Has Benitez bid adios to the title?

Back in 1996, Newcastle United were leading Manchester United by 12 points at the top of the table. It was certainly a massive lead, a lead that many deemed would be impossible for United to peg back at. But that season turned out as one of the greatest testimonies ever to United manager, the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson's tenure in charge of United, as he oveturned that massive deficit to guide United to the pinacle of the Premiership in the 95/96 season. Kevin Keegan was Newcastle's manager back then.

It was during Christmas that the Magpies were having such a healthy lead at the top of the table. They looked like champions element, and knowing that their confidence is sky-high, SAF only needed to provide the slightest of provocations that overturned the deficit in United's favour. He said that the remaining of teams that Newcastle will face in the league post-Christmas will be 'up for it'. Well, to sum it up in an easier way, SAF was indicating that Newcastle were a fluke for being at the top of the table with such a lead, and that the previous teams that Newcastle have played have severely underestimated them, and thats the cause of their current position. SAF indicated that post-Christmas, the remaining teams will not take Newcastle lightly anymore, and on that context, the Magpies will face more challenging fixtures in the second half of the season and their resolve will be tested more.

Predictably, it drew a rage from King Kev. He replied with his now-famous 'I'd love it' rant, where a clearly raged and disturbed Keegan kept stressing that he would 'loveee it' if his team beats United in their forthcoming fixture. And there went Newcastle's title hopes out of the window. United magnificently overcame that deficit to finish four points above Magpies in the table, and certainly SAF's mind games played a big part, as Newcastle did really struggle against a majority of their second-half of the season opponents. (They did lose to United as well, so Keegan lost his love).

That was a huge testament to SAF's apparent ability to turn the cause of a season by playing mind-games with his opponents, of course there are plenty of that left, but all those years of ruling the roost in mind-games looked like they would come to an end when Mr. Special One arrived in the Premiership. That was Jose Mourinho. In his three-and-a-half seasons in England, Mourinho earned the reputation of being the king of mind-games, nobody escaped from being his victims. Arsenal, Liverpool, United all suffered, and Benitez, Wenger, and Ferguson were all cut into peripheral figures by Mourinho's provocative comments that often end up in the Portuguese's favour more than anything else. People thought SAF has lost his edge and that his time is up. But in the 06/07 season, United retained the Premiership crown after not being able to win it for four seasons, and Mour's provocative mind games during this season spectacularly backfired against him, with Ferguson winning them back in the league by simply ignoring the 'Special One'. Ferguson still knew what it takes to play mind-games, it seemed back then. And just a couple of days ago, another mind-game exploded and will certainly go down in history books as a famous one- this time between Ferguson and his Liverpool counterpart, Rafael Benitez.

Over the time, Ferguson kept taunting Liverpool since the beginning of the season by dismissing their title bid, claiming time and again that its only going to be United and Chelsea who will be fighting for the title this season. Christmas came, and after consecutively drubbing Newcastle away from home and beating Bolton comprehensively at home, Liverpool were sitting pretty at the top of the league. Still, Ferguson refused to admit that they are title contenders. Come May, its will be United and Chelsea fighting it out, he said. Rafa finally lost his cool. On the eve of 'Pool's match against Stoke City at Brittania Stadium, Benitez launched a caulculative, calm yet astonishing minced tirade towards United, the FA, and also Ferguson. He was complaining about Ferguson being favored by the FA, United staff being aggressive in their approach towards the referee, and so on. He also added another- that United were being 'afraid' of Liverpool because of Liverpool's stronghold at the title. Just hours after that, Ferguson, before hearing about Benitez's tirade, repeated the chorus yet again, that Liverpool are not champions-elect. It was exactly at the same time where Liverpool terribly huffed and puffed and even choked to get a 0-0 draw with relegation-elect Stoke City. They didn't, for once, look like a team that United would be afraid of for even the slightest of reasons. The next day, United met their main rivals Chelsea at Old Trafford.

Instead of looking baffled at Benitez's tirade, Ferguson was looking inspired, probably hinting that this has been a long-running, calculated mind-game played by Ferguson on Liverpool and 'Pool have conveniently bought it. It was apparent in his previous press conferences as well, when he said that Chelsea have more 'maturity and experience'. Thats a biggest hint yet that Feguson considers Liverpool lacking enough guile, experience and grit to win the title. And it showed at Stoke. They had the vulnerability to crumble. It was epitomized further at Old Trafford, when an inspired United thrashed a sorry Chelsea 3-0, resoundingly taking revenge of the 3-0 defeat they suffered by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge three years ago.

Now Benitez must be wishing 'only if', and he will definitely re-calculate the timing of his tirade, or even the necessity to launch that tirade. Apparently, Benitez was disturbed by Ferguson's continous dismissal of 'Pool title hopes.

In conclusion, Ferguson is not untouchable, but he is still the best of the lot there. The season is not over yet, but Ferguson has certainly given his own team pole position by winning yet another mind game. Yet another mind game won as he now enters 23 years as United's manager.