Superb Benitez article from Irish Indo.

[Ronan4998]

Benitez bashers would have Liverpool chasing fool's gold

Sunday January 14th 2007

 

 

AS a guiding principle, a manager who has as much interest in the Carling Cup as the Jade Goody family have in the collected works of Terence Rattigan won't go far wrong.

 

Yet Rafael Benitez has spent the week under pressure after his decision to find out how good his second-string side were in a match of no meaning brought the answers he may have suspected.

 

It brought the hungry pack out again, asking the kind of questions they must surely tire of one day. "Does Rafael Benitez understand the English mentality?" "Why doesn't he play his best team?" and "When will he play Steven Gerrard in his best position?"

 

Of course, they've dropped the last recently as Gerrard has been playing in what they call "his favoured central midfield position." But in the two matches against the Arsenal where he played in central midfield, he had what are, in the accepted written formation, "strangely quiet" games. These strangely quiet games keep happening and yet they are always reported as 'strange'. Not 'common' or 'disappointing again' but 'strange'.

 

At the forefront of the "Gerrard must be played where he insists he's most effective" campaign has been Sky's Andy Gray, who, in an internet column last week, put the question; "When Liverpool players sit down with their grandkids in years to come, will they want to show them a big box of medals or boast that they finished fourth three years in-a-row? I think we all know the answer to that one." Indeed.

 

Just suppose Liverpool had won on Tuesday night and gone on to claim the Carling Cup in 2007 - beating, say, Wycombe Wanderers in the final. Which story from the past few years would the grandchildren of this Liverpool side want to hear? The uneventful tale of a trip to Cardiff sandwiched between a two-legged glamour game against Barcelona or maybe, just maybe, the story of the most remarkable European Cup run of all-time and their victory, against all expectation, in the quarter-final, semi-final and then in Istanbul?

 

Things won't be what they used to be if the grandchildren want to hear about the Carling Cup, especially with Djimi Traore's grandkids down the road boasting with some incredulity that their doddering grandfather - as sturdy on his feet as he's always been - once won the European Cup.

 

Domestic trophies, it was repeated last week, insulate against the sack, but winning the last two domestic competitions - the Community Shield and the FA Cup - hasn't protected Benitez from calls for his dismissal.

 

The only shame was that Benitez felt the pressure after the 6-3 defeat and decided to blame the board for not being swift and extravagant enough in their transfer dealings. When you have lost out on Nemanja Vidic and Daniel Alves in the past 12 months thanks to your employers' tardiness, it is perhaps understandable, but Benitez would have been better off holding to his private conviction that the cup was meaningless and allowing the press to write what they like.

 

Those who have conducted the fundamentally cretinous campaign that Gerrard should be playing in the centre of midfield despite the best evidence, i.e. his performances against the best teams while playing in that position, should hesitate before deciding to have another swipe, especially over defeat in a competition desperate for patrons.

 

One reporter began her report on the Liverpool match with the words: "If Rafael Benitez needed confirmation of the benefits that winning the Carling Cup can bestow, he had only to look up into the directors' box at Anfield last night. There, his face burnished by a recent dose of Dubai sun, sat Steve McClaren, whose capture of the trophy at Middlesbrough went a long way towards securing him the England manager's job." Again, there is only one appropriate response: Indeed.

 

Benitez could have played the game last week, keeping the moronic Sky pundits happy and placating a media which appears to despise him for refusing to value their opinion. But he must be respected for refusing to play their game when it was the easier option.

 

Benitez again raised the bar, perhaps to an impossible height. Instead of taking the facile routeThe most dangerous thing for Liverpool is that Benitez may be too weak to sell Steven Gerrard

 

to success with a victory in the Carling Cup (a favoured path for his predecessor), Liverpool will now have to beat Barcelona or display the type of form which saw Benitez's Valencia win the first of their Spanish titles (it was around this time that his side became known as 'The Crushing Machine'). The most dangerous thing for Liverpool is that Benitez may now be too weak to conduct what may be the most decisive action of his management: the selling of Steven Gerrard.

 

The writers who once insisted that Gerard Houllier be given more time, during which he would have terminally affected the club, are now among those administering the beating to Benitez. There are many differences between the two managers - one was bad, the other is whatever the opposite of piss-poor and spoofing is.

 

But Houllier played their game. He cherished the reporters, he cared about them; he thought the post-match interview was the most important 60 seconds of the week. He called them on the telephone.

 

Benitez is different. He couldn't give a f**k.

 

dionfanning@gmail.com

[Paul]

Very good.

[Christianlfc]

Yeah thats a well written article, its very rare u find truth these days.

[Njr]

Very good.

 

I am not convinced about the selling of Gerrard though. We need quality players and leaders not sure that we could replace him and become stronger as a result.

[xabi the red]

In the Mirror last Saturday, there was a piece on Sami Hyypia - about half a page on why he wanted to win the league etc etc. All very nice, but over the top was a picture of Gerrard with the caption "Gerrard - Inspirational". Even though he wasn't mentioned ONCE in the article. Not entirely relevant to this thread, but it made me laugh how these hacks work on auto-pilot most of the time.

