I have to agree with Esbi from Luton. Recommending just punting the ball up to by-pass the midfield is just ridiculous. That's why England are so rubbish. You play football on the ground, in short, quick passes. Ok Liverpool's weren't exactly short nor quick, but certainly better than the punt from defensive.

Crouch is not a good target man and this approach is wasted on him. When he came on his contribution was neglible. He was not a factor in either goal.

Nick Morgan, London, UK

As a follower of UK soccer (and a Liverpool fan) for over 30 years I would like to think I am not a total idiot when it comes to analysing a soccer match & I have to say that I totally agree with TCs headline for this match as it echoes something I have shouted at my TV screen (usually in the early hours of the morning) far too often this season - Benitez is sometimes too slow to make changes when things aren't going Liverpool's way.

Far too often an attacking change is needed to break a stalemate (i.e. Pennant or Babel on, Crouch or even Gerrard when he is rested as he was against Barnsley) and yet Rafa waits until 70-80 minutes have passed rather than 50-60 minutes that seems obvious.

The choice: give a potentially game-breaking player 30-40 minutes to change things, or give him 10-20 minutes when your first option isn't working (& yes these things happen)?

Hey I would like to think Benitez knows more about this coaching caper than I do, but sometimes I really do have to wonder!

Jim Kellam, Melbourne, Australia

It's funny how you experts can totally disagree and yet you both have a go at Rafa. The ESPN commentator continuously stated you use the extra man by quick pass inter play and over lapping: you,tony, say you go direct, by-passing the midfield. You can tell you were a big centre forward!! Who is right?? Rafa put on a side with the mentality that they were to attack inter, stop them playing, get down the line and get crosses in. they did well with the knowledge masserano and leive were helping the defence. As the game went on Rafa continuously pushed them forward. liverpool's passing and moving was good, not brilliant, but their balls into the box were poor. Rafa freshened legs and created another option which paid off. 2-0

He would have been really foolish to have risked an away goal, then you would have had a real agruement against him. just remember it took Fergie 4 years and alot more money relative to the times to win his first cup. RAFA needs to stay!!!!!

Duncan, Palmwoods, Australia

It is the attitude of Cascarino's that have killed English football. No thinking, no patient, no guile. Play the game in a fast and furious manner and just lump the ball into the penalty box. Somebody will be there. Yeah, right. As long as England do not embrace football as it was played by Liverpool last night, patient-passing football, the England football team will go nowhere in the international stage. The best that England can hope for with long balls from the back is third in the qualifying group.

Esbi, Luton, United Kingdom

Journalists - you hound the man when his team loses and then you hound him again when they win. Of course we all know that this journalist was a brilliant manager with a great record of footballing success and as such, is able to put out such trusted and newsworthy items.

When all else fails become a pundit. I wanted to be a journalist, I failed my initial test - apparently I told the the truth and wrote an accurate account of what I had seen.

Why don't you stop hounding Rafa. He was right for the job 3 years ago, is right for it now and will be right for the years to come.

Geoff, Kirkby,

Adrian, you took the words out of my mouth... Liverpool did a hell of a job, and Tony C can't see it. Expert, LOL

YNWA

Trond, Norway,

lfc fans - touchy touchy!!! one minute you want rafa out next your right behind him. it all comes down to the league and your lack of a challenge. it looks like europe's in the bag!!! poor old everton-pity if they finish fourth!

bally, heathrow, uk

I at half time was calling for crouch to be brought on ASAP, however Liverpool came very close on a number of ocassions (including getting Torres in) and got in behind via Finnan a few times.

Benitez changed his tactics to a 4-2-4, how many other managers would have the guts to pull that one out the bag with 30 minutes to go???

Perhaps it Rafa being cautious, more Inter defending with 8 men no more than 25 yards out for 45 minutes?

Some of the press are on Rafa's back permanently, it is a farce.

Having won last night, i knew full well he would be the last to get praised.

