It’s the day before the big Champions League quarter-final. All is well at Liverpool. The Premiership title challenge, is back on. The team are in prime form. The manager has a new long-term contract. Nothing can go wrong! Then, at his Tuesday pre-match press conference, Rafael Benitez speaks out. Again. He claims that United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is now running scared of his Liverpool team. Believing that Ferguson is feeling the pressure from his Liverpool team. Given the adverse publicity, that his anti-Ferguson jibes in January brought him, it’s a surprising strategy from the Spaniard. And an ill advised […]

It’s twenty minutes after the end of Liverpool’s game at Fulham. And Liverpool supporters are still in Craven Cottage singing. Liverpool, after a dominant performance, have snatched it at the death. And are back on the top of the league. It maybe, that with United reclaiming top spot yesterday, Liverpool fail to take their first League title in twenty years. But, their performances over the last month, suggest that Liverpool, are finally moving in the right direction. For this is a team in the zone right now. When a team is in the zone, pressure increases focus, not anxiety. Players […]

The pressure was on Liverpool yesterday. After the wins against Real Madrid and Manchester United, questions were being asked as to whether they would blow the opportunity, to close the gap on the league leaders. Well, the Reds answered these questions emphatically. Not only putting five past Villa, but playing with a clarity and sense of purpose, that informs us that this is a team oozing with confidence and self-belief. That confidence reveals itself in the energy and dynamic of the team. The way each player understands their roles. How the team patterns weave together. The ability to make the […]

It’s the week of the Champions League clash, between Inter Milan and Manchester United. And Milan manager, Jose Mourinho, is making it clear how he sees the game playing itself out, even declaring the Milan formation, and personnel. It’s a typically bold stroke by Mourinho. Showing no fear ahead of a big match. No sense of trepidation. No fear of failure. Only complete and utter belief in his players and his methods. As if the bigger the occasion, the greater the pressure, and the more certain Mourinho’s belief becomes. Perhaps Jose, needs to raise the stakes. Needs to put himself […]

Its the third round FA Cup replay at Roots Hall. Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, has dropped Didier Drogba from the squad. This after a disappointing defeat at Old Trafford on Sunday. With persistent rumours of dressing room unrest, things are clearly not well at Stamford Bridge. The problem for Scolari, as it was for Avram Grant before him, is the lingering influence of Jose Mourinho. Mourinho made an indelible impression on the football club. He showed players, how to become winners and champions. When he left, and Avram Grant took over, Mourinho’s influence lived on in the Chelsea players. […]

It’s Sir Alex Ferguson, being interviewed by Sky Sports Geoff Shreeves, after United’s defeat of Chelsea. Shreeves, asks the United manager about Rafael Benitez’s comments at his Friday press conference. Ferguson says that Benitez appears ‘disturbed’ and ‘angry’. Sure enough, the papers the following morning, are loaded with pictures of Benitez, with the headlines ‘disturbed’, written above him. It’s now appearing, as if Benitez’s attack on Ferguson, is looking like a very bad idea. If Liverpool had followed up his words, with a stunning performance at Stoke, then everything he said would be quickly forgotten. But, there’s was a stuttering […]

It’s Rafael Benitez’s Friday press conference. It is put to him, that Sir Alex Ferguson, has said that nerves may ruin Liverpool’s title bid. Benitez responds, by drawing a piece of paper from his pocket. On it, are listed Benitez’s accusations, about Ferguson and his attitude to referees, and the fixture list. It’s a response from the Spaniard, that many are comparing to Kevin Keegan’s rant, in the year Newcastle United blew a Premiership title lead. Well. we will only know if Benitez’s behaviour is an act of self-sabotage, if Liverpool, fail to clinch the Premiership title. Keegan’s emotional explosion, […]