[lfc-news] Special One was in the Reds' dug-out - Echo

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's
'Thanks & Giving.'
http://us.click.yahoo.com/6iY7fA/5WnJAA/Y3ZIAA/2_TolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Liverpool Echo, 4 May 2005
Special One was in the Reds' dug-out
Analysis by David Prentice, Liverpool Echo

THE only thing which went wrong for Liverpool on an unprecedented
Anfield night took place in the Main Stand conference room minutes after
the final whistle.

Jose Mourinho, moody and melancholy, arrived to deliver his post-match
analysis and slouched in a chair, while Gene Kelly's anthem to
happiness, 'Singin in The Rain', boomed around the room.

The latest car advert to use the famous musical number was on TV, and
embarrassed Anfield officials couldn't find the off switch. One by one,
the TVs shut down, but still the music boomed out of an overhead speaker.

While Mourinho's chin sagged, Gene crooned cheesily on about "a smile on
his face." Finally,, the music stopped and Mourinho began - and
confirmed that, despite the defeat, he was still the special one.

"Yes, I am still the special one," he said. "For sure. Do you want to
try and succeed in your job like I have in mine? You have no chance.
Different careers, yes. But you have no chance."

His questioner would surely concede that his achievements have indeed
been special. But last night he ran out of that special something.

The tactic of tossing a big centre-half up front for the last 20 minutes
went out of fashion here on Merseyside when Mick Lyons called it a day.

But, with Chelsea foundering on the heroic rearguard wall that was
Finnan, Hyypia, Carragher and Traore, all Chelsea had in response was
giant centre-half Robert Huth, tossed on to see if he could get onto the
end of long balls launched at the heart of the Liverpool defence.

We've come to expect a little more than that from the smart, urbane
coach. Or had he simply run out of ideas.

Perhaps, even, the special one was actually the quiet, unassuming
Spaniard who sat in the opposite dug-out.

In less than 10 months, Rafael Benitez has guided Liverpool back to the
scene they have regarded as their birthright, but haven't been near for
20 long years . . . a European Cup final. And to do so he has outwitted
and out-manouevred some of the finest tactical minds in Europe.

Mourinho went the same way as Fabio Capello before him.

Carried along on a cyclone of cacophonous noise, Liverpool scored early,
just as they had done against Juventus.

Forget the arguments about whether the ball did or didn't cross the Kop
goal-line. It looked over from whatever TV angle you cared to examine it
from - and, as Benitez pointed out afterwards, if the goal hadn't been
awarded a penalty and a red card for Petr Cech surely would have been.
With Duff and Robben sidelined, Chelsea were appallingly short of width.

Dudek didn't have a save to make until the 66th minute, and then he made
a fine one from a Frank Lampard free-kick.

Benitez kept making shrewd and influential changes, and his side
remained in control.

With Baros' energy beginning to diminish and Chelsea becoming
increasingly desperate, he introduced the pace and directness of Djibril
Cisse.

The crowd wondered when Didi Hamann began to run on empty and he was
replaced by the free spirit that is Harry Kewell. But it worked.

Then, when Garcia began to flag, the enthusiasm of Antonio Nunez was
introduced.

It was strangely symbolic that the last meaningful kick of the tie
should go to Eidur Gudjohnsen. People thought he had made the most
meaningful impact on last night's second leg with his last minute tumble
at the end of the first.

But while Xabi Alonso watched intently from the back of the directors'
box, Gudjohnsen flashed a 96th minute chance - Chelsea's only real
chance of the night - narrowly wide of the Kop goal.

That confirmed Liverpool's place in their first European Cup final for
20 years - and the opportunity to add their name to the illustrious
clubs who have won the trophy five times or more.

Real Madrid and AC Milan are special clubs.

So, too, is Liverpool. And so, it seems, is the manager guiding them -
even if he doesn't feel the need to tell us so.

Unsubscribe: lfc-news-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
http://www.lfc-list.org.uk/

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lfc-news/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
lfc-news-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/