RED WATCH: Stoke selection did not match Rafa Benitez's fighting talk

Jan 14 2009 by Luke McGovern, Liverpool Daily Post

Steven Gerrard's late chance at Stoke goes begging 200

REMEMBER the Alamo? No, not the 1960s John Wayne classic but the 0-0 draw at Anfield in September.

I don’t ever recall there being a sequel to the film, but there certainly was for that Anfield game.

There’s no doubt that Benitez’s Keegan-like rant played right into the hands of Ferguson who surely got the reaction he was looking for on Saturday night.

I mean fair play to Rafa, he mentioned the “facts” and said what every other Premier League manager wishes they could to “Mr Ferguson” – but to make his points valid and to gain any sort of respect, Rafa’s outspoken antics had to have been backed up by a result at the Britannia.

It comes down to that recurring argument of team selection and we could talk for hours about the team choice on Saturday.

As much as I admire Dirk Kuyt’s work ethic and mentality everyone can see that his days as a striker have gone.

The game was crying out for a striker.

Okay, Fernando Torres has come out and said that he’s still not fit enough to play for 90 minutes, but there is no excuse as for why Robbie Keane wasn’t introduced on to the pitch – I would have even settled for a cameo appearance from Diego Maradona.

Oh how we could have used the hand of God in that game.