The Rafalution - has the Spanish waiter delivered it on a plate?

Let me state something at the start of this post. I've said since early in his time there Rafael Benitez will never win the league with Liverpool.

Two months ago I started to worry that I was going to eat my words and it is still a distinct possibility as I refuse to accept the media outcries that the league is done and dusted. Chelsea simply have too much quality about them, Aston Villa just won't go away and Liverpool could turn it around again.

However, at this stage I believe that the league will be fought out between ourselves and Chelsea, as I believed all along (worries aside). Chelsea have good strength in depth and have the goals across their team to make up for their internal wranglings with Drogba.

But how did Liverpool get to the top of the league? Well, quite honestly it was through massive amounts of luck. They took advantage of dips in form of both Man Utd and Chelsea, but they themselves were not playing good football. One of their main success stories this season has been very similar to one of ours, Xabi Alonso has been in fantastic form mirroring our own Michael Carrick. He has controlled games for Liverpool and without him they lack cohesion across the park. I've found myself being very critical of Javier Mascherano since he signed for Liverpool. For a central midfield player of his stature in the game, his passing is quite simply atrocious and is too prone to be dragged out of position. Alonso is gifted with that rare ability to see passes where others would see nothing and his long overdue return to form has been the push Liverpool needed.

It says a lot that Liverpool were eager to sell Alonso during the summer and bring in the much more limited Gareth Barry.

Benitez's style can be summed in up one word. Stubborn. He is determined to show that like Wenger (who is now suffering from a similar stubbornness) before him he can impose his preferred style onto a league and have it flourish and to hell with those who say it can't. If it worked at Valencia, then damn you all, it will work at Liverpool. Two deep midfielders whenever possible, yet seemingly reluctant to play two proper wingers in the space the midfield set-up affords him. One striker is also a common mistake, though this may be down in part to his ineptitude at signing strikers. He quite simply can't pick them, Torres as the exception, but then we were courting him as well so Rafa could be fairly certain that we knew he was good enough, so he probably would be.

His treatment of Robbie Keane is extraordinary. If you don't want him, sell him. If you do want him, play him. In last night's game he finally felt it was time to introduce Keane after Wigan equalised and to the surprise of everyone, it was Gerrard he replaced. He had taken Torres off much earlier, though Torres was having a shocking game, still seemingly hampered by lack of match fitness.

So what does Benitez need to do, in my opinion?

1)Drop Skrtel, play Agger. It's so important to have a defender who's comfortable on the ball and Agger is. Skrtel is a very limited player and will never flourish alongside an equally limited ball player in Carragher and Carragher is basically undroppable.
2)Give your two central midfielders more scope to attack OR get two proper wingers
3)Two up front. If that means playing Gerrard in the hole, then do that at all times.
4)Sell Robbie Keane.

Do that, and you'll find yourself doing much better, Señor.
At this point I feel that his position at Liverpool is somewhat untenable. He clearly isn't a good enough tactician to take Liverpool where their fans want to be, and only their fans' blind devotion to him keeps him employed. I doubt his recent contract offer would have been forthcoming if the owners weren't desperate to ingratiate themselves to the fans. The fans' devotion stems from one thing only, the winning of the Champions League in 2005, the worst thing that could have happened to Liverpool Football Club at that stage. Now the fans have false hope in Benitez's ability.

Would he still be there if he hadn't won it?

Don't kid yourself.

In Rafa we trust.