Liverpool FC Forum

[The_Rock]

...... because Liverpool cannot afford to lose games

This is the dilemma....stick with the manager who sets up the team not to lose or appoint a manager who picks the strongest team and goes with the mentality of winning the game.

[Sir Roger]

Hmmmm.............how your're gonna give credit to a coach who can come up with the below [email=cr@p.....]cr@p.....[/email] seriously...


http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news....ccernet


Rafael Benitez admits has no plans to give Alberto Aquilani regular first-team football at present because Liverpool cannot afford to lose games.


Alberto Aquilani has made little impact so far with Liverpool

Benitez stressed last week that it would be "very dangerous" to drop further points given that Manchester City, Tottenham and Aston Villa are all strongly challenging for fourth place, and he will fully expect the team to secure victory at Wigan on Monday night.

Aquilani, signed from Roma for £20 million in the summer, would have been hoping to start the match as he continues to regain his match fitness, but Benitez has said he cannot afford to risk his inclusion.

"When you have been injured for a while, it's not easy for a player," he said. "Then when you are available and the team isn't doing well, it makes it even more difficult.

"You have to decide if you can afford to give him two or three games when you know he's maybe not at the level he could be, so you could end up losing some of them.

"Alberto isn't stupid. He knows the priority now has to be the team and what's best for that. All he can do is keep training and making sure he is ready when we need him."

Aquilani was left out of the side that drew 0-0 at Wolves on January 26 and there had been suggestions that Benitez was concerned about the pitch at Molineux. However, as they prepare to play on the newly relaid pitch at the DW Stadium, Benitez insists that has never been a factor.

"When I didn't play him at Wolves, it wasn't to do with the state of their pitch," he said. "It was because of the kind of game and because others were available, which meant we could manage in a different way, so whether I play him at Wigan or not isn't a decision that will be determined by the pitch.

"But we have had a conversation about things and he knows the situation. Alberto is a very good professional, who was a big name in Italy, and he wants to show his quality here.

"When you're like that but cannot play for three or four months and then you're available but can't play because the team is maybe doing really well or has problems, it's a difficult situation for any professional."

Rafa is embarrassing and is constantly a figure of fun to many now with his ramblings and bullsh'it.
I NEVER listen to him after a match, win or lose any more because I cant put myself through it
I would much prefer if he said fu'ck all and let the football do the talking (or not, like last night)
His comments about why Aquilani didnt play just about sums him up:
"When you have been injured for a while, it's not easy for a player," he said. "Then when you are available and the team isn't doing well, it makes it even more difficult."
What the fu'ck does that mean?

"You have to decide if you can afford to give him two or three games when you know he's maybe not at the level he could be, so you could end up losing some of them."
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat???

"When I didn't play him at Wolves, it wasn't to do with the state of their pitch," he said. "It was because of the kind of game and because others were available, which meant we could manage in a different way"
Psst we drew 0-0 with Wolves. Yes THAT Wolves

"When you're like that but cannot play for three or four months and then you're available but can't play because the team is maybe doing really well or has problems, it's a difficult situation for any professional."
So
If the team is doing well we dont need him and if we have problems we cant use him???

OK Rafa
Thanks for clearing that up...

[dawson99]

Aquilani lokoed awesome when he played last night... just wish he had a decent manager giving him the right chances

[Benny The Noon]

Awesome ? thats going a bit far

[terry66]

Owen is no good to Liverpool, I think the geordies would agree with that to

[devaney]

Hmmmm.............how your're gonna give credit to a coach who can come up with the below [email=cr@p.....]cr@p.....[/email] seriously...


http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news....ccernet


Rafael Benitez admits has no plans to give Alberto Aquilani regular first-team football at present because Liverpool cannot afford to lose games.


Alberto Aquilani has made little impact so far with Liverpool

Benitez stressed last week that it would be "very dangerous" to drop further points given that Manchester City, Tottenham and Aston Villa are all strongly challenging for fourth place, and he will fully expect the team to secure victory at Wigan on Monday night.

Aquilani, signed from Roma for £20 million in the summer, would have been hoping to start the match as he continues to regain his match fitness, but Benitez has said he cannot afford to risk his inclusion.

