What a fantastic week for Liverpool! It all started with a massive Champions League pre-quarter final win against European immortals Real Madrid followed by the genocidal dismantling of World and European club champions Manchester United at Old Trafford in the premier league. Now with the Premier League title race wide open and the Champions League set to throw up intriguing opponents for Liverpool, Rafael Benitez’s new contract deal could not have come at a more compelling time for the Merseysiders.

There have been far too many worthless speculations about the Spanish manager’s future at Anfield and honestly the English press did not make the situation easy one bit for the coach by constantly speculating on an alleged strife between Benitez and the club’s American owners George Gillet and Tom Hicks. Well, undoubtedly there was something about the management of the club that annoyed Rafa Benitez but he is a sort of man who wants to get things right straightaway, whether be it the transfer policy or the management of his squad and backroom staff.

Calmness personified on the outside yet the former Valencia manager is as hard as the rock of Gibraltar inside. Rafa is not as charismatic as a Jose Mourinho or a Sir Alex Ferguson, the likes of whom are fond of getting under the noses of opponents by throwing spicy press conferences that fill out the pressmen’s morning or evening news yet the Spaniard does not mince his words either when speaking out his mind. Sir Alex got a proof of Rafa’s wrath when the latter openly criticized the Scot’s alleged disrespect of match officials.

Many sections of the media attributed Rafa’s outburst against the Manchester United supremo as a blatant sign of Liverpool’s frustration of not being able to catch up with United but the 48-year old boss stuck to his point while masterfully tackling mentally sapping media speculation of his future at the club in addition to masterminding a victory at Old Trafford that is sure to have raised a few doubts at old enemy United’s camp for not only the rest of the season but for the long term.

In five or ten years time, Rafa Benitez may not be around at Anfield but the massive 4-1 win over the Red Devils- the Reds’ biggest victory at the Theatre of Dreams in seventy three years- would surely have a huge role to play to motivate the next generation of Anfield legends to take the club forward to a new level of domestic and continental glory. The bottomline is the Liverpool fans love him and this undisputed faith has seen Benitez pass out the toughest of tests both on and off the field and now the time has come to repay the faith so that Anfield would ‘never have to walk alone’.

The road to the glory, especially on the domestic front, starts from here with Mr.Benitez signing a new deal that will keep him until 2014. Now he has got his way by putting pen to paper, Rafa would be free to manage Liverpool in his very own way and that is why the timing of the deal is so crucial to Liverpool’s chances of putting pressure on Manchester United and Chelsea for the premier league and Champions League titles. The preparation for the latter stages of this season and for the next season can start in earnest with Liverpool not having to worry about their manager’s future and this is already half the battle won mentally.

All the speculations will end and the media can now concentrate on focusing on the club’s preparations to end the season strongly. After signing the deal, Rafa Benitez was quoted as saying, “My heart is with Liverpool, so I’m delighted to sign this new deal. I love the club, the fans and the city and with a club and supporters like this, I could never say no to staying.” This reflects the true personality of a man who in the midst of a rumour storm never forgot to thank Liverpool football club by signing a new deal.