Maybe Rafa Benitez Should Rotate the Other Way

By: Daryl | February 28th, 2008

Gerrard with CL Steven Gerrard is taking the tough love approach to Liverpool’s 2007/8 season. Out of the FA Cup and with no chance of winning the Premier League, the team’s only real hope for silverware is the Champions League.

Given Rafa Benitez’ excellent CL record with Liverpool, and the 2-0 lead over Inter Milan from the knockout stage first leg, Gerrard and co are definitely capable of lifting the trophy again. A lot of clubs, and a lot of players, would be very happy with a shot at European football’s big prize, but Gerrard sees it as a piss-poor consolation pot for what he really wants.

“I am not going to pretend that even winning that trophy - and we are a long way away from it at the moment - will make up for the disappointment of the league campaign,” Gerrard told the official Liverpool magazine.

Obviously Gerrard was happy to win the trophy back in 2005. Look at his face. He’d never won it before, and possibly didn’t expect that Liverpool team to be capable of winning it. Especially not when they were 3-0 down. The win also seemed to convince Gerrard that his future lay at Anfield and there was much celebrating. But even at the time, the Champions League win was spoken about as a stepping stone or a catalyst towards Liverpool winning the Premier League.

This drives home the unique situation at Liverpool Football Club. They’ve been one of the Big Four for as long as I can remember, and are always always always somewhere towards the top of the Premier League table come the end of the season. They’ve won all kinds of trophies too: Carling Cup, FA Cup, UEFA Cup, Champions League. Yet the club hasn’t won a league title since way back in 1990. It’s long overdue, and I’m fairly confident that Gerrard’s comments reflect the feelings of most Liverpool fans.

Which once again (wait for it) brings up (it’s coming) the subject of (any second now…) squad rotation (there it is.)

I know many Liverpool fans will argue that Benitez rotates a lot lot less than the media and the blogosphere and everyone else seem to think he does. I definitely don’t want to start that argument again here, and definitely concede that playing Gerrard and Torres in every Premier League game, every Champions League game and every FA Cup game would leave them exhausted and useless. So, some form of squad rotation is absolutely necessary.

But given the unique situation at Liverpool, where players and fans like Gerrard (because he really is both) feel that winning the Premier League after eighteen years without a league championship is far more important than winning the Champions League, maybe Rafa should consider rotating accordingly. If the Premier League really is the priority for Liverpool next season (and it should be, according to Gerrard’s comments) then a policy of keeping Liverpool’s best players fresh for league duty and (to some extent) resting them when the Champions League rolls around would seem to be the only solution.