Rupert

Dortmund - the weakest team left in the CL against Real Madrid - the richest club in the world with the most expensive team assembled to please a single manager - the self-styled "special one" - the highest paid in the world who insisted on the sacking of the club executives so he would have complete control. Result: Dortmund 5 - Real Madrid 1. What a humiliation! All his groupies have hung onto every word - believing the propaganda their master and his PR and press agent put out about being wanted by Bayern, PSG, Manchester United, Manchester City, Monaco, Inter and Chelsea. Suckers!

In reviewing Basel, Rafa mentioned Phillip Degen was one of his players at LFC. He said he was good. Degen was almost permanently injured at LFC - LFC spent most of the time trying to get him well enough to sell him. I think they had to pay Basel to take him. He was a nice guy, and occasionally there were flashes of talent in his attacking play - when he ran down the wing with the ball. He is quite quick for a full back. But defensively he was very poor. If Chelsea turns up focused they should win both in Basel and at Stamford Bridge. I am predicting 2-1 http://www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/3156073/title/benitez-another-tough-test?

At some point in the near or distant future will you answer the footballing points made by me or will you continue to spew personal insults? I can quite believe you would drown your dog if it disagreed with you. My guess is that the only reason you keep your dog is that it is on a leash and can't answer you back.

The truth hurts, doesn't it.

You are not allowed to say that about the "three amigos". And didn't you know that when they slow down a game and, in Oscar's case, give the ball away often, and fail to create openings for the others it is Rafa's fault even though they were doing this before Rafa arrived. But when they have an occasional good day it is because they are the fabulous " three amigos".

While I think Torres should have been rested at Anfield, or brought on towards the end, if necessary, he is well capable of playing on Thursday. He was playing every game before Demba arrived and he is in currently in good form. As long as Mata, Hazard and the others get their game together, Torres will disturb the Basel defence and might score. If we have a good lead it would be sensible to take him off, but there are so few capable of doing the No. 9 position that he might have to stay on. Demba should be able to handle Swansea.

The only thing consistent about you is your lack of logic. If form is poor under Rafa how come we are in the semi-finals of the Cup and all other teams including Spurs have been knocked out? Instead of insulting the manager who has stopped the spiralling down caused by the previous manager and the players, why not be grateful that we are challenging for 3rd place in the League and the UEFA Cup.

Does causing the manager FSW make you feel more British, Yank?

As I said before the match on here, I thought Torres should be a second-half substitute. I was surprised that he was selected and then not substituted. I can only assume Demba was not fully fit or there was something else we don't now about, because Torres will have to play at Basel. I thought he should not be selected because he would get rough treatment from LFC fans who have not forgiven him for seeking a transfer to Chelsea on the last day of the transfer window for - in their eyes - money. He has never really played well against Liverpool. I suggested Rafa would discuss it with him. I know Torres wanted to play. I don't think the problem in the match was Torres. Although he did not score he worked hard and moved the LFC defense this way and that. Neither Mata, nor Hazard, nor Oscar were laying on anything for him: Apart from the first 20 minutes when Oscar was good, none of them were able to dominate the LFC midfield or defence or create many chances. Benayoun actually hates Rafa and stuck the knife in when Rafa left LFC - so his selection on Sunday was not favouritism by Rafa. Rafa couldn't care less what people say about him and he selects Benayoun because he is available. Benayoun works well with Torres, knows the LFC team, can carry the ball and can, on occasions, penetrate a defence and score. At that stage Rafa probably thought the match was won, if we could keep the ball in their half, and he wanted someone with fresh legs to carry and hold the ball and support Torres. I guess he selected Lampard more as a defensive midfielder than an attacker. The midfield and defense were very tired, They needed fresh legs. Let's remember, Chelsea were winning away from home at Fortress Anfield against a team that plays one game a week, in the face of noisy opposition supporters and miserable away "supporters" at the 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96 and 96.50 minute mark. Chech got his hand to the Suraez header but could not stop it.

