Liverpool FC Forum

[The_Rock]

Seems....rafa is justifying torres' omission.... ah well 

"Kuyt and Voronin can do this. After, when we needed fresh legs, we brought on Fernando, but you could see how many times he got behind defenders – never. That's because there was no space."

Man, rafa is sporting s**t if u ask me....Torres got behind the defence a few times.... If he played from the start he could have done more....


http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N157068070922-1739.htm


Rafa Benitez rued his side's failiure to convert dominance into goals following a Saturday stalemate with Birmingham.
The Spaniard also explained the omission of Fernando Torres from his starting XI, telling reporters it was a tactical decision.

He said: "You must be frustrated because you know before that you must win this kind of game. You could see we were attacking, attacking, attacking – especially in the first half.

"Clear chances are really difficult when the opponents play so deep. We had a lot of shots but they were off target.

"We tried in the wide areas, we tried to get crosses in – everything. It was really difficult but if you have some chances you must take them."

Benitez added: "We knew they would be deep and narrow and compact, so we needed the strikers to play between the lines.

"Kuyt and Voronin can do this. After, when we needed fresh legs, we brought on Fernando, but you could see how many times he got behind defenders – never. That's because there was no space."

The Liverpool boss also revealed that Jermaine Pennant and Javier Mascherano both picked up knocks, though neither is thought to be

[The_Rock]

Sort it out rafa.... How often do you hear our fans booing our players



http://www.foxsports.com.au/story....lic_rss

Reds taunted by own fans

    From Neil Johnston in Liverpool, England
    September 23, 2007

LIVERPOOL was booed off Anfield after the 0-0 draw with Birmingham City today left Rafa Benitez's side without a win in three Barclays Premier League matches.

Benitez's side went into the game as the top scorer in the premiership, but the Reds failed to find the net for the second league game after a bitterly disappointing performance that raised doubts about claims they can win the title.

Having won three of their first four league games to go top of the table, Liverpool has suddenly lost momentum - picking up just two points from the last six.

Jermaine Pennant and expensive substitute Fernando Torres went close to easing the home crowd's frustration, but Birmimgham fully deserved a point for its battling defensive display.

England manager Steve McClaren watched the game from the main stand, but there was little he will have learned from a poor match.

Benitez has been criticised for chopping and changing his side during his three-year reign at Anfield, and the Liverpool manager opted to make two more changes from the side that started the 1-1 draw with Porto in the Champions League four days earlier.

Club-record signing Torres was dropped to the bench so Andriy Voronin could make a rare start while fit-again John Arne Riise came in for Steve Finnan.

Perhaps Benitez should have made more changes because the home side produced a jaded and lacklustre display.

Liverpool looked a shadow of the side that had scored 10 times in its previous two Anfield outings, with Birmingham keeper Maik Taylor limited to just one serious save before the interval.

That came four minutes before the break, when the Northern Ireland international denied Pennant a goal against his former club with a fingertip stop.

And that was as close as the hosts came in a first-half littered with sloppy passing and errors.

Dirk Kuyt, who scored against Porto, spurned a couple of chances while Sami Hyypia and Javier Mascherano did nothing to ease the crowd's growing frustration with misplaced passes.

Riise was Liverpool's most threatening player before the break, the Norwegian going close with a trademark left-foot rocket from distance yet that was one of the few times Birmingham was put under serious pressure.

Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina similarly had little work to do, but the Spaniard had to be on his toes to keep out a 30-metre attempt from Honduras-born Wilson Palacios shortly before half-time.

Liverpool upped the tempo after the break, yet it remained unable to break the deadlock.

Birmingham's Tunisia player, Mehdi Nafti, hacked a Steven Gerrard effort off the line, while Taylor made a fine save to deny Voronin.

And Torres, sent on as a substitute, went agonisingly close with a spectacular overhead kick, yet even that effort could not mask a poor showing by Benitez's men.

[The_Rock]

http://www.caughtoffside.com/2007/09/22/five-reasons-why-liverpools-boss-may-be-slowly-losing-the-plot-as-he-tries-to-top-manchest
er-united-arsenal-and-chelsea/3043.html


Five Reasons Why Liverpool’s Boss May Be Slowly Losing The Plot
Posted on Saturday, September 22nd, 2007
Filed under: Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Everton, Premier League, Edward

754114841.jpgEdward takes a look at some curious decisions Rafa Benitez has been making in order to challenge Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea.

