Liverpool and Benitez warming to the task

Wednesday was far from vintage but the Anfield decider will be gripping, writes Paul McGrath

We went across to Stamford Bridge this week. Bit of a treat for a fella who has been supporting Chelsea for 35 years. Well that's what I thought before I got there. Wednesday's must have been one of the worst Champions League semi-finals in memory.

The game told us a lot though and even if AC Milan were scratching their heads in wonder at how bad it was they shouldn't be complacent. The second leg at Anfield is balanced nicely now. An away goal for Chelsea might kill the tie but Liverpool will know they have to up the ante when it comes to attacking.

And there's so much riding on it for Liverpool that maybe they'll do that. They have a habit this season of surprising (dropping league points to Crystal Palace, knocking Juventus out of the Champions League), and on the night at Anfield anything is possible.

As a new arrival into the English management game Rafael Benitez has been overshadowed a bit by the antics and success of Jose Mourinho. This semi-final puts the two of them on the same stage and when we have the chance to compare them, Benitez doesn't come off badly. He's quieter and more patient and has less money to spend but you can see in his team that he knows how to put out a balanced side that are difficult to beat.

If you look back to the Uefa Cup quarter-final a couple of years ago when Celtic beat Liverpool at Anfield, you can't see much balance in the team Gerard Houllier was putting out. Back then Liverpool were playing for the benefit of one or two players and everything else was fitting into this system. Poor old Emile Heskey playing out on the wing was the best example. Houllier wanted ball put in behind the defence for Michael Owen to run onto quickly so he took the big man out of attack but felt he had to play him somewhere.

Since then Steven Gerrard has become more of a team player too. In the debate as to whether Gerrard is a good player or a great player I come down on the side of him being a great player. I suppose the test is would I like to see him playing for Chelsea and the answer is yes. I'd love it.

From the time he first came onto the scene I had the feeling he was going to be the next Roy Keane. He has flaws in his game but his drive and will power would make a big difference to any team. On Wednesday at Stamford Bridge he had an excuse to be upset after all the stories linking him to Chelsea or Real Madrid, but he put in his usual honest performance. He wasn't spectacular but he sprayed passes, did the running and wore his heart on his sleeve.

He gives it his all and I would rate him with the top central midfielders in the English game, Roy Keane and Frank Lampard (who had a bit of an off game on Wednesday). Because Liverpool don't have Chelsea's money they can't be as ruthless and it's interesting to look at their squad and see the results of two managers and what they opened their chequebooks for.

Who could believe that Harry Kewell is the same cheeky guy who used to dazzle for Leeds. I remember seeing him often in a white shirt and people had him down as a world beater, one of the greats of his generation.

Look at him now. Liverpool fans haven't taken to him and he hasn't, in fairness, ever played at the level he looked capable of. It often happens when a player gets a transfer to a more glamorous club (sorry, Leeds fans) that his form dips as he tries to live up to the billing. Fans will usually be patient. When the dip lasts two years though it's time to worry.

When I was with United we had a few lads who went through what Kewell is suffering. Gary Birtles and Alan Brazil spring to mind. I remember them arriving and even having played against them and suffered at their hands a few times, we were thrilled. Either one of them could have made the difference.

Neither of them started his career at Old Trafford that well but the way it is with teams we all became friends and the lads were part of the set-up. But you started to notice after a while the fans hadn't taken to them. As a defender when the ball is up the other end of the field you catch some of what is being said about a striker after a missed chance.

After a while you realise the fans have decided your friend is a carthorse. It's a strange situation. I knew Gary and Alan and the kind of guys they were and sometimes it was anxiety and just trying too hard that made them look bad.

Once the fans and the papers have decided though that you are a flop it's hard to dig your way out of the situation. Kewell might just be finding that out.

Milan Baros is another Houllier signing I would worry about and I imagine he will leave Anfield this summer. I like his style and he can't be faulted for his workrate but his decision making isn't great and he runs angles an out-and-out goalscorer might not. In fairness to him at least he keeps running all through the game but I just think his positional sense and his reading are off, and a defence like AC Milan's would let him run all the angles he liked.

The stamp of Benitez is the signings of Xavier Alonso and Luis Garcia. I thought Alonso was maybe the best player on the field on Wednesday. I know that's not a big boast but he is class and he gives Liverpool that bit of creativity they need.

Garcia is just coming into his own and I think by next season he'll look an inspired choice. The other night I could see he was getting under Chelsea's skin with the way he would take the ball in tight situations and stroke it out wide to a full back or winger and take the tempo out of the game. For a team like Chelsea playing at home in a big match that can be very frustrating.

Mauricio Pellegrino is the only Benitez signing I wouldn't be a fan of. He makes too many mistakes and his decision making isn't great.

What is interesting about Benitez and Alonso and Garcia is the way they have adapted quickly to the English game. The players have upped the physical input since early in the season and Benitez has sacrificed a little continental finesse for a pattern more suited to an English team.

It was astonishing on Wednesday night to see Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia even taking the ball without too much pressure and just wellying it out of there when you expected them to slide it back to Dudek - obviously following orders. Strange to see a Liverpool side do that but the safety-first approach is working for them.

The problem now in coping with Chelsea is Damien Duff and Arjen Robben are back and match fit for the next leg.

One thing Chelsea lacked the other night was a real injection of pace going forward. I'm a fan of Didier Drogba but he was shown up a bit on Wednesday. At Anfield I'm looking forward to Hyypia being given more of a test. I suspect he's lost pace and is living on his wits a bit. With Robben and Duffer that mightn't be enough.

All to play for though. Can't help thinking I should have saved my money for the second leg.