Rafa as Don Corleone? More like Fredo

There is a nice image in the Sun today showing Rafa Benitez, the manager of Liverpool, in black and white as if he were Marlon Brando's Don Corleone, the head of a crime family. As creative as the image is, I don't see the analogy. To me, Rafa is hanging by a thread. He has Torres and Gerrard to score and create goals, and Carragher to hold the back four in defence together. Liverpool plays at Anfield, of course, one of the hardest grounds in England in which to get points. It's not that Rafa is a bad manager. He's just not a great manager.

His outbursts at the press, at the owners of Liverpool football club, at the Football Association, and at Manchester United's manager Sir Alex Ferguson, reflect frustration. I'm sure Rafa wants to take his club to the next level. He just doesn't know how. Very few people would. Compare Chelsea -- they have had 3 managers in 3 years with the same world class players. Chelsea are still great, but they are not at the highest level. Don Corleone, by contrast, knew exactly what he was doing. A better analogy for Rafa is Corleone's milquetoast and disrespected son, Fredo.