"When you have been injured for a while, it's not easy for a player," he said. "Then when you are available and the team isn't doing well, it makes it even more difficult.

"You have to decide if you can afford to give him two or three games when you know he's maybe not at the level he could be, so you could end up losing some of them.

"Alberto isn't stupid. He knows the priority now has to be the team and what's best for that. All he can do is keep training and making sure he is ready when we need him."

Aquilani was left out of the side that drew 0-0 at Wolves on January 26 and there had been suggestions that Benitez was concerned about the pitch at Molineux. However, as they prepare to play on the newly relaid pitch at the DW Stadium, Benitez insists that has never been a factor.

"When I didn't play him at Wolves, it wasn't to do with the state of their pitch," he said. "It was because of the kind of game and because others were available, which meant we could manage in a different way, so whether I play him at Wigan or not isn't a decision that will be determined by the pitch.

"But we have had a conversation about things and he knows the situation. Alberto is a very good professional, who was a big name in Italy, and he wants to show his quality here.

"When you're like that but cannot play for three or four months and then you're available but can't play because the team is maybe doing really well or has problems, it's a difficult situation for any professional."

Rafa is embarrassing and is constantly a figure of fun to many now with his ramblings and bullsh'it.
I NEVER listen to him after a match, win or lose any more because I cant put myself through it
I would much prefer if he said fu'ck all and let the football do the talking (or not, like last night)
His comments about why Aquilani didnt play just about sums him up:
"When you have been injured for a while, it's not easy for a player," he said. "Then when you are available and the team isn't doing well, it makes it even more difficult."
What the fu'ck does that mean?

"You have to decide if you can afford to give him two or three games when you know he's maybe not at the level he could be, so you could end up losing some of them."
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat???

"When I didn't play him at Wolves, it wasn't to do with the state of their pitch," he said. "It was because of the kind of game and because others were available, which meant we could manage in a different way"
Psst we drew 0-0 with Wolves. Yes THAT Wolves

"When you're like that but cannot play for three or four months and then you're available but can't play because the team is maybe doing really well or has problems, it's a difficult situation for any professional."
So
If the team is doing well we dont need him and if we have problems we cant use him???

OK Rafa
Thanks for clearing that up...

Think were on the same page SR - fed up to my back teeth with Benitez - £5m a year for what? Wigan was just about the final nail in the coffin!

Totally agree with your comments about not listening to him - IT HAS BECOME EMBARRASSING! Is it my imagination or did he start getting more bizarre after his crazy season destroying rant at the mind games expert Ferguson?

[Lando_Griffin]

Don't be silly now , Rafa fecks up everytime and couldn't by a decent player to save his life . Feckin hell little mikey is class and i've no idea why Rafa din't sign him for A free . Maybe Ben Patrick will be able to tell us or saint or whomever else had a crystal ball and new if mikey had come to us he would have banged in 25 goals for us . Maybe rafa made a good judgement this time , doubt it though .

You are right he didn't make a good judgement call this time. He SHOULD have got Owen on a free, he could have helped out this season and given us what we need, a second striker. We all know he is injury prone, so did Manure but on a free he was well worth the gamble and has played quite well for Manure. Given the choice I would rather have had Owen than Wash.

Why take a has been, judas c*nt who's only interested in himself and his place in the England squad over a youngster who you could develope into a talent and potentially flog on for a mega profit.? Oh, and his wages are peanuts compared to Micky England's. I think you'll find N'gog's scoring record is admirable and comparable to that of the Rat's also. N'Gog scored only 1 goal in his time at PSG, yet he's scored how many for us this term so far? Vital ones too. Sure Rafa takes on players and makes them worse, don't you know.

are you actually comparing N'gog to Owen? i mean i cant stand Owen as much as the next man, but lets be real here, he's 10 times the player N'gog is.

The fact that N'Gog is available for 10x as many games as the poison dwarf evens it out, though.

[Lando_Griffin]

Don't be silly now , Rafa fecks up everytime and couldn't by a decent player to save his life . Feckin hell little mikey is class and i've no idea why Rafa din't sign him for A free . Maybe Ben Patrick will be able to tell us or saint or whomever else had a crystal ball and new if mikey had come to us he would have banged in 25 goals for us . Maybe rafa made a good judgement this time , doubt it though .

