Better times under Benitez
I’ve read some utter nonsense in the last 24 hours or so.
I would expect it from some sections of the media but when I read certain Liverpool sites posting poor match analysis and general knee-jerking I see how far our fanbase have shifted from the old Liverpool ideals.
Let me just spell this out.
Liverpool do not have a divine right to win the league, the FA Cup, the European Cup or any other trophy. We were a great side 20-40 years ago, but for many fans entire lifetime we have not won a title.
Secondly, certainly the defeat to Reading was poor. Just as Man United’s defeat to Leeds was a week earlier. Nobody is glossing over that. It isn’t the first time Liverpool have been knocked out of a cup competition by lesser opponents, and it won’t be the last.
Thirdly, the team that Rafa sent out should have beat Reading. It’s all very well the likes of Jamie Carragher apologising for the players performance but quite frankly, we’re sick of their excuses. Carragher was awful in the match – just as he has been awful all season long. I can tell you what Jamie will do with the ball on the rare occurences he doesn’t let lower league players waltz past him. He’ll think for about 4 seconds then either launch it up the pitch or pass it back to the keeper.
But I’m not just being critical of Jamie here. Because most of them are playing as bad as the vice captain.
Now there are two trains of thoughts here – there is one that the players aren’t good enough, and then there’s the other that suggests the players are playing below their capability.
Last season pretty much the same bunch of players delivered the reds 3rd best ever League campaign. Not Premier League. All league campaigns. The reds won 16 titles being less ruthless than they were last season. In fact, in something like 15 of the 17 Premier League years, last season’s points total would have won the Premier League.
This season has no doubt been poor – going out in the European Cup to essentially shocking last minute defending in a couple of games was hard to stomach. The league hasn’t fared much better yet we could be 4th in 5 days time. For a season so poor, that is hardly unbridgeable. I remember seasons of finishing 30 points behind the champions.
Next up – let’s look at the teams a couple of points above us, Aston Villa, Spurs and Man City. Between the three of them they have spent about £350M (with Man City taking up £200M of it) on players in the last 2 years. Liverpool have turned a profit of £4.5M on transfers. Money siphoned off in to the clubs hole of debt – yet it is the reds who have been earning Champions League money for those two seasons.
This transfer window has seen fans excited about a free transfer. As two players head out the door. Wage bill cut, squad cut further. Another £6.5M banked. The owners are smiling.
Let’s also look at the fact that Fernando Torres has been injured for practically most of the season. Gerrard has been suffering with injury and not been right since about October. Xabi Alonso eventually handed in his transfer request so late that Liverpool could only bring in an injured Italian to replace him who took a few months to get over his ankle injury. Glen Johnson has been in and out of the team. Skrtel fractured his face, while Agger was forced to stand up for an entire flight such was the pain in his back – which he continues to suffer with. The reds have struggled with a settled team all season – and the best players have been either absent or forced to play through pain. Not an ideal scenario.
The fact remains.
Liverpool have been operating a sell to buy policy in transfers for the last 4 windows. Other clubs have now out spent the reds and have more rounded and competitive squads. No decent manager will come to Liverpool to have zero transfer budget to try and make us champions again.
As long as our debt-laden owners are here we will never win the league. We can have a new manager every year if you want. It won’t make any difference. All it will do is make the gap wider.
Last summer was the time to invest in players – to push on and spend some proper money on the players that could take us one step closer.
You know, I still remember Christian Purslow being interviewed the day before the transfer window closed this summer. It was the day after we had signed Kyrgiakos for £1.5M and an interviewer asked him if Liverpool would have any more money for transfers. He smirked, then laughed and said condescendingly ‘I don’t think so.’ Not so funny now is it Purslow.
No more pathetic apologies from the players. We don’t need telling us your performances are unacceptable. We can see it with our own eyes. Play like you did last year and turn our season around.
League Matches Won
Bill Shankly 52.38%
Bob Paisley 56.08%
Joe Fagan 52.38%
Kenny Dalglish 60.71%
Graeme Souness 40.87%
Roy Evans 48.26%
Gerard Houllier 50%
Rafa Benitez 56.19%
The blame needs to be shared round. We should be doing better with the squad we have and the players need to be performing better. My own view is that the ownership is the major issue. If there is no leadership and unity from the top, then nothing functions well on the shop floor. Thats my experience from the workplace and i dont see whats different about a football club. For me Benitez gets too involved in the politics, where he should be focusing on uniting all the players and telling them to forget the owners. He cant pass this message on to the playing staff whilst playing politics through the press aboutoff field matters.
