Flowers don't blossom over night, the seasons determine the growth....

Rafael Benitez has me in limbo, as to whether or not he planned this whole thing. In his meticulous way of doing things, Rafa; can easily be seen as the master of all tacticians. But how far does his mastery extend? How long could he have steered Liverpool into this rather potent figure? We are now feared as the 'Giants of Europe' My mind boggles, to figure out if our recent performances and the timing of them, is in fact Rafa at his best. Could he really had planned those fixtures as the time to show the world what we have an offer? Each match being played as a final he says, but how long ago were those idealogies being enforced? I think he is a true master, I also believe the timing of it all was demanded by him as well. But I can't seem to grasp, how long ago could we have really been playing to such a degree of cutting edge and class, stamping our authority on each opponent.

What say you...was it all imparted in one day?

It's a nice romantic thought but I don't think it's realistic, to my mind much of the upturn in form is due to a "nothing to lose' mindset, ie: the points deficit of a few weeks ago meant it looked highly unlikely that anyone but Man Utd would win the league so the pressure was off Liverpool.

Possible he could have waited until we were a potential 10 points behind and then put the biggest bet ever on us to win the league.

Maybe Montse wants the mother of all watches this season?

But generally speaking - was probably more of a result of us being backed in to a corner.  When the media have their claws in nobody is more likely to come out fighting than Liverpool.  It's like Rocky Balboa when he takes a beating for the first 11 rounds.

I feel its down to this seasons players hitting top form.. there has been no doubt about Rafas tactics, he knows how to control the opposition, we are just finally landing the knockout blow. The whole team is working as a tight unit, everyone knows their position and finally we have forward players fully fit who can score the goals.

Long may it continue...

I think it is part of his master plan but not to be 7 points behind but how he rests players and knows when to play certain people aka Yossi and Babel not seen much of the start the season but now getting played nice and fresh and hitting form, same with Riera left out and subbed at parts of the season but now fresh as a Daisy. The point is we hit top form like this for the last 2 seasons when other teams start flagging the only difference this season is were chasing top not third because we started well. I personally think Rafa is magic and i hope we do win the title for alot of reasons but one of them is to tell my unbelieving red mate that I told you Rafa could win it.

I personally think it was the timing of the whole contract,fergie saga.
rafa planned it all along has to be!
we batter real madrid,humiliate the mancs,he signs a new contract,the whole squad gets a adrenaline boost,and all of a sudden we become a total different outfit and smash villa,players who had doubts in their minds whether he is staying/going have realised that to have a future at this club now rafa is here for 5 more years have got to tow the line,and up their level.its all about the team now,not at the start of the season when individuals were talking to the media about not getting time on the field.
so the whole thing was planned at the right time and place to implement the final push for the double.
rafa the tactician at his best.

I personally think it was the timing of the whole contract,fergie saga.
rafa planned it all along has to be!
we batter real madrid,humiliate the mancs,he signs a new contract,the whole squad gets a adrenaline boost,and all of a sudden we become a total different outfit and smash villa,players who had doubts in their minds whether he is staying/going have realised that to have a future at this club now rafa is here for 5 more years have got to tow the line,and up their level.its all about the team now,not at the start of the season when individuals were talking to the media about not getting time on the field.
so the whole thing was planned at the right time and place to implement the final push for the double.
rafa the tactician at his best.

What a load of sh*te.

Benitez refused to sign a contract because he knew if he did we'd beat Madrid 4-0 and United 4-1? I repeat, what a load of sh*te.

he signed the contract after we beat madrid,he signs a new contract we play the mancs and beat them silly.and thrash villa,by rafa signing that contract has given  the squad a new dimension.self belief.
the timing was perfect,good results before and after his signing,now that is not coincedence is it.it was what the club were crying out for.liverpool fc have been unleashed for the remainder of the season.

What a load of sh*te.

Benitez refused to sign a contract because he knew if he did we'd beat Madrid 4-0 and United 4-1? I repeat, what a load of sh*te.

I agree, Shabbadoo's comments aren't worth their salt. I think Rafa didn't plan this out it was just a series of fortunate events that all came together at the right time. The main one being the health of Stevie and Torres and having both of them back playing regular games. Torres can stand on the pitch with his thumb up his ass and still pull a defender or two away from Stevie and others and create huge pockets of space. We are a different team with Stevie and Torres on the pitch together, which the undefeated record over the last year when both of them start shows.

so torres and stevie were on the pitch at anfield against the mancs?

it was a different torres on the pitch against villa,than the one we had against real/mancs.

I think to some extent Rafa has had this idea of a monster team killing sides off week in week out for a while.

Obviously the likes of Bolo Zenden and Antonio Nunez weren't part of that image, and naturally the team has got better with time and better players.

It may not be happening this very season but it certainly looks like the long run of titles we so desperately want is on it's way. None of this one season wonder sh*te from Rafa, he's setting up shop for the long haul.

I think generally this is the time when Rafa's lads peek their top form
In his way of doing it (the tactics I mean ) to rest his key players when needed
 top form for his  key players  affect those who normally we have not  liked on the pitch ,like dossi,lucas. etc
 All in all ,lets hope we don't have any injury returns from this bloody int. break( which again came in  wrong time for the MIGHTY REDS 

The reason we're winning so comfortably now is Benitez' spin on the press.