[Kopite]

It was good until he ended the article with his usual tirade against the previous manager.

 

What exactly is Dion Fanning's problem with GH?

 

Why does he never talk about the mess Souness left behind? That Roy addressed very quickly, but unfortunately couldn't carry on.

 

Instead he mentions GH in every article he writes.

[Hermes]

If we'd have only been interested in the CL and Premiership at the cost of all other trophies then we'd have had a barren 16 years.

 

Rafa was saying in September that he was saving players for a 60 game season, it may well be a 52 game season now.

[ali]

Liverpool blind to the benefits of Wenger's vision

 

By Patrick Barclay, Sunday Telegraph

Last Updated: 11:42pm GMT 13/01/2007

 

So Arsene Wenger says he is ''tempted" to keep faith with his youngsters and see if they are good enough to win the Carling Cup. Of course he is - and of course it gives him pleasure to say so. But the Arsenal manager, if he were actually to take that gamble, would be making the same mistake as Rafa Benitez did last Tuesday night. While resting players is all very well, risking humiliation is irresponsible. And Benitez must privately have feared his fringe players would be inadequate opponents for their Arsenal equivalents. Now he knows.

 

Wenger will surely approach a two-legged semi-final against Tottenham with plenty of respect: more than he showed Wigan last year. Then, he went north with his second string and, having lost 1-0, brought back Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Jose Antonio Reyes for the second leg. Arsenal still lost on an away goal. Wenger will take fewer chances this time - and he has a stronger squad from whom to pick. But he will not be getting over-excited about the 6-3 triumph over as poor a Liverpool side as can be remembered.

 

From a Liverpool point of view, the only good thing to come out of the match was confirmation that, below a top shelf featuring Steven Gerrard, the quality cupboard is bare. Whoever takes over the club's reins from David Moores - and those boys from Dubai appear to be hesitating - will have to put it right.

 

Too much blame was heaped on Jerzy Dudek last week, I felt, although the real eyebrow-raiser came from a critic who seemed to hold the former manager, Gerard Houllier, partly responsible in that, despite having been recruited from the French FA, he had failed to create a semblance of the renowned Clairefontaine academy on Merseyside. As if he had not tried! So dim was his view of Liverpool's youth development when he arrived at the club in 1998 that he soon whisked Gerrard away to join the first-team group at their Melwood training ground. Neither Houllier nor his assistant, Patrice Bergues, who had run a highly successful academy at Lens, proved able to impose their joint ideas on the club establishment, which consists largely of fans - notably the chairman, David Moores, and chief executive, Rick Parry - and former players.

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And Benitez? It was significant that, when he lamented the club's apparent inability to get the sort of bright young things in which Arsenal specialise, he talked of buying them, as if he did not believe they could be grown in his time. Things might or might not have been different if Houllier's advice on modernising this aspect of the club had been taken seven or eight years ago; Wenger and Liam Brady at Arsenal have, after all, left just about every rival standing in that period. But sooner or later, if Liverpool are to rebuild convincingly, they are going to have to stop using bricks without straw.

 

PS

 

For all the understandable disappointment among Scotland supporters at the departure of Walter Smith, things could be worse. It is not as if the country suffers from a dearth of plausible replacements. Indeed, the suggestions emphasise that, while Scotland may not produce as many players as in days gone by, the supply of decent coaches is as healthy as ever. A personal preference would be for one of the least experienced.

 

Not only does Gary McAllister know and love the game; memories of his playing career are fresh enough to constitute a symbol of what the Scottish footballer should aspire to. Lean, fit, technically consummate and desperate to win, he had the lot (as did John Collins, now in charge of Hibs). But McAllister might need an old head to consult. His erstwhile Scotland boss Craig Brown could return to the fold, while Archie Knox is still a key figure in the national coaching set-up. Then there is Alex Miller, a key aide to Rafa Benitez at Liverpool. Meanwhile the reputation of Billy Davies, who, having begun at Motherwell, worked with and eventually succeeded Brown at Preston, continues to soar at Derby. Possibilities abound. If only the Scotland team were as spoiled for choice.

[Kopite]

Typical bollocks from Barclay.

 

If we're such a one-man team then where was he last week?

[Victor Ganges]

Benitez bashers would have Liverpool chasing fool's gold

Sunday January 14th 2007

 

Benitez could have played the game last week, keeping the moronic Sky pundits happy and placating a media which appears to despise him for refusing to value their opinion. But he must be respected for refusing to play their game when it was the easier option.

 

I believe Rafa is still viewed as just another Johnny Foreigner who doesn't fully appreciate the english game.

['Kaka]

If you want a *laugh at the muppets on Jimmy Hill's show/put your foot through the tv at what the muppets on Jimmy Hill's show are saying, tune in to SS1 now as after the break they'll be discussing Rafa and what he said about not being there to win the Carling Cup. Woolnough's already shown some promise by saying "I don't think the Liverpool fans would agree with him". You don't have a clue you daft headed twat.

