Liverpool Boss Is Making His Biggest Mistake Ever!
by YNWA on December 7th, 2009 403 words | 99 commentsWTF?
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Can someone please try to explain to me what is going on? Rafa Benitez bought a footballer who was suffering from a long term injury, in fact he invested £20m (albeit in installments) in said player, and yet when he finally gets himself fit and ready for action, he isn’t picked!
Now if we were performing out of out skin, if we were moving upwards on mount Premier League, if we were playing fantastic football week in, week out, then I could just about stomach the decision making process. However we are 7th in the table, SEVENTH! We are out of the Champions League. Fulham could be above us next weekend, that’s how bad things are.
Yet Rafa decides that he will have Alberto Aquilani warming the bench? Madness, sheer madness! The argument for slowly bringing the Italian into the first team picture may have been relevant for a while but its now been six weeks since he was given his first run out, a ten minute cameo against Arsenal in the Carling Cup, and since then has found himself waiting on the sidelines probably as dumbstruck as the rest of us.
Some have been hoping the former Roma man could spark our season back into life but how can he hope to do so by occasionally being thrown on for the last few minutes of a match? I am not one to usually have a go at Rafa but I have to say I am just plain baffled by Rafa’s stance on Aquilani, a player he clearly values but appears unwilling to give a chance to.
The idea that right now our midfield is performing far too well to be altered is clearly, like Alberto, a non starter. Yes Lucas and Javier have been plaining far better than at the very start of the season but the fact we continually fail to inspire the creativity needed to break down sides likes Blackburn, Fulham, Birmingham City and Sunderland is exactly the reason the Italian international needs to be playing. The need for a more attacking option, as opposed to playing both Lucas and Javier, is even more apparent when we don’t have Fernando Torres to bail us out.
If now isn’t the time to give the midfielder a start, then when exactly is?
YNWA
Related Posts:
Meet Liverpool’s £5m Saviour: Rafa’s Biggest Bargain Buy?
anonymous - December 7th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
I couldn’t agree more, I just don’t get Rafa sometimes. He was getting all sort of stick for buying an injured player in the first place and now he is fit he doesn’t get a game!
anonymous - December 7th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
If you manage to work out how Benitez thinks, then drop me a line because I gave up on that months ago.
Two holding midfielders, against teams, who come to park the bus. Why?
It’s an absolute disgrace.
anonymous - December 7th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
it is time for raffa to go i would have sacked him in 2007 no problem he is a shit manager
anonymous - December 7th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
i have never liked rafa and his playing style – i thought that the 2005 cl win was a fluke or down to the players and not the manager. We play the most boring football in the premier league how can we lack creativity in almost the whole of our team. Wolves and West Ham create more than us. Manchester united’s reserve team has more creativity. Rafa needs to go but i know he won’t and i can’t support anyone else because my heart is set on liverpool. I am starting to be put off by football altogether. Does anyone having anything to say that would cheer me up?
Aquaman - December 7th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
In this respect Rafa has no leg to stand on what-so-ever. I’m all for being cautious in order to prevent a further long term injury, but that was a valid excuse maybe four weeks ago (and only maybe). Aquilani is needed, desperately. I’m beginning to wonder if Gerrard’s lack of enthusiasm is because he’s seen what the lad can do and wants to have a go with him on the field. I’m reaching, I know.
This is eerily similar to how Keane was treated the last few months before we sent him on his way. The major difference being that Keane played crap and almost deserved it.
Come on, Rafa! Show the masses that you haven’t lost it and grace us with the presence of your biggest buy since Torres!
anonymous - December 7th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
I totally agree rafa hasn’t got a clue how do all these average players get in to the team week in week out ? and how can rafa be pleased with a draw against BLACKBURN ? liverpool fans need to wake up RAFA needs to go with kuyt,degan,dessona,the greek,babel,ngog,riera,I wouldn’t blame torress or gerard if they left next session
anonymous - December 7th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
I can understand Rafa here. As I am playing football many years, when you have been injured, you need to time to not only recover from it, but to gain form to prevent the same injury right after the first match.
As I understand, the situation is so desperate, the Rafa isn’t going to risk to release on field player which has a potential to receive the injury for another month. It is sad, but better lose 1 or 2 more games, but to cure all injured players, especially it will be neede very much during Boxing day period.
But I agree that Rafa’s time is over…time to go, but who will replace him??? Next manager has to be great manager, at least not bad than Rafa.
P.s. Hope he will not use any of the starting main eleven in the CL. No need, and must keep main players injuries down…if he does so, he is really a strange person now…
anonymous - December 7th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
And one more thing about Babel. I watched him since he was playing in Ajax. He is great winger, Rafa just need to trust him, 3-4 matches from the start and it will be the other Babel – fast, serious problems for defence. Especially now it is worth trying.
anonymous - December 7th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
its absolutly shocking what hes doing, also we need to spend money in the transfer window.
i say buy huntelaar, all strikers like tht need is a change of club to gain their form agen. get him on the cheap as well! also rafael van der vaart get him on the cheap as well hes a bench warmer for madrid! gago gets a game ahead of him!
Aquaman - December 7th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
If Rafa doesn’t at least bring Aquilani on during the midweek CL game, then I may go insane. I only have one major gripe about Rafa and that is his tactics, but this may just push that count up to two.
Thanks for the comment anon (please register. I’d like to hear more from you). It’s always good to get an inside perspective. Maybe we are being a little too rash. We can;t see what’s going on inside after all. I’m still worried though.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 12:02 am
Rafa only waiting for the payout…
Not playing aquilani is the way to anger the owner & fans…
Rafa has to go….no other option…
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 12:11 am
kieron
i understand not risking him from the start but hes been fit for ages surely if your a good manager you would introduce him slowly bring him on in the last 15 mins of each games to build up his fitness and get him ready for the prem but no rafa cant do that.
the fact is aquilani is months behind all the other players in terms of match fitness and we still have no idea how he will perform in the prem. but what ever happens rafa will not take lucas and masch out of midfield rafa will see aquilani as a gerrard type player not and CM. i personally think he’ll be a flop because rafa wont allow him to play his natural game
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 12:13 am
Uhmm…juicy and interesting discussion. My 2 c/w.
1. There are lots of speculation here. All of us are making educated guesses as to why Aquilani is playing or not playing. Let’s not get overly carried away because no one really knows the reality of the situation. Not even the press. Actually especially the media boys. They will write anything to sell papers.