Rafa and Hicks + Gillet are equaly to blame. First of all, no Liverpool Fans wanted the yanks in the first place, especially when the alternative was the super rich Arabs who are also football fans. American Business men are all about making money for themselves, but at least the Glazers are willing to let that a**hole Ferguson buy any player he wants. The only way to make money is to spend money and buy players that will win trophys, thus getting prize and tv money back. Secondly, Rafa picks the team, formation and tactics, and the squad he has SHOULD be better than nearly all the teams we come up against. Rafa has only got a plan A , And when its not working he is too stubbern to make changes and admit he got it wrong. L.F.C FOREVER
I think thta RAFA wants to run a kindergarden school he can do so but not at Liverpool, because his protection over Aquilani is totally absurd, 20 Million and you cannot take the premier league pressure(Pacheco seems to be a beter deal). That kind of money we could buy two english players with no baby sitting. On saterday Maxi and Aquilani sat on the bench and he plays defenders in the midfield no wonder we are going backwards. Lucas is useless in midfield his first pass is always backwards, Insua is too slow on defence at left because they walk past him and most of the goals scored against us are from that side. Should RAFA pick the right side for Wednesday then we could win otherwise i am not so sure.
“We had enough chances to win the Reading game.” – Like?
Reading had enough chances to have buried us by half-time. Not forgetting several more later on, including McAnuff’s great run and the miss at the Kop end.
Head in the sand.
this article is correct. its the owners drowning the club with THEIR DEBT! they’re bringing us all down.
okay we can moan about rafa and the players but ultimately its the owners.
the performance of the team this season had been shocking, reading beat us because they had some desire to win. our players have non, as much as i love carra the love is being lost, getting old and ever more incompetent. leadership skills down.
ideal world we need to get rid of fringe players; buy some talent with prem exp. sort out back line. and stop rotating so much. will this i happen i think not.
we can still finish 4th but how sickening is it as a fan to think “we could finish 4th this season” we should be aiming top!!!! get rid of the owners lfc win PL
The players don’t have any heart left. Its Rafa’s job to get their mentality right and he’s not doing a good job. Maybe we should give Kenny a go.
The best team won,dont compare us to manure becoz they were unluky not to win,they threw the kitchen sink at Leeds,where we were lucky not to go in half time 0-2 down.Carragher can pass,do you remember the pass to Torres against Blackburn last season? = goal of the season.Carra is a rock! I hope Rafa stays because this poor run will test his character,ur only a good fighter if you can also take a punch.He does not help him self with his transfers,subs,comments on occassions.But who would take the job on? Dalglish? Gerrard as player manager? or Carragher? Rafa wiill stick to his guns and get us out of this mess.Have faith and fully suport the manager and the team. YNWA
Leeds could have won 3-0. We had enough chances to win the Reading game.
Anyway, this post isn’t about the Reading game.
I think it is time for us to focus on our next games, and get behind the manager and hope the team improves.
as a hard fan of Liverpool i just want to say a few words here….I like so much this club because of its fighting spirit and play as a team that’s why we still standing to watch they wake up and fight back for the glory of Liverpool….Only one player that i hate so much is Lucas..You see Rafa already give so many chances to Lucas prove and develop himself but want happen he,himself don’t have grow and learn anything….I think now Rafa must change the situation where is he can give the chance to Alberto aquilani and pacheco…I think this two player can be a very good player if you give them chance to prove….Here i just want to say don’t sack the manager yet because we are Liverpool fan give him chance to prove the team.I love Liverpool
youve got it wrong lucas is doing well so far,i did say so far but its rafa hes lazy
It’s pathetic the way some fan’s continue to back this loser Rafa who has wasted million’s on flop signings!.He would have walked ages back had he been manager of any other top side but we continue to make excuses!.He’s signed the majority of the players thus it’s his responsibility too like it would be in any other profession.
