Spanish_fan

Warm the bench at a bottom of the table team in the Spanish league and become first choice at Liverpool.

Dear Rafa, we wouldn't touch you with a barge pole.

Guardiolas salary last year was as follows: 1.5 million euros per year fixed A bonus of 500.000 euros if Barca clasified for the CH L An added bonus of 600.000 euros if Barca won the league An added bonus of 400.000 euros if BArca won the Cup An added 1 million euros if Barca won the CH L Ads Barca won all these trophies he earned 4 million euros which is not even half of what other managers get even if they don't win anything. He has signed now an extension for one more year and I guess there has been an increase in his salary but don't know the numbers.

Cause he would have been sacked about five times in any other top club. I can imagine two scenarios for Benitez once he is sacked at Liverpool: 1 He gets a top job with a struggling top team and gets the sack within one or two seasons, especially if they need rebuilding. (Juventus is the ideal top team for him cause traditionally they play the most boring football of all the top teams) 2 He gets a job with a second tier club and again, if he has to rebuild the team, he will get the sack soon. Forgot to add: He won't get as much control as he has at Liverpool in any other club.

I fully agree. The long ball of many Premiership teams does his head in. The unpredictability of it makes him struggle to find a defensive plan to counter that. And this manager is always about keeping a clean sheet first and let's attack with whatever we have left next. So no wonder that he plays so many defensive players in away games against long ball teams. His boa constrictor tactics worked better in Spain, although he was lucky to face an inconsitent Real Madrid side with a very thin squad and a very poor Barcelona team when he won the Spanish league. In England the best way to dominate the small teams is to keep the ball for long periods, to make them chase the ball and not to get drawn into their style of play. But Benitez does the opposite on many occasions.

I think people are getting the wrong impression. Apparently he is an attacking right back and will compete with Kuyt and Maxi for the position of defensive right winger.

No wonder Benitez got rid of this one. The future was bright with Lucas and Mascherano. He was even forced to buy an Italian backup for these two.

Sack Benitez but keep Kuyt. He makes it all possible.

I bet that Liverpool would be better off if either Gerrard or Torres had been sold instead of Xabi. He was the glue of the team, the brains, the most important player, one of the very few non-robot players Benitez has signed. Perhaps that is the reason he wanted to get rid of.

False. Maradona was already at Napoli in 1985. But it sounds nicer to put him in the mix. So predictable the English press. (6)

"He makes it all possible" in Benitez's words. In my view criticism of Kuyt implies criticism of Benitez, because if there is a player that embodies what Benitez is about that is Kuyt: hard working, disciplined, versatile, "defensive" attacker and little creativity and technical ability. This is the type of player that Benitez loves and has given him fame. Not many coaches can get second in the Premier League or CH L with a squad full of Kuyts. Benitez has managed, but too many "Kuyt" type of players is also what is going to contribute to Benitez's downfall as they are ultimately not good.

For Kuyt. He makes it all possible.

His uncle and Falcao, full stop.

Forgot about him. I don't particularly like having a DM who can't attack, but Mascherano is very good at breaking up the opposition attacks. So he could be kept if Liverpool sign another defensive minded manager.

She looks like you trying to work out why Liverpool are so poor at set pieces and why the team can't pass for shit from the back.

There are better coaches outher than Benitez or equally as good, certainly more than Alonsos available.

In my eyes he was still Liverpool first choice center back along with Agger.

Of the players Benitez bought, only Reina and Torres are worth keeping, maybe Johnson and Agger too. The rest are squad players at best.

Absolutely correct. The moment Benitez wanted to get rid of him, the board should have got rid of Benitez. Liverpool's problem have been the lack of more Alonsos, not Alonso himself. Maybe Benitez was jelous that Alonso has a better football brain than him. He was the one making Liverpool tick, not Benitez's drawing of arrows and triangles in his notebook.

Now Liverpool are going to win even less of such games and certainly are going to lose far more.

Does the earth go round the sun? Does anyone remember the very first season of Alonso at Liverpool when he got injured for a long period and the team was a mess? I do remember. I also remember that Gerrard was also absent for a while and the negative impact on the team was not as important. Call it waht you want, but Alonso was the most important/best player at Liverpool. He was the main reason Liverpool could compete with the best sides in Europe in midfield. Unfortunately they have always been inferior in attacking and defensive positions. Alonso loss seriously weakens the team.

Perhaps, if Benitez had not wanted to get of rid of him in the previous season he would have stayed. Perhaps if Benitez really wanted to keep him he would have refused Real Madrid offer. Ribery is still at Bayern in spite of Real Madrid approaches and the player being desperate for a move. Another thing that could have helped is buying more quality players that would give alonso a better chance of silverware. I don't think Benitez has made the best out of the funds he has had at his disposal.

All the players look worse because the brains of the team is gone. Maybe Benitez should go back to the Houllier years and give Gerrard a free role in central midfield. At least it would be more fun with Gerrard doing his cavalier box to box stuff than what we get to see now. Alonso was Benitez most precious commodity, the best player he ever signed. I know that creativity is not high in Benitez priorities as a manager, but surely he must have realised that Liverpool looked disjointed in the games that he was absent. I don’t know Aquilani and Barry is a good player, but the last player I would sell to finance a move in midfield is Alonso. I would have sold Mascherano in funds were needed. In fact I think that two good creative attacking CMs would work better for this team, considering the limitations of Liverpool wide players. Mascherano does a good defensive job, but he is very limited when it comes to attacking play.

Benitez should pray to the heavens that this Aquilani bloke is a top midfielder. Otherwise Liverpool are doomed. How on hell did he want to get rid of the, by far, best footballer he has ever signed? Drawing triangles and lines on a notebook and hard work on the pitch can only take you so far.

And especially no Benitez. By CHRIS BASCOMBE, 23/05/2009 XABI ALONSO has stunned Liverpool by admitting he wants to quit Anfield. The Spanish midfielder is ready to hand in a written transfer request. His agent Inaki Ibanez met Rafa Benitez on Friday to inform the manager of Alonso's wish to leave. And despite the Merseyside giants insisting they do not want to sell him, Alonso's stance will trigger an auction for the 27-year-old. Real Madrid, Arsenal, Manchester City and Juventus have tried to buy Alonso in the last 12 months and Madrid will be favourites this time. But Benitez will start the bidding at £18million and use the cash to try to sign Manchester United's Carlos Tevez. Alonso's relationship with Benitez deteriorated during the courting of Aston Villa's Gareth Barry. A friend of Alonso said: "Xabi loves Liverpool but he doesn't feel he can stay. He has not been happy for a long time and wants to go somewhere he feels he can enjoy his football again." Alonso joined from Real Sociedad for £10m in 2004.