Is Rafa completely and utterly losing the plot? Whilst the ugly growth on his chin points to a mid-life crisis, there are lots of other pieces of evidence that this man does not respond well to the tense Premier League cauldron. I have compiled a dossier of my own on this Spaniard with a penchant for complaining.

1.Facial Hair

Big problems there – trying to mask his lack of charisma behind a furry chin ornament is as inadvisable as getting rid of his link to the players, Pako Aysteran.

2.His defensive retorts to Allardyce

Rafa’s defensive retorts to Big Sam’s blustering comments that Rafa wouldn’t be in a job if it hadn’t been for Liverpool’s European form show that Sam hit a nerve with his criticisms..

3.Turning bitter in his old age.

Rafa is getting his excuses in nice and early, registering a “them against us” position after only a handful of games, and compiling a dossier of slights Liverpool have been dealt in the form of fixtures. This comes hot on the heels of Benitez’ claims that he would go to the authorities over the Heinze affair, and more recently he has threatened his ex-assistant manager Pako Ayesteran with legal action if he went to Chelsea or Arsenal.

4. He gets rid of Assistant Coach Pako Ayesteran.

This was a BIG mistake. Having appointed Paco de Miguel as a fitness coach and Ángel Vales as head of technical analysis in the summer, assistant coach Pako Ayesteran’s claims that he had been squashed out of his job look to be bang on. The sacking of Ayesteran still looks silly as he is a vital conduit to the team, not just a physical trainer. It seems that Rafa had a personality-bypass along with his goatee, he doesn’t take training nor is he vocal with his players. According to Guileme Balague, Pako Ayesteran is not only probably the best physical trainer in the world, he is…

    “Also the man who says ‘no’ to Rafa…He is the good policeman…He develops relationships with the players that Rafa Benitez is not willing (to)…he is not interested at all in building up these relationships.”

Steven Gerrard also feels this way, saying in his autobiography that he has no relationship with Rafa Benitez beyond the professional sphere. Man management isn’t Rafa’s style, his players are pawns to him, Pako was needed for the human touch; as Jamie Carragher attested in his interview with The Game.
Carragher said:

    “I got on great with Pako…he helped me a lot in what I’ve achieved over the last couple of years…He’s been with the manager for a long time now and they had a great relationship….and I don’t think anyone saw it coming…The manager likes to keep his distance from the players.”

5.His comments relating to Mourinho

Could another reason for Rafa’s split with Pako be that Ayesteran had an excellent relationship with The Special One, to which Rafa behaved like a jealous lover.

Arsene and Sir Fergie’s responses showed class, Rafa’s showed arsines. He’s lost a sparring partner, but compared to Alex Ferguson’s light hearted response, Rafa’s shows a distinct lack of class & humour, he’s a Spanish sourpuss.

Fergie:

    “Jose leaving is a disappointment for the game. I think that he was terrific for football and, of course, for Chelsea. I enjoyed the competition with him and I think he brought something fresh and new to our game. I just don’t know what I’m going to do with my wine now!”

Wenger:

    “It is basically sad because I feel Mourinho is a manager of quality..I am a great believer in technical stability and therefore I don’t think it is good news for football…”We didn’t get on the best but recently it has become better.That does not hide the fact I respected what he did and the quality of his work.”

Rafa:

    “You know my relationship with him, it is better that I do not say anything.”

Is this someone who can dish it but not take it? We all know the type, the ultra defensive kid in the schoolyard, the flat track bully who can tease all and sundry but will accept not even a smidgen of criticism coming his way.

He also seems bizarrely intent on litigation to win his victories, firstly to get them back in the Champions League, Then over the Heinze affair, then to the Premier League with regards to fixtures, and also veiled threats to his former trusted lieutenant Pako Aysteran.

Rafa’s backroom staff that he came to Liverpool with has now entirely gone, Gerard Houllier’s results started going south after he got rid of his staff, can we expect the same from Rafa?

And now mid-life crisis Rafa is stumbling off into the wilderness by himself, declaring that he doesn’t need a number two and that he won’t replace Pako. (Ayesteran has been with Rafa since his days at Tenerife)… This is a dangerous choice for Benitez and forget about Torres et al, this could be the biggest factor in how Liverpool’s season pans out.

[adamnbarrett]

Sort it out rafa.... How often do you hear our fans booing our players



http://www.foxsports.com.au/story....lic_rss

Reds taunted by own fans

    From Neil Johnston in Liverpool, England
    September 23, 2007

LIVERPOOL was booed off Anfield after the 0-0 draw with Birmingham City today left Rafa Benitez's side without a win in three Barclays Premier League matches.