2. Gerrard lack of enthusiasm is contributed by Aquilani not playing? That’s stretching the bow far too out, isn’t it? I think it’s more like Gerrard is not 100% match fit and missing Torres up front.
3. In my experience of coaching youngsters (13-18 years old) and playing the game seriously for more than 20 years now and having 4 caps under my belt. All that said, I am no big time player just someone who played for a small country. Not trying to blow my trumpet. I just want to highlight the reality that when you are out for that amount of time Aquilani has, it does take a long while to get into the groove. It’s not just about your body healing. It’s also about getting your mind mentally tuned in and being match fit is another huge obstacle to climb. That’s why you don’t see Owen Hargreaves coming back that soon despite him getting the all clear from the doctors. Rafa and his staff would be in the best position to assess when he is ready or isn’t.
4. Let’s not forget when Torres first arrived, he did not start too until late December if memory serves correctly. There were lots of people then calling Torres a waste of money, etc especially when it really took him a long while to score. Who’s complaining now? I rather we start Aquilani at the ‘right’ time rather than rush into things if he is not ready. Rafa’s i feel is doing the right thing here.
5. Someone said Babel was flying in his days with Ajax and what happened now? Well, as I have always maintained, it’s really hard to tell someone’s future. Some players you get will perform beyond expectations while others will just dip. Pennant is a great example of the later while Torres excelled. It’s not just about how much money you spend. The club will pay the transfer if they think it’s justifiable value but end of the day it’s a risk. Let’s not forget too that Wenger too bought Pennant at a hefty cost especially for a teenager but it went bust for him. So let’s not all get misty eyes that Wenger’s got a magic wand and touches gold every time he dips his finger into the transfer kitty. By the way, he didn’t buy cheap! He spent heaps but that’s another discussion for another day. Now…BABEL. For someone who coaches youngsters, I can only say this in my observation of seeing him perform. Babel in reality is very limited player when it comes to awareness and game intelligence. He is very predictable. As he has power and speed – you can tell every time he gets teh ball, you can tell what he is going to do. He will try to do an Ussain Bolt and dashes pass you or cuts in to shoot which usually misses anyway except against Lyon! People went crazy about that goal and it was a great goal but it’s also perhaps his first goal in 25 of such attempts!!!! Point I am trying make is he doesn’t penetrate and passes around to penetrate. Some are going on about his talent being wasted but frankly, i watched him again and again. Every time he comes on, my heart leaps with hope and when the game is over, i tell myself, i will not pick him for the next match. Perhaps he is just not suited for a club like LIverpool. Just like Diouf…perhaps for lower clubs with lesser expectation and where he can be the star and main man. Look at Yossi, not the fastest but he is damn effective because he is clever. That’s what Babel needs to learn!!!
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 12:15 am
Lucas can and would play forward if he was allowed, it’s Benetez that stops him going forward and now people are saying he is a hold up midfielder,….Christ, He’s Brazilian, that should give you a clue Benitez
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Kieron
i know lucas has improved and im not one of those fans that hate him but hes very average , he doesnt do everything important or special in a game , i know it wont happen but rafa really needs to change some tactics , play to win not to keep a clean sheet blah blah just looking at the league at the moment and we are looking at finishing 6th this season if were not careful , why cant rafa set his team up like he was doing towards the end of last season , and dont say injuries it wasnt the team selection it was the mentality we went for team and got about them straight away then , didnt rafa learn his lesson it was the negative attitude which lead to draws which cost us the title
redrob - December 8th, 2009 at 12:25 am
it is like a sequal to your favourite film. months and months of anticipation and then the premier. my sinical mind mind is saying that the sequal is crap, but i am tingling with anticipation and think the lad is diing to show us what he can do. come on rafa let him strutt his stuff.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 12:26 am
GOOD NIGHT FOR A MURDER
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 12:34 am
Ok so here is my view, i bet that Aquilani will start in the CL game agenst viola, he will star, score a hat-trick set two more, clear a ball of the line to save a goal, put in some crunching tackles, run all game, hit the cross bar with an awesome free kick and then be voted man of the match. then the weekend will come and we have a must win game agenst arsenal, but rafa being rafa will start lucas and mach ahead of Aquilani and not play the italian at all and then after liverpool lose the game in the press conference he is quizzed on why he didn’t use the italian after an awesome midweek game, rafa being rafa will make up an excuse saying that lucas is more suited to playing in that type of weather-its to cold or windy or sumthen to play Aquilani. Rafa mate you gotta go!!
Retryboy - December 8th, 2009 at 12:36 am
Great article addressing the real issues.. The carling cup game should have been the starting blocks. By now he should be fully match fit. Perhaps the most frustrating thing has been the need in loads of the games for a player like him and in particular in the 2nd halves. Lyon were there for the taking we had all the possession and weren’t creating clear chances. The same in nearly all the games. Rafa uses the recovery as an excuse to be more defensive and keep his 2 holding midfielders right up until the final whistle when we want a goal. The only subs he ever does is like for like. He is definitely more scared of losing than desperate to win. He will play in the champions league because gerrard won’t. Wouldn’t mind betting the first time we see him in the epl it will be for gerrard not alongside him. Agree with one of the previous comments looking forward to seeing some of the youngsters get a game darby, kelly, Eccleston, spearing should all play want to see babel on the right. Good shop window for the likes of dossena especially too.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 12:44 am
There is obviously a reason. I mean after watching the blackburn match at the weekend, I would have feared for any player with some of the tackles that went in from Blackburn.
Lucas gets so much stick it’s unreal. he was a goal scoring midfielder in Brazil – he’s had to adapt to a whole different style of football, he’s still young and he does get in the box/forward. We’re not the same negative counter attacking team Houllier left behind. The more eagle eyed of you will observe we press teams, we do attack, it’s just for whatever reason, things aren’t clicking at the moment – albeit we have won two of our biggest games of the season – Utd and the bitters.
Do people really want a manager to go during his first bad spell?
to Anon@10.58pm – so it wasn’t Rafa that changed tactics at half time then?
As for the posters saying we need to spend money – we ALL know that is not going to happen with these owners. Hence why we still have Voronin as Rafa was not allowed to buy another striker.
redrob - December 8th, 2009 at 12:50 am
on aquilani not playing in matches that are too tight, protecting him from injury. i wonder. if he was given 20 or 30 mins in the last few games then maybe we would have won 5 not drawing those we did. is being in 7th place not warning enough?