Mark Phillips, Liverpool,

Clearly, tactics have a major influence on most games and Rafa made the correct choices last night, but I can't help but feel that if Liverpool played the way they did last night, regardless of tactics, they could beat any team.

In my opinion, its doing the basics right: passing to feet, good control, intelligent running off the ball, marking effectively, not giving any opposing player time on the ball, doubling (or trebling) up on key players and perhaps most importantly, the desire to win.

It doesn't ring true that playing European and Premiership teams are so wildly different, that playing European teams suit Liverpool's play better, but then stating that Inter are one of the most difficult teams to beat. Does that imply that Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea would be easily beaten by Inter? I doubt it. It comes down to doing the basic things right and desire. If Liverpool did that in every game, they would not be talking about only 4th place being a realistic target (again).

Dan, London,

Sorry, Tony, but you must have left early.
Liverpool actually won the match 2-0.

Bernie Russell, Louth, UK

the only surprise here Tony is that with such a deep understanding of football you're not a leading manager yourself, having won the premiership and european cup double at least 75 times.....

one of the major downfalls of expanded football coverage in this country is the growth in the number of so-called 'experts' on our screen who were once half decent players but have no experience of management. what then makes these people 'experts' in analysing tactics etc??? The only positive for you Tony is that you're not the worst, that crown sits very firmly on Paul Merson's head!

adrian, london,

Well said Paul F, im sick of these so called pundits slagging off Rafa, exactly what qualifications does cascarino have to have any opinion on anyhting in the game, I come from Scotland and he is still the worst striker I have ever seen play for celtic and that includes wayne biggins!

Chris, ayrshire, scotland

I think Tony's comments on the Barcelona game last season says it all. Did you watch the second leg at Anfield Tony? It was one of the best attacking performances I'd seen in years - certainly for the first half. We battered them. To say we attacked away from home and came back and played defensively is a nonsense.

I'm actually bored of these so called "pundits" analysing tactics, managers etc. Rafa's record in Europe is untouchable. I feel sorry that papers have to employ some mug to offer their "expert opinion". Because you simply expose your own failings. I doubt you sit for hours, like Rafa does, and analyse the opposition, devising a plan to beat them. How many times do United/Arsenal/Chelsea win games in the last 10 minutes, yet we do it, and somehow that's a failing of what went before.

Save your analysis for our league form, you'll get much better value there. But as for Europe, like most pundits, I'd just keep your head down...

Craig, London,

tony who is your insider in anfield you alluded to him in your artical on sunday and again in a irish paper for which you also
do a peice. who is it who told you that rafa no longer had the backing of all the players. as for last night why if you wish to have a dig at liverpool could you not tell something near the truth once milan had a player sent off it was 10 against 10 again gerrard was carried by his team mates his goal was the only thing he did in the match. but no rafa is a east target for the ex pros and gerrard is untouchable the england manager who was at the game last night could not pick him for his country on last nights game. so come on tony bring deep throte out of the shadows

seamus, dublin, ireland

I feel the criticism of rafa is fair. a bit of help from a homer ref and two lucky goals doesn't add up to tactical genius. inter are serial disappointments in europe. even so, 2-0 may not be enough.

apparently, the manager's job was on the line. I wouldn't judge him on one result. judge him by the fact that he repeatedly includes kuyt.

he may have won a european cup, but he should be judged on liverpool's performances in the league, not a cup competition. in the league, liverpool are nowhere. and that is 100% his fault.

jem, london, uk

Tony

There are elements of what you say that are correct, except Liverpool were coming off a loss to Barnley against a team only beaten once in a year. They were right to be a bit cautious and Rafa was able to conjer up a 2-0 result. Something you take everytime.

If Inter scored a goal, then everything would have been for nothing.

Liz, Milan, Italy

Laughable piece. So Liverpool should have continued to play quickly and play long balls eh? Against a team with 9 of their 10 men behind the ball, and a defence holding its 18 yard line? How exactly would that have worked?

