IT HAS to be infuriating to be a Liverpool fan. One night, they are hammering Real Madrid 4-0 or beating Manchester United 2-0, another night they are losing 0-2 to Middlesbrough, or drawing 2-2 to Hull.

They go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, sometimes in the same week.

What is their problem? Warring American owners, Rafael Benitez's obsessive tinkering, a lack of depth - so many excuses have been offered. I am struck by one thing though.

After Yossi Benayoun's header beat Real Madrid at the Bernabeu two weeks ago, he said: "It was madness in our changing rooms. Everyone was screaming and shouting — except the manager, of course.

"He didn't even congratulate us or shake hands, never mind join in all the hugs and backslapping. But that's just how he is. He won't stand for any of us getting carried away or feeling we are superior to anyone else.

"He didn't say a word to me about the goal. He likes keeping you on your toes. He only announced the team two hours before kick-off."

But maybe that is what is missing - a sense of superiority, the kind that Manchester United take into every match.

The kind that Liverpool's greatest manager Bill Shankly imbued into his side, and made rivals believe it, as he turned ordinary players into worldbeaters.

There are only two top teams in Merseyside, he once famously said - Liverpool and Liverpool reserves.

He never missed an opportunity to build up the confidence of his players, even when he was telling them off.

Defender Tommy Smith recalled: "When I thought I was good enough for the first team, I marched into his office to ask when I would be getting a game. He told me my time would come but in such a way that I came out of the office thinking I was the best thing since sliced bread."

Shankly would tell his team they were playing a side doomed for relegation. After the win, he would tell Liverpool players that they had just beaten the second best team in the world.

Once, when as Liverpool players waited to be told which United players they will mark in a game, Shankly took the Subbuteo-figures of Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best off the model pitch and into his pocket. They were United's three best players but Shankly said: "Don't worry about them, they can't play at all."

His players believed and dominated English football.

Benitez should just drop his hard act, embrace his players and build their confidence. That may be the difference between him and Alex Ferguson.

Benitez seems to value his tactics above players, while Ferguson puts players first.

I know for whom I would rather work.