Retryboy - December 8th, 2009 at 12:53 am
Anon 12.15 dunga and gilberto silva spring to mind
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 1:09 am
Lads…lads…lads…lads…lads….All you have to do is look at what happened to one Mr. Tomas Rosicky…just back from injury given a run out in the PL and bang out again….simple thing is…lok at who are last few games have been against Everton and Blackburn…two sides who certainly not hold back in the old tackling department…now are these sides you want to risk playing your 20 mill new signing against…in tight games…if Liverpool had coasted either game by half time Aquilani you can be assured would of made an appearance..hence why you’ll see him play against Fiorentina….nothing to play for so should be played at a nice pace with no expected Leg crunchers……it’ called taking a calculated risk…where’s tacking a risk against Everton or Blackburn is taking an uncalculated risk….I know which decision I would be making…and I know which one Wenger wish he had made.
redrob - December 8th, 2009 at 1:16 am
if aquilani was suposed to play in a canceled reserve match, would he be in as much danger of injury as in a first team match?
Red_Phoenix - December 8th, 2009 at 1:20 am
I sometimes don’t know if he has Liverpool Football Club at heart. Maybe he is waiting for the yanks to sack him. Who knows. He’s a joke.
Rafa is not the man for the job. He lets sentiment and petty stubborn behaviour spoil things for the club. Last year was our best chance to win the premiership under him but he threw it away. He always lets his little power plays with the owners get out of hand. If he was working in the best interests of the club i doubt we would have heard half of what has been going on.
Kuyt and Lucas wouldn’t probably get into any other top four side in the positions they play, yet we see them week in week out- the only two to have started EVERY premiership game. What have they done? Can you see Kuyt at Aston Villa on the right wing or even at Blackburn or Sunderland? Teams respect who is on the pitch. If you have Gerrard in centre mid instead of Lucas and lets say Benayoun or even Kuyt playing off Torres ( i do think he is an in the hole player/poacher but have little regard for him as a winger ) teams would be more wary of the goal threat and make more mistakes. Its how Man U manged to win it last year. They were’nt great, we were, but teams respected them more and bowed down to them. Think of Tottenham, up two nil at halftime and lost 5-2.
His man management skills are also poor. Alonso, Keane, Babel, Sissoko (better than Lucas if you ask me), Crouch and as we have all seen he shuns talented youth for old demotivated ‘professionals’. Enough said on that.
Who could replace him? At this time probably Kenny Dlaglish. I wouldn’t even mind Kevin Keegan- you’d get great football and players dying to play for him. I’m not going to mention anymore because i really don’t know but the two i’ve mentioned what is in the hearts of the fans. The only problem now is the money situation.
He’s had his time
Red_Phoenix - December 8th, 2009 at 1:24 am
Sorry awaiting moderation and i meant to say the two i mentioned what is in the hearts of the fans ie i don’t they would pull our heart strings by always favouring the champions league over what is most dear. If Man U win this year our record is gone and we had a great chance to set a new one last year. All you Rafa supporters should wake up.
Retryboy - December 8th, 2009 at 1:26 am
Very true redrob in fact the pitch wouldn’t be the same standard so worse in a way. None of his statements on the situation have made any rational sense. Don’t think anything he has said all year has personally.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 2:48 am
must u always have something to say retry boy its like ur glued to this site….. u try damn
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 3:24 am
Liverpool FC = A laughing stock.
Retryboy - December 8th, 2009 at 4:15 am
Don’t know phoenix think you are doing the same and letting sentiment rule your head. Kenny has been out of the game for a long time now in a team with sammy lee could work though. We need a young talented manager who will be here long term Mancini, O’Neill, van basten as an outside shot. Mourinho is a good manager don’t know if he would stay long term or work with no big budget though so those would be my 3 and out of them Mancini is the man and available now! Agree totally with everything else you said. Not sure if it is the money think if it looks like rafa can’t get us in the champions league he will go, its a backlash from the fans they fear as well its still the ‘in rafa we trust brigade’ that are the more vocal, the other thing they have to consider is rafa has brought in all his own staff so wouldn’t just be the manager would be 10/30 backroom staff. With you though we have to act now before any more damage is done and before we have a mountain to climb for fourth spot.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 5:11 am
Anon @ 12:13 – covers it perfectly… I think he should be writting yhese articles!!!
NOBODY outside liverpool fc know aquas to state… Use your brains ppl if he was ready to play, he would be playing!
Incase some dumbos havent noticed theres axworld cup rnd the corner… If he was fit would the italian manager want him sitting out games, when he os supposedly match fit….
Rafa knows knows exactly what he is doing….
Unfortunatly this yr has shown the true colours of our so called supporters….
Most of which walk alone…
In rafa we must trust!
Red_Phoenix - December 8th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Sorry Retry, i meant Kenny should take over until we find someone decent, that is, of course if Rafa were to leave before the end of the season.
I still stand by my observation on Kevin Keegan- he has been in a job recently and was getting a lot out of the overrated, overaged and overpriced junk he inherited from successive imprudent Newcastle managers.Barring overaged players, Rafa seems to have done the same to our squad, although, i think a lot of the poor performances are due to Rafa’s poor imagination and man management skills.
Like i said i don’ t know about managers but Mancini has a good track record, O’Neil i like and Van Basten may be a good shout. We just need someone who can come in who can spot cheap talented players, has more of an attacking mentality ie doesn’t play with two donkeys in centre midfield (sorry i meant workhorses and Masch is actually a top player, i was just alluding to Rafa’s defensive tactics), isn’t so petty with issues off the field and stubborn on it.
kermit - December 8th, 2009 at 6:18 am
aquilani s dad has said his son has been available to play for over a month, and that aquilani himself has been frustrated at not getting a game
see tribalfootball
kermit - December 8th, 2009 at 6:19 am
to anon at 5 11 , i think his old man might know if he was available to play
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 7:01 am
rafa is loosing his head and imagine too much! he think he could win something by keeping aquilani on the bench..That’s right rafa.. just keep aquilani away from the ball and keep dreaming, you will win nothinggg…!!!
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 8:27 am
anon at 12:13 and 5:11 must be the same poster.the only caps that you have are the one’s on your big dopey braindead head.what country did you play for? torres was scoring goals from the minute he got here. go back to coaching the kids,you will always walk alone. allahs boot”your mum blew my trumpet with your 4 caps in hand”
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 8:31 am
hey paragraph boy,what is your name and what country did you represent 4 times at the paragraph olympics.just a small country eh.fwit. allahs boot”fraud finding”
Aquilani4goals - December 8th, 2009 at 8:44 am
aquilani or no aquilani we need to win match.we are up aqainst arsenal.what tactic will rafa use.and remember arsenal are skillfull with the ball.we will be lucky to play a draw
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 8:47 am
If he doesn’t see at least 30 minutes on Wednesday against Fiorentina, then Rafa has officially lost it. That would only make it official, because I’m pretty sure he’s already lost it.