Rafa is a stubborn man with average coaching and tactical ability who continues to depend on two players in every match because all other’s are rubbish!.I say give him his £20 million pay-off fee otherwise we could lose Torres and our captain if we fail to finish in the top four!.
Great article. This has been one of those seasons that as a fan you try to look for excuses. The blame starts with the owners and works it way down to the players on the pitch. As a fan, we wish we could see into the heads of the players to know what they are thinking or feeling. As a coach myself, you have times when you have the best training days ever, only to have different players show up on game day and fail. This is why the sport is exciting to watch and week after week we do not know what to expect. Take a look at all the teams this year and notice how things are much different from even last year. You support your team in the good…and in the bad.
On Benitez there is no doubt he is tactically very astute. His failings ? I would suggest he believes in his tactical genius too much. In that he seems to view the team as 11 largely replaceable cogs to perform his tactics. The evidence ? his buying policy, his inability (non-interest ?) in man-management and his rotation policy. Think about how we lost the title last year, did Benitez believe more in his tactics than allways fielding his best 11 ? tactics seem to override quality of players as an objective. That I believe is his failing. Should he go ? Not until the owners change. Why ? we would be £20m worse off and still need cash which doesn’t exist to re-build the squad. So … what’s the point ?
% of winning games is not valid unless it is compare on equal amount of games played. Example. If manager A win 9 out of 10 games it is 90 %. Manager B win 17 out of 20 games, it is 85 %. But you cannot say A is better than B. because we don’t know if A can still win another 9 out of 10 more games. If A only win 7 games in another 10 more games his total win games become 16 out of 20 games it is only 80% in 20 games. Then we can say B is better than A because they play the same total number of games. According your %, Rafa is better than Paisley, which is wrong. You cannot compare between this two managers by % becuase they played different total number of games.
Thanks for the fascinating mathematics lesson.
I refer to my original figures. As much as it might be difficult for you to want to believe – Rafa has indeed won a greater percentage of his league games.
I don’t think Rafa is a better manager than Paisley. Success is about winning trophies.
Ye i hate all these ‘stat men’ who say this and that about win ratio’s and goal percentages. Do you honestly think in five odd years people outside this club will look at liverpool finishing second last term as an achievement ?
All that matters are trophies, winning something at the end of the season , Not percentages.
So its the players fault, do you mean the mediocre players Rafa has bought!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I mean the players that got 86 points last season and are not putting in the required level of performances. You clearly think that Liverpool have mediocre players who are playing this season at the very peak of their abilities.
I would imagine quite a lot of fans think the players are underperforming.
good read. to many fans are getting on rafa’s back,if raf won the CL with houlliers team why could houllier not do it. rafa has bought back the expectations liverpool fans wanted and now we are having a go at the guy for bringing back respect for liverpool. he will walk into real madrid and any italian team if he leaves liverpool. yes we are having a bad season and alot of players are not upto liverpool standered. he buys crouch and he’s called a fool, crouch leaves he’s called a idiot. rafa just cannot win. we will make into top four this season and if provided proper funds to invest in the team i feel rafa will win the league for us.
To try & let Rafa off the hook with league wins percentage stats is pathetic !! Such stats cannot compare over different eras as it includes when it was 2pts for a win so teams away from home were much tighter as 1pt away was a good result also in that era the old 1st division was much tighter all the way down without a massive chasm between a so called ‘Big 4’ & the rest.
Rafa’s philosophy has simply been ‘lottery football’ based mostly on smashing balls into the box & hoping a ricochet will provide a chance or hoping Torres & for the most part Gerrard will save the day. You cannot expect Gerrard to forever bail Liverpool out & the oodles of luck Benitez has previously enjoyed during his reign had to come to an end at some point.
Is there any fans reading this (plastic or not ) really happy with the football they have watched this season, be honest…it’s been ok’ish in patches but overall it has been shocking someone has to take the blame be big enough about it and say i messed up and look for real alternatives …you really cant blame the team, they dont pick themselves…or do they not mentioning lucas, kuyt, insua.
Deep down i know liverpool have potentially a great squad conclusion drawn from last seasons fantastic effort….put it this way liverpool is like a great formula one car with benny hill behind the wheel….(joke)
Babel, Ngog and Kuyt have the worst first touch I have seen in a long time.
