Sacrificing tradition in pursuit of pragmatism?

RARELY has Rafael Benitez played a more dangerous game.

In his three-and-a-half years at Anfield the Liverpool manager has experimented with formations and obsessed about rotation, so much so that trying to second-guess his starting 11 is as pointless as howling at the moon.

But he has never tampered with tradition quite as he did on Saturday when he hauled off Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher in the last half-hour of the 3-1 defeat at Reading and ostensibly accepted defeat.