Liverpool FC Forum

[rafa09]

i dont care what anyone says about rafa if he was,nt here istanbul would never of happened and who got torres. back the man. it,s the yanks who need to f@@k off'

[Toffeehater]

Im bored with Spion making mountains out of mole hills!
Yes by all means there are a few problems that need addressed,but i believe Benitez is on the right track.
Firstly when did Rafa ever "tap up" a player?Tapping up refers to an illiegal approach to a player from an LFC representative.When did LFC do this once?When have we done it constantly?
Never because if we did the club would be in the dock about it with the FA!If this is meant to be refering to the Barry deal its bollox as well.O'Neill said himself on TV the first approach was a short phonecall from Rafa,all perfectly moral and legal!!

Also i dont think for one second Raffa is happy finishing 4th or are the players!
You say we keep looking back?Look back to when Rafa took over,and look at now,is the squad not a hell of a lot better?
Yes he has bought some poor players but every player that is untested in the League is a gamble.The good thing is though that if Rafa gets it wrong he swallows his pride and the player is gone pretty quick.

As for the rotation issue?Well we all know he has overdone that and we all know that in the second half of last season he played a lot more settled side which our results benefited from.Id say theres a fair chance that he will change things around this time too,but NOT to the extent he has in the past!

So my answer is no,im not bored of the manager...i think he has to win something this year though whether it be the EPL or the C/L or the FA cup to prove we are on the right track and to keep his job!

Spion there are plenty of positives at LFC and plenty of good signs,im more bored of people like you focusing on the negatives and overlooking the good things.
You mention bum kissing?Yeah it goes on but you are as guilty on plenty of occassions of magnifying "problems" and generally start way too many stupid threads which put the club down,which are usually locked pretty quick most of the time,and rightly so!

Im not saying everything is perfect,far from it...just out of interest if you are so bored with Rafa?Who would you recommend we replace him with for what reason?Tell me someone and what attributes they would bring to LFC and why they would be better than Rafa?

spot on mate

[andy_g]

i think there are very very few liverpool fans who are happy for us to plod along getting fourth and the odd bonus third place in the league, the occasional cup final and a decent CL run most seasons. despite that, you have to say we are in better shape than at any other point over the last couple of decades and bit by bit we are improving - even though it all seems to be coming agonisingly slowly.

judge the summer's signings when they're over and done with spion, not right at the beginning of the window. then give those players a little while to see how they get on. the old cliche 'in rafa we trust' is bowlocks  - he's not beyond criticism but even so he knows a damned sight more about football and the current liverpool squad than any one on here.

and bamaga - what the flip is a pre-madonna?

[Lando_Griffin]

Now I know I'm going to be in trouble on here for airing my views on this "forum". Daring to criticise the wonderful Benitez. But this manager, the man who spouted on about “Historic Liverpool” & doing it the “Liverpool way” has in some part contributed to the dilution of our beloved club. Constant tapping up of players that we either cannot afford or don’t really need  is making us a laughing stock of the premier league. Am I really the only one bored with the wheeling & dealing of this manager? You know we can be unhappy with fourth, we can demand more from the manager who won the champions league. I’m fed up with the total belief we have to have in our managers & the fact that Liverpool don’t sack underperforming staff. I mean when Houllier left we gave him a bloody press conference so everyone knew how fantastic the scousers are. This summer is no different really to the one where Houllier bought the diamonds in the rough Diouf, Diao & Cherou. Oh remember those halcyon days? Torres & Mascherano have been wonderful wonderful players who make you believe anythings possible but this summer the players we are being linked with are at best adequate premier players who are happy to plod on in adequate teams, oh but saying that we seem to be happy to be one of those adequate teams so maybe the manager has it right. I don’t apologise for my opinions like so many who come on here demand. The fact is football is a game of opinions & this is supposed to be a “forum” not a bum kissing contest. Liverpool are still one of the biggest club teams on the planet but that is very quickly disappearing because the fans are happy with there lot. A club in constant flux can be seen in many ways, unstable like Leeds or progressive like Arsenal or Manure. Although we all loved Benitez talking about the past maybe we ignored the fact that if you keep looking back you really cant move forward.

Is this what you're looking for, Spion?:



It's where the rest of your sh*t goes...

