Rafa Benitez was always going to be a fascinating guest on Sky Sports‘ Monday Night Football, wasn’t he?
The former Liverpool manager joined Jamie Carragher in the studio for Arsenal’s trip to West Ham, providing fascinating insight throughout the evening.
Benitez discussed various topics, including an in-depth analysis of the unforgettable 2005 Champions League final win over AC Milan.
Something the Spaniard touched on was how to beat this Liverpool side, who currently sit top of the Premier League, having dropped just two points all season.
Explaining how to get the better of the Reds, Benitez said exploiting the attack-minded full-backs is key:
When I was at Napoli we beat Borussia Dortmund at home because we were moving the ball quite quickly and we were running in behind when the full-backs were high.
The space is there in behind so that is where you need to run.
They press so quickly that the first pass has to be a very simple pass. You have to go away from the pressing. Afterwards, you have to go and put the ball behind the defenders. If you do that you will have more chances.
At Newcastle, we were trying to run behind them but they were so quick that we couldn’t get past them. If you have the right players with the right movements and the right pace, you can exploit those spaces behind.
But they are so good, it is easy to say here. It is very difficult to stop them even if you know that.
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Klopp might not be too happy to hear Benitez giving opponents tips, but it still made for intriguing viewing.
At the end of the day, he made it clear how difficult it is to beat Liverpool these days, such is their brilliance.
They have world-class quality all over the pitch, coupled with an energy that can be almost impossible to deal with.
This could be the best Liverpool team in history – they just need a league title to show for their efforts.
