The genius of Rafael Benitez

After last weekend I feel like a finally understand Rafa a bit more. The substitution of Saint Steven of Gerrard in the Everton game was the turning point. Why would any manager hook his only player who would walk into any other premiership team? Rafa says he took of Gerrard because he had too much passion. At first I found this hard to understand. Managers like Lord Ferg and Mourinho love to see passion. Rafa however in some way was foreseeing what would happen later, when Carragher committed a blatant foul which should have resulted in a penalty. It seems clear that some sort of Red mist had overwhelmed him and he was lucky to get away with it. I think this is what Rafa wanted to avoid. He is a cold blooded genius. It just doen’t make him very likeable.