Topic: Rafa

[My Original Name Please]

We are closer, but we're still fucking miles away.

Still closer

[wickolfc]

Still closer

I know, thats why i said "we are closer"

[bigbear]

Yes, let's forget about depth when reconstructing a team, and bring in only a couple of really expensive players a season. Once they get injured, or turn out to be as successful as Veron or Sheva, we'd really be screwed.

I'd rather take that chance and sign some quality than watch players play up front for Liverpool who have no pace, can't control a ball and little self-belief.

Squad depth is a modern thing as is rotation. Fuck it, I'd rather have a great eleven and use kids if we get injuries than watch some of the present players masquerading as Liverpool players in the name of squad depth.

[Sweet Silver Song]

Yes it is bollocks, check the stats, Fergie rotates the fuck out of his side every bit as much as Rafa. Why are they 'rested' by Fergie yet 'rotated' by Rafa? Thats just like the media shite we hear ffs. Fergie has more quality players in his squad and so he should with the money he's given every year! As someone already posted in this thread, Rafa cannot trust a lot of his squad players to adapt to differing tactics/opponents etc therefore he keeps the 'spine' of his side practically intact most of the time but has to change some players around out of pure necessity. Give him the serious cash and he will bring in serious talent that doesn't need to be rotated quite so often. If some of the soft fuckers started playing for the manager and earning their wages then we would be much higher in the league, its not about rotation, its about the players who are out there playing!

I think the post was about more than rotation. It was also about formation and tactics as well changing from game to game.

But on the issue about rotation and resting. I think Murgaz is quite correct. Rafa is "form blind" when he rotates. fergie isn't. What I mean by this is, that it's not obvious that Rafa takes into account a players current form when he rotates him into and out of the team. If he did, Voronin would be nowhere near the squad let alone the starting 11 in the last two matches. Take for example Crouch last season. At the start of which he was on fire. He was scoring every time he touched the ball virtually. Everyone knew that his form wouldn't last. but he was in and out the side at the same rate as before. In fact, he played more games in the same period the previous season when he couldn't hit a barn door.

Meanwhile let's look again at Fergie. He's hardly played Saha this season. Why? Because he's off form. Fergie prefers to rotate his other 3 strikers, because they are in form. Can you imagine the same happening with us? In fact Saha has only been used sparingly, and I recall recently he scored, so he's been used intelligently to try and get his form and confidence back. Unlike Voronin, who's confidence is dropping everytime he's been made to play.

Huge difference in the way the two managers "rotate".

[myralfc]

calling Mourinho 'Jose' makes you sound like a tit.

I would argue that saying Mauree was the one to win us the league is what makes one sound like a tit.   

[Red_in_Holland]

Delighted that Mourinho's camp have come out and said that all the media linking of Mourinho with LFC is what we all should have known at once....

TOTAL BOLLOCKS

and thank christ for that, en all.

RiH

[simmo]

we are no closer , please lads wake up and smell the beans we are an average team baring gerrard and nando

[BCCC]

Delighted that Mourinho's camp have come out and said that all the media linking of Mourinho with LFC is what we all should have known at once....

TOTAL BOLLOCKS

and thank christ for that, en all.

RiH

Just a fuckin shame G&H didn't come out with it first. You never know it might have calmed the manager, players and fans and actually helped improve some of our recent performances.

[My Original Name Please]

we are no closer , please lads wake up and smell the beans we are an average team baring gerrard and nando

The stats say we are. Ok, the past few performances wern't so great. But thats normal through a season of 38 games! Yes the leagues out of are grasp baring a miricle. But we are closer. It's pretty clear

[Art Vandelay]

we are an average team barring gerrard and nando and pepe and carra and masch and xabi and agger and finnan and.....

[Alan_X]

Will you lot pack it in. It's like a fucking school trip on here some times... sir! sir! he called me a tit!...

Grow the fuck up...

[My Original Name Please]

Only bad tits correct people over the internet.

Only bad tits carry silly little things on.

[-HH-]

Will you lot pack it in. It's like a fucking school trip on here some times... sir! sir! he called me a tit!...

Grow the fuck up...

Was just thinking that this thread had had some cracking posts on both sides of the argument but the last 2 pages have been utter shite in the main.

[BIGdavalad]

facts are facts ' rafa has had nearly 4 seasons and spent a few quid ( approx 140 m ) and are we any better now to watch or any closer to winning the league to when he came in 2004 ??