They slagged us and slagged us for being defensive and I think it broke Benitez' tollerence. He's just said F**k it and gave our players freedom to attack to prove to everyone wrong. To prove to everyone we can attack.

To prove to everyone we can attack.

And boy can we.

The reason we're winning so comfortably now is Benitez' spin on the press.

They slagged us and slagged us for being defensive and I think it broke Benitez' tolerance. He's just said f**k it and gave our players freedom to attack to prove to everyone wrong. To prove to everyone we can attack.

I think I'm incline to believe that, due to the esoteric media taunting Rafa's defensive yet effective tactics. Rafa was blatantly questioned about his tactics in Europe, and he sought to dismiss all thoughts of Liverpool being one dimensional.

But surely in that manner, was far from everyone's thinking. So I am really intrigued to know, whether or not Benitez knew of his side's attacking prowess and how potent it really is. If so why wasn't it implemented from a longer time.

Top form or not, against Real we demanded a performance. That performance blossomed into a beautiful result, forming the impetus for the Man U game. Now, the performance at the Mancs suggested that this was no fluke of a performance. We knew that we could dominate, but humiliate is another thing....

But surely in that manner, was far from everyone's thinking. So I am really intrigued to know, whether or not Benitez knew of his side's attacking prowess and how potent it really is. If so why wasn't it implemented from a longer time.

Knowing the type of man Benitez is I'm sure he did know how good our attacking force was. He studies everything and would know how good it is. We saw it at the start of the year how we fought till the last minute, time and time again. That showed the grit of our attacking force, currently we're seeing the flair of our attacking force.

I think Benitez' tactics have been go full throttle and get into a good position at the start of the season, then in the middle of the season we became cautious and the tactic was more be in striking distance with 10 games to go and the final third of the season has started with freedom for our players so that we can pounce. I hope we continue playing with this freedom but I do have my doubts about that.

Probably a result of us backed into a corner, The form and Energy of Torres (he is so fresh because he hasnt played much this season) and Gerrard who is now reacting spectaularly to Rafa signing a new contract, (did he leave it this late to gain momentum). Also i do think we were just a bit crap at home in the league this season, our players seem to become a bit numb when playing Stoke or Wigan, a sense of urgency was missing from their game, i think somebody is to blame for this, probably the manager, but also the players.

It was all well planned-out but theres no way Rafa could have controlled its timing because if he could have I am sure he wouldnt have waited too long.The recent upturn could be attributed to:

a)Stevie & Torres reviving their partnership on the pitch
b)We were pushed into a corner & just like it has been evident over the past few seasons thats when we are at our very best.
c)This is Anfield...so what?Yeah for me this incident could turn out to be a pivotal point in our season.Maybe finally a few lads realised who they are actually playing for.The talent was always there but what was lacking was a bit of self-belief,pride & commitment.Marca unknowingly gave us all that back and for that I would always be thankful to them.

Probably a result of us backed into a corner, The form and Energy of Torres (he is so fresh because he hasnt played much this season) and Gerrard who is now reacting spectaularly to Rafa signing a new contract, (did he leave it this late to gain momentum). Also I do think we were just a bit crap at home in the league this season, our players seem to become a bit numb when playing Stoke or Wigan, a sense of urgency was missing from their game, I think somebody is to blame for this, probably the manager, but also the players.

You're right to mention torres' energy up front because that is exactly what we were missing at stages of the season. Add that to the fact that teams came to Anfield and sat back gave us problems we had trouble dealing with at the time. People make out that we are a two man team, which  i disagree with. But in saying that when you have a fully fit and firing Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard in your side they dont half make a difference to the players around them.

What a load of sh*te.

Benitez refused to sign a contract because he knew if he did we'd beat Madrid 4-0 and United 4-1? I repeat, what a load of sh*te.

I often find myself disagreeing with you DLS, if only for the fun of it, but that statement there is stating the facts beyond argument. Some of these posters are real dreamers.

I personally think it was the timing of the whole contract,fergie saga.
rafa planned it all along has to be!
we batter real madrid,humiliate the mancs,he signs a new contract,the whole squad gets a adrenaline boost,and all of a sudden we become a total different outfit and smash villa,players who had doubts in their minds whether he is staying/going have realised that to have a future at this club now rafa is here for 5 more years have got to tow the line,and up their level.its all about the team now,not at the start of the season when individuals were talking to the media about not getting time on the field.
so the whole thing was planned at the right time and place to implement the final push for the double.
rafa the tactician at his best.

I think i know what your saying, everything has just fallen into place lately and it wouldnt surprise me if that "rant" was planned just for now but it does seem abit too coincidental and even though we know he is a master in tactics and looking at the bigger picture, some tend to read into it abit too much.

Genius yes, but thats just playing God.

My opinion is that for the first few years Rafa used a formation suited to cup football and now that he has a team that HE believes can win the title he has implemented this attacking style of play and it has the rest of the comp shitting themselves.

Probably the gayest topic name I've ever seen.

If we take over United in the League and win it, then fine.  But don't get your hopes up because they've got to either draw or lose their game in hand, and even then they have to slip up again.

Stupid results have put us in the position we are now, we could of been running away with the League.  But that's football.