Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Legend advise Benitez on his tinkering style

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Former Liverpool stars Ronnie Whelan and Alan Hansen have urged Rafa Benitez to end his tinkering.
Whelan says all the changing must be counter-productive.
He explained: "If you go back in history, you will find most successful clubs have had two centre-forwards with a great understanding who would score goals and feed off each other week in and week out.

"At Liverpool, you just have to think of Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish, and Kevin Keegan and John Toshack.
"Now it's Bellamy and Crouch in one game, Kuyt and Crouch in the next, then Kuyt and Luis Garcia or any number of other permutations.
"You cannot get an understanding going. It's the same for two central defenders or two full-backs who play together regularly. They know where they will be at any given time.
"But with the rotation system I don't think you can get that same understanding."
Hansen is equally dismayed that his former team - the game's dominant force a couple of decades ago - seem to be stuck in the backwaters.
He complained: "Eleven points off the pace and with the big three slipping further away, it looks all over as early as October for Liverpool's pursuit of the Premiership.
"You see problems throughout the side and it is up to Rafa Benitez to sort them.
"The manager took the plaudits when Liverpool won the Champions League and the FA Cup and it is up to him to take decisive
action when things are not going well.
"There is plenty for him to consider. His goalkeeper, Jose Reina, produced one world-class save from Louis Saha but recently he has made many errors of judgment.
"There are serious problems with the back four. The time to rotate players is generally when you are winning but the one area you should be wary of rotating is your defence.
"The
game may have changed since I played but what is still true is that centre-backs do less running and more talking to each other than any other players.
"It is an absolutely crucial area that depends on understanding and reading your partner's game. As a manager, you would be looking to play the same back four 20 times on the trot, not split them up."
Hansen said Liverpool also had "glaring weaknesses" up front and relied too heavily on Gerrard for midfield spark.
He added: "If you want to consider yourself one of the country's top clubs you cannot continue to keep looking to a single player for inspiration."