During his time at Chelsea, Claudio Ranieri with his inherent explosive mixture of eccentricity and intelligence, in fact, he himself came up with the nickname - Shuffler. However, the exclusivity of this nickname is currently at risk. In the English Premier League, a new, much more desperate, personnel "naturalist" has appeared - Rafael Benitez.
Deceptive phlegm
But if the Italian exaltation is much more suitable for the rotation follower image than the Spaniard’s seemingly rational at first glance, then the systematic changes in the Liverpool starting lineup over the past 94 (!) Matches indicate that the Castilian’s phlegm actually contradicts him the original essence of the same as Ranieri, a trainer-rearranger. And since one of the most established cliches in the history of football says: “The victorious squad does not change” - now any failure of the Merseysiders can be easily attributed to Benes’s pathological inability to play with the same squad.
Of course, defeats often happen also due to a wider range of reasons, but, nevertheless, disassembling the Liverpool mentor by the bones is beyond the power of only the lazy. Despite the fact that his (Benitez) memorable rearrangements in the squad led to the Istanbul triumph in the final of the Champions League 2004/05. The immediate future of the commander-in-chief of the “Reds," if studded with roses, then with thorns. All the same, rotation is indispensable. What are its main aspects in Benitez? How many of them? We counted five.
Adjustment for an opponent
Firstly, it is a methodology that is polar different, say, from the Hungarian one. In particular, the Liverpool coach adjusts to the opponent in duels “at the desk”. You don’t have to go far for examples. Sami Hyuyapa’s high growth was a pass to the starting lineup in the game with Bolton (0: 2), and Luis Garcia’s European reputation secured him a base against Galatasaray (3: 2). In both cases, the choice was determined not so much by blind coaching faith in football players as by the result of a scientific assessment; and not so much due to their optimal form or someone else’s disqualification, but to the conviction that the composition is completely dictated by the situation and character of the enemy.
Iron logic
Secondly, of course, there are pluses in personnel rotation. And Benitez’s thesis that it is simply impossible for a club with ambitions to succeed, having played all 65 matches of the season with the same eleven players, is widely used. And indeed, this is confirmed by the successes of Juventus Fabio Capello, who rushed to an Italian scudetto for two consecutive skating rinks, although he, however, was pretty exhausted - and could not stumble to the Champions League finals. Liverpool, by contrast, completed the year before last European Cup competition in brilliant form.
Compromise method
Extreme activity during the summer selection 2006 gave Benitez the opportunity to have a number of players commensurate with the status of both Liverpool and the largest clubs in the Old World. However, the dynamics of the modern transfer market and the absence of a billionaire patron behind him significantly influenced the Spaniard’s decision to split the transfer budget into several parts. The absence of “galacticos” in the clip - world stars - deprives the automatic choice. This is where the turn of rotation comes in as a method of compromise with most of the wards. But only a few he makes happy.
Universalism
Fourthly, in the Premier League, the Benitez team has not only the most numerous players' requests, but also the most multivalent players, which cannot be said about the clubs of Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Wenger.
Universalism - this is the valuable quality that Benitez values. The most obvious examples in this regard are Fabio Aureliu and Budevain Senden as alternatives in three and four positions, respectively. However, the old derogatory expression “takes it all and knows nothing” lashes the whip of almost any Liverpool player. Stephen Gerrard, Luis Garcia, Jon Arne Riise and Craig Bellamy - all of them are football players as flexible, as unwittingly able to completely confuse the logic of the rotation process.
Meanwhile, summer acquisitions still give Benitez a certain choice, especially in organizing attacking actions. Mark Gonzalez and Germain Pennant give the flanks "mercury", but - rarely go on the field at the same time. In other words, the replacement (or absence from the field) of one of them inevitably entails the replacement (or absence of) of the other - to ensure a balance between the edges; and the third reshuffle is the appearance of a defensive midfielder.
The functions of which are most often performed by Gerrard. If Benitez has still not found a permanent place for his captain on the field, then this should not be regarded as a coaching miscalculation. Gerrard's attraction to the game in the center of midfield is well known. Like the ability to solo. But when, for example, he got his favorite role in the match with Galatasaray, Liverpool began to miss the athleticism of Momo Sissoko. And putting them in the center together means, figuratively speaking, to go on a diet that excludes Xabi Alonso with his inventive passes. But, on the other hand, how much can one ignore the fact that most of his 23 last-season goals Gerrard scored, speaking in the position of the right midfielder, it is equally controversial to say that in this role he set the tone in the Premier League.
If Gerrard and Luis Garcia, each separately, are considered as a “hidden” striker, which is located just below the striker, then Benitez immediately has a choice of six players with 15 possible combinations. True, staffing changes in the offseason could not but lead despair of team veteran Robbie Fowler, who over the past five matches could not find a place even on the bench. It is noteworthy that in all these meetings, except for the champions, Bellamy and Dirk Kate played the attack, which suggests that their tandem is considered as the main one. Benitez, however, immediately received a stream of criticism for rejecting the services of Peter Crouch.
Without the "sacred cows"
The remaining players are rotated. The mysterious Luis Garcia, who is looking for both fantastic goals and inexplicable misses, is one of them. Either the victorious ball will score, then it turns into a gray mouse - there is not enough stability to become a solid base player.
Are there any in Liverpool at all? Benitez’s tendency to give Jerrard respite, especially in the away matches of the Champions League, means that Jamie Carragher and Jose Reina will lose their inviolable status, although the game of the latter already gives reason to conclude that the Spaniard’s probationary period is coming to an end.
Even the combination in the center of defense, which only occasionally underwent changes in the last season, does not differ in consistency as a result of Carragher’s rare injury and the first signs of the remarkable decline of his career Hyuyupya, which, coupled with Daniel Agger’s precarious mature game, is another puzzle for the Spanish entrenador on the eve of the matches.
Unlike Liverpool at Chelsea, Petr Cech, John Terry, Claude Makelele, Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko may not worry about the base, especially on the eve of the decisive matches. Arsenal and Manchester United also have half a dozen players, whose output in the starting lineup is not in doubt.
“Changed, changing and will change”
Whether the lack of stability in the Anfield team correlates with the lack of stability in the results is another question. But to question the frequency of the Benitez reshuffle is certainly possible; four or five changes in the starting lineup for him is a common thing.
Why it happens? In our opinion, there is only one answer: he simply does not know what the best, most optimal squad looks like. Then, in any case, everything will depend on the circumstances. But the players, especially the beginners, such as Bellamy, Pennant and Gonzalez, have the opportunity to prove that they are not outsiders in the team.
Be that as it may, one thing is clear: no matter how Liverpool win their next match - thanks to a successful replacement or an unexpected personnel finding by Benitez, there is still a reason for continuing the rotation of the roster.
Translation by Andrey KARNAUKHOV