Pointless champions league match at home against an Italian side. I don’t think there is a better opportunity to get Aquilani into the side. Please Rafa, don’t make us rob your house.
Bchan31
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 8:49 am
time for the special one
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Anonymous 11.32 pm . Stop talking rubbish pal, what in the name of all things holy has the blokes ‘form’ got to do with the chances of him suffering an injury? So if he is playing crap he will automatically have a recurrence of his previous injury? At least thats what I assume your post is supposed to say as its very hard to read and follow when you type these things out with your eyes closed, wearing a motorbike helmet backwards.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Rafa doesnt wana use aquilani coz the only thing keeping rafa his job is that most of us fans will continue saying wait till aquilani cums back until he actually plays. If he plays shit then rafa’s job is gone, trust me.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 9:12 am
I can’t understand us buying another Yossi for £20 Million and not strengthening in attack at a time when you can get a 20 goal a season striker on a Bosman.
Voronin is a waste of time.Ngog isn’t good enough,yet and Krisztian Nemeth has been loaned out. *slaps head repeatedly* For a master tactition,Rafa should have at least a ‘plan B’ FFS.
kermit - December 8th, 2009 at 9:22 am
he isnt another yossi
kermit - December 8th, 2009 at 9:31 am
adriano is available on a free transfer, his wages would be high surely but as a free transfer he s got the class and goalscoring abilty
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 10:03 am
who want 2 come 2 liverfool..not guarantee CL footie nxt yr,,team position even below spurs..u can imagine that..always hear THIS IS THE SEASON 2 FINALLY TAKE BPL,,BUT in reality..EUROPA LEAGUE is a better bet…
go turn back the clock n get Rushie or adridge..lol
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 10:08 am
I’ve been a Liverpool supporter for over 30 years now and enjoyed all the good days. I’m all for giving a manager time to get his feet but there are too many stupid mistakes being made. 1) Zone Defending – why are Liverpool the only club in the Premiership trying it – it doesn’t work. 2) Team selections are too defensive against the weaker teams – Mash + Lucas. 3) Substitutions, well what can you say – taking off strikers and bringing on defenders when the game is currently level and we need to win matches. 4) Transfers – what is the man thinking? He has bought so much trash, if he bought less in volume but more in “Quality” (his favoutite word), Liverpool would have a strong squad. 5) Allowing the Alonso situation develop into him leaving – well we are certainly paying for that one now. 6) No proper backup for Torres. 7)Stop playing that Juyt in every match – he has no touch/control.
Give Babel a chance, start him in a few games – On The RIGHT wing! —- I could go on but I have to go and take my Blood Pressure tablets. I don’t like saying it but Rafa needs to wake up or Ship out.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 10:49 am
that gets me everytime…two holding midfielders and one striker upfront. I can get myself not to vomit if the striker is torress, but putting ngog as a solo upfront is beyond me. This guy has an ego the size of a mountain of turd. He needs to get off his stubborn horse before the fans does it for him…im wasting my time watching the same old shitty football week in and week out…lucas is average, kuyt is passed his best and the benayoun and aqualani is warming the bench?!! wtf!
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 11:36 am
have never liked rafa and his playing style really i do support on that comment cause in premier league u have to make chance.if we make chance than only we can win the matches.which are not organise by liverpool boss. if liverpool want to win the title they have to sack rafa and try to bring mourinho in the manager sit who can only challege the anchelloto squad.
Ryan - December 8th, 2009 at 11:58 am
I’ve been frustrated over the last few weeks as i’m itching to see Aquilani as much as anybody else. There are a few games where I think he would have made an appearance but due to injuries during games and other problems he hasn’t come on for whatever reason.
Remember it’s easy to point the finger from here, but Rafa is the one working with him day in day out and knows better than anyone when he’ll be ready.
Also Benitez hinted that Aquilani will be starting in tomorrow nights game so lets hope that’s true and he can get his Anfield career underway.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
rent boy …retry boy all you fools who think rafa should go, if he went you’d realise you had the best and let him go. He has had bad luck with injuries and end of game goals when we were in control and players didn’t do their jobs and conceded goals. How about blaming Gerrad and crappy CARA who have cost games by making mistakes and missing sitters. But cos they are scousers they can’t be blamed. And king kenny was king as player not manager. Keegan managerial record says it all crap .
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Rafa, needs to give aqua his run in the team. Time really has gone on being cautious. if he has to play & get injured so be it but let us see how effective heis. in my opinion gerrard needs to sit out some games cos he lacks drive when needed. As for babel, voronin they need more time in the team. poor management style could dent player confidence. these players were on top of their game prior to landing at anfield. we need to be more adventurous in our player & give other players playtime to boost confidence. Rafa get your head out of wherever it is & do something. a manager can use whoever he’s got to build an excellent team. you dont need to buy the whole world but alter your tactics & player/managent style, period. help us fans out please.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
I pity some of u Liverpool supporters…u r in the politest way crappy fans…..retro-boy..man,u surely,dont know ur football,u want a young manager who will stay long term,and u precisely say mancini..can u look at manicni C.V. and tell me how it is????before you say he is the best….
Aquilani as its known is a good midfielder…he has been injured for how long????and is prone to injuries..y should we put him in the fray and risk him for long term???come on we are lingering in position 7 coz we have a damn lack of depth squad..and we cant keep on slating him for the signings he has made Why??
1. We (Liverpool club doesn’t have the much needed money that a top flight club deserves)is it because of Benitez????
2. We can only make a one twenty million signing a year is Benitez causing that to happen..absolutely not…… Why keep on slating him for no reason
We can say that we should have made gains from where we left off last season,well that’s Benitez fault i accept…this might not be a valid reason but we have to accept it we have suffered from an injury crisis and that is the damn truth Liverpool is a two man show not because benitez want to but because we cannot be able to afford the kind of money we want to make it an eleven man show..and the other reason is because the players cant stand up and be counted when given the chance to…so please its not just benitez fault but the owners,benitez and fans like you who would want to make players like Aquilani play yet we know he has had an injury…yet when he plays and aggravates the injury what will u say???Probably,Benitez shouldn’t have bought the player..its time u stand by benitez i Believe he is the bast in the business
And finally i believe that we are not going to be fighting for number four,we are already i the top four….the other teams will just want to gate crash…mmhhh????
