Rafael Benitez's cryptic criticism of his Liverpool team, opponents Wigan and referee Phil Dowd following last night's disappointing 1-1 draw at the JJB Stadium provided the latest entry into his bulging volume of memorable quotes.

Here, we look at some of the best 'Rafa rants'.

• "We had a meeting in Manchester with managers and FA about the Respect campaign. And I was very clear, forget the campaign because Mr Ferguson was killing the referees. But he is not punished. How can you talk about the Respect campaign and criticise the referee every single week?'' - Benitez launched a scathing, scripted attack on Manchester United rival Sir Alex Ferguson on January 9 this year, accusing him of getting away with murder when it came to criticising officials. Embarrassingly for the Spaniard, his team have not won since.

• "There are two options if we don't want more problems with fixtures. One is the same as in Spain, the draw for the first part of the league is known, everyone knows which weekend. In the second half everyone plays the opposite, so you all know. Or there is another option. That Mr Ferguson organises the fixtures in his office and sends it to us and everyone will know and cannot complain'' - The Reds boss continued by blasting Ferguson for his suggestion that the fixture list often worked against his team.

• "When you play against the smaller teams at Anfield you know the game will be narrow'' - Benitez riled the Blue half of Merseyside with this comment after a goalless derby draw in February 2007.

• "If we want to be contenders next season and back in the Champions League final, we need to improve the squad. When you see the quality of some of the other teams, it is clear. Manchester United just spent £20million on Owen Hargreaves, so we know what the market situation is. But if we want to be close to United and Chelsea and to have another chance in the Champions League, we need to go two steps at a time. I hope I get the backing to do that'' - Following his team's 2-1 defeat to Milan in the 2007 European Cup final, Benitez immediately threw down the gauntlet to new owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to provide financial backing.

• "I am enjoying this result and concentrating on coaching and training my players'' - After being told by the Anfield hierarchy not to fret over player acquisitions in the January transfer window, Benitez fended off all questions about the issue with this terse response in November 2007.

Where has it all gone wrong?

OFF-FIELD ISSUES
After Liverpool thrashed Newcastle 5-1 on December 28, they led the table by three points, had a 10-point advantage over Manchester United and their title odds were cut to 9/4.

Yet from the following day, off-field issues began to dominate the headlines at the club. The first was the arrest of captain Steven Gerrard. That was followed by manager Rafael Benitez's public castigation of Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and disclosures about his contract negotiations. After a few quiet months, political turmoil at boardroom level also returned to the surface. All could have had a destabilising effect.

BENITEZ DECISIONS
The Spaniard's Ferguson outburst is beginning to look even more ill-advised after the last three results. Had his side won those games, the matter would have blown over. If the title slips away, it will long be remembered as a turning point, even if other factors were the real reason.

Benitez's selections have always raised eyebrows and his treatment of £20million man Robbie Keane continues to puzzle. Keane has been fully fit but still fails to feature regularly. It was especially surprising against Stoke when Fernando Torres was not deemed fit enough to play. It has to be said though, Keane's performance against Everton was poor.

LUCK
It is fair to say that while United have benefited from a little, Liverpool have been down on theirs. Stoke deserved to take a point off them but they could easily have had none after Gerrard hit the woodwork twice in the last five minutes. They were also only three minutes away from beating Everton and seven short of seeing off Wigan.

CUTTING EDGE
Liverpool paid the price for sitting back and failing to kill off Everton as they conceded a late free-kick and Mikel Arteta crossed for Tim Cahill to score. At Wigan, they got careless in defence and Lucas gave away the penalty for Mido to equalise.

NICOLAS ANELKA has embarrassed Phil Scolari by insisting Alex Ferguson is the big difference between Chelsea and Manchester United.

The Blues striker said: “United don’t have a notably better or more complete squad than Chelsea or Liverpool.

“But Ferguson is so smart and so impressive.

“He keeps spotting and signing precisely the right players to complement what he already has and give balance to his squad.

“Then, what is massively important and difficult, Ferguson somehow teaches them to understand and demonstrate the special spirit of his club.

“He has been there doing it for a long time. But he keeps on succeeding.”

Chelsea travel to Liverpool tomorrow and Anelka added: “Failing to take all three points would be a catastrophe in terms of what lies ahead for us during the remainder of the season.”