Albion teach Benitez a lesson in dignity

RAFAEL BENITEZ has earned many admirers this season for the manner in which his team has regenerated interest in the quest for the Premier League title.

His ungracious refusal to congratulate Alex Ferguson directly for an 18th title, however, is unlikely to earn him any more.

The Spaniard has spent most of the season at the throat of his Old Trafford rival. The off-field sparring has been almost as spicy as the nine-month contest on the field and even in defeat, Benitez could not resist another dig.

This might have been a dead rubber as far as Liverpool’s title aspirations were concerned, but they were still professional enough to uphold the reputation of the Premier League and end the misery of West Brom, whose relegation was confirmed by this defeat.

His plight was in stark contrast to the fireworks for Fergie but Benitez found one more explosion of his own to add to proceedings.

Asked if he would like to extend his congratulations to Ferguson and Manchester United for winning the title, Benitez said: “I will say congratulations to Manchester United. They have done well, but I do not want to say too much.

“I prefer just to say well done to the club, a big club, a good club.

“Normally you have to be polite and respect the other manager. During the season we have seen a lot of things that I didn’t like, so that’s it. I say congratulations to United because they have won. And that’s it.”

Few will have felt the pain of Manchester United’s 18th league title more than Steven Gerrard. His disappointment will endure throughout another summer without a winner’s medal of his own but he managed to push that to one side and leave Albion’s hopes of a sequel to the Great Escape on the cutting room floor.

There is clearly no such thing as a dead rubber for the Liverpool captain. After almost nine futile months stalking Ferguson and co he still managed to raise himself from the pit of despair to play executioner at the Hawthorns.

His 24th goal of the season – gift-wrapped with the red-ribbon that Gerrard would have preferred to see adorning the Premier League trophy thanks to another home error – proved the catalyst for Albion’s return to the Championship just 12-months after they had regained Premier League status.

If Benitez’s sullen attitude towards Ferguson does him little favours, the sight of Jamie Carragher and Arvaldo Arbeloa squaring up for an altercation late on was equally unedifying.

“They wanted a clean sheet for Pepe Reina,” Benitez explained. “It shows we have character and we wanted to send a positive message. I don’t like to see it, but that is what it was about.”

Few teams are relegated to a standing ovation, but Albion’s players returned from whence they came 12 months earlier with applause ringing in their ears from almost 30,000 appreciative fans. Mowbray has tried to deliver entertainment and style with his purist football principles.

He even received warm backing from Benitez himself for the way he has shunned the temptation to smash the ball long and retained his faith in a passing game. Albion have more than enough technically gifted players to do that and they have learned as they have gone along.

Their naivety has meant they have been dealt harsh lessons and their lack of more streetwise players has deprived them of a pragmatism that would have earned them at least half a dozen more points from situations of genuine potential in other games this season.

In the final analysis, they will return to the Championship because the spirited resistance they discovered came too late and because of their propensity for defensive mistakes that have been exploited throughout the campaign.

The errors have been ruthlessly punished and few have been more culpable than Shelton Martis. After 27 minutes of Albion dominance, the central defender burst his team’s hopes with another careless error.

Martis allowed himself to be caught in possession 30 yards from goal by Gerrard and even if he was not going to get his hands on the Premier League trophy for another season, he readily accepted the gift to chip over Dean Kiely.

And the gaping hole that Dirk Kuyt ran into before shooting into the bottom corner mid-way through the second half was unforgivable.

“That encapsulated our season all in one game,” Mowbray said. “Lots of good football and some poor mistakes.”

His difficult task now is to persuade key players, like Borja Valero, Robert Koren and Marc Antroine Fortune to remain with the club next season to mount an attempt to regain their Premier League status at their first attempt.

REFEREE: Martin Atkinson (Yorkshire) 5: Infuriated the home supporters with the way he treated Torres and Gerrard like endangered species.

MATCH RATING: **** Albion more than matched Liverpool with their ability to pass and move the ball. Like the rest of the season, their ability to defend and score goals was inferior.