Liverpool Boss Given Dreaded Vote of Confidence: I Have a Bad Feeling
by YNWA on October 22nd, 2009 453 words | 64 commentsOh no!
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Liverpool co-owner George Gillett says Rafael Benitez’s position as manager of the club is safe, despite the 2-1 home defeat by Lyon in the Champions League.
Benitez was jeered by supporters during Tuesday’s loss but Gillett believes the former Valencia boss is “absolutely as good as there is in the business”.
Gillett added: “Our family is extraordinarily pleased with him.
“The run of results disappoints the fans and it disappoints Rafa but we are in this together.”
Gillett also reminded supporters that Benitez signed an improved deal with the club in March, which ties the Spaniard to Liverpool until 2014.
Benitez faced the wrath of the Anfield crowd when he substituted goalscorer Yossi Benayoun in the 84th minute against Lyon.
Liverpool have lost their last four fixtures in all competitions and defeat at home to Manchester United on Sunday would open up a 10-point gap between the two after only 10 matches.
“We’ve come back before and we can do it again,” Benitez told reporters after the defeat by Lyon.
“We now must be ready for the next game. I have confidence we have the quality to overcome these problems.”Gillett, who owns the club with fellow American businessman Tom Hicks, has recently attempted to court new investment in Liverpool.
Earlier this month, Gillett travelled to Saudi Arabia to meet Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdullah al-Saud, who may acquire “anything from nought to 100%” of the club, according to his aides.
Gillett and Hicks each own 50% of Liverpool at the moment but neither can sell shares without the other’s approval and the relationship between the two has been strained for some time.
Moves to introduce new investment have come in a bid to reduce Liverpool’s £245m debt, with £60m having been paid off over the summer.
Newspaper reports in early October suggested Prince Faisal may be willing to pay more than £200m for a stake in the club. (BBC Sport)
Well a vote of confidence does on the whole act as a poisoned chalice but I hope on this occasion this is not the case. The fact that the vote of confidence comes from the jokers who ‘run’ the club makes me all the more concerned. They will do anything they will may ingratiate themselves with the supporters, knowing that the only way they can do that is for them both to leave as soon as possible.
Sunday’s game is a crucial one on many levels and I can’t help but feel that should we lose that come Monday morning Benitez will either have walked or been pushed. I hope that is not the case, but it’s just a feeling I have.
YNWA
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anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 10:05 am
i hope rafa stays he is the only man who can sort out the club but if he did go i would want mournhio in as he is top class
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 10:05 am
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
or even martion oniell
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 10:12 am
cant happen,if rafa leaves,we’re doomed
Hoogleboogybugleboy - October 22nd, 2009 at 10:40 am
At the moment they cannot afford to pay him off as it would cost a reported 20 million. This being the case any new guy or Woman that comes in as manager will have a minus kitty for transfers which obviously no manager will accept. Tom Hicks however is on the verge of selling his Texas rangers franchise so this could free up some cash. I don’t believe one word that either of them say anyway so it makes no odds. My opinion however is that Benitez will turn it around and everything will carry on as normal until the next blip. It would be more beneficial for the club if tweedle dum and tweedle dee left not Benitez, not because of the fact that they do not have the money to take the club forward but because they are a pair of devious liars who cannot be trusted.
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 10:45 am
i think rafa will be forced out
and it will be on sunday
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 10:52 am
jose or oneill but with beavis and butthead in charge we will end up with klinnsman or redknapp.if the 2 idiots have any love for our beloved club they would do the right thing and sell. they obviously cant afford us and lied to us all from the begining. keep the faith fellow reds
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 10:56 am
rafa has been a great manager my dad has a bet dat if united beats us hes gone and if he doesnt hell have 2 go for youth instead i of buying players that puts us more in depth and get rid of those idiots hicks and gillet aswell as lucas. rafa went for aquilliani and hes injured and johnson that caused him 20m wen he could of brouht a youth player through or bring back finnan. get rid of lucas and bring in someone who can acutally play football
Hoogleboogybugleboy - October 22nd, 2009 at 11:15 am
Lets look at whatt happens if Benitez gets sacked on Sunday.
Firstly the owners have to find 20 million pounds to pay him off.