Oh yes  - fecked-up on Alonso, Agger, Masch, Benny, Garcia, Maxi and then there's a certain Torres.. worth £60 mill +

He's moved the poor signings on quickly too, whilst dealing with a transfer budget driven by balancing the books of a drak ages board..

and who says Aqua won't be a succes .. ay   

Agger - always injured
Alonso - Left
Masher - Wanted to leave, still prb will
Benny - under used
Garcia - Left
Maxi - been with us like 5 mins
Torres - genius signing



Hmmm

You're a f*cking idiot, Dawson. You're letting your little vendetta against Rafa poison everything you post.

Mascherano - "wanted to leave" (family reasons were cited) but is now about to sign a new contract so who gives a f*ck if he WAS going last year? Surely Rafa's ability to change his mind is a good thing? (Oh, sorry - I forgot I was talking to you...)
Let's not forget he was plucked from West Ham's bench where NO-ONE had the balls to gamble on him - not even his manager at the time. Joined us and the World soon realised he was actually a £30m-odd player (hence Barca's interest).

Alonso - bought for £10.5m, instrumental in winning Champions' League and FA Cup, sold for £30m - you work out whether or not that was a successful signing, numb nuts.

Agger - £5.5m and despite his injury problems would not go for less than £15m, save for an Owen-esk contract rundown. So sh*t AC Milan wanted him...

Benayoun - under used? Are you high? He's been injured, you daft pr*ck.

Garcia - instrumental in Champions' League win, left for FAMILY REASONS and never hit the same heights for Athletico.

Maxi - obviously sh*t because he's not been with us long, but ex-captain of Athletico and an excellent signing.

Torres - injured more than Agger, yet a genius signing. Interesting...


Now let's examine the infallable Fergie's signings record:

Djemba Djemba: Singed for £3.5m, sold for £1.5m.

Massimo Taibi - Signed for £4.4m, sold for f*ck all after 4 games, conceding more than 8 goals.

David Bellion - Signed for £2m, went for nothing having scored 4 goals.

Kleberson - singed for £6.5m, sold for £2m having played 20 times.

Saha - In for £12.8m, out for an undisclosed fee, but was on a pay-as-you-play deal at the Bitters, so it would have been no more than £2m.

Barthez - In for £7.8m, released from his contract because he was so sh*t.

Forlan - in for £6.9m, sold for undisclosed 2 years later.

Carrick - In for £18.6m, and anyone with a hole in their a*se can see he's barely worth the £0.6m, let alone another 18 on top. Will no doubt join Everton for £2m shortly.

Fortune - So sh*t, no-one knows how much the red-nosed c*nt paid for him.

Veron - £28.1m and a complete flop. Sold 2 years later for for a £13.1m loss.

Ricardo - Goalkeeper who cost £1.5m...and played 1 game.

Blomqvist - Joined for £4.4m, left for b*gger all.

Berbatov - Bought for £30.75m and still a lazy piece of sh*t. I wonder how much the Bitters will pay for this one? I'm guessing a free transfer once his deal is about to run out. Perhaps a nominal £1m fee with 6 months up - who knows?

Hargreaves - in the region of £20m. Oddly enough, that's what Aquilani COULD end up costing us if he does well. If not, it'll be £5m. (Oh, and Hargreaves has currently played 25 times for the scum in nearly 3 years. Aquilani has played 16 times for us in less than 1.)

Anderson - £18m and has played 55 times in nearly 3 years. Lucas has played 69 times for us in the same period at a third of the cost.

Say what you want about Rafa (well actually, no - shut your f*cking cake hole.) He doesn't lose money like that whiskey-nosed c*nt does. Excluding Ronaldo, who was bought for his face, not his ability, and you have a manager who doesn't know his a*se from his elbow half the time - he just buys and buys and buys without any regard for the losses.

Now don't forget: I bring absolutely NOTHING to the debate...

[Lando_Griffin]

Who said he was pish? Im exaggerating, but you got eejits like Lando on one side, and then on the 'antis' (i hate putting people into brackets) who go more rightwing(??) to make a point. We're never gettnig anywhere,

Not trying to get me to retaliate, are you, dipsh*t?

