http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/...pool-loss-blown-out-of-proportion-its-a-fact/ Rafa Benitez, famously, likes facts. He keeps detailed lists of them in his pocket, for use on a variety of social occasions. He is most probably aware, then, of the old truism – first outlined by that noted philosopher, Homer Simpson – that you can prove anything with facts. Take the fact of Liverpool’s opening day defeat to Tottenham. According to misspelled sports analysis firm Bettorlogic, losing at White Hart Lane has left Benitez’s side’s title dreams in tatters. Apparently, over the last six seasons, only two of the Big Four have ever lost on the opening day. Fact. Neither of those sides – Manchester United in 2004 and Liverpool a season previously – went on to win the league that year. Fact. “Rafa Benitez’s side will have to quickly get their act together to stay in the hunt for the title,†intones Bettorlogic’s CEO Mike Falconer, in his company’s press release. “If it’s not already too late.†To watch, listen to and read many of the obituaries drawn up in the name of Liverpool’s title challenge, even that bizarre extrapolation of a conclusion from arbitrary, coincidental statistics may be a mite optimistic. To many, it is already far, far too late. Liverpool’s flat performance at White Hart Lane, it seems, has left them with just 37 games to claw back an all but unbridgeable three-point deficit on all their main rivals and nigh on extinguished their hopes of winning the league. Rafa Benitez should not have sold Xabi Alonso, his only creative midfielder. Instead of wasting £40 million on Glen Johnson and Alberto Aquilani, he should have bolstered his squad, in case injury hits Fernando Torres or Steven Gerrard. Should that happen, Liverpool would struggle to qualify for the UEFA Cup, let alone the Champions League. All, after one game, facts. It is doomsday punditry of the worst kind, and Benitez clearly has little time for it. Asked yesterday if he thought the critics had a point, the Spaniard genially enquired as to who the prime culprits were. Jamie Redknapp, for one, came the reply. A wry smile, a Hispanic shrug of the shoulders. “It’s easy to criticise on television,†he said. “They’ve never managed a team that’s lost a game.†It is unfair to single out Redknapp, but he is certainly one of the worst offenders of a breed of pundits who now litter our TV screens, airwaves, websites and newspapers, using the word “literally†when they mean “figuratively,†jerking their knees under both definitions and proving anything they want with facts. The problem with such an approach is that it relies upon leaving out other facts. Facts like Alonso wanting to leave, informing Benitez that he would be returning home in May and going so far as handing in a formal transfer request in three months later. Contrary to Tony Gale’s incredible assertion during the match at White Hart Lane that “Benitez never fancied Alonso,†not only did the Liverpool manager buy the Basque and turn him into one of the best midfielders in the world, he also sought to keep him until it became clear his appeals were falling on deaf ears. Or the fact that Benitez has been roundly criticised for five years for buying squad players, yet the minute he chooses to add two thoroughbred options to his squad, he is informed he needed quantity rather than quality. Given the financial constraints placed upon his transfer activity by Liverpool’s owners – Benitez is operating a barter economy in a capitalist world, spending only what he raises – quality in quantity was simply not an option. That, of course, has given free rein to critics wishing to advance that most specious of arguments when it comes to Benitez’s side, the over-reliance on Torres and Gerrard. Leaving aside the irony that, if it were true, it therefore contradicts the criticism of selling Alonso, it is also bunkum. Yes, Liverpool are weaker without their two best players. But taking Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie out of Arsenal’s side would have much the same effect. Even Chelsea and Manchester United would find life harder without Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand. Besides which, Liverpool finished second last season, just four points off United, in a season when Torres and Gerrard only started 14 league games together. Still, you can prove anything with facts.