COMMENT: This was the right response from Liverpool and Rafa

Apr 9 2008 by Nick Smith, Liverpool Daily Post

RAFAEL BENITEZ has made no secret of the importance of his team being able to emulate and embody the Kop on these rousing European nights.

So with little else to cheer him during a woeful opening to last night’s sensational second leg, he could only have been inspired by what happened when the Arsenal supporters sought to circulate their early superiority around a subdued Anfield.

“Where’s your famous atmosphere?” they taunted – but they were soon about to find out.

The Kop instantly drowned it out with “Where’s your European Cups?” and the tone was set.

An exchange that summed up the pattern of this tie – Liverpool were always able to come up with the right response.

And the constant failure of Arsenal to do so on this stage means the answer to the above query remains the same as it was when initially made last night.

The easy option would have been to inconvenience the under-used striker by making him lower his frame onto the bench again.

But as so often in this competition, Benitez decided to do it the hard way. Crouch was in alongside Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt.

It was his flick-on that opened the way for Fernando Torres to put the ball in his favourite place – not the Kop End, but the top corner of the net that stands in front of it.

Maybe Benitez has acquired another new skill to add to his repertoire when seeing out second legs – seeing into the future.

As if he sensed Liverpool would need some extra firepower if Arsenal cancelled out the away goal – something Benitez also predicted in the aftermath of last Wednesday’s 1-1 draw.

What he couldn’t have planned for, however, was the inept opening his team made to the game.

And that’s why it wasn’t Crouch himself that was the gamble, it was the formation demanded by his inclusion.

And while the presence of Crouch always looked like being a problem for Arsenal, the absence of the ball was an even bigger one for Liverpool.

Every time they touched it they lost it during that torrid first half-hour, and they seemed scared stiff of attempting to win it back as the Gunners’ superior command of possession yielded a deserved goal for Abou Diaby.

Straight after that Gerrard planted the ball straight into Mascherano’s back and Liverpool were about as in harmony as last night’s odd ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ rendition.

But as happened a week earlier, a quick response, however out of the blue, altered the whole tone of the tie and Sami Hyypia’s towering header ensured it proved so again.

Wenger initially found the answers thanks to substitute Theo Walcott’s brilliance in teeing up what looked to be the clinching second away goal for Adebayor.

But Benitez trumped him again. If sending Crouch out initially was inspired, hauling him off was even more so. His replacement Ryan Babel took advantage of the exhaustion Arsenal had taken themselves to in the quest for elusive European glory

Considering what fellow Dutchman Kuyt got away with a week earlier, rewarding Babel’s tumble in the box with a spot-kick was somewhat harsh on Wenger.

But the fact remains that whatever the Frenchman came up with, Benitez was ready for.

For some reason, you get the feeling he will be ready for a semi-final with Chelsea too.