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Rafa Benitez not to blame for Liverpool FC's awful start


RedMyst
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The next one of Rafa's brilliant youth players to establish himself in the starting eleven, will be the first one.

 

How long does it take to nuture a youth policy?

 

The players who have been signed at the ages of 14, 15, 16. can't be expected to appear in the first team for at least 4-6 years.

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Some very bright prospects there who are all youth internationals.

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As you say, the problem wasn't that benitez was sacked, it was the replacement that wasn't good enough. I do think at the time the likes of Hodgson was as good as we were going to get hence the reason I wouldn't have got rid of Benitez, hindsights a great thing though and we may well have been sitting top of the league now, non of us knew.

 

I've seen this argument at least one hundred times now, and it still doesn't wash with me. Sorry for singling you out gmac...

 

We all knew the state our club was in, so it's probably fair to say most coaches in and around Europe did too. Sacking Benitez this summer was imo the worst sporting move this club has done in my lifetime (36 years), and I think history will show this. I also think a lot of our fanbase understood that, as noone with the right credentials would come in and take over. The anti-Rafa people were a lot more vocal though, and along with the media (and probably some of the players) gave the board and the owners the excuse they needed to get rid of a critical voice.

 

I have maintained through the last year that the players were just as (even more if I'm completely honest) culpable as Rafa for last season, and imo it would have been better to ship out the ones most unhappy (Gerrard, Carra, Torres?) and keep our world class coach with a loyal group of players. I think a strong and knowledgeable board would have seen this, cause if you give the players the ability to choose their manager/coach you are truly f***ed.

 

 

 

I'd rather see this team playing for Benitez with the loyalty and work ethic of a Rafa side:

 

-------------------Reina----------------

Johnson Kyrgiakos Agger Aurelio

 

Maxi Lucas Aquilani Jovanovic

 

Kuyt N'gog

 

 

 

than a team of divas* that get to choose the manager and sulk around if things don't go their way managed by Roy Hodgson:

 

-------------------Reina.............................

Johnson Carra* Skrtel Konchesky

 

Meirelles Poulsen Lucas Cole

 

Gerrard

Torres*(he'll not play more than 25 games anyway)/

Kuyt

 

 

The first team would probably had a chance to get one or two decent signings as well, as Rafa wouldn't have pissed away 10 m on Konchesky/Poulsen/Jones (he might even have recouped some of the transfer money for Gerrard and Torres).

 

 

I know what's done is done, and there's little point in thinking of what could have been. It just pisses me off immensely when people say sacking Rafa was the right decision, it wasn't!!! If we had had new owners in the summer and a fantastic manager was available, ok, but those weren't the circumstances. It doesn't make it more right to say that Carra, Torres or Gerrard would have left if Rafa stayed. Fuck them then! A good board would have seen beyond what the media and the players told them, and seen what many of us saw. Rafael Benitez was the single best sporting resource we had, I think Inter (and Juventus/Real Madrids) courting of him tells us that much.

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Well I never saw or wanted Hodgson as a replacement but I still believe bringing Rafa back or even keeping him on would have been a mistake.

 

There were plenty of options available including Dalglish and Pellegrini who claims he was approached back then as well. I think the obvious reason we didn't attract the best was because of the owners. If all this process for NESV was started 6 months ago you can only look to the men who agreed to put Hodgson on a long term contract. I just don't seem convinced by a lot of pro-Rafa supporters claiming he was the best we could have had. He clearly wasn't. I'm thankful for the memories he gave us and I'd never erase those.

 

That's just my two cents on the matter. I've said repeatedly I just don't like being painted with the same brush as those who went overboard, booed him or said 'anyone would be better'. Just like most pro-Rafa supporters don't like the 'He's gone, get over it' line.

 

Now that's just a lie, Dalglish wasn't even considered by our excellent board... The fact that Purslow & co were the ones being responsible for choosing the next manager sent shivers down my spine back then (and it still irks me that he'll have some influence in keeping the current trainwreck on longer than he should too), and rightly so it has proved-

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Rafa wasnt sacked for football reasons even though I consider it the right for him to be replaced but not with such a manager who everyone knew would be more negative away from home, 6 points from 54 tells the story,

 

So in short right for Rafa to go (even though he wasnt sacked for the right teason) but a truly appalling decision to give Hodgson the job.

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To be fair to Joe Cole he was an excellent player with good technique he probably chose the wrong club in Chelsea at the wrong time. You get the feeling in somewhere like Spain he would have prospered and really kicked on and fulfilled his potential.

 

I hope he can here but over the years he seems to have got a bit lost and you have to wonder what made him think Hodgson was the man to help him fill that potential.

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Now that's just a lie, Dalglish wasn't even considered by our excellent board... The fact that Purslow & co were the ones being responsible for choosing the next manager sent shivers down my spine back then (and it still irks me that he'll have some influence in keeping the current trainwreck on longer than he should too), and rightly so it has proved-

 

It's not a lie at all, he publicly put himself forward for the role. That makes him an option. Just because the board didn't consider him doesn't mean he wasn't an option.

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To be fair to Joe Cole he was an excellent player with good technique he probably chose the wrong club in Chelsea at the wrong time. You get the feeling in somewhere like Spain he would have prospered and really kicked on and fulfilled his potential.

