I’ve read and heard a few commentators refer to Rafa Benitez’ comments about Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday as the Liverpool manager’s ‘Keegan moment.’ Nothing could be further from the truth.

Back in the 1995/96 season, Keegan's side looked set to finally land the title after opening up a 12-point gap at the top of the table, and the Newcastle coach famously lost control of his emotions.

Rafa Benitez is a coach who is methodical in his approach to the game, and yesterday was no different. He walked in to that press conference fully prepared for what he was about to say. He produced a sheet of paper from which he read a series of longstanding complaints about Ferguson and, in particular, his attitude to referees and gripes about the fixture list; Rafa was calm and assured in his delivery.

Some have said that Benitez should not have let Ferguson get under his skin, yet this was not a man flailing wildly at his adversary, but a man in control who had prepared the terrain upon which he was about to do battle: so typically Rafa.

So why did he do it?

Well, Sir Alex Ferguson had openly criticised the Liverpool players in midweek. With Liverpool seven points in front of third-placed United, who have two games in hand,  Ferguson stated that Liverpool’s inexperience will cost them.  “There's no doubt in the second half of the season they will get nervous,” said the United manager.

Sir Alex was inferring that he and his players are more experienced and mentally tougher than the Liverpool players. From Rafa’s point of view, no manager has the right to insult his player’s capabilities and he was right to come out and defend them. For the sake of the dressing room, it was important that he is seen to be standing up for his team.

Remember, this was not an instant reaction to Ferguson’s comments. Benitez had bided his time and spoken with his dressing room. He had ensured that his players were totally unfazed by what the United boss had said about them, fully assessed the situation – as he always does – and concluded that to have not reacted would have been seen as a loss of authority.

And because of that, what Benitez cannot afford to do is be seen to agree with Ferguson – as Wenger did recently over the football calendar – because the United boss will be seen as leading the agenda, as the man in control who can say what he wants - when he wants; with his contemporaries following his lead. Rather than agreeing with Ferguson, Benitez made the United coach sound like a whinger: Rafa said “Then he (Ferguson) was talking about the fixtures. Two years ago we were playing a lot of early kick-offs away on Saturdays when United were playing on Sundays. And we didn't say anything.

"Now he is complaining about everything, that everybody is against United. But the second half of the season will see them playing at home against all the teams at the top of the table, it is a fantastic advantage.

"But at Christmas, United played on the 29th and the rest of the teams played on the 28th. We were away against Newcastle two days after playing Bolton. They were playing about 40 hours later, they were not complaining then.”

And when it came down to United’s treatment of referees, Benitez was letting it be known that not only do other managers share his opinions, but that this is a matter he has been prepared to tackle head on with the FA : as he did at the meeting in Manchester  which he referred to yesterday. Benitez said “You can see every single week how they put (referees) under pressure, we know this. We have seen it before. We have seen players sent off at Old Trafford and we do not see our opponents sent off. It is part of the game. But to complain and to always have an advantage is not fair.”

"We had a meeting in Manchester with managers and FA about the Respect campaign. And I was very clear, forget the campaign because Mr Ferguson was killing the referees, killing Mr Atkinson, killing Mr Hackett.”

Ferguson had not got under his skin; Rafa was sending a message to the most important people of all: his players in the dressing room, letting them know that he is there to stand up for them and will put himself in the firing line if need be. All of which leads on to the final reason why he did it.

He has deflected the attention from his players and turned it upon himself. The focus no longer on the Liverpool dressing room and Ferguson’s opinion of it; it is now all about what Rafa Benitez thinks of Alex Ferguson.

Kenny Dalglish urged Liverpool “to forget about these mind games and concentrate solely on what's going on around their own club.” But, in stepping in to the firing line, Benitez had ensured that if Liverpool slip up at Stoke in the wake of Ferguson’s comments, it will be all about Benitez and less about his players. And if they win? Well then Rafa got it spot on, and the message to Ferguson is unequivocal: 'say what you like about us, we know what we’re doing.'

I have also read that this was most out of character for Rafa Benitez. Not so.
Because, aside from this being so ‘very Rafa’ to have delivered his comments armed with his meticulously researched arguments laid out in bullet points on an A4 sheet of paper, the Liverpool coach has done this before.

Following a successful title winning season at Valencia, his players felt the full force of his wrath in a disappointing second season at the club. And when Valencia lifted the La Liga title the following year, Benítez confronted Jesus Garcia Pitarch, the club's director of sport, over control of new signings and the club's failure to reinforce the squad with the players he wanted – and Benitez told the world, in no uncertain terms, what he thought of the men in suits at the Mestalla.

In England too, Benitez has previous form. Remember when he stood up to Mourinho? After their first group match ended in another goalless draw in September 2005, the Liverpool manager said the following month: "To me, Arsenal played much better football two or three years ago. They won matches and were exciting to watch. Barcelona and Milan too. They create excitement so how can you say Chelsea are the best in the world?" He did not shy away from telling Mourinho that his success was down to Abramovich’s millions either.

The point is, unlike Keegan before him, Rafa Benitez is not some novice manager confronted with a situation like this for the first time in his career. When Ferguson tries to attack someone for their inexperience, he would do well to remember that there is a world outside the Premier League and I would wager that two Spanish league titles and a Champions League trophy have taught Benitez a thing or two about coping with pressure. 
 
Ferguson has found himself a new adversary: he knows he is in a fight for the title race now, and I fully expect the United coach to react; while Benitez, who has seen off the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona in the past, will put his piece of paper back in his pocket, and smile whenever the word ‘Fergie’ gets a mention over the next few weeks.

I wonder which one of them is really under the skin of the other...
 
Let me know what you think....

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