According to Benayoun Chelsea FC are monitoring fans who insult the players and manager and are going to do something about it: http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/8665900/? I suggested this some time ago on here. The club should disassociate from so-called supporters who lie about the manager's past and personally insult him and insult individual players at away games or at Stamford Bridge and the club should not allow them to stand or sit in the Chelsea section. They should not be allowed to hold their stupid bits of paper in front of the TV cameras or get their 9-12 year old daughters to do it for them. The stadium and the TV broadcast and Chelsea's good name and reputation should not be hi-jacked by malcontents. Some of those fans claim they can do whatever they like because they spend their hard-earned money. They can't. You cannot defame or abuse people however much money you spend doing it. And you cannot claim to be a Chelsea supporter if you don't support the team but join the opposing fans in abusing it as so many did in so many places this season. I believe we would be second in the league if we had the support other teams get and if we were not routinely attacked and abused by a gang calling themselves Chelsea supporters. Some on here seem to claim that they can pick and choose what constitutes Chelsea - e.g. Chelsea is Terry and Lampard but not Torres and Rafa. Idiots!

Rafa is one of the most open and approachable managers in the league and will answer any question put to him my media or fans. In LFC he invited blog-writers to his office and training sessions, attended fan groups and would stop in the street to answer questions. He has a blog and you can ask him questions on there. http://www.rafabenitez.com/web/index.php?idioma=in He would do that here if it wasn't for the fact that since his appointment he has had a match to prepare every three days. He has virtually lived at the Cobham training ground. As I have said many times, he did not have a pre-season with Chelsea, he did not buy the players. This is not the way he likes to form a team. But as he said when he was appointed he did not want to make radical changes in the middle of a season, he wanted to make adjustments, keep the things they were doing right and achieve the object of getting CL and maybe win a cup. Remember Chelsea were spiralling down when he was appointed As manager he has to give players confidence even if he does not think they are up to it. But reading between the lines you can see what he thinks - too many youngsters, inexperienced and new to the PL, not always able to maintain focus and motivation (high salaries and speculation about managers) . He sees it as a team in transition that needs an infusion of discipline, strategy and three or four strong players who are also leaders. He sees too many older players trying to cling onto their past influence. You also have to consider that most of the vocal fans did not want to ask him questions they wanted to insult him personally. There was no discussion by them of tactics. They wanted him gone because he was so successful at LFC against Chelsea. I know that he was even booed by kids when he attended charity events for Chelsea. How do you discuss tactics and strategy with a crowd that boos you before your first game and even after you have won a series of games? He will be offered another contract at Chelsea. He will accept it only if he is allowed influence on player purchases and sales. If he does accept the offer Chelsea will become a powerhouse and a dynasty. Rafa is a builder.

As I predicted, it was 2-2 (actually I had said 3-1 for Chelsea or 2-2) I suggested the wild card would be the physical condition of the two teams. LFC have been on holiday compared to Chelsea's gruelling schedule. The longer the game went on the more chance they would draw. I could see Chelsea wilting in the last 20 minutes. As it happens the game went on beyond the specified injury time. As I said, there would be a penalty involving Suarez although I had thought he might draw a penalty from a Chelsea defender. In fact he should have been involved in two penalties of his own and a sending off. As I also said, he can score from impossible angles. Apart from the fouls, bad refereeing and timekeeping, the result was fair. LFC were pushing hard for most of the 2nd half. Chelsea has a weakness for giving away points in the dying minutes. It is due partly to exhaustion, lack of experience and concentration. In the first 20 minutes I was thinking Oscar was playing one of his better games striding strongly and passing accurately. His goal was well taken and also well practised on the training pitch. Rafa knows that Carragher is the weak link and Rodgers was using man-to-man marking - Oscar's movement exposed it. However, after that Oscar reverted to his customary poor distribution, bad short passes and giving away the ball when we are attacking, thereby exposing us to counter-attack. I had warned about Sturridge - who was it who decided to drop him from Chelsea's first eleven and buy Demba, instead, and then sell him to LFC - was it the 16th minute manager or one of the other numerous short-term managers? Coutinho lived up to my expectations - direct, dangerous but he was substituted - was it an injury or a managerial mistake? Neither Mata nor Hazard took control and both Chelsea's goals were from set-pieces. I had suggested that Demba should start and Torres be used as second-half substitute. I still think that would have been better. The game was well won (if a bit lucky) with only a few extra seconds to go - so it was no disgrace for Chelsea - just a shame. The LFC supporters showed again why they are among the wittiest in football with their "Rafa was right your supporters are shite" - and I was disappointed that the Chelsea away supporters could not match them - apart from the forlorn groupie calling for Aunty Jose Maureenho. I believe if Chelsea had the kind of support LFC gets, we would be 2nd in the league now. Chelsea have done very well in away stadiums considering the lack of support. I still think Rafa will lead Chelsea back into the CL competition.

