SPOTLIGHT: Rafael Benitez — A sea of perfect calm amidst the madness.

This man has been under the cosh more than too many times this season hasn’t he?

To anyone who thinks that Rafa has gone nuts more than erred, then he better think twice because whatever Rafa has been doing, he’s been methodically and systematically done them right.

From youth policies to first team selections, there isn’t really much fault, but it isn’t to say that it’s flawless all the way.

No matter the topic, no matter the occasion, no matter the result, there will never be a better, calmer, wiser tactician, manager and leader than Rafa at Liverpool.

Liverpool just opened the scoring over arch rivals Manchester United and Rafa barely bats an eyelid as he soaks it all in.

Liverpool goes 3 goals down in the first 30 minutes of a game and Rafa simply frowns, as he contemplate the changes.

The hungry press snips and bites at his managerial ability and he merely smiles and swats their criticisms  away like pesky houseflies, who know it all too well that the’ve overstayed their welcome.

Barely flinching at the slightest setback and rarely excitable, Rafa is a sea of perfect calm amidst the madness, infecting staffs and players, bringing about assurance and a sense of assertive confidence.

The perfect anecdote to an unnecessary chaotic scenario.

To the neutrals and his detractors, Rafa may be a forlorn nut case, a sacrificial lamb to the woeful run of results in recent weeks.

But to the ones who sits intently watching the Reds trot onto the field, to the ones who savour every inch perfect pass from the captain, Steven Gerrard, and to the ones who sings the club’s anthem and personifying its lyrics, we truly know what Rafa is all about.

Oh yes we do.

We know that he’s not a bad manager overnight, that he’s suddenly not a poor tactician, andthat he’s got a grand plan that will unveil itself, when the opportunity to do so presents itself.

Yes, we know it all.

It’s a red thing.

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AUTHOR BIO: Mar is a passionate, understanding and tolerable Reds fan through and through. Until he gets to visit Anfield and experience the KOP end, he’s not quite the perfect Kopites as yet, but he’s getting there, nevertheless. Catch him at his personal blog.mar.sg and say hi.