As for tactics, do you really think Rafa says to jamie C, what I want you to do is flap like a mad man and then hoof the ball as hard as possible in the direction you just happen to be facing?
I would love to see Jamie C dropped from the team and stick Danny A and Martin S in the centre, at least they can both play a bit.
Give some of the kids a chance too.
And you have to remember, until just recently, our record buy was about 12 mil, where as Man U and Chelsea were spending 12 mil on bench players and were spending 20 to 25 mil per player all over the pitch and then you expect us to compete with that???
Very well said. Finally. A bit of common sense and intelligence.
Could Liverpool ever afford to have a £30M player sitting on the bench week in week out.
Even the Spurs squad cost £50M more to assemble than the Liverpool FC squad. And fans ‘assume’ we should be finishing above Spurs. Deluded.
I am sick of the fans talking nonsense about the manager.Five months back when we were so close of winning the league had anybody expected less than the first place this season with the same poor manager?we’ve lost most of our games when the senior players were injured.people have started blaming rafa for his tactics,the same tactics which have won us CL and gave the continuity as the most feirced rivals.no matter what goes on outside the pitch the eleven players are supposed to play and put up a fight.yes rafa is payed but aren’t the players?i can see people suggesting jose mourinho for the change, THE FORMER CHELSEA MANAGER?ONE OF THE MOST DISRESPESTFUL MANAGER IN FOOTBALL HISTORY,DOES HE DESERVES TO DOTHE JOB ONCE SHANKLY USED TO DO??
Your right 5 months ago we were so close to winning the league, until RAFA’s negative tactics handed the title to the scum.
at long last someone talking sense you dont just look at a few games you look at where we were when rafa took us over .hes been at an dissadvantege since hes been herefirst with parry then with tom and jerry who have taken money of rafa that hes earned through the champions league.this is the first time weve gone backwards and it just about somes up our luck this year when you lose three of your best players in one game .its bad enough with the media but when its your own so called fans haveing kneejerk reactions and some talking rubbish.yes rafas made some misstakes but look at fergie /berbatov/toscic/veron /nanni/anderson/hargreaves.etc .we used to be loyal fans now were no better than any other fans.night owl
Hopefully this defeat to Reading will get the “you don’t pay the FA Cup enough respect” monkey off Rafa’s back. He starts with our first team and loses Torres, Gerrard and Benayoun. If any of the media raise this again, let’s just point to Reading and say ‘stuff you, we’re not going to risk our best players’.
Funny how some people criticise the squad now. Not much criticism last season when we had our best ever Premier League season.
In terms of winning league games Rafa is our second best manager in the club’s entire history.
Some of you need your heads rattling. As for Hiddink? He did a great job with Chelsea didn’t he. Finished behind Rafa last year and his ‘poor’ squad. And he couldn’t even get the might of Russia past Slovenia to the World Cup. No wonder he’s looking for a job.
Anfield online – there is nothing wrong with criticising the squad (and manager) this season. The squad played well last season – no question, at many stages they over-performed. But this season, I think they may have shown their truer performance levels especially when there is no Stevie G / Torres and with the stalwart JC’s performances dipping alarmingly.
Just because we did well last year – doesnt mean you rest on your laurels… you always try to improve , otherwise the likes of Man C, Tottenham, and Aston Villa will overtake us.
Good call man, Im sick with people bringing up last season as an excuse to just let this one pass us by.
Why is it always ok to settle for mediocre/ awful seasons work and to look over any negativity as not being correct or relevant ? That type of talk is called ‘denial’ and is very dangerous because it means that people don’t deal with their problems .
I am not saying Chealsea has “poor” or “Rich” squad but Scolari and Hiddink use the same squad and everyone saw Hiddink turn the thing around. Hiddink with the russia argument is not valid because russia is another team. What I am arguing is different manager effect on the same squad. I am not comparing Rafa and Hiddink, I am talking about the effect of manager on the team with same players, Manager have to motivate the players if he cannot then he is the problem. We have same squd last year and did fine but Rafa unable to motivate the whole team this year, why? Then it becomes Rafa problem.
The blame for liverpool’s performances lies with the manager AND the players.
