Just to follow up on my thoughts posted in the "The Job" thread regarding the (hoped-for) new manager and looking to the future. I think it's telling that some thought the thread to be an apology for Rafael Benitez even though it was solely intended to be forward-looking. Most people got that, some didn't. The thread has since had moments of back and forth arguments about Pellegrini, Rijkaard and a further mini-debate about Rafa's faults, successes, mistakes, etc. So much seems to come back around to him still. I sense that there's a deep wound here still being felt by a portion of the club's support that won't fully be healed until we get back what we've lost, what we feel cheated out of. Meanwhile, another section of fans are telling us "he's gone, get over him." But what we've lost isn't merely Rafael Benitez, it's what he
represented, and until we have a man in charge with a vision and the talent to see it through, with ambition, who gets us (the supporters, the club, the city), who's a winner made of the same stuff as Shankly (and as far as myself and others like me are concerned, Rafa ticked all those boxes), then he'll be discussed, brought up, fondly remembered, and those who wanted him gone, don't miss him one bit or are just single-minded enough to forget him will tell us to stop talking about him. That's how it's going to be, and as I see it, there's only one to close this wound - the day another man walks into this club with a vision and the talent to see it through, with ambition, who gets us (the supporters, the club, the city), who's a winner made of the same stuff as Shankly. It doesn't have to be Rafa, but unless he ticks most of those boxes, there'll always be a certain sadness at what we were cheated out of.
What were we cheated out of and how? We were cheated out of seeing such a man realise his vision, first by his undermining by incompetent owners and managing directors, and then by his dismissal and replacement by someone his exact opposite, a man with no ambition, who sees a win at Goodison Park as a "utopia." And why? Was it really just the 7th place, or was it something else? Quite a few of us (probably the minority in truth, but a sizeable one) think not, and as a result, we feel cheated, still somewhat disenfranchised despite the exits of Hicks and Gillett, and angry. We feel like we're living in a parallel universe. The other dimension (where Rafa spent £300m on 100+ players) tells us that Benitez was rubbish and lucky to survive as long as he did, whereas over here in our little world he he was building a dynasty at Anfield, or at least attempting to, with lesser resources relative to his rivals. For them, Roy Hodgson is a better manager, for us he was made from the same stuff as Bill Shankly himself, a man whose ambition was to build Liverpool up and up and up until everyone else just gave in. To them he was a "cold political animal," to us he got the fans, the club and the city perfectly and always came across as one of us. He was dignified and polite, with a sense of humour and an unwillingness to allow just anyone into the inner-sanctum. He outed Hicks and Gillett as conmen, he understood Hillsborough and, most of all, he was a winner. Yes, we saw the mistakes, the games that got away from us, the signings that didn't work out, but those things never obscured the successes and the progress. No need to list them here, just follow the link below:
Most importantly of all, Benitez had a vision, to build us up and up and up until everyone else just gave in. Sound familiar? But he never got the chance to complete that vision, and hence we feel cheated. We feel cheated by how that came to pass. He made mistakes but the mistakes were magnified and twisted to obscure the brilliant work he did. His new employers from spring 2007 onwards undermined him at every turn, from the desecration of his transfer budget to meeting other managers behind his back. He dealt with a ravenous, insulting, in some cases xenophobic media who repeatedly criticised his methods even as they worked splendidly (e.g. zonal-marking, which earned Pepe Reina three Golden Gloves awards and a share of a fourth). It often got personal, and the deep-rooted resentment of him and attempted destruction of his reputation continues to this day. So we feel cheated, not only because a football manager made of the finest Shankly fibre wasn't able to complete his vision, but the manner in which it happened, and we resent those who made it happen - the media (pundits, writers, bloggers, whoever), Hicks and Gillett, Purslow, certain players who it now appears clear wanted him out for no positive reason, even sections of our own fellow supporters who wanted him out either because they were naive enough to think we'd get a Mourinho or because they were misguided enough to think that it was all Benitez's fault. He could take his share of the blame for some wrong turns, but he was far from finished. Alex Ferguson once led Manchester United to successive 11th and 13th place finishes. Managers sometimes have bad spells. The best recover.
And everytime idiots like Souness, Gray, Whelan, Lawrenson, Claridge, Merson, Dunphy or Collymore open their mouths, they twist the knife. Every time we concede soft goals or ask Torres to play like Bobby Zamora, every week we spend in the relegation zone, every boneheaded comment from our manager that makes us cringe, every time our team goes out and shows neither fight nor tactical awareness, every time we see promising, creative players like Aquilani, Insua and Agger marginalised or bombed out altogether, every time we see Paul Konchecky taken to the cleaners by a winger (be it Nani or Seamus Coleman), every time we see Christian Poulsen do anything (or not, as the case may be), every time we see Agger on the bench or at left-back, we are reminded of what we lost. Again, I repeat, NOT JUST RAFA, but an ambitious, talented manager with a plan. To those who want us to get over that, let me ask you this: can you give that back to us? Can NESV? Hopefully. Whoever it is will have to tick some of those boxes mentioned earlier, and if they do and get us back to winning ways, then someday the wound might heal (I really hope it does). For now, John W. Henry has been the disinfectant that stopped the wound going septic, but it's still there. He's gone, get over him? Then why, almost five months after his exit, do articles and broadcasts appear almost every day seeking to put the blame on him for Roy Hodgson's mediocre start as Liverpool boss? Well I've got a shocking admission, Rafa
is partially to blame for Hodgson looking so bad - he gave him an impossible act to follow. And it's the act we're still remembering every bit as much as the man.