Sammy Lee will be put in charge until a successor is found.
Who will be the new guy.
Popular choice seems to be Maureen. I don’t think he would come.
Klinsman has said that he wants to manage in the Premier league. (God help us)
Claudio Ranieri has also said he wants to manage in the Prem. Possible.
Martin O’Neil. Why would he leave Villa to work for the twats that own liverpool.
Gareth Southgate would definately take the job if offered it but I don’t think he is anywhere near good enough?
Gus Hiddink. Again, I don’t think he would leave his current role.
Kenny Dalglish. He would no way take the mangers job at Liverpool or any other club. He has said it so many times and I have no reason to disbelieve him.
Terry Venables. Oh God.
Kevin Keegan. Would probably be a popular choice.
Roy Keane. Popular choice…Not.
Sven (show me the money Erickson). Has already turned down offers to stay at money bags Notts County.
Phil Thompson. Do we really want to go down that road again?
And so it goes.
Hoogleboogybugleboy - October 22nd, 2009 at 11:16 am
I forgot Hope Powell.
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 11:40 am
Get them fucking yanks muppets out first…maybe its just a ploy by Benitez to to force Binky & Bozo the clowns out…lose a few games and make everyone realise we cant compete with the top spenders any more with them there.He knows with them owning the club we are doomed and always will be…and he will never have a decent transfer kitty to compete with united and city and chelski.
The yanks say oooh we gave you this we gave you that to spend but the fucking reality is if you want to win you have to dig deep,We were colluded into believing thse two would put some of there substantil wealth into tha club but all they have done is swamp us down in debt for the next five years.
Wish I was going to this Anfield protest march on Sunday !!
Donavan Ried - October 22nd, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Two thing I would like to say …… First off is that Rafa was given a vote of confidence by George Gillett a man that is trying to sell his stake in the club …….
Secondly …….. If we were to sack Rafa two things will happen. (1) they will find the money to pay him off …. (2) they will find the money to give the in coming Manager a initial £20-£40m transfer kitt, and thats reguardless of how broke pepole think the club is …… But i also believe that a new manager would be asked to trim the squad from 35 players to 25-28.
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 12:37 pm
see although im sick of seeing babel fail time after time, why has it came to starting ngog inplace of ryan? Ryan signed as a striker.. the next henry was passed about. If he has no intention of playing him.. why did he not sell him and voro and atleast bring in a striker whos capable of scoring? I have no problem spearing on the bench, the lad has potential but theres a select few who are simply just shit. Should Benayoun really be good enough to play starting eleven football for Liverpool? Lucas, Ngog, Insua – sometimes is class but usually average – these are bench players.. infact they should be fighting to get on the bench at this club. Rafas had to make do with the money that he’s been given but thats no excuse anymore. The bench is the worst in the top 8 teams easily..
bod - October 22nd, 2009 at 12:48 pm
True to form and to offset Rafa’s severance pay; the yanks would probably appoint Sammy or Kenny, and tell them to put up and shut up. I hope the yanks daggers don’t come out as a knee jerk reaction to a poor result on Sunday, which would throw us into further crisis. To be honest, I don’t see any movement on the managerial front as they are business men at the end of day. and so will continue to gamble with the club.
I’d love to know what Stevie and Jaime Carragher think of the whole situation. Does Rafa have the dressing room? No doubt, rags like the Sun newspaper will start leaking poison over the coming days/weeks. Any problems in Anfield are gold dust to the press. Here’s hoping for a good result and change of fortune in Sunday’s game.
Retryboy - October 22nd, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Don’t think its a vote of confidence in that sense. Gillett publicly attacked rafa when he thought he had a deal done on his shares nothing appears to be happening with the prince so this is more him trying to back track to be able to have a working relationship until his shares gain value. Hicks has always been a rafa fan and we can’t afford to pay him off so we just have to hope that rafa can turn it around enough to at least finish fourth.
Hoogleboogybugleboy - October 22nd, 2009 at 12:57 pm
All this being said, a win on Sunday and we are all of a sudden 4 points off the top and it doesn’t look quite so bad.
