My take on Rafa Benitez.......

[WhiskeyJar]

Its been a while since I have been on here. I was a a regular poster not so long ago, before we went on a serious loss of form.

 

I have not been avoiding this place due to a user but due to the great negative reaction that it generates when the team suffers.

 

I have not read all your different reactions to the team but some of the media stick that we have been getting has been uttelry abysmal and nothing short of shocking.

 

Rafa Benitez has done great things for this club, in short he has pulled us out of the dark ages of the UEFA competition to the Champions League football. He has turned us from 4th and 3rd place hopefulls to a top 4 team. Its a step up no matter how you twist.

 

We have once again an exciting academy which is overseen by a Mr. Daglish who is also helping Rafa out in his most hour of need.

 

But its not about what the man has done is it? Lets forget about how we won the Champions League under him and all the good he has done and lets focus on how the fucking S*n has called the Liverpool team Ex-verpool. Its enough to get my blood boiling.

 

In the end, we lost our focus against Fulham, Sunderland, Aston Villa and all of our other losses.

 

Yes I do blame Rafa for what our team is going through. Yes I do think our bench lets the cutting edge beffiting Liverpool. Yes I do think something has to be done. But I am NOT asking for Rafas head.

 

I still stand by a manager that has done so much for our club. Even in our darkest hour, when all will lose hope I still will stand firm and support him because quite simply, Rafa is a pragmatist. He does things for the good of the team, even if that means taking off our most creative of players when we are 2-1 down. It means he saw something that wasnt right, that you or I did not see.

 

In the end I stand by him, in the end I accept Rafa being our manager and to guide us through another storm.

 

In Rafa I still trust.

 

In our first team I trust.

 

Pity I cant say that for our squad.

[Fowlers God]

I know why doesnt every single person on this forum start a NEW thread about their thoughts.

 

FFS

[WhiskeyJar]

I know why doesnt every single person on this forum start a NEW thread about their thoughts.

 

FFS

 

You dont want to read it then dont.

[Salte]

Its been a while since I have been on here. I was a a regular poster not so long ago, before we went on a serious loss of form.

 

....

 

In Rafa I still trust.

 

In our first team I trust.

 

Pity I cant say that for our squad.

 

Good post. Fully agree.

 

One of his major advantages is to get the team performing out of their skin in big matches. Thats not something I'd easily discard after having seen Souness', Evans and Houlliers teams (granted, Houllier had his moments, but they dont compare with Rafas imho).

 

The bottom line is (for most of us) whether you think he is a good manager or not. I think he is a brilliant manager. He has his faults, some more obvious than others, but the whole picture should be taken into consideration.

[Guest PurpleNose]

I know why doesnt every single person on this forum start a NEW thread about their thoughts.

 

FFS

 

Bollocks. Why didn't I think of that? Possibly would have got the same response anyway. A picture of some eggs.

[Guest ShoePiss]

Its been a while since I have been on here. I was a a regular poster not so long ago, before we went on a serious loss of form.

 

I have not been avoiding this place due to a user but due to the great negative reaction that it generates when the team suffers.

 

I have not read all your different reactions to the team but some of the media stick that we have been getting has been uttelry abysmal and nothing short of shocking.

 

Rafa Benitez has done great things for this club, in short he has pulled us out of the dark ages of the UEFA competition to the Champions League football. He has turned us from 4th and 3rd place hopefulls to a top 4 team. Its a step up no matter how you twist.

 

We have once again an exciting academy which is overseen by a Mr. Daglish who is also helping Rafa out in his most hour of need.

 

But its not about what the man has done is it? Lets forget about how we won the Champions League under him and all the good he has done and lets focus on how the fucking S*n has called the Liverpool team Ex-verpool. Its enough to get my blood boiling.

 

In the end, we lost our focus against Fulham, Sunderland, Aston Villa and all of our other losses.

 

Yes I do blame Rafa for what our team is going through. Yes I do think our bench lets the cutting edge beffiting Liverpool. Yes I do think something has to be done. But I am NOT asking for Rafas head.

 

I still stand by a manager that has done so much for our club. Even in our darkest hour, when all will lose hope I still will stand firm and support him because quite simply, Rafa is a pragmatist. He does things for the good of the team, even if that means taking off our most creative of players when we are 2-1 down. It means he saw something that wasnt right, that you or I did not see.

 

In the end I stand by him, in the end I accept Rafa being our manager and to guide us through another storm.

 

In Rafa I still trust.

 

In our first team I trust.

 

Pity I cant say that for our squad.

 

I agree with that.

[kacangpool]

i support rafa. but recent criticisms of him and the team have been quite justified. i've absolutely no problem with what other fans have to say cos i am as disappointed and dejected as them.

 

i hope somehow things turn around soon. and we win something this season. we have been trophy-less for too long.

[Little Sammy]

I don't think we should be calling for Rafa's head at this moment and I myself will give him until the end of the season to prove his worth. However, at the end of the day we have lost 6 matches out of the last 7. Whatever the excuse you come up with, that is NOT Liverpool form. You would probably even see the likes of Steve Bruce sacked after a run like that, let alone the manager of the most successful club in British football.

 

I will stick by him, but only because I know the Yanks would probably choose Bruce Arena or some other fuckwit who doesn't know shit about football instead. I also realise that Rafa has done a lot for this club, and I do appreciate those wonderful European nights.

 

But then again, if you compare the improvement we have made in the past 5 years with that of our rivals, you would see that our progress is not so good after all. Look at Chelsea. Look at Man Utd. You might even look at Arsenal's young squad with the potential they have. They may not win anything but you always know they're going to improve because they're young.