He's spent all that money because with the exception of a very few the players here in 2004 weren't anywhere near the standard required, so he's had to basically buy an entire squad.

We are far and away a better team/squad now than we are were in 2004, unfortunately the other top sides have also improved and Rafa's struggling to play catch up without the financial resources of Man Utd and Chelsea or the ten years of youth development at Arsenal.

Whoever is in charge of us next year is going to need that financial backing or we are going to have to wait another five years for Rafa's youth signings to mature into (hopefully) a top class young side.

[simmo]

pity then isnt it that were a million miles from winning the league with all those so called world class players !!   WE ARE AVERAGE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  END OF  we have won less games this season than aston villa everton and man city 

[davidg]

If 'osay' ever took over our cub, i would sell my fucking season ticket, classless horrible twat. Am astounded that people who have actually supported us over the past 5 years have anything but contempt for him.

[The 5th Benitle]

listen guys when ur in work 2moro dont dare call someone by their 1st name as u may be branded a tit by that waste of semen davidg

Is a little punctuation and some full words too much to ask?

[RayO'Biscan]

I'd rather take that chance and sign some quality than watch players play up front for Liverpool who have no pace, can't control a ball and little self-belief.

Squad depth is a modern thing as is rotation. Fuck it, I'd rather have a great eleven and use kids if we get injuries than watch some of the present players masquerading as Liverpool players in the name of squad depth.

Well, I was referring to the situation when Rafa started. There was need to strengthen the squad, but not a hefty budget to use (when compared to Chelsea and Mancs). Add to that the massive injury crisis we had during his first season, and you could understand why the emphasis has been more on quantity than quality (relatively speaking), until last summer.

[BIGdavalad]

pity then isnt it that were a million miles from winning the league with all those so called world class players !!   WE ARE AVERAGE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  END OF 

Except we're not a million miles away from the League title, we're 12 points behind with a game in hand. Not great, but about as far as 'a million miles away' as you can get.

We're also not average, we're a very good team that's gone through a slump in the last few games.

we have won less games this season than aston villa everton and man city 

And we're above all of them.

[AdamBrunt]

we have won less games this season than aston villa everton and man city 

And the minute Premiership rules say "games won" is more important than points and then GD I'll start to care about that stat

[simmo]

FACT ; last sunday against luton are back 5 inc goalie was charlie ( reserve ) ' finnan carra sami riise which was poor ageing an slow ! jan 2005 v luton are back 5 was carson ( reserve ) finnan carra sami riise ' it was poor then and 2yrs on we still av the same defence struggling v luton so were is the improvement ??

[stoa]

Just a fuckin shame G&H didn't come out with it first. You never know it might have calmed the manager, players and fans and actually helped improve some of our recent performances.

That's the thing. To me it's either give Benitez a serious vote of confidence and back that up with support of the manager or get rid of him and bring in a replacement. All those rumours flying around about Rafa being gone in the summer and replacements already being linked with the club isn't helping at all and is getting fucking annoying. What we need now is a clear statement what the owners want to do, i.e. either give the manager what he wants and support him (and I fucking hope they'll do that) or get rid of him and bring in a replacement. Not knowing whether the person in charge will still be there next week, next month or in the summer certainly won't help giving the team their confidence back and clearly disrupts the stabilty of the club.

[BIGdavalad]

FACT ; last sunday against luton are back 5 inc goalie was charlie ( reserve ) ' finnan carra sami riise which was poor ageing an slow ! jan 2005 v luton are back 5 was carson ( reserve ) finnan carra sami riise ' it was poor then and 2yrs on we still av the same defence struggling v luton so were is the improvement ??

Well for a start, Sami isn't first choice anymore, Agger is. Despite that, he remains a top defender who has never relied on pace anyway.

That 'poor defence' has for the last few years been consistently one of the best in the country.

And that, my slow friend, is an actual fact, not just one with 'FACT' written in to make it look like one.

[smicer07]

That's the thing. To me it's either give Benitez a serious vote of confidence and back that up with support of the manager or get rid of him and bring in a replacement. All those rumours flying around about Rafa being gone in the summer and replacements already being linked with the club isn't helping at all and is getting fucking annoying. What we need now is a clear statement what the owners want to do, i.e. either give the manager what he wants and support him (and I fucking hope they'll do that) or get rid of him and bring in a replacement. Not knowing whether the person in charge will still be there next week, next month or in the summer certainly won't help giving the team their confidence back and clearly disrupts the stabilty of the club.

