LIVERPOOL OUTWIT MAN UTD

Rafa Benitez`s decision to try and sign Gabriel Heinze is a masterstroke from the canny Spaniard, it is a total win-win situation for Liverpool Fc and has left Alex Ferguson with one more off-field distraction to deal with.

Benitez normally does not get involved with the off-field mind games that is all too common in today's world of football between opposing managers, but in Liverpool and Chelsea`s Champions league encounter last season, Benitez showed that he is more than capable of competing in this arena of battle with the very best and this was the first sign that he was willing to enter these war of words. But this attempt to sign Heinz from Liverpool's arch enemies Man Utd has all the hallmarks of a true chess grandmaster. In one simple move he has backed Sir Alex into a corner with his audacious and some may say cheeky bid which would make Heinz the first man since Phil Chisnall who made the same move in 1964.

I have no doubt that Benitez would really like to sign Heinz but i also believe that when he first made his move for the Argentinian that he thought that it would have very little chance of success and was just trying to stir up a little trouble in the Utd camp, but because of Man Utd`s amateurish handling of the situation they have actually made the move which would be a nightmare for the club and their fans become a real possibility.
Sir Alex telling the media that under no circumstances would Heinz play for Liverpool was a mistake. Heinz was on holiday after playing in the Copa America and they had told the player months earlier that if a club came in with a bid of £6.8m he would be free to move there. I'm sure if Sir Alex had not panicked when the Liverpool bid came in and actually explained the problems that this transfer would cause that Heinz would wait for something else, but Heinz like all Premiership player's lead a pampered life and are not used to being told no, so it must have really riled Heinz that he was being told who or who not he could sign for after the earlier agreement between club and player.

Man Utd have backed themselves into a corner in this situation and may find themselves in court twice this summer with the drawn out Tevez affair and these are all distractions that a team just does not need.

One indication of how much Benitez is enjoying this little battle was with his latest little tongue in cheek statement that "I don't know what the problem is." Somehow i think he knows how it would hurt all Manchester fans around the globe if Gabriel Heinze moved to Liverpool and even worse if he became a success at Anfield.