 

I hope he can here but over the years he seems to have got a bit lost and you have to wonder what made him think Hodgson was the man to help him fill that potential.

 

He was a pretty good player under Mourinho and has gone backwards since Mourinho left.

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Based on what exactly?

 

Cole is shit for England. Can't get into the Chelsea team anymore.

 

How many times has Yossi got us the winning goal the last 2 seasons? When Gerrard and Torres aren't firing, its Kuyt and Benayoun who used to score 10 goals a season for us.

 

Benayoun: app goals (Liverpool only)

2007–08 47 11

2008–09 42 9

2009–10 45 9

 

Cole: app goals (Chelsea only)

2003–04 50 3

2004–05 46 9

2005–06 46 11

2006–07 24 2

2007–08 54 10

2008–09 19 3

2009–10 39 2

 

Ten times better. Yeah right

 

Joe Cole- key player in a twice title winning side then a few second/third place finishes before injury prone last couple of seasons

 

Yossi Benayoun- midtable starter, rotation at Liverpool, back up at Chelsea

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He was a pretty good player under Mourinho and has gone backwards since Mourinho left.

 

I am not trying to diminish the lads achievements he has bags of silverware. I just think he could have easily been a far better player than he has shown since his early promise.

 

You could easily make a case for Mourhino killing the lads confidence. I seem to remember him being constantly subbed and even publicly ticked off in the media by the then Chelsea manager.

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right now yossi is the better of the two

 

Chelsea fans were fuming when Cole signed for us, none of us gave a shit when Yossi left, Yossi's done fuck all for them and is out for 6 months, Cole has had his moments but has generally been handicapped by god awful tactics

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Chelsea fans were fuming when Cole signed for us, none of us gave a shit when Yossi left, Yossi's done fuck all for them and is out for 6 months, Cole has had his moments but has generally been handicapped by god awful tactics

 

That's because Chelsea like to think of themselves as our new biggest rivals.

The fact we don't feel the same way about them as they do about us only infuriates them more.

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Chelsea fans were fuming when Cole signed for us, none of us gave a shit when Yossi left, Yossi's done fuck all for them and is out for 6 months, Cole has had his moments but has generally been handicapped by god awful tactics

 

Thats the usual over importance given to the English player than anything else.

 

He is a lot better thna the level he is playing at now but no means a world beater

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What he left behind was arguably:

 

The best keeper in the league (top 5 in the world)

The best defensive midfielder in the world

The best all round midfielder in the world

The best striker in the world

 

Turned Carra into a world class cb (which will never happen under another manager). And Holland, Brazilian, England and Argentinian regulars such as Kuyt, Johnson, Lucas and Maxi.

 

BTW, Skrtel and Agger are starting regulars in their national teams too and are considered top young CBs.

 

Piss poor team indeed, Rafa left us with.

 

WOW and that team was only good enough to finish 7th.

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Chelsea fans were fuming when Cole signed for us, none of us gave a shit when Yossi left, Yossi's done fuck all for them and is out for 6 months, Cole has had his moments but has generally been handicapped by god awful tactics

 

by us - you mean you? i certainly felt he was one of a handful of matchwinners we had in the last few years, - his performances proved that.

Cole was a good player, who many feel should have been great - he is now struggling massively, looking for form that he has not enjoyed in close to 3 years. He may regain it (hope so as we need him) but his type of injuries have finished others.

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That's because Chelsea like to think of themselves as our new biggest rivals.

The fact we don't feel the same way about them as they do about us only infuriates them more.

 

in my case it was because he wasn't anything special, he was okay but not anyone to worry about losing

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Now that's just a lie, Dalglish wasn't even considered by our excellent board... The fact that Purslow & co were the ones being responsible for choosing the next manager sent shivers down my spine back then (and it still irks me that he'll have some influence in keeping the current trainwreck on longer than he should too), and rightly so it has proved-

 

I wasn't actually aware of who the board had lined up and were considering at the time. I'm just putting in names that were discussed amongst many others and later revealed to be available. I include Dalglish because he later revealed he did put his name in the hat.

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My main fear is that if (ok, when) Roy gets the chop his replacement won't be up to much either. Will NESV attract "the best"?

 

This. Certainly noone better than Rafa. I think we're destined for mediocrity and Channel 5 for the foreseeable future if I'm honest. Not everything to do with getting rid of Rafa, but a lot. People forget the top players we brought in (Alonso, Reina, Mascherano, Torres) came just as much to work with Rafa as they wanted to play for Liverpool, because of his great reputation in Spain/on the continent.

 

Who would create the same buzz, especially given that we now won't (seemingly) pay top wages. There are very few idealistic footballers there. I'd say our best bet is getting the likes of Shelvey, Suso and Wisdom through while we rebuild the rest of our setup for the next 3-4 years.

 

I've mentioned it before, but I often think back to the Athens final and the minutes following that. I was unhappy we lost, furious at the ref even, but I was nowhere near devastated, as inside me I knew we would back in the semis next year as Rafa had the rest of Europe sussed, along with us having a great midfield and some depth in our squad. Oh well, Roy'll sort us out, thanks Christian:wallbutt:

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