Is Rafael Benitez's rotation policy still hurting Liverpool?

The media has always been quick to criticize Rafael Benitez's rotation policy. Every time Benitez made a change to Liverpool's starting eleven they have cried bloody murder. Former players and some Liverpool supporters too have questioned this policy.

Has Rafa actually harmed Liverpool's chances in the Premier League in the past seasons by constantly tinkering with the team? Or are the pundits being unfairly harsh on Benitez?

The main point in favor of rotation — that it keeps players fresh for tough games later in the season — has been countered by the argument that there's no point in players being fresh at the end of the season if there's nothing to play for. Good argument too, seeing that Liverpool had little to play for in the premiership at the end of last season.

Critics of Rafa's rotation policy usually point to the draw against Birmingham at Anfield in September last year. The manager had kept Torres on the bench with an eye on the long season ahead but the plan backfired as Liverpool failed to beat a team that was relegated at the end of the season.

In Rafa's defence I can only point to a couple of results in this season. Liverpool won against United even though both Gerrard and Torres didn't start. The rotation in this case may have been forced by the injuries to the two players, but still Liverpool showed that they could get a result even in the absence of their star players. Now if they could beat United, how could a team like Birmingham be unbeatable in the absence of Torres?

A week after beating United they were held to a draw against newly promoted Stoke City even though both Gerrard and Torres returned to fitness and played. If the presence of Torres could have snatched a victory against Birmingham why didn't they get a result against Stoke? Liverpool should have won both these games even if they had to play eleven backup players and the fact that they didn't is worrying. But you can't put all the blame on rotation for every bad result.

There's one question I've been asking myself about this season — how much rotation is Rafa going to employ this time? I don't think we're going to see as much rotation as we've seen in the past seasons. I'm not saying that he'll use the same 11 players for every match, but we are likely to see a more settled starting eleven this time. Players like Torres, Keane, Riera and Gerrard need to play as many matches together as possible and it looks like that's exactly what Rafa is thinking himself.

This is the team that I would like to see starting regularly in the Premier League matches:

Reina
Arbeloa - Carragher - Agger - Dossena
Kuyt - Gerrard - Mascherano - Riera
Keane - Torres

Rafa used the 4-2-3-1 formation in the later stages of last season and it worked quite well, but now after the arrival of Keane and Riera, the 4-4-2 looks like the better option. Riera can provide the width that Liverpool were lacking so far, and Keane looks like an ideal strike partner for Torres and the best way to utilize both these players fully would be to use 4-4-2. I would have put Skrtel in my ideal team there, but now that he's out with injury for 2-3 months, Agger is the automatic choice. At least, we can be assured that there won't be any rotation at center-back.

The left-back, defensive midfield and the right midfield are the only positions where I'd like to see some rotation. Aurelio, when he's fully fit will compete with Dossena for his place at left-back, and Babel or Benayoun for Kuyt could be another option against some teams. Alonso can be used instead of Mascherano against teams that park a bus in front of goal. Alonso could be more useful than Mascherano when it comes to pushing forward in attack and breaking down the defenses of such teams. Other than that, I don't think there should be too much rotation unless it's because of injuries or (very) poor form.

Rafa Benitez may have been to blame to some extent for rotating excessively and in almost all positions last season. The presence of a more settled starting line-up may have helped turn some of the draws into wins and that's where Liverpool lost out last season. But then, there were several other factors to blame as well for those draws, so saying that rotation was the main reason why Liverpool didn't challenge for the title is unfair.

This season, the signs have been good so far. There hasn't been too much rotation, and Rafa seems to be sticking to a settled line-up. The results have been good and the performances have been improving steadily. So will this be Liverpool's season, finally? Frankly, I don't know and anyway it's too early to tell. But if things don't work out this season, I'm pretty sure nobody will blame rotation for it. And remember, Ferguson himself plans to rotate his team this season. Who knows, we might actually see the media glorify rotation as a brilliant strategy before the end of the season.

What do you think of Rafael Benitez's rotation policy? Is it the reason why Benitez hasn't been able to win the Premier League title so far? Or is it just the media looking for more reasons to criticize Benitez? And do you think rotation policy will gain more acceptance among the media now that Alex Ferguson has started using it?

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