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 1:40 pm
totally correct Hoogleboogybugleboy, and thats exactly how we should look at it. fine – its been an awful start, but lets make history again. i have no doubt a big come back is beyond us.
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Seriously I hear liverpool fans complaining about their owners who have put them in 245m debt, but lets not forget it was their money that bought fernando torres; the man u trio put united in 800m debt, and they are making the right decisions. Like entrepreneurs they are thinking about the future not the present, and with a rule that would make it a club has to make a profit after years or get disqualified from the champions league (bye, bye chelsea and man city) not spending much is the right decision.
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 2:25 pm
I can’t believe we are all talkin about who we want to succeed Rafa Benitez!!! The man is still in a job and he is contracted until 2014! We can’t afford a new toilet seat, so Glen johnson was brought in! Liverpool could simply not afford the compensation that would be owed 2 Benitez! I have faith in Rafa. fair enough a large preportion of his transfrers have not been great but he is one of the best managers in the business!!
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Hoogleboogybugleboy
That is a great point mate! A win on sunday and only 4 points off the top! even a draw and 6 points off! its not all doom and gloom! Every 1 is so negative right now and expecting a defeat! I ken our results recently would suggest so but come on, lighten up guys! 2-1 Liverpool! the gods are due us a favour or two after the last 3 weeks
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 2:31 pm
RE – Hoogleboogybugleboy – Your first comment about what will happen if Rafa goes…. I seriously think that Phil Thompson would be a good manager for us. I said in anothetr thread that he took us to the top of the league throughout the whole duration that Houllier was in hospital. Had good reults under him in my opinion. And secondly – Agree, this all go’s away if we beat United on sunday, because we’ll only be 4 point’s behind them afterwards, and if chelsea draw, all worie’s will be over!! The media just throw this kind of story into over exagerated hype, and everyone bite’s!!
Come on Reds fan’s, this is a bad patch which we have suffered a good few times before, and we have always made the champions league last 16 afterwards. We’ve played 9 game’s…. 9 bloody game’s… and everyone who isn’t a Reds fan is already writing us off!! It aint over till its over in my opinion. Still plenty of points to play for, and Mr Aquilani to come into the mix as well, Who i strongly believe will help turn our season around when he gets playing in the first team.
Lets get behind the boy’s and show em what real supporters are made of!
COME ON YOU REDS!! YNWA!
Mikey
DJ_KIDA - October 22nd, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Comment above was me… thought i’d finally register and get my name about…lol
In rafa we trust!
Hoogleboogybugleboy - October 22nd, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Anon 2:05pm.
I’ve posted a similar thing on here before about the only spending what you make in Revenue rule. This is a very important rule and one that Liverpool, being a massive Worldwide brand can capitalise on. Your examples of Chelsea and Citeh suffering is totally true. We will be able to outspend them as they won’t be able to spend anything.
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Yeah yeah if we win we’ll only be 4 points behind. Think about if we get beat???? 10 points behind Utd in October who haven’t even started playing well yet.
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 3:08 pm
i cant believe what im hearing ! 20m is way to much money ! why should liverpool pay that much.the arerage is like 2 or 3 .hes holding your club to ransom ! no matter how crap he does you cant sack him !
maybe the liverpool board didnt have a vote to sack maybe thay had a vote to see if thay can afford to sack him ?
youll lose to man u then beat a few lower teams the fans will forget hes cost u the title and maybe top 4 and the world will go on ?
i know liverpool vans are tryin to be loyal and i commend you but this seasons gonna be a dog fight and your losing ALOT !
im an arsenal fan and i dont wanna see man city or the scum top 4 so u gotta act FAST !
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Magic on sunday… no worries
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 3:44 pm
is there a protest going on sunday? united will love that they will buzz off that dont do it sunday fk me
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 3:51 pm
we dont have the money to sack him, end of. think ppl shud stop jumpin on the sack benitez ship. its a mixture of injury problems and a lack of solid investment by those american idiots which is hurtin us!
Aquaman - October 22nd, 2009 at 4:05 pm
One thing that i really find funny about the media is there tendency to exclude those little facts which destroy their arguments. In this most recent case, the name of the manager who last lost 4 games in a row at LFC’s helm. Some of you may have heard of him, Kenny Dalglish. Yes that’s right, the last manager to suffer this “irrecoverable loss of form” was the manager who last won the league title for us.I can see why the media excluded it, as it destroys their argument about Rafa being the problem.
