Rafa Benitez loses his grip on transfer reality, again.

So Rafa's at it again. The grass is always greener on the other club's transfer policy, isn't it Rafa?

According to dear old Rafa - or should that be David Brent since the growing of his 'I'm not going through a mid-life crisis, honest' goatee - Florent Malouda chose Chelsea over Liverpool due to 'greed'. Chelsea could offer him more money, and a glamorous west London lifestyle; the Pool could offer him, er, a bag of chips and the river Mersey.

You have to wonder whether even Rafa really believes this. Surely the main reason Malouda went to Chelsea over Liverpool is because he believed Chelsea were more capable of winning trophies, even after the two Champions League semi-finals defeats to the Pool.

Benitez seems to have a strange grasp of reality when it comes to transfers. He's the man who always wants more money, always claiming other clubs have more and Liverpool are being left behind.

I'm sure many of you remember these farcical statements after the Pool's 6-3 drubbing to the Arse last season:

We had seven players with first-team experience and could not win. There is a lesson there for the whole of our club. If you want to compete at the top level, you must be able to spend a lot of money not only on your first team, but on the young players and reserves. Arsenal spent [pound]4m on [Abou] Diaby, [pound]4m on Denilson, [pound]8m on [Theo] Walcott and [Julio] Baptista is a [pound]22m player.

So apparently, Arsenal have had more money to spend, or have literally spent more money, in the years since Benitez became Pool manager. Hmm. Don't think so Rafa, especially the bit about Baptista being a £22 million player. We all get carried away though, I know.

So, no Rafa. You have spent big, you have attracted players to the club, and you have been able to handsomely remunerate them. The fundamental problem has been that a fair few of the lumieres you've signed have been, well, a bit rubbish. Signing Craig 'I don't have a personality disorder, honest' Bellamy for a fairly wide chunk of cash, following this up with Jermaine 'tag-boy' Pennant, and having the devastating vision to not only snap up Bolo Zenden, but to start him on the wing in the Champions League final are merely a few of the more obvious cases in point.

So grow up Rafa. I know its all mind games with the moaner in chief, but sometimes players don't want to sign for clubs for reasons other than money.