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Benitez: The right decisions are now being made at Liverpool


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Rafa Benitez has given the tick of approval to the work of the FSG group since taking ownership of the Reds and says it is a major reason that they have been able to stay the course with Man City.

Benitez knows first hand the difference between successful and dysfunctional ownership and therefore was able to give a astute description in what he has seen from John Henry, Tom Werner and their team over the past nine years.

The Echo (via Four Four Two magazine) reported Benitez as saying:

“ My memories of Liverpool are really good with (former owner) David Moores, but he couldn't spend the money to compete against the other teams.

“ When he decided to sell, I think it was to the wrong people. It was very clear - I knew that and the fans knew that, then afterwards, was the proof.

“ Now I think they have a model that is more competitive. 

“They make the right decisions, which means they are able to compete with Manchester City."

 

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The much-loved former manager also touched on his famous ‘facts’ press conference in 2009 when battling Man United for the Premier League title.

While many may well disagree,to this day, Benitez remains steadfast in his belief that he was in full control of his emotions.

“ People tried to compare that press conference to Kevin Keegan's (for Newcastle in 1996) but it was nothing like that. I was very calm.

“ Everything I was saying was a fact, even though people were laughing about my way of pronouncing the word 'fact'. 

“But it was very clear - if you analyse it now, I was right."

The current manager of Dalian Yifang in the Chinese Super League said that the Reds finished the campaign in very strong fashion including thrashing their bitter rivals in their own backyard.

“ Later on we went to Old Trafford and I remember a father and son had a banner saying 'Rafa's cracking up'. 

“We beat United 4-1.

 

"In the last 11 games of the season, our only draw was the 4-4 draw with Arsenal, when Andrey Arshavin scored four goals. 

“We won 10 out of 11.

“ Manchester United had played in the Club World Cup and had a couple of games in hand. They won them and continued winning, but we continued winning as well.

“That's not cracking up. People have short memories. They follow the propaganda of the people who are winning."




 


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We can debate the merits of how it was received, but he was standing up for his club when not too many others were, and when absolutely nobody else was standing up to Ferguson.

 

If we'd replaced Robbie Keane with even a slightly better fit that January, we would have won the league. Draws killed us, not Rafa's 'rant'.

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Just now, El Rojo said:

We can debate the merits of how it was received, but he was standing up for his club when not too many others were, and when absolutely nobody else was standing up to Ferguson.

 

If we'd replaced Robbie Keane with even a slightly better fit that January, we would have won the league. Draws killed us, not Rafa's 'rant'.

Draws killed us because he was often happy for one over going all out for a win.

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28 minutes ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Draws killed us because he was often happy for one over going all out for a win.

Hull at home low point of my life a car crash of a match all round. My vivid memory was of Keane warming up for  90 mins and Rafa bringing Zhar on . Whatever my thoughts were on Keane I was pissed Rafa decided to make point to owners about not wanting him (Keane) during this match.

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53 minutes ago, VladimirIlyich said:

It was an ill timed rant which just played into the hands of the United loving media. He used to do the odd stupid thing which gave others the fuel to use against our club. Klopp just simply refuses to get involved or take the bait while Rafa,sometimes,couldn't help himself.

Our own fucking supporters calling it a rant didn't help. 

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We were competing with United's greatest ever team (they would have dominated Europe during that period if not for coming up against the greatest club side in football history) with a side where absolute unmitigated dross like N'Gog, El Zhar & Dossena racked up 15 league appearances that season. Its a shame some people are too thick to address the complexity in issues: a team that puts David N'Gog (who dropped to the Championship after his time with us), Nabil El Zhar & Andrea Dossena on the pitch for 15 games has absolutely no right to win the league. And before anyone whines about transfer policy and misspending funds .. those 3 cost around £10 mil. combined and were expected to tangibly contribute.

 

Just like now, we were way over-performing back then given the resources available & managed to pull together a genuinely world-class side out of it. But now we are performing at literal-historic levels.

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7 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

It was an ill timed rant which just played into the hands of the United loving media. He used to do the odd stupid thing which gave others the fuel to use against our club. Klopp just simply refuses to get involved or take the bait while Rafa,sometimes,couldn't help himself.

Klopp has ranted plenty. Not against the owners, but about plenty of other things. The difference is Klopp has the charisma to pull it off. Despite all of Rafa's positives, he's easy to label as the anti-social guy who is only obsessed with football.

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4 hours ago, Alex_K said:

We were competing with United's greatest ever team (they would have dominated Europe during that period if not for coming up against the greatest club side in football history) with a side where absolute unmitigated dross like N'Gog, El Zhar & Dossena racked up 15 league appearances that season. Its a shame some people are too thick to address the complexity in issues: a team that puts David N'Gog (who dropped to the Championship after his time with us), Nabil El Zhar & Andrea Dossena on the pitch for 15 games has absolutely no right to win the league. And before anyone whines about transfer policy and misspending funds .. those 3 cost around £10 mil. combined and were expected to tangibly contribute.

 

Just like now, we were way over-performing back then given the resources available & managed to pull together a genuinely world-class side out of it. But now we are performing at literal-historic levels.

Good post  well argued

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5 hours ago, Alex_K said:

We were competing with United's greatest ever team (they would have dominated Europe during that period if not for coming up against the greatest club side in football history) with a side where absolute unmitigated dross like N'Gog, El Zhar & Dossena racked up 15 league appearances that season. Its a shame some people are too thick to address the complexity in issues: a team that puts David N'Gog (who dropped to the Championship after his time with us), Nabil El Zhar & Andrea Dossena on the pitch for 15 games has absolutely no right to win the league. And before anyone whines about transfer policy and misspending funds .. those 3 cost around £10 mil. combined and were expected to tangibly contribute.

 

Just like now, we were way over-performing back then given the resources available & managed to pull together a genuinely world-class side out of it. But now we are performing at literal-historic levels.

Not sure if serious.

 

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43 minutes ago, Red_or_Dead said:

Not sure if serious.

 

3 Champions League finals in 4 years. Ronaldo, Rooney, Berbatov & Tevez across the front 4. Tell me which one was better? Messi, Xavi & Iniesta kept that club from sweeping up everything in the late 00s.

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6 minutes ago, Alex_K said:

3 Champions League finals in 4 years. Ronaldo, Rooney, Berbatov & Tevez across the front 4. Tell me which one was better? Messi, Xavi & Iniesta kept that club from sweeping up everything in the late 00s.

They broke the record for time without conceding a goal. If you can do that and have those 4 up top you have half a chance. I don't think there can be any doubt that was Ferguson's best ever squad.

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On 20/11/2019 at 09:06, VladimirIlyich said:

It was an ill timed rant which just played into the hands of the United loving media. He used to do the odd stupid thing which gave others the fuel to use against our club. Klopp just simply refuses to get involved or take the bait while Rafa,sometimes,couldn't help himself.

I love Rafa, but do agree that he added to the shite at times, but within the environment he was trying to operate, it isn’t hard to see that it would be difficult not to.

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