This is my opinion, and I'll never be convinced otherwise - it went wrong because of Rafa.
I really don't think we need a brilliant, tactically astute manager. We;ve got one now.
I've given it 4 years, evaluated it as I see it, and what I see is, like in the Houllier era, what I think many see already and many more will come to see over time - that Rafa is too inflexible - that he's become stale and staying on much further will only serve to damage his legacy.
We need a manager who can make the very talented group of players we have play to their best, who will send them out to win games, rather than not lose, who will play the players in form, and drop the players not in form, who will foster relationships with the players so they will give their all for him, who can motivate the players to consistantly perform their best, who will pick LFC's best side most suited to his style of play, rather than a side tailored to the opponents, a manager who will be flexible enough to see when things are not working and change accordingly, and quickly...
Rafa WILL NOT CHANGE and the reason I feel the way I do - I don't think Rafa will ever change his basic philosophies - and it's those philosophies which are harming us year after year in mounting a genuine league challenge.
I love Rafa as a man, and think he;s a brilliant manager. Fantastically analytical, great at setting the team up for one off games - I even firmly believe he could win the league with us if he changed a little in his beliefs.
But he won't.
Fair enough, the off field stuff was shite this season - but it's a managers job to control, or even use that. Some managers who shall remain nameless would use something like that to foster an us against them spirit in the team, often driving it on to greater success - we've all seen it happening...
Some of the best recent teams have succeeded at times of their greatest adversity - in spite of it - not folded because of it.
It's been something whispered about Rafa from his very early days - he's just not got enough of a relationship with the players for them to react to him in that way, to fight for him or to form that kind of bind.
Also, I don't hold much tack with "the ferguson theory"... What people miss out is that it;'s a very different era - one where sides could afford two seasons in 11th and 13th - that just can not happen to LFC - particularly now given the debt we have.
Also, in the last 45 years, a LOT of managers have won the english title - ALL of them have done it in their first four years in charge with the singular exception of Ferguson.
Many will say "look what happened when Man U stuck with a manager - but it's equally relevant to say look what happened when Man U DIDN'T - they got rid of Ron Atkinson, despite some recent cup success and respectable league finishes. - similarly, would arsenal be where they were now had they not got rid of Bruce Rioch, Chelsea had they not binned off Ranaieri?
History would suggest it's more likely Rafa is just another good manager doing a decent job, than that we'll clean all before us for the next 10 years if we keep him.
If it was as simple as sticking with a manager and eventually success will come, Crewe would be the best team in the country.
Frankly - there are plenty who could take our current team and get us better results in the league - and that is REALLY the one we all want.
Look at the teams at Everton, Villa, Portsmouth.
Do you really believe their team is better than ours?
Because it's like this - either their team is better than ours and deservedly close to us - or our manager is doing terribly with the group of players he has. At the time of the reading game we were doing well, only 3 points behind the mancs and 7 behind arsenal with a game in hand. Cue needless changes and fucking about, and 11 games later - yes, just 11 league games, we're over 20 points off the pace. Again.
That is the point when people say "who would you get better than Rafa" - the point is, we don't even necessarily need a manager tactically better than Rafa - we just need one who will allow a great squad of players to play football, one who can motivate them to be up for games, one who can give them belief, even one who can make good players better. One who picks a team and tactics to win games, not who picks a team and tactics to not lose...
NOW, I WILL admit that the above is perhaps unnecessarly harsh, however at the time it was written we were on the back of a run of one win in 11 league games, so I will claim slight temporary insanity, however, the basics are still what I believe. Rafa is a superb european manager, and could be so in the premier league as well, as he has all the tools - and that only Rafa is holding Rafa back - but I remain far from convinced he is willing to change his beliefs enough to enable us to mount a sustained league challenge.
We started well. We ended well. But there will ALWAYS be the other bit. The bit of the season where we drop points due to an inherently defensive mentality of the manager. The bit where we fall off the pace. The bit where TOO many changes are made too often. We've all seen over the last 3 months just what can happen with a settled side playing a formation where they all know their jobs.
Can we trust Rafa to do that for a whole league season next year?