And give credit where its due..we didn’t concede at blackburn signs that our defense is gelling again…we are up there…we will never walk alone…i stand by benitez…..
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
THIS WOULD BE THE PERFECT LINE UP FOR LIVERPOOL :
—————–Reina——————–
Johnson Carra Agger Insua
—————–Mash———————
—Kuyt Gerrard Aquilani Riera—
—————–Torres——————-
redrob - December 8th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
like it anon 1.38.
to all anon writers, y not get a sign to a login. its better for us to know who we are talking to.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
So you think a £17 million pound player is going to save our season, Rafa is the best thing that has happened to us for years. Rafa is doing his job on a very limited budget and until the Yanks leave we will continue to be a 2nd tier team.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Aquilani – the man Rafa wanted – who it was expected would be ready by October. The fact is, the we were badly advised on this and he’s only ready this week. Benitez has to take some blame because to some extent he gambled on a player we knew wasnt fit to start the season. However, it’s ridiculous that this signing is now the latest stick Benitez is being bashed with. If he was fit, he’d be playing. Benitez is the Liverpool manager, he wants to win, and he picks teams designed to so. If he thought Aquilani would have won us games, he’d have played him.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Red_Phoenix – Keven Keegan you just made me spill my tea and fall over from laughing. Are you on drugs? What has Kevin Keegan ever done as a manager?
Retryboy - December 8th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Don’t normally respond to anons but… “king Kenny was king as player not manager” are you for real or just 12 years old? He won everything as manager! 3 league titles with us cups and left us at the top. We played the best football ever under him and when he left us his last presents were signing Redknapp and Mcmanaman for the next boss. Oh and then went on to win the epl with Blackburn. So now you have insulted one of our best ever managers you move on to our best players gerrard and carragher? Some people will look anywhere before laying the blame where it belongs their precious st rafa. Other anon obviously the same 12 year old can’t be 2 of you so thick out there Mancini dominated the italian domestic scene with inter who had tried 6 managers in 7 years before him he won the league 3 times and 6 cups in his total 6 years of management. Played quality football and as soon as it looked like the liverpool job may be coming up he freed himself from his inter contract to make himself available and has been working on improving his english. Enough there for you. You stand by benitez why not sit by him? Aren’t there any seats at the job centre?
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Change your username to retardboy. You will only miss Rafa and realise how good he was when he is gone. He is the only reason we nearly won the league last year. He has overachieved for us in the past few years.
RyanO - December 8th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Don’t know about you lads, but I’m already wishing it were Sunday! It is always a great game with Arsenal and this will be no different. As for the CL, perhaps we’ll see a few youngsters get a run out? It sounded like Rafa was planning on running out a big match starting XI, but I hardly see the point. A win on Wednesday will prove nothitng.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
I think some of you are writing complete crap!
Performances have been boring this season with little creativity. The team is one player short from last season, Aquilani may not make that much of a difference. He looks more creative but he’s only one man.
Rafa has every right to be cautious. He spent 20 mil on a player and his injury (which he has never been able to get over this injury whilst at Roma). Roma always rushed him back and a few weeks later he would be sidelined again.
If Rafa put him in the team 3 weeks ago and he limped off, it could have been another 6 months out.
Its a bit of a pointless piece anyway as it has been well documented that Aquilani is expected to start against Fiorentina, if not then its very soon.
If you ask me who ever wrote this peice is trying to pretend to get in there as if to make out they should be a football manager (dispite the fact they have heard he’s going to be starting soon)!
Why don’t you try and get behind the team instead of being an armchair fan how has won a couple championships on championship manager
RyanO - December 8th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Retryboy is absolutely correct, King Kenny won Everything as Player and Manager. Anyone saying different is thick and certainly don’t know their club history.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
The Kenny stuff is true but don’t agree with him about Rafa.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Rafa is destroying the club. Time for the fat spanish waiter to beat it.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
king kenny also took over a winning team who’s foundations had been laid whilst he was a player. Was easy to continue winning. AVRAM GRANT ring a bell. and when he had to make his own decisions, he struggled and knew he wasn’t good enough. THATS WHY HE LEFT. remember newcastle and celtic. As for blackburn give me that amount in them days and i would have got you the title.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Why has this turned into a King Kenny bashing thread? Any of you calling yourselves Liverpool supporters and questioning what King Kenny did for the club are shit-eating hypocrites. Also, to all you turds who question his managerial ability, remember Alan Shearer? Who unearthed him from Southampton?
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
I agree with all the comments of the guy who is supporting for 30 years. I am support a little longer but agree with everything said.
Also like this line up but feeel yossi should be included possible instead of Kuyt on home games and I would like to see Babble used as a striker, start with Torres, get ahead and then throw Babble and put it to him.
—————–Reina——————–
Johnson Carra Agger Insua
—————–Mash———————
—Kuyt Gerrard Aquilani Riera—
—————–Torres——————-
Now back to the original question, I suespect there are two reasons.
1 He was injured, missed pre season and everyone know that PL is a tough place for first season and very tuff when missing pre season. So natural caution to build him up, BUT there were opportunities to bering him on to win games.
2 Now this is my real concern, Rafa fucked up so much letting Alonso go, and yes he did cause it previous season. I read some Alonso interviews and he was so comitted to Liverpoorl in the long term, not like Mash kissing the shirt and courting Barsa. If Barry was bought it should have been to play with Alonso. So why do I mention this so much, well as soon as Aquilani steps on a pitch we are all going to compare him to Alonso (even thogh they are not identical, Alonso was very defensive buut could hurt teams from there, Aquilani to me is another Gerrard in the striker support role from the little bit I have seen. Now if Aquilani turns out to be a fucking Dossena and any LFC fan worth their salt will tell in a very short time, what next for Rafa, 20 M on a guy who may not cut it ….this should be the worry and if this si already known on the training groud, what money that Rafa will ship him out in january (like Keane) to recoupe money before major loss is realised. I dont hear SG or Torres go on about how good he is in training, only Lucas shooting his mouth off.
Why does it take Rafa 70 mins to make a tactical sub, is it in the rulr book. People & media went on taht we wre 2 player team, Torres and SG, that was bullshit, We collected more points with Alonso and missing DG/FT. Where we lost points is when the general was missing. Pepoe is also a world class player, so Rafa should have been prising SG, FT,XA, PR every week as world class and then playing Yossi and Babble.