It's a very sad day when you're called an "eejit" for supporting the manager on a Liverpool board.

Mind you - your opinion is on the same intellectual level as a pavement turd, decomposing in the heat of a summer's day...

[Lando_Griffin]

Exactly. Rafa picks those who work hard in training. Not really a hard concept to grasp mate.

So is it better for a player to be hard working rather than skillful, is that the concept you are saying is so easy to grasp?

As for emerald, I wish you would actually put your money where your mouth is and stop discussing me.

You've suggested I be banned and should be ignored so many times now it's getting quite 

Yeah, you're right, Heimdall.

Emerald - stop asking for him to be banned, mate.

I'm starting a campaign to get the f*cker euthenised...

[Lando_Griffin]

I think it was a mistake not to bring Owen back on a play as you play. He hasn't played that much at United yet has scored a few, most notably against City and a hat trick in Europe. We are short of 'proven' strikers at the club and there was a minimal risk involved with any signing of Owen. He is now injured so presumably won't get paid. Those who are praising Rafa for not actually signing Owen are probably the same ones who are content to see the dross that is Lucas, Ngog, Insua playing regularly for our club. The reason, I believe Benitez didn't sign Owen, was personal. The reason he didn't bring in another striker plain stupid!

I think you'll find the reason we didn't bring in another striker was money.

[Lando_Griffin]

To be fair to Eggnog though

opinions opinions - i'd say he a youngster who's getting more appearances and more goals than last season - thats improvement

he 's not going to turn into uber-confident clinical finisher overnight - he's still at the "he has potential" stage

Sorry but Eggnog will never make the grade but I am happy with the goals he is scoring even though they are all tap ins. I think in this day and age a striker needs to offer a bit more like scoring a goal form further out than 2 yards and the ability to beat a few defenders but what the hell do I know.

As for Crouch, Keane and Bellamy all improving under Rafa, if they improved so much under Rafa and are currently so good, can someone remind me why they all left???

In any case don't all players improve as they get older? I would think that is the norm as they get more experienced etc.

Heimdall: "What he hell do I know?" - f*ck all, apparently.

Crouch left because he wanted to play every week, and that was never going to happen with Torres here. Rafa asked him to stay, but he left to play week in, week out (no doubt to keep his England place.)

Bellamy left primarily because he tw*tted Riise with a golf club, but also because we needed funds for the Torres deal.

Keane left because he was overwhelmed by playing for us and was utter sh*te as a result.

As for players getting better with age - it's a bit of a double-edged sword: Is it age and experience which improves them, or their ability which allows them to have those experiences as they grow older?

There - if you take it all in, there'll be some things you DO know tomorrow...

[Lando_Griffin]

Id just like to give Rafa the full credit he, and he alone deserves for this feast of football being served up at mighty Wigan 
We play the biggest load of shyte in the Prem bar none
Its a fkn joke!

10 mil to get shut sounds cheap to me 

If we have a whip-round, do you reckon you could fhave your desk cleared before lunch?

[Lando_Griffin]

Vowing to never try and enter any kind of footballing debate with Hiemdall again. He's just an utterly f*ckling cluless pleb amongst our fanbase.

I came to that conclusion November 2006. It could have been October 2006 but I decided to give him the benifit of doubt.

How do you put on that ignore post thing on again? I should have done that from the start. 

Careful what you say...the Mods are watching....even "warned" me over my comments about heimdall....
and for the record ER, I'm with you on your attitude to the spanner...

spanner, clown, wum. Man I must have the most tags of anybody on this forum, I'm feeling the hate people, it's good, keep it coming if it makes you all feel better.

MODS - this is an open invite, surely!?!      

I'll await International clearance before I begin...   

[Big Niall]

I just know I will get the Rafa bashers on here now arguing against but the "fact " is  his judgement was right about Owen.

... the anti's will not be arguing against the Owen issue but they will point out that Aquilani is injured all the time... it is a very dark time on this board right now where the majority refuses to stay optimistic... very cynical indeed...

Owen should have been signed on a free on a pay as you play deal. That way LFC don't have to spend a penny when he is injured. He could have filled in when Torres was injured and co-incidently got injured just as Torres is coming back. Who knows how many goals he would have scored.