Yet another inevitably top-drawer performance of assurance, composure, and superlative quality. The media can stick their Evra's, Clichy's and Cole's up their collective arses.
I also loved this piece re. Fabio and Rafa in the normally-reviled Guardian yesterday....not just the part about his 2004 last-game goal to help snatch the title from Madrid (god, if he could repeat that in May!) but the truly admirable attitude shown at the end re. his contract status being truly unimportant in the grand scheme of things (something which certain other players - one who made no bones to reassure his 'fans' that he's been promised one by Rafa, and another not getting games even when suspiciously fit - could learn from).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/mar/10/fabio-aurelio-rafael-benitez-liverpoolAurelio dreads seeing the back of Benítez for a second timeAndy Hunter
The Guardian, Tuesday 10 March 2009
The worry for Fabio Aurelio is that parallels between Rafael Benítez's reign at Valencia and Liverpool are not confined to the task of usurping Real Madrid. The Brazilian defender knows from experience what can happen to a club that loses the services of the Spanish manager, and it is a warning from history he believes Liverpool would be wise to heed.
Real's arrival at Anfield tonight marks not only the start of a critical week in Liverpool's season, but their manager's too. Uncertainty continues to stalk Benítez's long-term future and while it had no effect on his players at the Bernabéu a fortnight ago, Aurelio fears the lasting implications for the club should the Spaniard decide he has waited long enough for assurances and leadership from Tom Hicks and George Gillett and walk away.
As part of the Valencia squad that lifted two Spanish league titles and a Uefa Cup in three seasons under Benítez, the Liverpool left-back has good cause to champion the man who embellished his CV and then brought him to the Premier League. And as part of the Valencia squad for two years following Benítez's departure to Anfield in 2004 – the start of a period of managerial turbulence and financial turmoil over the failure to build a new 75,000-seat stadium – Aurelio knows only too well the lasting impact his exit has made.
"Rafa was key to the success Valencia had. We didn't have a squad with big names but we had a very competitive squad, and Rafa coached his players really well," said the Liverpool defender. "Maybe the success of Valencia was 70-80% because of Benítez, and the rest was down to the players.
"It was a big disappointment for Valencia when Rafa left. He came from a second division team [Tenerife] and in his first season he won La Liga ahead of Barcelona and Real Madrid, the first time Valencia had won it in 31 years. Then in his third season he won La Liga again and the Uefa Cup. Everybody was really excited about Rafa and the work he was doing. But he decided to move to Liverpool and another challenge. That affected Valencia a lot as what he did there, nobody could repeat.
"After he left, everybody was comparing the coaches with Rafa. He won 10 games in a row there, so everybody was expecting the next coach to win 11. Now, although the team is [still] not doing well, they have bigger problems with finances because they are trying to build a new stadium without selling the old one first.
"In my opinion it is essential that Liverpool try to keep him. Every year he has been here, the squad has improved. In almost every year he has got to the final stages of the Champions League and we have been getting closer to the title."
Aurelio's close relationship with Benítez – the Brazilian scored in the final-day victory that enabled Valencia to pip Real Madrid to La Liga in 2004 – does not cloud the Liverpool defender's judgment on the significance of this week at Anfield, however. With Manchester United in wait at Old Trafford on Saturday, Liverpool can ill-afford to head down the M62 staring at the prospect of a third season without a trophy. It is, Aurelio accepts, a defining week.
"It's fair to say the next week will make or break our season," admits the player who, with Emiliano Insúa not included on Liverpool's Champions League list, will renew his duel against Arjen Robben tonight. "Our next three games are really important in shaping what our season will end up like. We can only concentrate on the Madrid game for now, but if we can get through to the quarter-finals then it will be a massive confidence boost and will help us in our next two games against United and Aston Villa.
"The United game is our last chance to show we can still be in the title race. When you are at a big club such as Liverpool then you know you have to be fighting for the big challenges such as the final of the Champions League and trying to win the Premier League.
"We have shown we know how to play in the Champions League but we've still got a lot to do in the Premier League. We have a small chance of winning the league but we're going to have to beat United and Villa. But you need to handle that kind of pressure when you are at Liverpool."
Aurelio is, like Benítez, Daniel Agger, Dirk Kuyt and Alvaro Arbeloa, out of contract at the end of next season but insists the lack of dialogue over a new deal troubles him less than the prospect of seeing his manager leave once again.
"To be honest, I am not worried that talks over a possible deal haven't started yet," he added. "I have had some problems with injuries in the past and I am just enjoying the moment of playing in these big games."