Rafa need to go a people management course. and stop with the two defensive midfileders at home.
so first half
—————–Reina——————–
Johnson Carra Agger Insua/aurellio
—————–Mash———————
—Kuyt Gerrard Aquilani Riera—
—————–Torres——————-
make a lead
—————–Reina——————–
Johnson Carra Agger Insua/aurellio
—————–Mash———————
—Kuyt Gerrard/Yossi/Aquilani Riera— Yossi inestead of SG or Aquilania
—————–Babble——————-
and stop the fucking zonal non markinf for christ sake, zonal yes but mark the fucking player and not the empty space. aslo put players on the post and assign certain tall players to pick up the big targets men no matter what the zone. it aint hard to do.
and what the fuck is Hyppia doing at the top of the german league and we have a greek noboby as replacement, another rafa fuck up, all he had to do was reat Carra a bit last year and give Sami some more playing time.
As for Degan, Dossena, Veronin, will someone get a big 4×4 and injure them in case they are available to play, who was the scout that picked donkey dossena out, 5 mins looking at him and I kew he was crap, and JAR and Warnock were far better, and we wonder why we are out of the CL.
Red_Phoenix - December 8th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
anonymous – December 8th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
“Red_Phoenix – Keven Keegan you just made me spill my tea and fall over from laughing. Are you on drugs? What has Kevin Keegan ever done as a manager?”
Kevin Keegan has consistently got the best out of crap players. Remember he got a Newcastle team that is now in the championship to outplay Man U and play with desire and zeal and getting results along the way. If it wasn’t for Dennis Wise and the owner Mike Ashley and they left Keegan to do his job i have no doubt in my mind they’d still be up there amongst the Villas and Sunderlands ie pushing for Europe. He also plays good football. I think our team is playing with no confidence and Rafa has poor man management skills. With the spine of our team, I think KK would do better than Rafa with the squad Rafa has.
If you read my other posts, I did also say Kenny Dalglish would be good in the interim if Rafa left suddenly. Others (in agreement with Retryboy ) were Mancini, O’Neil and Van Basten for perhaps the long term. KK is just another possibilty and might not cost so much. Guus Hiddink is another.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
u lot r a bunch of tards who only come on here and read the newspapers. maybe if u actually went on the official site u would have had numerous insights into why he hasnt been used yet and other decisions explained. they all have understandable and sensible reasons.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
just posted the one about rafa loosing alonso, hypia, etc
as for the guy
king kenny also took over a winning team who’s foundations had been laid whilst he was a player. Was easy to continue winning. AVRAM GRANT ring a bell. and when he had to make his own decisions, he struggled and knew he wasn’t good enough. THATS WHY HE LEFT. remember newcastle and celtic. As for blackburn give me that amount in them days and i would have got you the title.
give me a break, kenny took over a great team that won nothing the previous year, due primarily to the departure of Souness, similarites with Alonso….
Kenny tweaked the team and delivered trophies immediately, then he bought Aldo, Beardsley, Barns, Houghton, MacMahmon all in one season, almost half a team, move Ronnie to the center and hey presto, the best team in Europe at the time and would have challenged Milan every year for the European Cup.
He built a very good team at Blackburn, got promotion, got runners up and then won the PL, yes cost a few bob, but he took them out of second diviosion and how many bad signings did he make, they all had good long careers.
He went over to Newcastle, got them to PL runners up and qualification for CL, and FA runners up following season. He was fired after 2 draws in 2 games following season, how lucky Rafa is.
At Celtic he took over from Barnes and took them to the luague cup final which they won. It was clear that he was not the manager at the start of the season and possible should have more hands on role.
Only Ferguson has better record, even Venger could not say he was better. And if you compare Fergusons first five years in management or first five years at united do not compare to Kenny, Kenny won more in a shorter time then Fergy.
So Management Summary
FL/PL Winners 4
FL/PL Runners Up 5
FA Cups Wins 2
FA Cups Runner Up 2
League Cup Runner Up 1
Charity Shilelds Win 4
Promotion to PL 1
SPL Runner Up 1 * took over during season from J.Barnes
SLC Winner 1
As a manager Kenny only finsihed outside top two on two occasions, was either a winner in league or cup competitions. How we would settle for that aamout of wins and runners up in so few years, not 40 like Fergi.
Retryboy - December 8th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Saw something that city were looking at hiddink but ambramovich would block any move as he underwrites his salary as russian coach.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
All of you Rafa’s Bashing brigade just remember this FOR 20 YEARS WE HAVE NOT WON THE LEAGUE.He is only been here 5 years.Just on the side guys like Guus he couldn’t even take Russia to WC 2010.Not being critical just factual and Chelsea finished BEHIND liverpool last year!I did think that these sites comments are moderated.There is so much drivel that sometimes I think that a Reality Check is in order ‘As for the part timer manager and footballer your coments are spot on.It is an amazing thing as they say.Rafa is on the training ground everyday with all of his staff and a bunch of blog writers know better!Be logical he might just leave and come back to DESTROY US.I suppose a SUPER CUP and FA CUP and CHAMPIONS LEAGUE count for nothing.YNWA
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Red_Phoenix – Me again we smashed the mancs all over the place for the past 2 season and you talking about Ashley\Wise is nothing compared to what Rafa has to put up with.
Rafa could have easily walked last year but he loves the club and the fans and as stuck with it. Real Madird would sign him tomorrow and give him £200 million to spend on players and he would win everything.
Back the manager and the team and let turn this season around.
RyanO - December 8th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
WHERE ONCE WE WATCHED THE KING KENNY PLAY
AND COULD HE PLAY
AND MANAGE!!!
kopman - December 8th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
ok i really like rafa, i know its hard to understand his tactics sometimes but i have faith he was a top coach when he came to us and he still is you dont just lose it, after all god works in mysterious ways.
but this with aquilani is one thing that really bugs me, i have a really good feeling about him, like he will be the missing link for us but rafa refuses to play him, if he puts in a god performance for us against fiorentina maybe rafa will use him in the league then.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
No one said anything when we won 6 -1!
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
do you think it could be he doesnt want to leave the donkey lucas out of the team.
the reason i think this is when everyone was having a go at lucas it is as if he was saying . i ll show you ,stubborn. the first person he talks about all the time is lucas. he is not good enough for centre mid at liverpool.
wake up and smell the coffee and just play aquilani and do it soon because you will be out of a job. whats the bets even if he plays a blinder tomorrow he wont start on sat against arsenal.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Kevin Keegan – come on man you CANNOT be serious. His teams have no steel and cannot defend. No chance.