 

Whatever you think, despite our improvements, we are lagging seriously behind many of our competitors. And that is without mentioning Man City, Spurs, etc.

[Fugitive]

Bollocks. Why didn't I think of that? Possibly would have got the same response anyway. A picture of some eggs.

 

Momo/Phily/Mac, I'm onto you.

 

*Stares hard*

[Guest PurpleNose]

Momo/Phily/Mac, I'm onto you.

 

*Stares hard*

 

Eh?

[Torvald Utne]

Eh?

 

Sure sign of guilt.

[Guest PurpleNose]

Sure sign of guilt.

 

No idea who the people are that you're mentioning. Nevermind.

[Benitaur]

My take is that the anti-Rafa crowd are just eagerly waiting for just this moment. The squad is at its weakest and all our top players are either out or not in top form.

 

Yes we've lost quite a number of games already, but we are using a weaker team due to injuries. For years people complain about rotation, this selection we are playing would arguably be the rotated weaker squad I am sure most would agree. Otherwise you won't see Degen, Voronin etc near the squad.

 

No one here will doubt with a fully fit top team we will absolutely twat anyone would they? We proved that last season.

 

IMO if we are within 12 points of the leader, with a fully fit first squad we have a chance still for no 20 IMO. Long shot but possible

[Herp McDerp]

....IMO if we are within 12 points of the leader, with a fully fit first squad we have a chance still for no 20 IMO. Long shot but possible

*Ahem*

[coop]

I think if Rafa were to leave whoever took over would inherit a superb starting eleven with a drop in quality after then.

 

Personally it is for this reason that i would not be sacking Rafa yet as whoever was the manager would be struggling to get the best of the team at the moment with injuries.

 

Come the end of the season and the injuries have cleared up and we are still struggling and getting beat by the teams of the ilk of Sunderland and Fulham then by all means i think Rafa should be replaced.

[Jens]

I think the biggest reason we should do everything to keep hold of Rafa is he has put together the most exciting starting eleven in a very very long time. It´s just bad luck they haven´t got a game together yet.

 

Reina

Johnson Agger Carragher Aurelio

Mascherano Aquilani

Kuyt Gerrard Riera

Torres

 

I love the sight of that.

[coop]

I think the biggest reason we should do everything to keep hold of Rafa is he has put together the most exciting starting eleven in a very very long time. It´s just bad luck they haven´t got a game together yet.

 

Reina

Johnson Agger Carragher Aurelio

Mascherano

Kuyt Aquilani Gerrard Riera

Torres

 

I love the sight of that.

 

I think Rafa has us down to play more of the Spain/Barcelona formation with Aquilani alongside Gerrard with both of them dropping back into central midfield as and when needed.

[Mr. Spoon]

I think the biggest reason we should do everything to keep hold of Rafa is he has put together the most exciting starting eleven in a very very long time. It´s just bad luck they haven´t got a game together yet.

 

Reina

Johnson Agger Carragher Aurelio

Mascherano Aquilani

Kuyt Gerrard Riera

Torres

 

I love the sight of that.

 

My Pro Evo team. And definitely the best (and probably most balanced) 11 we have. Sorry Yossi.

[Benitaur]

*Ahem*

 

Fuck, thats what last season did to me. For most of it I thought we were going to win.

[Brownie]

I think if Rafa were to leave whoever took over would inherit a superb starting eleven with a drop in quality after then.

 

Personally it is for this reason that i would not be sacking Rafa yet as whoever was the manager would be struggling to get the best of the team at the moment with injuries.

 

Come the end of the season and the injuries have cleared up and we are still struggling and getting beat by the teams of the ilk of Sunderland and Fulham then by all means i think Rafa should be replaced.

 

Do you think we have lost 6 out of 7 games because of injuries?

[Brownie]

The following quote from the original post, was hard to stomach for me:

 

He has turned us from 4th and 3rd place hopefulls to a top 4 team. Its a step up no matter how you twist.

 

I don't really know where to start with that.

[sh#t waffle]

Do you think we have lost 6 out of 7 games because of injuries?

 

It's a factor, certainly. As are major players being out of form, individual errors at crucial times and mistakes from the manager, be they transfer market errors or errors during games.

[Brownie]

It's a factor, certainly. As are major players being out of form, individual errors at crucial times and mistakes from the manager, be they transfer market errors or errors during games.

 

I agree that all of those things are factors.

[TedCrilly]

The man deserves to be in charge until the end of the season no doubt. He has brought trophies, has signed some top class players and arguably the world's greatest striker. But at what point do you say look mate this isn't good enough for Liverpool football club. We've now lost 6 from 7 could stretch to 7 from 8 tonight and that is not acceptable. If United overtake us in leagues this year then whos to say how far they will go ahead, we may never catch them. I agree that all this Rafa bashing has been extreme but you have to look at the bigger picture too. If we fall out of the top 4 this year then maybe you have to say the man just ain't up to it. For how much longer can we accept watching our rivals lift the title.

[coop]

Do you think we have lost 6 out of 7 games because of injuries?

 

I certainly think we would have performed better.

 

Had we got a fully fit squad with the likes of Aquilani, Mascherano and Gerrard in midfield and Torres upfront plus then the stability of Agger and Carrgher in defence i think we would be very difficult to beat.

 

You only have to looked at the difference Agger made alongside Carragher to see that those two are our first choice central defenders and we suddenly looked far stronger in that department.

 

Any team would miss players of the standard of Torres and Gerrard and the sooner these two are back to full fitness the better.