The simple fact is, we are not playing well enough! It doesn’t help that the injuries have piled up proportionally to the pressure we are under, but that’s life and that’s football.
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 5:00 pm
i hope we lose to utd on sunday. benitez leaves, and we get mourinho. mourinho is a good manager. yes he did have alot of cash at chelsea but so did claudio raneri. claudio wasnt able to do anything.. but when mourinho came in, he won it immediately. for 2 seasons straight. when at inter, he won it immediately, again. we losing to utd on sunday, is a short term loss. but in the long run, it will definately benefit us. with mourinho bringing in quality players far from lucas standard. then only we will be able to win the league next season cos face it guys, i supported liverpool all my life, but this season is impossible. next season, with rafa/lucas/voronin/babel/degen/kuyt around.. not a chance. and ppl who thinks kuyt is good. lemme unearth some light for u guys. he is hardworking yes i cant take that away from him. but thats just about it. his play is too simple. too readable. he is a centre forward. but he will nvr be like torres. or even berbatov/adebayor/tevez/van persie/drogba. for ppl who say, he has became a right winger.. lets not look to far and just take a look at man c and tottenham. shaun wright philips and aaron lennon. kuyt isnt even fit to wipe their boots. liverpool is a club of history. but i do not wish our club to be made out of history alone. i wanna see liverpool win the league. i wanna see torres and gerrard holding the trophy. we cant afford to have at best average players in our starting eleven! our rivals’ bench are more deadly than our starting eleven. to sum up, benitez brought this upon us. benitez out. mourinho in.
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 5:13 pm
if we caompare the team we have now to the team we had before rafa came in, i think most of you agree that we have a much muchh better squad now even though we lost a great player like alonso. the fact that we did soo well last season has put up the fan expectation bit too much this year and since we havnt had a goood start, it’s getting on everyones’ nerve. but the fact is THIS SEASON IS NOT OVER YET and if we start a wining streak starting from this sunday, will change a lot of things and ppl will start to prais rafa again. soo i suggest get on with it and get behind the team and manager to make life easier for rafa and the team coz thats the least we can do as true liverpool supporters. and if we dont win anything this year that will break my heart but at least i ll still have faith in the team and manager for the future till the day i die. ITS LIVERPOOL BIAyyTCHHHHss
Mark G. - October 22nd, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Anonymous Oct.22 5:00 pm.
You have better chance to wake up tomorrow morning next to a princess, than seeing Mourinho at Anfield anytime soon. By the way, the american muppets are looking for investors. Could you spare some change, that would go some way towards bringing some of the players you want at Anfield.
Donavan Ried - October 22nd, 2009 at 5:39 pm
“All this being said, a win on Sunday and we are all of a sudden 4 points off the top and it doesn’t look quite so bad.”……..
“if we caompare the team we have now to the team we had before rafa came in, i think most of you agree that we have a much muchh better squad”……..
“That is a great point mate! A win on sunday and only 4 points off the top! even a draw and 6 points off! its not all doom and gloom!” ………
Do you know what gets me????……. It,s those people here that will forgive all Rafa’s mistake,Sorry “Serial Mistakes” if we be Man Und Sunday ……. I don,t care if Man Utd beat us every year in the EPL as long as we win it every year.
And the people that keep saying ” Look where we were before Rafa took over” …… The man as had 5 plus years and we are no closer to winning a EPL title than we were before …….
Beat Man utd Sunday Possible, but unlikely, Arsenal midweek, Rafa will not want the League cup to derail the Champions League
Hoogleboogybugleboy - October 22nd, 2009 at 6:18 pm
anonymous – October 22nd, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Yeah yeah if we win we’ll only be 4 points behind. Think about if we get beat???? 10 points behind Utd in October who haven’t even started playing well yet.
Depends if you are negative and depressed or positive and happy. I personally always take the latter. When I’ve drank half of my pint my glass is still half full. I guess yours is half empty?
Hoogleboogybugleboy - October 22nd, 2009 at 6:20 pm
How many managers have won the Premier league?