I’m still surprised that Rafa is getting so much stick. This is his FIRST bad run. Of course everyone expected us to be going for the league but football doesn’t often work like that. We needed to strengthen the squad, but Rafa had to sell to buy………
Red_Phoenix, do you have evidence of poor man management skills? You keep mentioning it, but where is the evidence. Is it not players like Torres, Reina, Gerrard, Carragher …… who say Rafa has improved them. Is it not Rafa who turned Gerrard into more of a goal threat – who turned Carra into a world class centre half? What you are doing is retreading media myths. Show me evidence – and just citing players who have left is not evidence.
And guys, Lucas has improved this year. Watch him, his passing has improved dramatically. Remember Utd fans 3-4 years ago, on Darren Fletchers back – now without him, they are weak.
I CANNOT believe all you guys are saying Rafa should go – Istanbul, FA cup, our two best league points totals….. expectations have been raised since 2004, we have been challenging for the league, despite our first team costing less than Spurs and Man City. Show me another manager who could work within those budget constraints.
Don’t be so fickle people……..
Andy
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
Anon@10:04pm – we play Arsenal on SUNDAY.
Lucas is a young lad who is improving. You are showing ignorance by your impatience.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
^^^^^^^^^^ Like this.
anonymous - December 8th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Good post Andy.
Stillontheperch - December 8th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Don’t like these new terms creeping in.
EPL??? I think I like “the league”
Stillontheperch - December 8th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Next it will be……”I don’t rate Rafa’s Liverpool Project”
Stillontheperch - December 8th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
My new Equation for the Rafalution
Rafa + Rafa’s Stubborness = Liverpool – Michael Owen + Man ure = Goals
Retryboy - December 8th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
“Noone said anything when we won 6-1″ was against hull and mascherano was injured so rafa didn’t play 2 holding midfielders only other time we had one holding midfielder we scored 4. Oh and yossi played in the hole both those games and when we beat united, all season yossi could have been there till aquilani was fit. Like i have said many times rafa doesn’t even learn from his successes let alone his mistakes. Andy you compare lucas to darren fletcher difference is ferguson didn’t pick fletcher every week when he wasn’t good enough he kept him because he believed in him don’t mind rafa doing that with lucas but he treats him like a first name on the sheet player not a squad player. 2 trophies in 5 years is not some sort of wonder achievement and if ferguson or Wenger had lost the games we have this season played the football we have they would be gone, past achievements wouldn’t save them and theirs are much greater than Rafa’s.
anonymous - December 9th, 2009 at 12:03 am
- Paragraph boy
1. Hey, what country i played for? Be it big or small? 4 or 4000 caps are irrelevant. The point I wanted to make was if you are played the game at a high level where serious injury occurs at ease, it takes a while to come back. Especially serious injuries. Aquilani has been out for almost 9 months! Not 9 days or 9 weeks! The body works in strange ways. Some recovers quicker and some just slower. With the world cup coming and Liverpool needed fresh ideas, it’s at everybody’s interest including Rafa’s to give Aquilani a run out. The only reason he isn’t is because simply he’s probably as ready as many imagined him to be. I don’t think Rafa has any sinister motive to destroy the boy’s career by not playing him.
2. I have been a Liverpool supporter for 30 years (since the early Paisley years). Everything about Kenny is true. Let’s not take anything away from what Kenny achieved back then but a bit of context and perspective also helps. After Heysel, Kenny inherited a championship winning team/squad with players at their prime and youngsters coming through. No one was near to Liverpool’s standard then except for Everton. Might I add, Liverpool’s financial resources look healthy as they could splash on Aldrige, McMahon, Beardsley, Barnes, Houghton who all turned out to be great purchases. Might I add, if they are valued in today’s market, Barnes would not cost a mere 900,000 pounds as when Kenny got him then. It would be more like 29 million pounds! The problem was when they made a succession of wrong managerial appointments post Kenny era. Souness in my opinion was pivotal point and I seriously don’t think we have ever recovered from there. Evans was too chummy with teh players but he did not bad. Houllier did his best and couldn’t revive Liverpool’s fortunes. By then, when Rafa took over; quite frankly, I wasn’t a fan of his at all. My leaning then was to go for Capello because he was very successful in waking up sleeping giants ((eg. Milan, Real Madrid, Juventus). All that said, Rafa did deliver some trophies but not many people realize, Liverpool nowadays in reality is only playing catching up. Quite honestly, we are far away from the likes of Chelsea, Man U, Barcelona in terms vision, youth development and just being able to afford world class players. Rafa is not my favourite but I don’t think he is as bad as some made it to be considering the context.
3. Those who claim money doesn’t matter are living with their head in the sand. I coach young kids and 9 out of 10 kids will tell you the reason they want to play overseas for Man U or Real Madrid one day is because they want to have chicks surrounding them, big houses, private jet, etc. Players today will play for you if you could afford their astronomical wages. That’s fact! Liverpool have missed out for so many years tapping into the world market, it’s now beginning to show in it’s treasury especially when they are trying to buy big. Unless you that nowadays you are not going to make an immediate impact. Just imagine if Liverpool could have afforded Barry (as much i dislike him but that aside), Tevez and kept Alonso at the same time, don’t you think our level of play would be very different? It would of course be but you got to have money first to turn the dream into reality. No money to burn, it means almost impossible to entice the likes of Ribery, Tevez, Silva, Villa, Aguero, etc. The only hope is buy cheap and heaps of them like Babel, Pennant and hopefully they turn out to be the next Ribery, Gerrard, Zidanne. With that, chances of missing are high because to spot next Gerrard or Messi is not going to be easy.
4. Alonso didn’t leave because he wasn’t chummy with Rafa. He would stay on for Liverpool for life? You believe that? I think he made it quite clear it’s the British 50% tax system that he’s running away from!!! Quite frankly even if Rafa massages his feet every evening and had candlelight dinner with him every evening, Alonso would still be off running to Real.
5. I agree with lots of the frustration expressed on this site. It’s been an incredibly hugely disappointing season for Liverpool. Throwing Rafa out may not be the solution. We’ve seen last season the team’s capable of fluid attacking football combined with strong aggressive defensive play. Every team goes through patchy experiences. Take MIlan couple of seasons ago, they won the league and Champions League. Next season, they were struggling even to get into the top 4 of the Italian league. They had the same squad with Pirlo, Gatusso, Kaka, Nesta still there with Ancelloti still the manager. Harry Redknapp might be a good replacement but frankly no one really knows how that will turn out. Not even the chosen one Mounrinho can guarantee success – that’s fact.
anonymous - December 9th, 2009 at 12:31 am
RetryBoy_ I’m sorry mate but if Wenger, Fergie, etc had gone through their FIRST BAD RUN – they would not be there now. At top clubs, there is a strong argument for continuity. Take Fergie – took him 6 years to win anything, let alone challenge for the league. Wenger came and he spent money – Overmars, Petit, Viera and won the league. These days he doesn’t spend – and doesn’t win the league.