We all know how hard it can be to break down 10 men. The secret is to keep passing, keep passing, work them right the way across the pitch, and then take advantage of tiring legs, which is exactly what Liverpool did. In the last 10 minutes I suspect Houllier would have settled for 0-0 rather than risking the away goal. Instead Rafa knew that the patient approach was paying off and continued to urge us forward even after scoring the first.

Paul F, Liverpool,

Liverpool were all over inter, the attacked atacked and attacked and inter response was to defend, defend and defend. They had litterally 9 to 10 men in there own half for the majority of the game and fair play to inter, they defended well and liverpool did not really takcapitalise on playing aganist 10 men, nevertheless, i was more than happy to see liverpool produce a stunning performance as they did!.
Why cant they always play like that?,
Rafa needs to stick with Crouch and Torress up front, sell Kuyt and bring in another striker also buy berbatov aswell (lol).
Rafa is the man for liverpool and i dont think anyone can replace him!.

jugjeevan lal singh, nawanshare,

Have to say this is a ridiculous analysis from Cascarino.

This was particularly amusing and uninformed... "Lucas Leiva pointlessly sliding the ball sideways just in front of the back four". Was Tony watching the same game as everyone else? Yes, Lucas linked the play put he played some incisive and progressive passes down the flanks to get Aurelio, Babel and Finnan on numerous occassions.

To suggest that Rafa left it too late is also wrong. Football matches aren't 80 minutes long.

Lee, Chesterfield,

Why would Liverpool want to pass the ball around keep possession when they could punt balls into the box?

Fantastic tactical analysis...

Of course it had nothing to do with tiring out the opposition to take advantage of superior numbers late in the game,
or
That Inter are a great defensive side that need to be unlocked through play - long balls into the box aren't that hard to defend, or
That possesion of the ball means that the opposition aren't able to get into the game, the game is played in the oppositon half meaning counter attacts are unlikely to be effective with no support coming from a midfield that is defending their own penalty area.

Obviously hoofing the ball into the box only for a packed defence to send it back at you at 100mph on the counter attack is a far better option....

Mike, Fremantle, Australia

You DO NOT mess around with your defence when it's working and to give away a goal at home to a team like Inter would be suicide! And Crouch and Pennant came on with 25/20 minutes to go, which is a great improvement on his past substitutions. Give the man some credit! Liverpool were all over Inter, who for 2 seasons now have been runaway leaders in Italy and who few Italian teams hope to take a point off, home or away. The burning question is: why on earth do we struggle against Luton, Havant & Waterlooville and Barnsley (plus others) when we are capable of such mastery against Europe's best (remember Barcellona)? Baffling!

Roger, Milan, Italy

All the pundits got it wrong. Accept it Tony,Rafa got it right and we won. He made the subs and they worked. If it had been Sir Alex,Tony would be swooning about how astute he is. Simple fact is that Rafa got it right and we got the right result. Stay disappointed with the result Tony, we are happy!

Tim, Kampala,

Tony, Tony, Tony, brave enough to sit behind your computer and desk and criticise a manager who has just beat the current Italian champions, who are 11 points clear this season in Serie A, who have lost only one away game (now two) in 40-odd matches, but never brave enough to try coaching a side yourself.....although, maybe you did at some point, but never well enough to actually have anyone notice.....

Rafa has made some mistakes this year, but last night he was flawless, Liverpool tired Inter out, then the sub's played a big part in the final result.....surely a football man such as yourself would know that only good teams keep going to win the game in the final 10 minutes or have you forgotten how Man Utd have done this successfully for the last fifteen years??

Dan, Melbourne, Australia

Lol, article above is a joke and Paul from USA, lol Arbeloa wasn't even on the pitch! Hahahahaha
We've got great owners from the USA and now apparently some great fans toooo!
Rule 1 for USA supporter:-
Don't criticise team selection for only winning by 2 goals and keeping a clean sheet, against a side unbeated in 5 months, on course to winning their domestic title by a country mile!

Jas, Liverpool, UK

Arbeloa, Paul from IL? When exactly was he on the pitch?