[PabloAimar]

i think we should be glad we're still within touching distance of the top 3 clubs in england (ie. the only clubs who have won the title in recent seasons) and not falling away (or standing still, as the case may be) like EVERY other club in the league has. we have no god-given right to challenge for the title with chelsea, man utd and arsenal within any said time frame - i for one am delighted we are still in touch and am more than content to sit and admire our slow, but sure progression under the rafa.   sex

[bigmick]

I don't agree with the topic starter. In the main, Rafa has bought pretty well and it's telling that when people list players which were obviously poorish buys, they are almost always free transfers or at worst, low fee jobs. His two standout poor buys when he actually spent a few quid are Morientes and Kuyt. In the case of the former, nobody could have predicted that the player would prove so totally unsuited to English football, particularly given his Champions League performances. His quality was never in doubt, but unfortunately for everyone he was absolutely awful in a red shirt. In the case of Kuyt, he was bought as a striker and time has proven that to be a misnomer in his case. That said, he has done a good job out on the right and is a valuable member of the team now. His transfer value is escalating all the time, and if he has a good season this season we may have an asset on our hands which is worth 2/3 of what we paid for him. Not many would have predicted that six months ago (I am BTW well aware that one or two people think he is already worth what we paid for him again. Suffice to say I disagree with that point of view ).

Even signings like Pennant and Benayoun were not necessarily bad buys in that they were/are worth roughly what we paid for them. I do think we have suffered because of the manager seemingly obsessive search for not one team plus reserves, but two teams plus reserves and these players fit into the much discussed "options" and "possibilities" bracket. As such I think they are poor buys in that they have made the squad top heavy in mediocre players, but not bad value for money in either case.

Hopefully, after four seasons of trying this two team and reserves who we can mix and match at our will approach, we are now about to have a bash at the old fashioned method of a first team squad. As we are now seeing, if we aren't obsessed with "options" and "possibilities" other than the option and possibility of playing our best team more than once a season, we actually don't need quite so many players. Given that, I hope the door marked "out" continues revolving and that we bring in some top quality first team players. Some of our squad blokes are actually worth a few quid which is all credit to the manager. Lets release the players and the funds, buy some first teamers and go all out for the title. You never know, if we haven't got the obligation to give Voronin and to a marginally lesser extent Benayoun/Pennant a game every month or so we might go quite well.

Two predictions. One, if we sign Silva I don't think he'll cut it over here. Two, Rafa has seen the light. We will play a much more settled team and whatever anyone thinks of his summer signings/sales, we will finish no more than five points off the top of the league.

[rafa09]

rafa has given lfc our pride back singing we,ve won it 5 times is enough for me. beating barca .inter away etc what do you want. given time we will win prem under rafa

[ruskiy playmaker]

Now I know I'm going to be in trouble on here for airing my views on this "forum". Daring to criticise the wonderful Benitez. But this manager, the man who spouted on about “Historic Liverpool” & doing it the “Liverpool way” has in some part contributed to the dilution of our beloved club. Constant tapping up of players that we either cannot afford or don’t really need  is making us a laughing stock of the premier league. Am I really the only one bored with the wheeling & dealing of this manager? You know we can be unhappy with fourth, we can demand more from the manager who won the champions league. I’m fed up with the total belief we have to have in our managers & the fact that Liverpool don’t sack underperforming staff. I mean when Houllier left we gave him a bloody press conference so everyone knew how fantastic the scousers are. This summer is no different really to the one where Houllier bought the diamonds in the rough Diouf, Diao & Cherou. Oh remember those halcyon days? Torres & Mascherano have been wonderful wonderful players who make you believe anythings possible but this summer the players we are being linked with are at best adequate premier players who are happy to plod on in adequate teams, oh but saying that we seem to be happy to be one of those adequate teams so maybe the manager has it right. I don’t apologise for my opinions like so many who come on here demand. The fact is football is a game of opinions & this is supposed to be a “forum” not a bum kissing contest. Liverpool are still one of the biggest club teams on the planet but that is very quickly disappearing because the fans are happy with there lot. A club in constant flux can be seen in many ways, unstable like Leeds or progressive like Arsenal or Manure. Although we all loved Benitez talking about the past maybe we ignored the fact that if you keep looking back you really cant move forward.

Is this what you're looking for, Spion?:



It's where the rest of your sh*t goes...

[Effes]

You say your bored with Rafa's signings, yet I think the players we've been linked with
this Summer (Barry and Keane) have been a departure from his usual kind of players i.e.
players from abroad.