There is no way on earth you could say Fergie or Wenger would be gone – look at Arsenal at the start of last season – they lost several games. You cannot sack a manager for one bad run. It’s idiotic. You really want another 5 years of Klinsmann and his new-age training or Martin O’Neill – bringing in average english players? Let’s face facts, if Rafa went, that’s what we would get. I’m surprised many shout for the king of negative football – Mourinho.
Plus the fact, many of the losses were down to bad defending, not bad attacking. The chances have been there (check the stats). We seem to have a settled backline now – and three clean sheets. Nothing to do with zonal marking – its about effective marking.
anonymous - December 9th, 2009 at 4:59 am
anonymous – December 9th, 2009 at 12:31 am, i like your sensible thinking. Many here kick Rafa because he plays boring and supposedly defensive football. The same people then say, let’s go get Mourinho. Sure, he plays boring football but at least he brings success. So these people on one hand wants fluid attacking football but if it’s Mourinho, it’s all right if he can’t play that because we want trophies after all. I am very glad majority of the Liverpool supporters are not half brain like some here!
anonymous - December 9th, 2009 at 5:02 am
I kept telling you guys….Retryboy can’t spell. He meant ‘RETARDboy’.
Gosh….and he along with what’s that guy’s name….Donovan Reid…as great thinkers of the game!
anonymous - December 9th, 2009 at 7:15 am
No money……. no honey
unbeaten till the end of the season!
Retryboy - December 9th, 2009 at 8:33 am
Will only answer the anon with a brain enough to argue his point intelligently not those posts by regulars who have been ripped so much they are too embarassed to log in now. If you remember ferguson and Wenger have been under pressure in runs nowhere near as bad as ours. Also they had bad performances mixed with good. We have played 22 games this season and have had 5 good performances. Have only beaten one good team in united and consistently played terrible football. I haven’t been calling for mourinho my no1 choice by far is Mancini. Not agreeing that mourinho is anywhere near as defensive as rafa though. How you can point to the stats to say we create chances is a joke! Do you not watch the games. Saw people buying into this rafa statement pointing to the goals scored column before. We know as fans we don’t create anything so i had to see why the stats don’t back that up 10 goals were scored in the 2 games we only played one holding midfielder due to mascherano’s injury. In the 13 epl games with rafas system we failed to score or got 1 in 7/13 games would have been 9/13 if not for a ngog dive and a mascherano fluke. We all know debrecen scored the same as us in the champions league and we managed 2 in 2 games in the carling cup. You look at chelsea, arsenal and utd they have only not scored 2 in 4 of their epl games usually against other top teams. Tottenham the only teams they haven’t managed 2 against chelsea, united, arsenal, villa and stoke. We regularly fail to kill off poor teams and how many times has torres had one half chance all game and buried it? We sit back keep everything tight against poor teams and let them into the game while we poke and prod the other teams batter them the whole game and don’t give them the chance to get a foothold course we will still get goals we have quality players but few and far between with a team set up to not lose rather than win. Whoever keeps putting unbeaten till the end of the season for one we won’t play debrecen and Blackburn every week and we need wins!!
kermit - December 9th, 2009 at 9:23 am
god you are such a dumb prick
Retryboy - December 9th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Aww kermit you still crying like the little bitch you are then? “Retryboy said my article was shit!”…”Retryboy points out that i post anon”…”Retryboy doesn’t think the sun shines out of lucas arse, it can’t really not with your tongue in the way!” Its true kermit does suit you what a muppet! If you are lucky you might find your miss piggy one day and your little froggy pecker might see some action apart from the hoover!
anonymous - December 9th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
people saying we play boring negative football are wrong we finished last season wining by 3 or 4 goals this season has been a blip bad start injuries to key players and the loss of a few good players this is the first time raffa hasn’t brought us past the first round of in cl and only because of lat goals againt lyon cant wait to see Aquilani tonight he didnt play against blackburn simply because players like diouf, nelson and a few more on that blackburn side including fat sam would like nothing better then to put him out for a few more games
you so called fans should just shut up and get behind the team when LFC has a full team no injuries we will storm up the league it’s a marrathon not a sprint i have every confidence in this and maybee such a bad start might get them yanks to put their hand in their pockets and Raffa can bring in some top players.
The season starts now for Liverpool Fa cup and Europa league we can seriously win and if we do then all you haters will have to eat a very large slice of humble pie that i will gladly serve up to you
anonymous - December 9th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
time for him to go bye bye
Retryboy - December 9th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Anon… Lol
anonymous - December 9th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Rafa Benitez,
Rafa Benitez,
Rafa Benitez, aquiliani,torres and reina….
Rafa Benitez,
Rafa Benitez,
Rafa Benitez,
anonymous - December 12th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
hi ya guys spota here personaly this game should ov been about the youngsters and shop window players whome we are wishing to sell in jan. but no he puts out sum ov the main guys whome needed the break most. thought cavilleri had a great game. and pepe has earnd that rest prob our best player this year for me. i also agree rafa is scared to death to attack teams. witch last year we did week in week out. man utd away 4-1 .. it was a plesure to watch us. and in 6 months the mans transformed us into ueffa cup material. its not good enuff. i think hes trying so hard to piss all ov us of the board fans players etc. and wouldent it be nice to go to your new job 15mill in ya sky rocket. cos he wont leave not with his contract. no chance . hes set himself up here so the only winner is himself. but the board shot there selves in the foot when they spoke to klinsmen behind his back. a bit like rafa with the alonso saga. so they had to give him wot he wanted . so he would stay. and at the time we dident mind . because the team were playing exeptinol football. but now its clear to me his sites are set on spain . cos if real dont win la liga the management job is surely up for grabs given the money spent this season. and again i say 15mill is nice to go home with. and its something to fall back on when they sack him for wreking there team as well. think about it. why else wud he be making these insane decisions. and real wont stand for it as long as we have . pay him off. and lets sit back and watch how shit he is at his new club. only speculation but thats my opinion spota lfc 4eva ynwa