Liverpool love story: Benitez made his intentions clear by refusing to condemn Suarez for biting Ivanovic
As manager of Chelsea, you would expect Benitez to speak to the Serbian, to ask him what had happened.
But instead of sticking up for his player, he simply denied that he had seen the whole thing. Normally the refuge of the manager of the guilty party.
Judging body language is never wholly reliable, but it seems quite clear that Benitez knew about the incident and simply didn’t want to talk about it.
Can you imagine Sir Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho reacting like that?
Both of the above would have been spitting fury had they been in charge.
Remember when Ashley Williams kicked the ball at Van Persie’s head and Ferguson claimed ‘it could have killed him’?
If anything, that was an over-reaction, but his passion and support for his charges was evident.
Benitez lacks the same motivation; the fans sing – ‘he doesn’t care about us’.
A manager obsessed with the success and wellbeing of his side would be demanding to see a replay of the incident.
Instead, it seemed like Rafa’s whole trip up to Anfield was geared towards strengthening his bond with the club he loves.
From waving to Liverpool’s fans chanting his name, to his extremely cautious handling of the Suarez incident, Rafa did not seem to be acting like the manager of Chelsea.