"the no-Spanish, no-foreign, only-English, only-Scouse, Houllier-better-than-Rafa, we-have-no-heart-or-passion, club-is-not-the-way-it-used-to-be, Championship-Manager, Morgan-in Moores-out, no OOT's"
Is it just me or is this kind of thing levelled at anyone with the audacity to challenge some of Mr Benitez's decisions or even claim dissatisfaction at the teams recent poor form? Let's face it there are some things that can be explained away by muttering "transitional season" and others that can't chieflly Rafa's seeming inability motivate the squad after two big defeats (United and Chelsea) and now two inexcusable ones against much weaker opposition. O.k. massive injury problems and some glaring blunders have taken their toll but we were anemic at best against united and surrendered very tamely to southampton. Surely Rafa is ultimately responsible for this.
I wont criticize the majority of his signings as they should be given time to adapt etc. However, if we all agree that it takes time for foreign players to acclimatise to the game over here, where is the wisdom in playing pellegrino? If he takes the best part of a season before we see the best of him we can expect the majority of his liverpool playing career to be well below what he is capable of (as he cant have that much longer left in him). In this case we would then have to draft in Carragher or another CB and have to allow him time to forge a partnership with Sami.
Also the decision to drop Traore for the game at the weekend was, I feel, the wrong one, He has performed brilliantly this season and dropping him could be interpreted as a lack of confidence in him by Benitez. It will be interesting to see if Pelle suffers the same fate.
These are things i feel Benitez could be held personally accountable for and things i feel he is personally responsible for. Im not calling for his head. Im aware of his achievements and he has impressed me since taking the reigns but the "semi -tongue-in-cheek" crap that is thrown around anytime someone criticizes him is just as unfair and reactionary as calling for his head.
as the author of that particular piece of "semi-tongue-in-cheek crap," perhaps i should respond...
if you're not calling for his head, the comment was not directed at you. simple as.
i don't agree with every decision Rafa has made, for example, i'm not confident when we try to play 4-4-2 with Morientes and Baros alongside each other, because so many other teams are crowding midfield with five players against us, and with Alonso out, Gerarrd "off-form" or "unfit," and Hamann looking increasingly immobile, and yes, the fact that we have no wide midfield players, only Spanish pansies, we always struggle to keep the ball when we play 4-4-2. (the Spanish pansies bit was sarcasm, for clarity's sake...)
but even though i don't agree with the way we have lined up in recent matches, that hasn't meant that i blame Rafa for our poor performances, am calling for his head, or feel the need to try to show everyone that i have sussed out the solutions to all our problems.
None of the over-the-top criticisms that i used in the quote you cited are legitimate complaints about our season; rather, they are cheap, facile pseudo-solutions which ignore deeper problems, and also excuse the poster from the responsibility of a supporter, which in this case is to give Rafa and the players some time to sort out their systems of play, tactics, and personal relationships.
i don't agree that Rafa is ultimately responsible for the United, Burnley and Southampton disasters; i don't think there is an ultimate reason, but rather a composite of factors, which as i mentioned above, Rafa played his unfortunate part.
which i believe he has acknowledged publicly...
your post contains a series of things for which you feel Rafa should be held responsible. Each of these points contains reasons for their inclusion in your post.
Can you really not see that the quote you cite in no way was directed at posts such as the one you yourself wrote?
differences of opinion are inevitable.
but those persons against whom the quote was aimed are not interested in any sort of discussion about the team; rather, the purpose is to hold forth as a sort of revivalist preacher, to bring the Word to the thread and find a victim to blame...
so, i suppose, to answer the initial question you posed, yes, it is just you. "that kind of thing" was not leveled at anyone who challenges Rafa's decisions or is dis-satisfied with our recent run of form.
i challenge his decisions, and i'm a wee bit put-off by our recent run of form.
but i don't have nice, gift-wrapped solutions, either...