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Donavan
You make some good points i would not get rid of Rafa i think we have been very unfortunate since pre-season with injuries etc. I feel all the finance/ownership issue is not helping either Rafa or the players. i think when we have our best 11 out we would take some beating. however as we all know some players are off the and not good enough to wear the shirt voronin, lucas,reira,babel,carra to slow, nogn we need to have quality players with pace skill and strength.
Lets see what happens on tuesday or the Fulham away to see where we are then, but in the meantime lets get all the staff and players at liverpool.
Andy
Retryboy - October 22nd, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Thing is people are forgetting about the other teams all the teams above us have easy games birmingham v Sunderland chelsea v blackburn tottenham v stoke wolves v villa city v fulham w.ham v arsenal so in reality if we win we are still in 8th place with city and arsenal with games in hand, anything less than a win and we fall even further behind our rivals for champions league spots we don’t just need to win we need a manner of win like last year at old trafford to get us going on a run cos we are going to have to win most of our matches against the big teams which we proved we can do last year.
RaNE - October 22nd, 2009 at 6:44 pm
not the vote of confidence everytime time a board says that the manager gets sacked well normally anyway… i hope not in this occasion but if it does
so it begins…
Aquaman - October 22nd, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Ah, the vote of confidence. Never have such encouraging words caused such fear in a fan base.
In most cases a vote of confidence can be summarized in a two part sentence, one spoken the other implied. They say “We have absolute confidence in the manager”, they imply “So he’d bloody well better repay us for our confidence.”
In this case I think that all and sundry can see that Rafa is probably not going anywhere simply because we can’t afford to fire him. I mentioned earlier that the last manager to lose 4 in a row was our own King Kenny, who is the manager with the highest win percentage in LFC history, so if we can forgive him, then cut Rafa some slack.
...samlfc.... - October 22nd, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Aquaman is spot on again!
Like i said in another post a few days ago i will only get worred if we lose 6 games in a row so atm i’m fine and i’m just going to see what will happen o sunday and i’m hoping that Liverpool will come out of Man utd with 3 points
One massive boost is the Return of Aquilani……i doubt he’ll play against man utd but he said he is as fit as he has ever been before so who knows and also I watched some of the highlights of the reserve game and Aquilani looks ery very promising… so fingers crossed people!
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 7:26 pm
mmmmmmmmmm some real fans on here! i bet most have never been to anfield i live in liverpool and back rafa! all you f u cking wool talking shit and live in london,your or scunthorpe back rafa or back your own fu cking team!
YNWA
Aquaman - October 22nd, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Heh. Just a little something to cheer up all of the bleak LFC supporters.
Live score: Benefica 5 – 0 Everton
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Crawl back under your rock you dickhead
Aquaman - October 22nd, 2009 at 8:09 pm
hehehe. Seems i hit a nerve there. My apologies anonymous.
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 8:20 pm
The only exit out of Anfield after Sunday’s game at home to Manure is Tweele Dumb and Tweedle Dumber with the new owners giving Rafa the confidence to take the team on again with smart signings come January. No doubt on Saturday we’ll have to put up with utter bs from certain sections of the London gutter press with stories of how “Rafa’s Ready To Walk Out” with a 5th straight loss. Love him or hate him he’s out manager we MUST pull together show those arrogant Mancs what a football stadium sounds like with a crowd who actually make noise in support of their team thru a match rather than just when they’re winning! COME ON YOU REDS!
RaNE - October 22nd, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Hopefully we do beat them with our weakened squad and with our bad run that will show the manure fans somewhere to stick there beach balls
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 4:20 am
Rafa should be FIRED if starts Lucas on Sunday.By far the worst player in the Prem……………………….
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 5:06 am
my balls ache
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 7:37 am
Hes done for, and he has only himself to blame. Tactical genius he aint, in RAFA WE MIS-trust. He just is not what we need not only to play more attractive football, but also to win. He doesnt seem to be well liked within the squad, I think the likes of babel would come good under a manager who has more than 2 Pence in the EMOTIONAL bank!
