TOMKINS: THE EVOLUTION OF A SQUAD
Paul Tomkins 10 November 2008

Liverpool brush West Brom aside with contempt, and what is the post-match tv debate about? – why was Robbie Keane taken off.
Keane played brilliantly, and took his two goals like the top-class finisher I believe he is. His movement was outstanding, and like Kuyt and Torres, and Beardsley and Rush before them, he works incredibly hard. There's no standing around, sulking and pouting with him. But he was taken off at 2-0, and the Reds won 3-0. So the only topic should be how well Liverpool played, not the decision to deny a player his hat-trick. Can we dispense with the cult of the individual? Frankly, it drives me potty. What is the only thing that really matters? The three points. By all means express a little sympathy for Keane; like any striker, he wanted to grab that third goal, and I was willing him to do so. But the manager took him off, and the team subsequently increased its lead. Keane remains fresh for the upcoming schedule, and so there can be no complaints. At first it was rotation; Rafa was slated for it, even though I've constantly argued that he has done so no more than his main rivals. He was told to concentrate on winning games with his strongest team, then rest his star players after an hour or 70 minutes. And yet when he does so, it's almost a case of ‘how dare he?'. I do feel with Benítez that he has to be criticised for something. And as well as the anchormen always looking for the negative slant, the problem lies with ex-players as pundits. If they're there to talk about good play on the pitch, then their insight can be excellent. But more often than not they criticise a manager's decisions, when they are clearly still thinking from an individual player's perspective. A manager's remit is so much bigger than any single player's, because he is the man responsible for results. He thinks only about the bigger picture. Liverpool's best-ever season in terms of games won was the 71% in 1979; currently, the total for this season stands at 75%. That may not continue until May, but let's acknowledge the work in getting to that level – the big picture – and not the far less significant denial of a player to get his hat-trick. It's the same with all the rot about when Gerrard was playing on the right in 2005/06. It didn't matter that Liverpool won two-thirds of their league games (the second best-ever tally in the club's history), and brushed aside several Premiership teams, including Manchester United and Chelsea, to win the FA Cup, with the captain scoring 23 times. And yet it was all “it's not his best position”, and “he won't be happy”. As much as it would please me to see Gerrard grinning like a Cheshire cat because he's playing well in his favoured role, I know there's a specific smile that will mean far more to him: the one that darts across his face when he lifts aloft the Premiership trophy. And if you told him now that playing right-midfield would guarantee that, I think he'd take it, don't you? Hell, I'm sure he'd even play in goal to get that medal. As it happens, he's been playing either in a central midfield pair, or off the main striker. But when everyone's fit, there will be decisions to be made as to who plays. Mascherano and Alonso have been two of the team's best performers so far, Torres will play 95% of matches when fit, and Robbie Keane has added that special combination of link-play coupled with the ability to approach 20 goals in a season. Riera is giving the team great width, and at times it looks like the ball is glued to his foot, while Dirk Kuyt has had his best few months as a Liverpool player. Ryan Babel, who is almost unstoppable when on song, is having to settle for the bench most weeks, and this overall picture is all something we should celebrate. It's what we've all wanted: players in form, and genuine competition for places. When Martin Skrtel is fit again, there'll be another headache for the manager; one he will welcome that with open arms. All the while, Sami Hyypia is still on hand. (Could there have been a more soothing sight at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea grew desperate in the final stages than that mop of bright yellow hair rising to head away each long punt?) Again, I feel sorry for Sami that he probably won't play as much as he wants. But I am incredibly grateful that he's still around. So at present, there are at least 16 players I could make a very strong case for deserving to feature in the starting line-up most weeks, and plenty of others I feel assured won't let the team down. That's far better than struggling to find six or seven you want to see play. But then the focus in the media shifts to who has to miss out, or who has to shift across or drop back to a different role. It's then about who is unhappy, who will feel hurt or slighted to be left out, or substituted, or played out of position. That's the role of the media: to sniff a story, to stir the pot. But again, I couldn't give a stuff who plays if the results are going the Reds' way. Keeping everyone happy won't be easy – that's the challenge of managing a big squad where more than eleven players have a good shout to start most matches. But with the side of ‘rotation' that never gets praised, Rafa never keeps anyone in the cold for too long; while some players won't like it when it's their turn to be rested, those who haven't featured as much know that he will call on them if the situation merits. No-one is ever completely frozen out. Xabi Alonso had just started nine games in the row, and, surreally, the talk was of him being the one who always has to miss out. Well, what about Carlos Tevez at Manchester United? A manager cannot field 15 players to satisfy all his star names. It's the same with Robbie Keane being taken off. Sure, he'll be disappointed, but he'll have looked at the four goals he's now bagged as a decent contribution, on top of improving all-round play, and more importantly he'll look at the Reds top of the league and the Champions League group. He'll know that he played an important part in wins over Man United and Chelsea. He didn't come to Liverpool to try and top the 23 goals he scored last season for Spurs; he came to challenge for the serious trophies. And so far that's looking an inspired decision. People kept telling me that Keane would never find his confidence while regularly being substituted, but equally, he has started a lot of games, and has therefore remained a key part of the team. And despite Rafa replacing him after an hour in several games, he's continued to improve, and now has four goals in his last seven starts. I may be wrong, but I feel that Benítez tests his players. And in the Spaniard's own Darwinian way, the strong survive and the weak are sold on – only for a new crop to arrive, in which there may inevitably be a couple of flops, but there will also be a clutch of winners; so that season upon season, a better mentality evolves around the place. In an age where players can fall into the comfort zone, or rest on their laurels (and their bank balance), there's no harm in making sure every last player has a hunger for success. Without naming names, there have been a few players in the last 18 years who haven't been half as keen on winning games as they have in playing the part of a Premiership footballer. From what the senior players have said, Rafa does not go out of his way to put an arm around a player, or tell him in person how great he is (even if he does extol their virtues to the press). It's important to have someone like Sammy Lee around, who is such a great ‘people person' as well as a top-class coach. You need that balance. The opposite to Rafa is someone like Harry Redknapp, who arrived at Spurs and told each player to his face how good he was, and what he does well. By contrast, Rafa will point out each player's faults. And yet both methods can be effective. The key is to do what works for you. There's no use in constantly telling your players they are the best in the world if that leads to complacency or over-inflated egos. And there is also a logic to getting players to work on their weaknesses. You could argue that Djibril Cissé was a player who needed to feel loved, and who really struggled with the rotation system. I'm pleased to see the Frenchman doing fairly well at Sunderland; he's a player I like. However, Rafa's solution to the problem Cissé posed in terms of consistency, confidence and concentration was, quite brutally, to sell him, and buy someone better – and, crucially, a lot mentally tougher – in Torres. (Cissé will always have my respect for the way he came back from those horrific injuries, and in that sense his character was immense, but he was too emotional, too volatile, for the kind of steely attitude Benítez was trying to create.) The final debate with Robbie Keane will be his price tag. But a player's value does not exist in a vacuum; it relates to a need. Take the example of a battered old motorbike (not that I'm equating Keane to a shabby Kawasaki!). In a normal situation, its worth won't be that high. However, if you are stranded in the middle of the Australian outback in 50º heat, with 100 miles to the safety, then you'll pay your every last cent for such a bike. In other words, if Liverpool win the league this season, and he continues to play a major part, Keane will have proved worth every last penny.