in Istanbul and generally outperforms anyone he's up against.
3) Carragher and co.
Our defence is mean and getting meaner and is the basis of Rafa's footballing philosophy and the platform for his success. Steve Finnan is so good you often don't notice him in games. Riise under Rafa has shown none of his earlier defensive fallibilities. Hyppia – now defends better than ever without seeming to take more than three steps in any direction. Carragher – ask any player on the continent, especially Italians or Spaniards, about Carragher's omission from the England starting eleven, and they would tell you that Sven is bonkers. Carra can win matches from the back. In my estimation he comes second only to Terry because of the latter's goal contributions as the UK's best defender and is easily top ten in the world. Reina – getting better and more dominant in the penalty box with every game, quick off the line, consistent, vocal, and an excellent shot stopper and distributor. In front of this is a well-oiled midfield that closes down as a team and is making it increasingly difficult for the opposition to get though, or even string a few passes together.
4) Alonso
The best ten million LFC ever spent. Young, classy, faultless, creative and one of the top three tackle makers in the league last season. His passing is a joy to behold and he can dominate games from a deep lying midfield position. Can anyone remember a player scoring from his own half with his weak foot before? Enough said.
5) The fans
Prawn sandwich anyone? Thought not. Anfield still has that old school vibe, unsullied by the corporate brigade and unlike Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal, capable of rousing a song before being 2-0 up, or when 3-0 down at half time in the Champions League final. We have the edge in terms of fan power over our nearest rivals.
6) Brazil's first choice full-backs?
It's an alluring notion. With the retirements of Cafu and Roberto Carlos we could quite feasibly soon be losing our full-backs to the samba cause on international duty. Although I don't expect Rafa to have them rampaging up and down the wing like those two did for Brazil our attacking options from that position should be twice as good as last season. Providing Rafa can nail down a deal for Alves – who was the star of the show in Sevilla's demolition of Middlesbrough during last season's Uefa cup final.
7) Coaching
I don't know what Rafa says to the players or does on the training pitch but from seeing the results on the pitch I know we have the edge over coaching and management teams at other clubs. Some of this credit must surely go to the background staff of Pako Ayestaran et al, who Craig Bellamy has praised since his arrival and who surely have played a crucial role in moulding us towards invincibility. When they were at Valencia as soon as they went one-nil up, which they invariably did, you knew the result was in the bag and so did the opposing teams.
I'm sure most of you will have heard that Rafa is not the molly-cuddling type. Carragher has said that Rafa doesn't really talk to the players apart from footballing matters; no warm shoulders, or pandering to the temperamental mind-sets of the modern player. No “Hi, are you okay, do you want a cuddle, have you brushed your teeth” as I imagine Ferguson might say to Ronaldo, Rooney and Ferdinand. Gerrard's near departure was, I think, a by-product of him feeling unwanted and unloved in the post-Houllier environment, Gerrard was used to being constantly assured and coaxed in a manner that Benitez does not subscribe to. But once they get used to it, the team and players reap the rewards of Benitez's stoic manner.
To illustrate my point an interesting parallel can be drawn between Rafa's methods and those of New Zealand's All Blacks. After New Zealand underperformed at the Rugby World cup when England went on to win it, their coaches and governing bodies reviewed their methodology and training practices. What they decided was that the players had become over-coached. They were told when and how to do practically everything and all their needs were catered for and prearranged for their convenience. The downside of this they realised, was that players had forgotten how to think and act for themselves and the by product of this was that when their game-plan didn't work, they were poor at adapting, improvising and taking matters in to their own hands on the pitch.
One only need look at the results in Istanbul and Cardiff when behind to Milan and West Ham respectively to see that the team now believe in themselves and look to each other to turn results around. This is a key aspect of Rafa's management philosophy and I think it compares favourably to the overbearing styles of Mourinho and Ferguson.
8) Little and Large
The classic combination of a little man with pace and a big man with a good touch who can win knock-ons. The last time I can think of a pair like this was when Kevin Phillips and Niall Quinn linked up for Sunderland and the former won the golden boot. Can Crouchy supply a shed load of goals in a similar manner to Quinny for his vertically challenged partner in attack. You bet your arse he can. Crouch could hold up an Avalanche if need be and Bellamy got 17 goals in 27 starts last season in all competitions. If he, Gerrard and Crouch get an understanding going we could score as many goals as Arsenal, Chelsea or Man Utd next season and more than compete with them defensively.
9) Hunger: We're all starving for success
Our boys are hungry, none of them have a league winners medal to their names and champions league glory won't have sated that hunger. In contrast the old guard at Man Utd, a fair chunk of the Arsenal and obviously most of Chelsea's players might not be quite as champing at the bit for domestic glory as our boys, who must feel that their time is now. This belief and hunger could make the difference.
10) Wrecking ball
All the best and most successful teams need and have one. Think Makelele, Gattuso, dare I mention him Keane, Vieira during his Arsenal glory and Emerson at Juventus. The role is a demanding and increasingly key one in modern football. What Sissoko has over all of them, making up for deficiencies in his rapidly improving ball control, is his ability to run and run. When he leaves training he runs to his car, drives home, and then runs to the door, up the steps and in the bath. Or you might believe it such is his apparent love of running. He'd chase a paper bag in a hurricane and stomp on it for defying him. When Rafa signed him and stated that he could be better than Vieira I thought 'Yeah right' but although he can't match him for skill, passing and the ability to turn defence in to attack, yet, such is his defensive value and sheer hard graft that his contributions to the cause are beginning to approach the level that Vieira achieved for Arsenal.
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