Aquaman - October 23rd, 2009 at 8:06 am
With the amount of money he’s had to spend, the simple fact that we’re in the top 4 proves that he IS a tactical genius. Tactics are not as simple as just who starts, what formation to use, and substitutions. Every player’s role is clearly defined under Rafa. 5 players attack, 3 defend and the 2 fullbacks do both. It also has to do with who and how frequently you close down, where to shoot from, which side to move the ball down, where to find space, and much more.
Is it really no surprise that Torres became such a massive name when he moved to LFC? Do you really think that Gerrard’s dramatic increase in goal return wand Rafa’s arrival were coincidence? I will say that he doesn’t always get things right (no one ever will) but I do think that he does get way too much stick in comparison to what he has achieved.
On the Babel front, I do agree that it’s disappointing and it may have something to do with Rafa’s emotional detachment, but I think it has more to do with his lack of professionalism. The professionals and the workers thrive under Rafa, those who aren’t prepared to go the extra mile don’t. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Retryboy - October 23rd, 2009 at 8:47 am
Aquaman when have you ever seen 5 players attack in a rafa setup his setup is four defenders, 2 defensive midfielders, kuyt on the right because he is a work horse even if babel could be better offensively. Even gerrard is blatantly restricted from getting forward. I don’t blame the squad cos i think we have talent there and if rafa didn’t try and be so clever all the time and just did the obvious we would see them performing but he has spent 229.65 million in five years its a healthy spend and he needed to spend that to transform the club at all levels and that includes the young players who i am sure will dominate the epl for years to come it is his defensiveness that is the main problem and his stubborness that his formation is right trying to prove to the world that his 4-2-3-1 formation is the best and that lucas is a quality player over whats best for the team.
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 9:00 am
anonymous – October 23rd, 2009 at 7:37 am
Hes done for, and he has only himself to blame. Tactical genius he aint, in RAFA WE MIS-trust. He just is not what we need not only to play more attractive football, but also to win. He doesnt seem to be well liked within the squad, I think the likes of babel would come good under a manager who has more than 2 Pence in the EMOTIONAL bank!
he is so right. bye-bye rafa. you’ve ruined our club. all hail jose
Retryboy - October 23rd, 2009 at 9:03 am
The way babel has been treated is ridiculous after his substitute appearances on the right was plain for even the people that couldn’t see it before what i have said for 2 years that being on the left worked to start with until defenders worked out he was totally right footed and would obviously come inside all the time every time he has had a chance on the right he has looked good but he is then moved back to the left side when yossi can play either side effectively. With torres injured, nemeth loaned out babel is the only one at the club suitable for the loan striker role you need pace and power rafa tried kuyt (not enough pace) and ngog (not enough power yet too light-weight) yet babel never given a shot. If rafa wanted 4-5-1 could have put yossi behind torres he had that sort of role against hull and we won 6-1 he has all the attributes to be the new peter beardsley but he won’t leave out lucas. People wouldn’t get on lucas’s back so much if he was treated like his abilities merit as a squad player not a guaranteed starter.
Aquaman - October 23rd, 2009 at 11:23 am
As much as I wish it wasn’t so, Babel lacks the composure required for a loan striker. Off the top of my head I can think of three ocasions where he has been one on one (and that one being a sprawling keeper) and he’s duffed the shot.
His winner against Man U at anfield last year was not convincing, and I remember him choosing to blast the ball into mononda (Marseille keeper)
when all he had to do was push it past him.
This could just be a case of him so badly wanting to be a striker that he panics when the chance is right in front of him. If you remember his enthusiastic celebration when he scored the 4th against Newcastle, I suspect this was because he actually scored confidently for once.
But the thing that grates me the most about him, is the Berbatov complex. He has so much talent but he just doesn’t work hard enough. If we could merge Kuyt and Babel into one mega-Dutchman then we would have the second John Barnes (Babel even looks slightly like him).