Benitez's side went into the game as the top scorer in the premiership, but the Reds failed to find the net for the second league game after a bitterly disappointing performance that raised doubts about claims they can win the title.

Having won three of their first four league games to go top of the table, Liverpool has suddenly lost momentum - picking up just two points from the last six.

Jermaine Pennant and expensive substitute Fernando Torres went close to easing the home crowd's frustration, but Birmimgham fully deserved a point for its battling defensive display.

England manager Steve McClaren watched the game from the main stand, but there was little he will have learned from a poor match.

Benitez has been criticised for chopping and changing his side during his three-year reign at Anfield, and the Liverpool manager opted to make two more changes from the side that started the 1-1 draw with Porto in the Champions League four days earlier.

Club-record signing Torres was dropped to the bench so Andriy Voronin could make a rare start while fit-again John Arne Riise came in for Steve Finnan.

Perhaps Benitez should have made more changes because the home side produced a jaded and lacklustre display.

Liverpool looked a shadow of the side that had scored 10 times in its previous two Anfield outings, with Birmingham keeper Maik Taylor limited to just one serious save before the interval.

That came four minutes before the break, when the Northern Ireland international denied Pennant a goal against his former club with a fingertip stop.

And that was as close as the hosts came in a first-half littered with sloppy passing and errors.

Dirk Kuyt, who scored against Porto, spurned a couple of chances while Sami Hyypia and Javier Mascherano did nothing to ease the crowd's growing frustration with misplaced passes.

Riise was Liverpool's most threatening player before the break, the Norwegian going close with a trademark left-foot rocket from distance yet that was one of the few times Birmingham was put under serious pressure.

Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina similarly had little work to do, but the Spaniard had to be on his toes to keep out a 30-metre attempt from Honduras-born Wilson Palacios shortly before half-time.

Liverpool upped the tempo after the break, yet it remained unable to break the deadlock.

Birmingham's Tunisia player, Mehdi Nafti, hacked a Steven Gerrard effort off the line, while Taylor made a fine save to deny Voronin.

And Torres, sent on as a substitute, went agonisingly close with a spectacular overhead kick, yet even that effort could not mask a poor showing by Benitez's men.

the people who booed should go and support a team like everton or newcastle that do that sort of thing. It's not wanted at Anfield. Get behind the team or fuck off.

I agree that fans have a right to make theior feelings heard but some people don't accept that we can't win every single game.

As for the article above, I stopped reading after I read nu,ber 1.

[OneHotRed]

Also before you start compairing how great Houlier was to Benny just look at the transfers made and how many heart attacks Benny has had, thats proof in itself he's better.

Some good points made there, just the one thing I don't agree with as highlighted. Hopefully that was tongue in cheek and there should have been a smiley emmoticon of some sort there ?

I don't think the condition of their health should come into a discussion regarding who is the better manager as I am sure that if god forbid Rafa suffers the same health scare as Houlier did it will not put him in the same managerial skill bracket !

Love him or hate him he orchestrated a lot of  success in his time at Liverpool and I think he deserves a bit of respect for that.

Yea was tongue in cheek, but it made about as much sense as a fair few of the silly posts on here today 

[Red @ Heart]

why pay 20+ mil for torres and keep him on the bench, its way to funny, i hate rotation and if we want to win the league pick a good strong 11 and stick to it, obviously its not possible to keep to a strong 11 fue to injuries and suspension but  rafa should knock this cr@ppy rotation lark on the head,,, its not working and it never will, 

i was furious with todays result we should beat teams like this if we want to win the league,

[stapo1000]

if you wanna win the league, your best players must play... every week

[account deleted by request]

6 points lost that should have been ours. 2 points robbed by Styles, 2 points Rafa's rotation, 2 points the players played cr@p. I don't blame Rafa too much for todays result, although Torres should have played from the start.

The players showed urgency but no craft, no guile and no imagination. Kuyt had a great game midweek but he's so fkn slow, both mentally and physically I just can't see him scoring many. Mascherano played much better today and was great cover, but couldn't influence the game with the ball. I heard Veronin got taken off, was he on?

Pennant was probably our best attacking player today, but still lacks a final ball and a good cross.

We can still win the league but we need big performances against the better teams now.

p!ssed off !


The Big Lebowski
Jesus Quintana: What's this day of rest sh!t? What's this bullsh!t ? I don't feckin' care! It don't matter to Jesus. But you're not foolin' me, man. You might fool the fecks in the league office, but you don't fool Jesus. This bush league psyche-out stuff. Laughable, man - ha ha! I would have fecked you in the a$$ Saturday. I feck you in the a$$ next Tuesday instead. Wooo! You got a date Tuesday, baby!

