by azriahmad » Mon Oct 25, 2004 11:22 pm
He and Maurinho are 2 of the best young coaches in Europe but at present, their immediate fortunes are very much contrasted by the money available to their clubs.
Maurinho has been able to immediately impose what he wants from his team due to the fact that he can get whoever he wants due to the funds available to him. Benithez is restricted by Liverpool's available funds and he has to di it the harder way - bring in some new players, try to integrate them into the club, change the playing habits of ther existing players and get the team to play to his philosophies.
The fact that he has been struggling earlier on illustrates the rot that we have at Liverpool in terms of the quality of the existing playing staff, their limited tactical abilities and mostly, their low confidence. This is the state we are in and changes are needed desperately if we want to be back at the top, unless we have a wealthy new shareholder who pumps money into the club for fun like Abramovich ang go out and buy an entire new team.
Gradually, this has been changed and we are now seeing Liverpool play with a lot of passing and movements, which was the cornerstone of our success in the 70s and 80s. Benithez also is a firm believer of developing young talents locally and has shown this by blooding several reserve players into the senior squad and giving them starting roles. This will give them the chance to develop and will save money for the club in the long term. To be successful without Chalsea-like funds, it is important to develop your own talents - look at manure with their Giggs, Beckham, Nevilles, Scholes etc. Another route is to go the Arsenal way and make fantastic buys at bargain prices but so far, no one has been able to top Arsene Wenger.
Benithez is a firm believer in a very organised team who attacks and defend as a unit. His teams tend to be technically sound and not necessarily filled with super stars. A manager like this is what we needed and although it will take time, I am pleased to see us playing with a lot of passing in the attacking build-up rather than route one.
Go Rafa!