Limp Liverpool leave Benitez red-faced

THE past few days have proved that all that remains of the old Liverpool are the 1970s carpets in the main stand at Anfield.

The club that used to keep all its talking behind the Boot Room’s locked doors has become a virtual open house in recent times, with Rafael Benitez’s attack on Alex Ferguson just the latest in a series of very public scraps. But while the Spaniard’s assault on his Manchester United rival has gained him popularity with neutrals there is a nagging sense that, having been knocked off their perch by United all those years ago, the manager has set up his club for another fall.

Perhaps it is naive to mourn the passing of the old days when Liverpool worked by the principals of the legendary chairman John Smith, whose mantra was: “We’re a very modest club. We don’t talk, we don’t boast and we are very professional.”

There has been a ceasefire, publicly at least, in the boardroom but Benitez’s abrasive style, which did nothing to help last season’s power struggle, occasionally grates against the traditional values of the club.

Dating back to his days at Valencia, Benitez has never been scared of a fight but, unlike most managers, he rarely thinks about whether he can win it before he starts it.

His dressing down of Ferguson on Friday was significant in that it shows he feels this could be Liverpool’s year but just when the Spaniard needed a hard-earned victory to back that up, he sent Yossi Benayoun, Lucas Leiva and Dirk Kuyt into bat for him at the Britannia stadium.

Following the goalless draw with Tony Pulis’ team — their second of the season — the talk was once again of Ferguson.

It was strange to see Benitez with a grin on his face, once again revving up the hostility with Ferguson, claiming the United manager is scared and nervous and even joking that he does not understand the Scot’s accent.

As he fulfilled his media commitments ahead of United’s game against Chelsea yesterday — an hour before Benitez went on the offensive — Ferguson spoke of Liverpool being in a position to talk about winning the title for the first time in years.

When he was offered the chance to suggest that there is a big difference between talking about it and doing it, he changed the subject but how right he would have been.

The timing of Benitez’s comments, which are being investigated by the FA, can be questioned, and his continual criticism of Ferguson also smacks of hypocrisy. Friday focused on specific grievances but by Saturday night he had moved on to claiming that Ferguson has been talking too much about Liverpool.

“I don’t need to justify anything,” he said. “I was clear. Mr Ferguson was talking too much about Liverpool so I wanted to look for some facts that everybody knows but maybe nobody wants to say. It doesn’t bring any extra pressure. When are you top of the table you want to win every game and it doesn’t bring more or less pressure.”

They may be unbeaten in 12 matches but this was not a performance that will make Ferguson any more nervous or scared and the most important fact that should be concerning Benitez is that the draw at Stoke gave United the opportunity to move above should they follow up yesterday’s win against Chelsea by winning their games in hand.

Without a goal in the Premier League in two months, Kuyt was given the lone striker’s role and after wasting an early chance, glancing a header wide from Albert Riera’s cross and then firing a shot straight at Thomas Sorensen, the Dutchman did not have another sniff.

Robbie Keane was left on the bench once again and Fernando Torres came on for the last half an hour but did not have a shot on goal.

Stoke were the better side for the opening period, with Rory Delap stabbing on to the bar from six yards as Pulis’ men bombarded the Liverpool defence.

Irish midfielder Glenn Whelan impressed and went close with a bending free-kick before Dave Kitson headed on to the roof of the net from yet another Delap long throw.

Late on, Gerrard hit the bar with a free-kick from a right angle and the Liverpool skipper also hit the outside of a post after collecting a flick from Torres.

Stoke are without a win in eight victories and their attempt to sign James Beattie from Sheffield United says it all about the state of their attacking options.

“On another day we could have won the game,” Pulis said. “Our performances haven’t been as bad as the results. It hasn’t been the other teams beating us, we’ve shot ourselves in the foot.”

Benitez will hope that will not be a neat postmortem for his season in May.

REFEREE: Lee Mason (Lancashire) 6: Tony Pulis was angry at Mason’s handling of set-pieces but that is a general complaint from the Stoke manager. A steady display.

MATCH RATING: ** Lots of drama but no real quality from either team. Typical snarling stuff from Stoke and Liverpool once again showed their worrying inability to break down a team that gets men behind the ball.