[destro]

Shouldn't be to long now before people start copying and pasting articles and quotes from The S*n , Man United Chelsea and Arsenal forums just to highlight what we all either know now or should have known before todays result.

[jeff capes]

i'm not saying benitez is total trash the man has proved he is capable.

but he is only interested in everything pointing to him.

the speed of him coming out to tell us that torres is no kenny daglish has me wondering is it  pure jealousy ,and the result is torres on the bench
just like when crouch started to become popular, just like when cisse was the crowds favourite after we won the champions league.

on the tour after winning the champions league cisse was popular with the crowd and was always in the newspaper.

next thing you know he is being booed by his own fans despite scoring 20+ goals, all because benitez wanted this.

we all remember him messing gerard around and not playing him in his most productive position and leaving on the bench in champions league matches.

its like he's testing his own powers, him vs crowd favorite.

benitez could be the best thing since slice bread for liverpool ,
but he wants all the glory like at valencia where people say its not a team of stars and gave him all the credit.

i think i've cottoned on to his game and is just waiting for everybody else to do the same.

rafa is naturally a dull man and is no moronio but he wants the same attention.

the only way he can get this is if the team is all about his brilliant tactics, rather than about the talents of torres and gerard.

nobody seems to be allowed to play too well at liverpool or they end on the bench.

when they do play well and the press is raving about them,rafa likes to take em out the team.

the reason i think he takes them out the team is to try maintain the same success, and it being all about his tactics.

thats why people like him tinker, they like the idea that its all about them.

this is why i'm angry because i don't think we will see anybody become world footballer under him.

i believe he is that spiteful and self indulgent , that he would rather no success for liverpool if he can't claim most of the glory.

i could be totally wrong and rafa only cares about success for the team, but all i'm saying is watch what happens if somebody is playing well in a game, they are always seem to be the 1st subbed.

now these players don't know if the are coming are going.
should they give it their all play well and end up on the bench then sold like garcia and others just moved on like cattle.

[Effes]

Sorry, but if you dont start Torres and it's nil-nil then you leave yourself open to criticism.
I wish to god we played our best 11 three Prem games in a row - let the team
find some form and consistency.

[teamleader1]

I dont want to jump on the Rafa rotation bandwagon, but it has to be said, he fkd it up at Pompey and again today
why pay 20+ml for the world class striker weve been screaming out for for years, then leave him on the bench?
What really puzzled me was listening to Rafa on the way home after the game, when asked why Torres never started he said that because he felt that Birmingham would sit back and try to frustrate us, this he felt would not suit Torreses style!
ffs EVERY team that comes to Anfield does that!
do we leave him on the bench for all home games then?
I thought we bought him for such games , someone who can unlock these backs to the wall defences and put an end to us dropping points to the Birminghams of this world
Rafa somehow worked out that we didnte need him

It looked like a team of strangers, Rafa MUST wise up and play the first eleven every game.

[Effes]

What really puzzled me was listening to Rafa on the way home after the game, when asked why Torres never started he said that because he felt that Birmingham would sit back and try to frustrate us, this he felt would not suit Torreses style!
ffs EVERY team that comes to Anfield does that!
do we leave him on the bench for all home games then?
I

Exactly!

[destro]

Cheer yourselves up Ladies and Gentlemen LFC T.V is about to show the second half of us winning number 5 against AC Milan, first half just finished

[Gladimnotavillafan]

Hey, Brum fan dropping in.

I almost feel bad We seem to have ruined a great percentage of Brit's week.

IMHO I do believe that our Defence isn't getting the credit it deserves, yes you were pants and made completely the wrong selection, most neutrals could see that, but Our back 4 was awesome again today. But The Press, being the Press.. will gloss over that on MoTD, in the NOTW etc etc. But we're not bothered we're used to it.

I just have no idea where these results will pull of against you (in the league, 7-0 don't count) come from. We just seem to be the ultimate bogey team. I'm struggling to decide which of our reuslts was best.

2-2 in 2002 was awesome, good ol' Clint. 2-1 the same season at St Andys. Daz Anderton's winner in 2004/5, 1-1 at Anfield 2006, 2 all in 2005. Abit strange seeing as we often lose to Southend and such on Tuesday nights.

Anyway good luck with the season, I genuinely hope you trounce the Chelsea farce and those bogots at Old Trafford. Arsenal/Liverpool Title race, that's what the neutrals want.

Keep Right On.