The players have to take blame for their under-performances- this season has seen many poor performances. I hope it is not due to a lack of heart, just concentration/ training/ fitness etc.
Rafa has to take blame for:-
1) Tactics – he is far too cautious.
2) the signings – the players that he has bought. Whatever the buy/sell policy – he should have done better and improved the squad. The players he has bought for sizeable amounts Riera / Babel / Lucas are not up to standard
3) player mgt (lack of)- led to Alonso leaving.
4) his ego – led to the robbie keane debacle.
5) Not improving the Liverpool academy to get more players coming through.
So its the player`s fault???? why what they did they do wrong???? Its not Torres`s fault that he got hurt and Its Not Gerrard`s fault if he got hurt
but stevie G and JC have had poor seasons this year. Last year, they and Torres carried us to 2nd place. (Pepe and Javier M were awesome as well.) Only Pepe has maintained his performance levels this year.
Great article. I totally agree.
Let me ask all the plastic reds fans this, why is it that tottenham who have done nothing compared to liverpool over the last 5 years…. why is it they can go out and spend what they make on player transfers, why is it they can spend over 114 million over two years when the last time i looked spurs had done nothing, in the champions league.
Can you also tell me why we can not as being a big club just go out and spend 40 – 50 million in one transfer window, its a joke, we never have and we should have been able to do a chelsea or city, liverpool are a huge club and after our continued run in the champions league it should have happened. Ask torres what he wants, and he is right, back the manager or go.
I am not agree with someone who posted “Blame the players, not the manager.” Who bought this players? Rafa himself. Look at the whole team, except Stevie G and Carra, all others players are bought by Rafa himself. If he cannot motivate the players he bought, then he has the problem.
Look Chelsea, during the Scolari time, chelsea lost so many games and played really bad. Then Hiddink came and managed the team with the same players and he turned things around for Chelsea. We shouldnot coverup Rafa failures all the time because of he gave us 5th C.L title. I respect Rafa but if he cannot motivate the players, he bought then something is really wrong. I am not asking for Rafa head but you cannot argue about Rafa is accountable for this.
rafa to leave and take Lucas with him, our team has not looked the same since this boy has cemented his spot in the team ,
for months fans have screaming to play stevie in the deeper role ,
for months fans have screaming for him to stop using the zonal marking
we have the same wingers from last season not the worlds best but we managed to play great football
still got the same wingers but we dnt see the same football ,we pass in lil triangles going nowhere
players walk onto the field with heads down, look bewildered when being subtituted , get left out of starting line ups ,have youngsters that we heard off being the next best thing but dont feature
there is no faith in rafa from the supporters and most importantly the players
We need a change and quick. It couldnt be any worse than things are now.
Our players arnt playing for Rafa at the moment and things are getting worse!
The players are just turning up to get their wages and no more.
If we have to keep Rafa then i cant see any improvement in our play, tactics.effort.
Basically we are all unhappy, players and fans alike with our owners not having the English ‘soccer’
brain,mentality or experience and they dont have a clue what to do, apart from sacking Rafa, the easy option.
Rafa we love you and you luv Liverpool fc and us fans but your days are numbered.
We will look back at your time as our manager when you have gone and i thank you for lots of good times we have had which i wouldnt have swapped.
I do agree we have had allot of injury problems. I do agree it is harsh press/ fan on Rafa going on right now. Some fair, most unfair.
BUT, You all have to see a fact. The squad. Look at the squads of Spurs and City for example. FC Liverpool does not have a quality squad, not even first eleven, even not injury prone, is good enough or guarantees 4th place. Would Kuyt, Ngog, Lucas or Insua play in first eleven of Spurs, City or Villa? Not even a doubt, they would be hardly on the bench of those teams. Babel is attacker. Not winger. Reading game, Rafa gets Ngog as a attacker, Babel on bench, coming later. Ngog would not be even a consideration for a 18 man squad in any of first 10 teams in PL. It is Rafa’s squad.