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 12:08 pm
well the media bias against liv once again shows off…..chelsea lost to wigan and aston villa but no crisis in their last 3 EPL matches….man u almost lost to city and also lost to burnley and drew with sunderland but no crisis….arsenal are only one point ahead of liv with a game in hand but no crisis…..what is this media obsession with liverpool…they were missing gerrard, torres, johnson and the aquaman too against lyon….fine they struggled….i remember they lost to marsielle and to middlesborough with all their star power last year….the fact is many players are making a comeback from injury (aurelio, skrtel, agger. reira) and too many internationals affecting players like masch. we will be fine in a months time
Retryboy - October 23rd, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Aquaman do think that is the case with him that he feels under pressure to do something special in every game forcing shots when he first arrived a confident player he was banging in ferocious finishes that confidence has slowly been chipped away at still think without nemeth available he is the most viable back up to torres at least until ngog develops muscularly to be able to compete physically with centre backs i think given the chance and with self belief babel can be really good agree he does need to up his work rate though and learn from torres how to run the line and use his stature like torres does to bully bigger defenders because he has all the attributes pace, power, a demon of a shot, tricks and i think confidence can sort out the rest.
Donavan Ried - October 23rd, 2009 at 1:18 pm
QUOTE FOR THE WEEK :- Goes to:-Aquaman – October 23rd, 2009 at 8:06 am
“With the amount of money he’s had to spend, the simple fact that we’re in the top 4 proves that he IS a tactical genius. Tactics are not as simple as just who starts, what formation to use, and substitutions. Every player’s role is clearly defined under Rafa. 5 players attack, 3 defend and the 2 fullbacks do both. It also has to do with who and how frequently you close down, where to shoot from, which side to move the ball down, where to find space, and much more.”
REMEMBER: this could only have come from a true “Rafaite”
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Sorry to say but I think Rafa’s time at LFC is coming to an end, over the last 5 years the style of football hasnt improved & look at some of the signings, Voronin, Lucas, Pennent, Degan, Gonzales, Josemi, Nunez, to name but a few, these players were never going to be good enough for LFC. And look at some of the players that left Alonso, Bellemy, Keane, Crouch, all bcoz of Rafa’s stuburn ways. We need to be signing players ”with quality” like, Van Der Vart (10m),Sneijder (18m), Villa (25m), Ashley Young (20m),Di Maria (12m), Rafa goes for workers & grafters, every teams needs 1 but Rafa want 1 in every position we need quatily players and to get back to the pass & move style which LFC was built on.
Aquaman - October 23rd, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Donavan: I really don’t want to start a bicker but, seriously, grow up. If you really have to pigeon hole me then thats fine, I really don’t care. All I am doing is giving the point of view which is not offered by the media.
If you have a problem with what I have said, specify. Blanket statements prove nothing and, in fact, say nothing.
Yes, I think Rafa is good (After all I said so), but the reason I think so is based on numbers. Remember that Rafa has a very similar win percentage to that guy Bob Paisley (used to be the same, but i suspect that its fallen a little now).
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Mark G.
Aquaman: It is not possible to make river Danube run upstream, don’t even try it. (Less elegantly, discussing with some here, is like peeing into the wind).
I do not respond to anonymous posts as a rule, as much as I give most of our fellow supporters a benefit of the doubt, believing they want the LFC to succeed, they are not always:
1. Acknowledging the facts:
2. Observe rules logic and rational thinking
3. Very coherent
I am not singling out anyone in particular, there is enough space on this forum for all of us. I am glad you joined the table, otherwise this forum would be hijacked by some frustrated, contemptous, “legends in their own minds”, wanna bees, believers in their ability to run the club better..
Heartful greeting and do not forget patience, patience…
Aquaman - October 23rd, 2009 at 8:26 pm
I do not respond to anonymous posts as a rule – so says the anonymous one. heh heh. (I know its you, Mark G, but couldn’t resist)
Thanks for the heads up though. I generally am very patient and love nothing more than a good argument and LFC. I only ever get annoyed when a good argument descends into pointless name calling.
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Aquaman:
When I use Internet Explorer and not the Firefox, my name sometimes doesn’t automatically show up. However, as you can see, I typed it up manually, I hope you didn’t miss it.
Greetings from Toronto
Aquaman - October 23rd, 2009 at 9:22 pm
I did see it Mark G. Just felt like poking some fun.
Greetings from the soon to be famous South Africa!
Aquaman - October 23rd, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Oh, and btw. Chrome > Firefox >>> IE
Retryboy - October 24th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Good post anon at 3.48