I'm a Pool fan too, but I'd concede that they were over-cautious and under-ambitious for much of the game (how many lofted cross-field passes did we see in that match? was it a record?). However, the result was fully deserved, and in the end, that's what's important.

Mike, Galway,

Interesting analysis Tony.

Most people love a gung ho approach to life, makes things interesting and exciting.

Looks great when it comes off but is really foolish when you don't need to do it.

Tonight we didn't need to do it.

I'm sure if Claudio Ranieri was watching, he would have wished he had the presence in that game against Monaco in 2004 to curb his natural exuberance.

Then again on that night Ranieri was under pressure from the owner of his club and his judgement was a little cloudy.

Thankfully Benitez had no such distractions or if he did he was able to put them aside and think clearly.

I think it shows a strength of character and the belief of the man in what he's doing rather than a man who thinks slowly on his feet.

John Valiotis, Melbourne , Australia

exactly what did Tony Cascarino ever win in his playing career that should make me care enough about what he says to stop my basking in the afterglow of Liverpool's greatest result of the season, if even for a moment? Exactly.........

Inter need to score three goals in the return leg to beat us. We've only conceded that many once this season.

AP, South Melbourne, Australia

its a fair point, after all, a far superior chelsea got a far better result and quicker goals against a far inferior Greek team.oh.

Vijay, Sunderland, England

This is what's expected from Tony Cascarino, a former chelsea scrub. If it were ManU who win 2:0, it's will be tactical genius by SAF, give rafa the credit, and we are going to win the premier league next year with DIC coming in now

brian, vic, aus

Cascarino, We have beaten a team that had a 29 game unbeaten run. Obviously i dont have to remind you of the value of an away goal so one can surely understand Rafa's caution in over-committing himself! We dominated the second half and whilst I myself thought he could have put Crouch on earlier to talk critically about the timing of substitutions is to pick at straws. The sending off was harsh but regardless Materazzi caught him the first time (deliberate or not) then had a little tug at Torres the second, i think Materazzi is the last man who deserves our sympathy. Great result, great performance against the form side in Europe, Thanks Rafa we march again!

Marc, Aberystwyth, Wales

May I remind Mr. Cascarino that Rafa's won the Champions League before now. And got to the final a year later! I'm not sure your better qualified to comment on his tactics - not least because they also won the tie.

I suspect your comments were largely written before Liverpool got their two goals. Rafa, as usual, got it spot on in Europe. Even Wenger and Ferguson must be envious of that.

Lola, London,

Just reading the above article by Mr Cascarion you would've swore it was a 0-0 draw rather than a 2-0 adavantage. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Give the man some credit, his substitues, especially Pennant did make the difference in the end. This is a monumental result and Benitez deserves some praise.

Timbo, Melbourne, Australia

Yep, that's a valuable piece if ever I've seen one. Tony Cascarino exposing Rafa's tactical failings.

Brendan, Sydney,

Rafa can't win can he !? Had Liverpool lost tonight, the media knives would be out ...... when they beat Inter Milan ....... Inter Milan, undefeated all season bar one game ..... Inter Milan, way out in front in the Italian League .... what is jist of the reporting ..... "you left it late didn't you ??".
I doubt whether Arsenal or Man U beating Milan by a similar score-line would result in the same sniffy approach.
Results can always be better, but as a red fan I will take this one with both hands.
Now more importantly, can someone explain how we can beat Inter Milan ...... (once more for the kiddies ..) Inter Milan, yet get beaten by Barnsley in the same week !?? I must admit that when the red mist cleared for me late on Saturday, a small (very small) part of me was quite chuffed for the boys from Yorkshire.

Andy, Keller,

Most Liverpool fans (like me) would agree that Crouch should have been on sooner and so should have Pennant - LIKE AT THE START OF THE MATCH!! Rafa is frustrating and really, he should have kept on Babel, and added Crouch and Pennant for Lucas and Arbeloa...but he doesn't think that way and to think that he will ever change is a fool's pursuit.

Paul, Plainfield, IL - USA