Good article man can I bring this too peoples attention please, IF we lost Rafa we’d almost certainly lose Torres. Now answer me this would you be happy with that or is it better to keep Rafa in order to keep the worlds best player? I think so I like Rafa the players weren’t good on Wenesday and it must be said Reading played very well in both games I’m pissed off and gutted but it’s not ENTIRELY Rafa’s fault
People fail to realise that in the second half against Reading, minus Gerrard and Torres, the team played with a lot more commitment in the 30 minutes after the restart. I would consider letting Degen start against Stoke at least he offered some threat going up the wing, give Pacheco a run out. Being an unknown quantity Stoke won’t know how to play him. The players are not really as bad as portrayed in the media. As mentioned above the majority featured at some point during the title challenge last season. That said, the owners tried to survive on the cheap, this is were their lack of knowledge of the game. Addmitedly bringing in Ayre and Purslow has been positive. The Yanks do have the money, they just need the balls to back the manager.
I like your idea of playing an unknown against them because teams can sus us out. Good call man
We are not just any club. Yes, we demand results, but we also demand perspective. Rafa has made mistakes and has infuriated me with some little decisions he has made this season, but our problems are mainly due to the players and the owners.
We write-off the season, do our best in the Europa league and start afresh next August… Hysteria and knee-jerking is for other clubs.
Excellent post and in RAFA we trust get behind the manger and team or go and support another team…
A good summary in my opinion. I don’t think bringing a new manager in will make any difference, but a few players losing their positions to the likes of Derby , Kelly and Pacheco just might. Hiddink , The special one or even Capello won’t touch Liverpool with a barge pole unless there are significant funds available. In the end the position we find ourselves in lies at the door of only two people , Moores and Parry.
Rafa must take some blame for the teams poor performances in that he is failing to instill the confidence which is what we are severely lacking at the minute. The same can be said for “captain” Stevie, who fails to motivate on the pitch when the chips are down.
The players last season proved on their day that they could pretty much beat any team put in front of them, home or away, with relative ease (Real Meadrid, Man Utd games spring to mind).
Rafa is and has proven to be tactically superior over many seasons, so much so I remember a certain Sir Alex Ferguson writing Rafa a personal letter after the Istanbul game congratulating the Didi Hamman sub which turned the game and brought us the cup home.
Lets all support our team! YNWA
How many times did Reading attack us at speed down the flanks, get a quick cross in and score or nearly score? How many times did Liverpool pass the ball sideways, backwards, sideways again and try in vein to pick a pass through a tiny gap right in front of goal? We seem t only want to play through the middle of the pitch when it’s all there to be used. We scored our goal when Stevie came in from the wing and hit a ball across goal; bam – anything can happen and it did! Why do players who are in good positions to shoot, pass the ball sideways? We look like we are passing a live grenade that nobody wants. Have a go lads, make the ‘keeper work and see what happens. It’s exciting for the fans and you never know, we just might score a few too.
Hear hear,someone,well a few righteous people have mentioned it,the club is having an awful season,we HAVE had worse,we cannot afford to get rid of Rafa and why should we,the press want shut of him,did the Mancs want shut of Fergie after 5years,they did,he then went on to win the league.
Leave the moaning out and all apologies aside GET out and earn your money,you never heard StJohn moan when he was on less than $25 a week and still playing with a broken nose.Nowadays they would need a bout of cosmetic surgery and a week or two with a therapist to get over it,get out at the Britannia and prove you are worthy of our shirt,all of you.
Give Pacheco a go,he looks lively.
I am a Manchester United fan.Well,for the first time,i saw someone analysing liverpool’s situation differently from all other articles or statements.Yes,you are right.Without spending money on the squad,it is difficult to keep up with the likes of chelsea,man city or tottenham.They are improving all the time.But i have a feeling that,sometimes,its important to give chance to the young players from the academy when things aren’t going right.Look at Everton.Their injury problems unearthed many talented players into the bigger picture or say Arsenal,even though they had a difficult progression from the era of invincibles,the young gunners are actually playing sexy football.Chopping and changing managers won’t help the situation.Believe in Rafa
And I’m sorry, but you don’t sack people after just a few games in, if that view was taken through all jobs, we would all be out of work as we had an off few weeks.
As for Jamie Redknapp, if you saw him on soccer am, you will know that he cant even say nice things about his own son, let alone anyone else.
We have been behind the other big teams for nearly 20 years, and that isn’t going to change all the time we don’t have big money to spend on big players.