Gillett did that a few weeks ago though.

[My Original Name Please]

FACT ; last sunday against luton are back 5 inc goalie was charlie ( reserve ) ' finnan carra sami riise which was poor ageing an slow ! jan 2005 v luton are back 5 was carson ( reserve ) finnan carra sami riise ' it was poor then and 2yrs on we still av the same defence struggling v luton so were is the improvement ??

Agger was injured. Now he's back. Skrtel has just signed. Theres your improvement mate.

[AdamBrunt]

Well for a start, Sami isn't first choice anymore, Agger is. Despite that, he remains a top defender who has never relied on pace anyway.

That 'poor defence' has for the last few years been consistently one of the best in the country.

And that, my slow friend, is an actual fact, not just one with 'FACT' written in to make it look like one.

You could also argue that unlike 2 years ago, Riise isn't first choice LB anymore either.

But hey - I stopped reading the minute I saw "Jan 2005 v Luton"

[simmo]

ok then bigdav everything is rosy and great and we will have to make do with 4th 5th for ever then ' fantastic

[My Original Name Please]

ok then bigdav everything is rosy and great and we will have to make do with 4th 5th for ever then ' fantastic

He was just pointing out a FACT! Our defense has been one of, if not the most consistant for some years now!

[simmo]

fuckin wirral squirrals 

[AdamBrunt]

ok then bigdav everything is rosy and great and we will have to make do with 4th 5th for ever then ' fantastic

Did we finish 4th/5th last year ? How about the year before that ? Oh no wait - 05/06 we missed out on 2nd by 1 point !!!

[My Original Name Please]

fuckin wirral squirrals 

Well, If chatting sense gets to you that much..

Fool

[simmo]

this season we will finish 4th at the very best and that isnt good enough !

[myralfc]

Gillett did that a few weeks ago though.

The only thing I remember coming out was that Parry's meeting was about the stadium and naught to do with Benitez, not 'we back the manager.'  I can't seem to find any direct quotes, but maybe I'm not looking hard enough?  Could you post any links?

[BCCC]

this season we will finish 4th at the very best and that isnt good enough !

And what makes you think that our squad is better the Chelsea's the mancs or Arsenal?

[walshys_mullet]

Yes it is bollocks, check the stats, Fergie rotates the fuck out of his side every bit as much as Rafa. Why are they 'rested' by Fergie yet 'rotated' by Rafa? Thats just like the media shite we hear ffs. Fergie has more quality players in his squad and so he should with the money he's given every year! As someone already posted in this thread, Rafa cannot trust a lot of his squad players to adapt to differing tactics/opponents etc therefore he keeps the 'spine' of his side practically intact most of the time but has to change some players around out of pure necessity. Give him the serious cash and he will bring in serious talent that doesn't need to be rotated quite so often. If some of the soft fuckers started playing for the manager and earning their wages then we would be much higher in the league, its not about rotation, its about the players who are out there playing!

Because Ferguson never changes his system game to game. they usually play a simple 442 with width and just atatck. No complicated systems. Against us at anfield they played 442 and just sat deep.

We have a gameplan for every team.

[walshys_mullet]

Yes, let's forget about depth when reconstructing a team, and bring in only a couple of really expensive players a season. Once they get injured, or turn out to be as successful as Veron or Sheva, we'd really be screwed.

thats so naive its untrue.

[AdamBrunt]

The only thing I remember coming out was that Parry's meeting was about the stadium and naught to do with Benitez, not 'we back the manager.'  I can't seem to find any direct quotes, but maybe I'm not looking hard enough?  Could you post any links?

That was only last week - you're not looking far enough back. You need to go back to way before Christmas. It was Gillett who said something like "Rafa is the man for us not just for now but the foreseeable future" (paraphrasing there but it was something like that).

[walshys_mullet]

Did we finish 4th/5th last year ? How about the year before that ? Oh no wait - 05/06 we missed out on 2nd by 1 point !!!

whoopy doo.

[RayO'Biscan]

thats so naive its untrue.

How so?

[RayO'Biscan]

Because Ferguson never changes his system game to game. they usually play a simple 442 with width and just atatck. No complicated systems. Against us at anfield they played 442 and just sat deep.

We have a gameplan for every team.

I remember Mancs complaining about Slur's use of 5-4-1, so he changes his system from time to time.

What's wrong with having a gameplan for every team? [Stupid insult removed; shouldn't be posting while recovering from a hangover]