What a crowd of babies. You failed to get Rafa sacked. You failed to get Torres dumped. And now you pretend you are not hanging on every word I write. The fact is that when you are done grunting like a bunch of bully boys you have nothing to say. I was right and you were wrong. You based your Jose agenda about Rafa on a bunch of lies. You don't have the guts to admit it. You don't represent my Chelsea and the Chelsea of millions of decent supporters. I was here (i.e. at Chelsea) long before most of you and will be here long after you have gone.

For those interested - Rafa's record against LFC is 3-0. When he was manager of Valencia he not only won the Liga twice and the UEFA Cup he also trounced Liverpool three times in European competitions. His team was so brilliant in those matches, completely dominating, that the LFC supporters applauded and LFC started to pursue him as manager (rejecting Mourinhuo in the process). Chelsea is not so completely Rafa's team as Valencia was, since he did not buy any of the players and has not had a pre-season with them, but Rafa will know LFC's weaknesses.

Since Rafa joined Chelsea it has become a better team than LFC this season. Chelsea should beat LFC on Sunday based on form. But this will be a high pressure match for a number of reasons and the pressure may affect the performance of both teams. Chelsea have the best manager - Brendan Rogers is only a wet-behind-the-ears apprentice compared to Rafa never having won any trophy apart from a play-off from the Championship with Swansea. He is from Mourinho's coaching staff at Chelsea. He seems to have Mourinho's belief that matches are won by PR or in press conferences - but he lacks the nasty jealous edge of much of Mourinho's utterances. Rogers is not very good at making in-game decisions. He sticks to a rigid formation. He doesn't seem to have control over his team. Hence LFC has been very inconsistent this season - sometimes attacking with verve and scoring freely and the next week unable to get going. At their best LFC attacks at speed and with some trickery. Suarez is the leader and the highest scorer but his shooting can be wild an innacurate and he wastes a lot of chances. He also fails to pass to team mates in better positions. However, he has a knack of nutmegging defenders and scoring from impossible angles. He would enjoy nutmegging Terry and drawing a red card and penalty from him but doubt that Rafa will select Terry. Since January, LFC have been joined by Coutinho who is probably their greatest threat after Suarez. He is tricky, direct and aggressive. He outshines Oscar - as a 20 year old Brazilian. He is due for another goal. Sturridge from Chelsea has settled well and has had some very good games, adding a dimension to the LFC attack. But he is not a guaranteed starter due to his inconsistency and injuries. But this match will motivate him and he might do damage. LFC will attack at speed from the start. If things go their way early on then I think they could win this match. But their attacks often come to nothing. They lack composure and accuracy in front of goal and have many near misses (e.g. see my remarks about Suarez). If I were manager I would take them by surprise and attack them from the start but in a controlled way suffocating their midfield. Their midfield is weak and uncertain under pressure and they can be overrun if Chelsea attack as a unit. Their central defenders are suspect. Carragher is on his last legs. Agger has been inconsistent. Their full back Johnson is also inconsistent. Torres will feel the pressure and I think Rafa will consult him before selecting him. I think he would get the better of Carragher and co this time, but I'm not sure of his temperament in this one. Demba might be a better choice for starter with Torres to be brought on in the second half. The crowd will give Rafa an enormous welcome. They love him not only for his great skill and achievements as their greatest manager in the last 24 years but also because he is a good, honorable man who has contributed to the community and quietly donated 100,000 pounds of his own money for the Hillsborough cause and much more to other causes in the Merseyside area. They will then cheer Rogers - not because he is held in the same esteem as Rafa but to show Chelsea away supporters how to behave towards a manager even if he comes from a rival team. LFC have played far fewer games than Chelsea and should be fresher. But they lack motivation. They have played lately as though they are on holiday. It will depend on whether this game rouses them and whether they get off to a good start. They have not scored lately. They should be capable of 1 or 2 especially from a penalty. Chelsea should be capable of 2 or 3. My first prediction is for a Chelsea win of 3-1 but would not be surprised if it is 2-2