Kop war

Rafa: Stuck in the middle

In what should have been a week where Rafa Benitez and his Liverpool side should be basking in a warm glow after they rescued their season by beating Arsenal in the Champions League, the chumps in the boardroom are squabbling again taking the shine of a wonderful victory.

It’s all getting a bit nasty, American owner Tom Hicks has demanded the resignation of Chief Executive Rick Parry.

Apparently the American’s beef with Parry is that his poor commercial decisions have left Liverpool way behind bitter rivals Manchester United in the rich list. He also claims that Rafa has complained about the way Parry has been handling the transfer kitty – or lack of it.

The feud is threatening to rip Anfield apart, Hicks can’t shift Parry as he doesn’t have a large enough controlling stake in the club and the Mirror believe that Benitez could walk on the brink of a third Champions League final in four years because of the in-fighting.

Something’s not right ‘upstairs’ at Anfield, Benitez’ position seems safer than it did six months ago and Hicks seems happy to drive a wedge between the Spaniard and Parry – something’s got to give – it’s a business at the end of that day. We hope it’s not Rafa.

Theo Walcott was one of the plus points for Arsenal in the defeat at Anfield in midweek. His blistering run to lay on an easy finish for Emmanuel Adebayor was stunning.

Walcott would have given Lewis Hamilton a run for his money as he cut through the Liverpool defence before calmly finding the African striker in space.

England coach Fabio Capello also watched open-mouthed and was mightily impressed by the young-un.

‘I was delighted with the impact that Walcott made on the game - the run he made for Arsenal's second goal was incredible,’ he said.

‘To go past so many players with such speed and balance is one thing, but to have the composure and awareness to pick a pass at the crucial moment showed great skill and maturity.’

Looks like Theo could be in with a shout at a decent run against the USA in England’s next friendly at Wembley on May 28th.

Another star performer in midweek in the Champions League was Owen Hargreaves.

Hargreaves hasn’t featured much for United this season and there are whispers his poor timekeeping has annoyed Sir Alex.

The England midfield has Champions League pedigree after winning the tournament with Bayern Munich in 2001 and he showed Fergie on Wednesday why he can be an important player for United in the run-in and in Europe.

But Owen has another motivation for success in Europe – he wants to banish the bad hair day of the final in 2001.

‘I haven’t seen it for a long time. It was seven years ago.

‘What’s gone is gone. The only thing I really remember is that I needed a haircut. I had big, floppy hair. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I don’t watch it!’

Hmm – shocking hairdo it may have been but it’s got a long way to go to beat Ronaldo’s bizarre hair-do at the World Cup in 2002.

If you haven’t seen it just Google ‘Ronaldo crap haircut’.

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