by account deleted by request » Sat Oct 03, 2009 1:58 pm
Two seasons ago and two seasons on from our CL triumph I would of told most people that I thought Rafa was doing an okay job. This was during a time when 'mass' rotation and its debacles were in full flow. We never kicked on from that CL win and I was hoping that would of been the foundation of a new trophy win era. This never eventuated and it was easy (however true they were) to air frustrations about the team not kicking on during this time.
Now though, (2009) I don't know whether I have become accustomed to the lack of trophies we've not won in Rafa's era, thus settling for second best so to speak. Or the fact that I now have a maybe more balanced view of just how hard Rafa's task is to get his team to where he wants it to be. Before I go on I was very quick in days gone by to put a blanket over the 'money' excuse, for various reasons, rotation being one .
However it is evident that Rafa's task of managing a Liverpool team to the pinnacle of English football and dominating Europe to a certain extent has become a very arduous job in recent and present times. I still don't believe Rafa himself helped the team out with 'silly' selections and changes yesteryear. Thats now in the past and generally this issue has been sorted out.
Our two American owners though have undoubtedly made Rafa's job a whole lot harder. A lack of support, funds etc have made his job an uphill task in correlation with challenging the likes of Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal and now Man.C. I do not like to use this 'excuse' as the reason why I think Rafa is now doing a good job in 2009. I'd prefer to discuss the footballing side of our pro's and con's to combat our Premier league drought. Unfortunately though in the last couple of seasons as far as the Americans are concerned they have been a massive burden on Rafa's roll at the club. One that can not be brushed away as a weak pity excuse as to why our club are not challenging for top honours (or winning them shall I say).
Yes he did pay 18 million for Johnson who many chuffed at the price, myself included. But this particular deal was haggled with because Pompey still owed us money for Crouch I believe. We didn't literally hand over the 18M in cash to them and we needed IMHO a right back like Johnson. Rafa sold Alonso for 30M buys Aquallian (sp) for 20M or whatever, where is the rest of the money from the Alonso sale to bolster the squad? The Americans have pulled the purse strings shut, because they never had a purse big enough to efficiently run LFC with in the first place. And as an impact of that has made Rafa's job that more arduous when comparing the likes of our arrivals.
Currently I think Rafa is doing a good job in the prediciment he is currently in. Although when money was not so tight three or four years ago I don't think he took the opportunity in the transfer market at that time and with his team selections to be as productive as I'd of liked. This and rotation had me thinking 'we're never gonna win the league with this fella'. Now though when money is tight I see it being even harder and it may not look as though 'we're ever gonna win the league with this fella' unless he gets the support finacially from our current owners he requires in putting LFC back on fecking perch.
Posted on behalf of a mate
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job at the moment, two games on the bounce where he gets it wrong tactically is not good. I mean what the feck was the deal with playing Aurelio and Lucas in CM??? 