He's looking for players who are proven in the Premier League, which is quite interesting.
It shows he's looking for players who can step straight into the first 11 and not have to
"adapt" to the Premier league.

Agree with BigMick - Silva will flop.

[LegBarnes]

Well certainly people are entitled to be bored of the manager.

I'm bored of the people who focus all the problems we have and charge those problems on Benitez.

We'd bring another manager, and we'd have the same frustrations charged on the new manager sooner rather than later. But let everybody say their opinion as long as they don't open a new thread for the old well known rants.

I used to feel same way about rafa i lost trust with him but i agree with this post if we had aother manager i feel it would same story with G&H in charge so i say we are lucky rafa has stuck around tbh and should be glad he is here and surport him.

We sometimes scratch our heads at how he does things but he has results to back up what he does and tbh no one here has the right to qustion him after what he has given this club no one.

[112-1077774096]

but he has results to back up what he does

barnsley, burnley, besiktas away, not to mention too many disappointments in the league (too many to be bothered mentioning), our lack of victories against the top three teams in the league, too many points behind the winners each season etc etc etc. see mate we can all come up with arguments, he also has the results to show it doesn't work

[LegBarnes]

but he has results to back up what he does

barnsley, burnley, besiktas away, not to mention too many disappointments in the league (too many to be bothered mentioning), our lack of victories against the top three teams in the league, too many points behind the winners each season etc etc etc. see mate we can all come up with arguments, he also has the results to show it doesn't work

dude thats you sumed up a he won the CL so you

[Emerald Red]

To be honest to the creator of this thread, I stopped reading the opening post a paragraph in as it was making my eyes start to bleed. The rant about dilution was tripe. I'll sum it up for you, lad: no Rafa, no best striker on the planet (Torres) no number 5, no dignity left in Europe. Great empires are not built in a day. That is all.

[Kharhaz]

but he has results to back up what he does

barnsley, burnley, besiktas away, not to mention too many disappointments in the league (too many to be bothered mentioning), our lack of victories against the top three teams in the league, too many points behind the winners each season etc etc etc. see mate we can all come up with arguments, he also has the results to show it doesn't work

dude thats you sumed up a he won the CL so you

Like it or not Legs its a fact. His record against the top teams isnt great, in fact its not even good, when it comes to the league. The barnsley result was frustrating because they should have won but failed to beat there keeper as he was in "Superman" mode ! but when it comes to the top teams in the league, as good a manager rafa is, he cannot get a result against them, at least Houillier won a few times against them ! To compete for the league we have to get results in all matches, if we go to old trafford and come away with a point then its an improvement.

[LegBarnes]

but he has results to back up what he does

barnsley, burnley, besiktas away, not to mention too many disappointments in the league (too many to be bothered mentioning), our lack of victories against the top three teams in the league, too many points behind the winners each season etc etc etc. see mate we can all come up with arguments, he also has the results to show it doesn't work

dude thats you sumed up a he won the CL so you

Like it or not Legs its a fact. His record against the top teams isnt great, in fact its not even good, when it comes to the league. The barnsley result was frustrating because they should have won but failed to beat there keeper as he was in "Superman" mode ! but when it comes to the top teams in the league, as good a manager rafa is, he cannot get a result against them, at least Houillier won a few times against them ! To compete for the league we have to get results in all matches, if we go to old trafford and come away with a point then its an improvement.

He hasnt had much to work with and yet top teams keep out spending him between 100-200%.

They can go out and buy 3 20+ mil players if they need it rafa cant and tho you guys say just sell X Y and Z player it isnt always that easy to get funds up as you can see in market atm.

I know rafa and the market isnt his strong point yeah he bought torres but that is one in alot of mistakes but all managers have weak points and we might be able to get a manger in who can do better in market but he will have some weakness,  then all we hear will be about his weaknesses.

All i am trying to say is a bird hand and all that. Its human to want more thats ok but please look at this with a level head and tell me who out there can do a better job then rafa with the funds that is around for us atm.

I personaly cant think of one and rafa has invested alot of time into this club you know he is going to give 100% whats to say the next manager will give that effort ?

Yes i get fustrated some times with how he does things it isnt always plain to see why ? but tho things didnt go well in league last year there was improvement and i can really see us making a title challange this year if we dont play so defencive in the league.

I can only hope we get rid of G&H or they can start to work as a team and really back up rafa cos for me this is his make or break season.