Does Benitez cut it?

Rafa Benitez’s post-match mutterings about Everton being a small club was a useful exercise in PR; throw something incendiary out there towards your neighbours and the failings of your own team will be ignored. Everton’s scalp of four out six points against their rivals was as much about the ineptitude of the Liverpool team in both encounters than the brilliance of the Blues, and these flaws were on show in the game yesterday just as they were in the 3-0 Everton win in September at Goodison Park. There has been much talk this week that the Reds may still have a chance at a league shot – on this evidence I would suggest that it remains a two horse race.

The reliance upon Steven Gerrard to win games has been their fatal flaw this year, with the captain’s form rarely touching the level he has shown previously. Rumours abound regarding his loss of form on Merseyside, as the Everton fans constantly reminded him, but without Gerrard playing at his best they are distinctly pedestrian. Liverpool started the game with three strikers and the attack-minded Jermaine Pennant on the flank, but with no-one in midfield pulling the strings, it was a frustrating afternoon for messrs. Crouch, Kuyt and Bellamy.

Benitez may have won the hearts of Anfield with his Champions League triumph in his first year, and while his pedigree in Spain points towards class, he has gradually come to resemble Houllier mk. II. His transfer policy, which has included big money deals for the likes of Crouch, Bellamy, Pennant, Gonzalez, Luis Garcia, Morientes and Kromkamp has not paid off and it’s no use complaining about Chelsea’s transfer funds when the money you have spent yourself has been wasted away. For a supposed tactical guru, Liverpool’s orthodox long-ball game doesn’t really cut it. During Everton’s 3-2 defeat to Chelsea in December, Jose Mourinho changed Chelsea’s game around at half time and ended up with three points. At no point did his Spanish nemesis appear to do have the ability to do the same on Saturday.

Everton’s defensive performance, as it has been on several occasions against ‘big teams’ this season, was fantastic. The return of Tony Hibbert to right-back has allowed Neville to revert to his central-midfield berth and while he may not be the ‘white Patrick Vieira’ he was proclaimed to be after a performance of high standard against Arsenal for Manchester United, he was excellent alongside Lee Carsley yesterday. Stubbs, at 35, rolled back the years to keep the Liverpool strikers at bay and Yobo and Lescott have found an understanding on the pitch that augers well for Everton’s backline future.

As for Benitez’s jibe, it was classless and ultimately factually incorrect. Perhaps Liverpool fans should ask if he is the man to bring the club forward and the new owners that are due to come in will have to look at it without the sentimentality that the present board holds following their European triumph.