 

*delete as appropriate.

['Kaka]

Fucking hell, they've got some cunt from the Sun on.

[Kopite]

If you want a *laugh at the muppets on Jimmy Hill's show/put your foot through the tv at what the muppets on Jimmy Hill's show are saying' date=' tune in to SS1 now as after the break they'll be discussing Rafa and what he said about not being there to win the Carling Cup. Woolnough's already shown some promise by saying "I don't think the Liverpool fans would agree with him". You don't have a clue you daft headed twat.

 

*delete as appropriate.[/quote']

 

Do they really think they speak for us?

 

Delluded tw*ts.

[chrisbonnie]

at least Fanning can see how much of a twat andy gray is, i honestly dont nkow one man ,be it a liverpool supporter or not that actually thinks that jock twat speaks any sense

 

i thought that was a good article, i see his points in selling Stevie, but i definetly disagree with his bit on rafa not having the balls, i bet he didnt think twice when Gerrard handed in that transfer request last year

[Ronan4998]

Not sure he meant Rafa hasn't the balls to sell Gerrard - my interpretation of Fanning labelling Benitez "weak" was referring to his position being relatively undermined by the constant drivel being spouted in the English media, rather than him not having the balls to do it - I think he'd do it in a heartbeat but others at the club, and possible future owners, wouln't countenance it.

 

I also agree with Kopite about Fanning constantly blowing on about Houllier - it's generally the one stain on otherwise fine journalism.

[Neil G]

Woolnough's already shown some promise by saying "I don't think the Liverpool fans would agree with him". You don't have a clue you daft headed twat.

 

Ah, Brian Woolnough, the voice of the true fan. The man who was genuinely taken aback when John Parrott explained to him that most fans cared more about their clubs than about England. Fucking muppet.

[RoboRiise]

I believe Rafa is still viewed as just another Johnny Foreigner who doesn't fully appreciate the english game.

 

Course he is - all it would take is a run of five or six bad results and they'd be coming out with the same crap about Wenger even though he's been here for ten years. It's the same little Englander mentality permeating the National press that ensured the English national team will be condemned to the wilderness for at least the next two years and more likely four because they were forced to appoint an English manager.

 

I had my mate pondering the answer to a question for about 15 minutes last week; Who was the last English manager to win the Premier League? (The answer, of course, is that no English manager has won the Premier League). That's why the FA were exposed as laughably out of touch in insisting that the best man for the job was an Englishman - by implication, they were confirming that second best was what they wanted.

 

Second best, however, is not good enough for LFC, just like it isn't good enough for Arsenal, United, Chelsea and even Blackburn back in '95. I'm still confident that we've got the right man for the job.

[Captain]

Course he is - all it would take is a run of five or six bad results and they'd be coming out with the same crap about Wenger even though he's been here for ten years.

I think you're being too kind. All it took was 2 -two- bad cup results within a few days.

[Kopite]

Ah, Brian Woolnough, the voice of the true fan. The man who was genuinely taken aback when John Parrott explained to him that most fans cared more about their clubs than about England. Fucking muppet.

 

Woolnough a man who looks like he should be dodging Lions on the African Savannah - the Bison-headed tw*t.

[KopOut]

I am not convinced about the selling of Gerrard though. We need quality players and leaders not sure that we could replace him and become stronger as a result.

 

Like Alonso, Gerrard has been rubbish this season. I've no idea why.

[Josef Svejk]

Kuyt, Agger, Finnan, and Bellamy have all been better than Gerrard this season. The unquestioning adoration of Gerrard in the English press is astonishing. At least Fanning offers a more or less sane appraisal of Liverpool (notwithstanding the fact that he writes for a dreadful and largely right wing newspaper)...

[barosrocks]

Woolnough a man who looks like he should be dodging Lions on the African Savannah - the Bison-headed tw*t.

 

:lol: That's class - every time I look at him from now on, that image will cheer me up

[Neil G]

Woolnough a man who looks like he should be dodging Lions on the African Savannah - the Bison-headed tw*t.

 

Bison are native to North America and Europe, not Africa. That aside, the image of Brian Woolnough being pursued by large predatory animals is a satisfying one.

[Liquid football]

Kuyt, Agger, Finnan, and Bellamy have all been better than Gerrard this season. The unquestioning adoration of Gerrard in the English press is astonishing. At least Fanning offers a more or less sane appraisal of Liverpool (notwithstanding the fact that he writes for a dreadful and largely right wing newspaper)...

 

 

The real Bellamy only showed up from Wigan onwards. Been brilliant since mind.

[RedAdmiral]

If ANY English manager had achieved what Rafa has since he came here, the English press would be kissing his arse on a weekly basis and calling for him to be the next Engerland manager. The metality of the press in this country is so pig-headed its beyond belief!!