by big al » Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:48 pm
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Like so many people on here my first instinct on Friday night was 'good for you Rafa' but as the night wore on and the fans feedback came in I could'nt help thinking what a big bloody mistake Rafa had made. Some of the more considered fans on here were also saying the same thing and fair play to them for being so insightful.
Theres is no doubt a lot of truth in what Rafa was saying about Ferguson, I bet only the Manc fans would disagree. However the mistake Rafa made was in timing. He made what was a very important issue appear to be casued by his own insecurities as a manager. Had he raised this issue earlier in the season then the Mancs would not have been able to counter his statements in the way they have.
I am not the most objective person to say this but the truth is ' Ferguson is the blue eye of the British media.' In their eyes he can do no wrong. Alex Ferguson stands for everything that is the British establishment and added to this is the hatred the media have of Liverpool. I live in Ireland so whilst I am a Liverpool FC fan I hope I am ojective enough to see the absolute downright prejudice that the British media have of the people of Liverpool. No other city in England is treated with such distain as Liverpool is. The sterotyping of Liverpools people by the media is an absolute disgrace. For those of you who believe that the Sun newspaper printed the lies it did about Hillsbrough without any prior malice then think again. The gutter press would only and could only have printed such dispicable stories because they envolved Liverpudlians.
Some people may think that I am now ranting but the fact is I am writing this with calm and in a very collective state. Whenever I see reports in the media about the city of Liverpool I see slanted journalism which seeks to show everything Liverpudlian in a prejudicial and maligning fashion. The little Englander superiority of the newspaper media is based at looking down its nose a scousers who are either, thieves, drug dealers, con-sters or rouges.
Calling Rafa's attack on Sir Alex Ferguson a 'Rant' was inevitable. Remember Sky Sports belongs to Rupert Murdock who in turn owns the Sun newspaper. I watch the smiles of sky sports reporters when comments from Manc fans came rolling in saying Sir Alex had wound Rafa up, they loved it.
My work mate reminded me today of a conversation we had about a month ago when I said that Rafa was to only manager who was oblivious to Sir Alex Fergusons rants. I obviously spoke to soon.
With hindsight what Rafa did was bring pressure on his own side against Stoke, detracting from game and then fire Man U players up. To be frank, yesterdays preformance by Man U was their best all season thanks to Rafa. He should have chuckled praised Ferguson for his achievements and picked the right team to play Stoke.
One last thing. On Friday night he told Stoke how he was going to play. He expected them to push forward as they were at home. He felt that if they did this Liverpools counter attacking football would eventually open them up. Stokes manager in the end knew how Rafa was going to play and was set up to defend the point they started the game with. The biggest failing of Rafa has been his inability to change things around and I dont mean players hes a bloody genius at that. No he needs to take risks. Winning the premiership is about taking risks. Rafa only takes risks when we are behind, when he does take risks his players very rarely fail to come through. He needs to do this in some games from the start and he needs to keep quiet. Rafa Should read Kiplings 'IF' I hope Im not breaking any copywrite by adding it here. I draw your attention to the first verse.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IF.....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Football Is the greatest democracy of all, That's providing your not Italian and pay the referee" Big al 2006
, he is more or less insuating that Gill is manipulating things to give Manure an unfair advantage. Whilst this may or may not be true I'd like to see him digging up some evidence for that which the FA may well ask him to do. Not smart Mr Benitez, not smart at all.
besides... rafa might just be creating distraction for the players so that the attention will be on him and not the team... the team after all is challenging for the title for the first time in 19 years
by 