Success earned through hard work and doing the best with what you have is much more rewarding than buying it.
Just the point ! the players are not willing to work hard ! and if rafa can’t get some form of stability in whatever way shape or form them he has failed as a manager regardless of all the problems he has had to deal with . it is a managers job to instil belief in his team, to provide tactics and training and support which can pull them out of this situation or at the very least make them show some form of resilience to there current situation but too often they have fallen apart .
The coaches job is to select teams , buy players with the funds that are avaiable, instil confidence into players and play formations that are best suitable to win each game .
i think he has failed many of the above.
We have been playing negative since day 1 of the season, the type of football has been dismal ,we havent strung more than 15 passes this season and if we did playing the ball along the backline does not count.
Now do we blame the players for not knowing what to do or a ”Tactician” that was supposed to be drilling instructions in training.
i do understand that funds are needed to get better players but when the football has been negative you got to ask , is he really that good of a coach
bad decisions , tactics, selectio
I agree though not all Rafa’s signings have been great………
Holy mother of god, someone who actually talks sense, what is the world coming to??
There has never been a season like this that I can remember where we have been so unlucky with both desicions and injuries, yet we are not that far behind. Man U have been playing so shocking football, but have just had the luck, same with Chelsea, Arsenal are up and down and will always be this way, then it leaves the next pack, which is us, spurs, villa and City and 2 games is all it takes to put a completly different spin on things, be it good, or bad.
Some ex players saying that Rafa should have gone ages ago is a joke, last season we finished 2nd, so you wouldn’t sack him then, and so it can only be considered as a comment aimed at this season.
While i would not totally blame Rafa for this season, he is not totally blameless ether as some fans are trying to make out and he has contributed to his own image and media perception by making some monumental gaffs such as his ‘fact’ rant, negative tactics against lesser teams and sale/ purchase of players .
This season has been a horror show! So many injury’s to key personnel and awful decisions going against us have been in abundance , quite the revers of last season in which so much went our way.
But where i am concerned is that there is a very apparent lack of effort and fight in the team as well as a tendency to give up or blow up and this is what rafa will ultimately be judged on ” His ability to turn things around” .
well said, aboout time someone with the right to publish speaks some sence! absolutly sick of all the so called liverpools blindly commenting on stuf and getting on rafas back! to many will just jump on the media bandwagon, and help heap the presure on to a man who as you rightly said has used practically no funds to win the champions league (proberly the worst SQUAD
Blame the players not the manager? It’s tuly amazing how little some people know about football.
Let me explain somethng to slow learners, A MANAGER puts his job in the hands of his players. If he is very lucky he will get time to buy his own players who he trusts his job with and sends them out to prove what a wise and good manager he is.
if the players fail, and the manager bought and trains these players, then the manager has failed. You do not see clubs sacking 22 players, do you? No, you sack the manager who bought the useless players.
It would be nice if people actually understood football before coming out with such ridiculous statements that is isn’t the mangers fault when the players he signed and trains every week fail!
you cannot have it both ways, shanks, cloughie, busby etc were all great managers and got the credit they deserve (specially when you look at what cloughie had to work with). when things go sour, the buck must stop with the manager.
its Rafas players/squard after 5 years.we play against mighty Reading in 2 games and can only score one goal .the other was a O.G…The blind manager cant see that Insua give away alot every game .and that Lucas dont give the team anything .Kuyt is a waste of space on the RW.but will be select instead of Maxi fo most of the games.Rafa is blind and every fan know that those 3 players are not goodenough but the manager will show us he was right to sell Alonso becurse we have the only Brazilian in the world without skill…RAFA OUT the time is up…
its not fair to blame rafa for what liverpool are doing on the pitch.the players are not delivering up to their standards whatever those standards may be.like lucas can’t put together 2-3 attacking passes in a cup game let alone even a league game.kuyt cant cross from the right flank while benayoun tends to cut inside everytime he gets the ball while both of them can be excellent on their days.gerrard & torres have been injured most of the season, but still torres is among the top 5 scorers in the premier league.in defence carragher has not been in form and daniel agger although has shown promise still find it difficult to keep a clean sheet.the best player this season has been undoubtedly pepe reina.he has kept liverpool to the place dey r