In fact, from the end of July when Deisler returned to the team until mid-August when Liverpool played their first league game, Deisler's performance in training was flawless.
Moreover, Benitez believes he is one of the team's best-performing players since the World Cup.
But after the game against Sheffield United, he realized that something was wrong with Daisler.
Throughout the first half, Deisler's performance was absolutely nightmarish.
On the offensive end, he couldn't pass the ball properly, and his shots were weak and ineffective. Several times, his teammates waved to him for the ball, but he ignored them and was ruthlessly intercepted by the opponent.
That's not all. When he needs to defend, even if Benitez shouts himself hoarse on the sidelines, he remains unmoved as if he doesn't hear him, basically just strolling around the field.
During halftime in the locker room, an enraged Benitez unleashed a torrent of abuse on Deisler in front of all the players.
To his surprise, Deisler didn't try to argue with him at all. He simply admitted his mistake and said that he might be a little out of sorts and that he would definitely get back into form in the second half.
Seeing that Deisler's attitude in admitting his mistake was good, and that Liverpool really needed him to organize the attack on the field, Benitez temporarily gave up the idea of substituting him at halftime and sent him back on the field after the break.
But who knew that Benitez would regret not substituting him off as soon as the second half began.
The reason is simple: Liverpool kicked off in the second half. After the kickoff, Kuyt passed the ball back to the defensive line. According to past practice, Liverpool would usually give the ball to Deisler to organize the attack in this kind of positional play. So after a series of passes in the backfield, Gerrard passed the ball to Deisler from the center circle and ran forward. But Deisler seemed not to see the pass. The ball was already at his feet and he hadn't reacted at all. As a result, Sheffield United intercepted the ball and launched a quick counter-attack, which successfully opened the scoring for Liverpool.
This goal finally pushed Benitez to his breaking point, and he promptly substituted Deisler.
Strangely, Deisler showed no emotional fluctuation on his face when he left the field. He simply patted the teammate who replaced him and walked straight to the player tunnel.
Benitez, who was in a fit of anger at the time, didn't think much of it.
In his view, Deisler's calmness was probably because he knew that the reason he was substituted was because his fatal mistake had led to the team conceding a goal, and he felt guilty about it.
He planned to talk to Deisler after the match to ask him what had happened that day, but after the match, because Liverpool had been held to a draw by a newly promoted team, Benitez was busy dealing with reporters and forgot about it.
When Deisler returned to Melwood training on Tuesday, he was still in the same state.
Benitez then began to have new guesses.
The thought of that possibility made Benitez's heart tighten.
Oh no! This is a huge problem!
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