Andy Gray says that Rafa Benitez' tinkering will cost Liverpool this season.
Liverpool are unbeaten in the Premier League this season, but with four draws from eight matches some fans may be getting a little uneasy with Rafa Benitez' rotation policy.
They made a good start to the season when Rafa picked what appeared to be his strongest team and they went out, won games and made a decent start.
He then started tinkering about with it at Portsmouth and they only got a draw there, then they drew at Anfield against Birmingham.
And then a couple of weeks ago they only just scraped a draw at home against Spurs.
Add to that the disappointment of the Champions League defeat to Marseille - a team they would have expected to see off quite comfortably at home.
I think those results has compounded everyone's thinking. You would have thought Rafa was going to play his strongest side for as long as he could and then just drop players in and out.
To be resting players in the middle of September - and these are finely tuned athletes let's not forget - seems rather strange to me.
But that is Rafa's policy and he does seem intent on doing it that way and damn everyone who thinks otherwise.
Having said that, I don't think you can throw away as many points as they have done, or be as sloppy as they've been and hope to win this league.
Off colour
Some have been talking about Liverpool's big, big players - Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard - being off form. I don't know about Jamie but I think certainly Steven looks a little out of sorts.
He's not obviously at his best, he's not firing on all cylinders but, y'know, it's a very difficult thing to perform at the level he does season in, season out.
Every player is entitled to have a little dip in form - I don't know a footballer that hasn't. The important thing for Liverpool is for their skipper to get out of it as soon as possible and it's only up to him - by playing and putting in hard work he will be able to do so.
His influence hasn't been what it usually is and I don't think that's helped Liverpool at all.
Playing alongside a different midfield partner almost every game doesn't help - Benitez would probably argue differently and say that it doesn't matter who he plays with but I don't think it helps.
Also, when the front men change each game that doesn't help either because Fernando Torres, Andrey Voronin, Peter Crouch and Dirk Kuyt do different things and have different strengths.
A lot of the game is instinctive and when you play with the same people week in, week out a lot of players get to know their team-mates instincts.
Rafa's rotation means that Steven has to look to see who he's playing with to decide who to supply with what kind of service.
Fitness fanatic
I'm not sure if Rafa would even regard himself of having a best team. He would have to have a fair idea but whether he would want to play that team for any length of time is unlikely given his policy.
Benitez seems awfully intent on using information on fitness levels from the fitness coach whose influence on the side is a big one. His argument is that every player in his squad is the same and that's where his argument falls down in my opinion. I don't think every player is the same.
He would rather have 90 minutes from an inferior player than 80 minutes from a star. I don't go along with that - I would rather have 80 minutes from Gerrard than 90 minutes from most my other players. I would rather have 75 minutes of Torres than 90 minutes of Voronin.
Benitez' assistant, Pako Ayestaran has left but nobody knows if that will affect the team, only time will tell. He was a man who seemed to have a lot of influence over what Benitez did and how he picked his side.
It remains to be seen if Rafa's rotation will continue at such a level now that his right-hand man has gone.
I've said all along that I don't think they are going to be consistent enough to win the Premier League. You just can't keep switching your big players and leaving them out, even in games that you think you might win, such as Birmingham at home.
They should be getting a lot closer than they have been and that's what Benitez has to try and do.
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