Topic: Players signed by Rafael Benitez

[the_prodigal_s0n]

the thing is benitez hasn't got the option ,we had Keane last season as soon as the 2 yanks realised they had paid 20 mil for a player who wasnt gonna start plus what ever wages he was on,they shipped him out an pocketed the money.
which is the reason why we were left with a 20 year old1.5 million signing as back up,while you can call on a bench of 50 million plus

Woah, hold on. That's making a huge assumption. Sure, the Americans have fucked the club over, but it was Rafa's decision to sell Keane. He made the decision, not them. If that wasn't the case I very much doubt he'd still be at the club. Yes, they did fuck him over by not giving him the funds from the sale, but in no way did they make the final decision to get rid of Keane.

[shanklyboy]

Which is why you don't hear of squad rotation any more,when Rafa done it,it was nearly front page news"99 games ",now taggert does it ,its accepted. Can't wait for the red nosed twat to start zonal marking so we can put that to bed

I think you'll find that Ferguson doesn't rotate..............the method he uses is called 'Replenishment'..............apparently!

[SP]

Rafa does not have the funds for great cover in all positions. At the start of the season he gambled on how many concurrent injuries he would have to cover. Unfortunately he has a freakishly severe injury crisis. If he had bought more squad cover, he would have spent less. Meaning either no Johnson, or a cheaper Alonso replacement than Aquilani. Given the finite resources, he has tried to put most of the cash into the first team squad.

[benny]

Woah, hold on. That's making a huge assumption. Sure, the Americans have fucked the club over, but it was Rafa's decision to sell Keane. He made the decision, not them. If that wasn't the case I very much doubt he'd still be at the club. Yes, they did fuck him over by not giving him the funds from the sale, but in no way did they make the final decision to get rid of Keane.

so do you think if Benitez was told he could get rid of Keane,but he wouldn't be getting any money he would of let him go ,to leave n'gog and voronin as his 2 back up strikers.There is a lot of players on this thread that i would love to have on the bench,Bellamy,Crouch etc,but the wouldn't sit on the bench,whilst Crouch is now for spurs but is getting more money than we could offer a back up striker.thats down to the buisness side of the club in my opinion

[the_prodigal_s0n]

Rafa does not have the funds for great cover in all positions. At the start of the season he gambled on how many concurrent injuries he would have to cover. Unfortunately he has a freakishly severe injury crisis. If he had bought more squad cover, he would have spent less. Meaning either no Johnson, or a cheaper Alonso replacement than Aquilani. Given the finite resources, he has tried to put most of the cash into the first team squad.

Yeah, that's the point that his critics refuse to understand. Before everyone slaughtered him for buying too many squad players, now he's getting slaughtered for not buying enough. He really can't win. Yet Ferguson has tens of millions worth of talent sitting on the bench as squad players. The hypocrisy is unbelievable.

[Livid]

My whole point is simple.
Benitez has an in depth analysis of his team selection,his sustitution policy,his tactics, players ability, how much they cost, his priorities and the colour of his bills......BEFORE the majority of games.

Ferguson can make 7 changes and nothing is said.

I'll agree with you, but honestly, who the fuck cares?
I doubt Benitez lays awake at night thinking about what Jamie Redknapp has said on Sky, and I reckon you don't either.
Or do you think this has an affect on the manager and players?
If so, then how? If not, let's all agree Sky coverage is full of twats and leave it there.
In my opinion, what some talking heads are saying in a studio prior to kick off shouldn't matter to the manager and players.
As for the game you mentioned, Sunderland were the better team, deserved a win but United dug out a draw. Anyone with a bit of nouse and access to Sunderland's matches this season will realise they are a proper team and capable of taking points of anyone. Pointing out that Ferguson made seven changes, as if that's the only reason Sunderland got a result, would also be bolllocks from Sky since they'd be ignoring how good a team Sunderland actually are.

[benny]

Rafa does not have the funds for great cover in all positions. At the start of the season he gambled on how many concurrent injuries he would have to cover. Unfortunately he has a freakishly severe injury crisis. If he had bought more squad cover, he would have spent less. Meaning either no Johnson, or a cheaper Alonso replacement than Aquilani. Given the finite resources, he has tried to put most of the cash into the first team squad.

Spot on! he gets abused for buying 5-6 million pound players so when he buys class we happen to have the worst run of injuries since his first season with us.no-one could of foreseen that

[the_prodigal_s0n]

so do you think if Benitez was told he could get rid of Keane,but he wouldn't be getting any money he would of let him go ,to leave n'gog and voronin as his 2 back up strikers.There is a lot of players on this thread that i would love to have on the bench,Bellamy,Crouch etc,but the wouldn't sit on the bench,whilst Crouch is now for spurs but is getting more money than we could offer a back up striker.thats down to the buisness side of the club in my opinion

No, that's not what I'm saying at all. You said that the Americans sold Keane themselves. That has not been proven to have happened, and it's incredibly, incredibly unlikely to have been the case.

What I am saying is that Rafa sold Keane thinking he was going to get the money and found out in the summer that he wasn't going to. That is by far the most likely version of events, and it's also the most popular.

[SquirmyRooter]

Most top clubs rotate their squads, Ferguson been doing it for many years. The diference is that if you get results doing it then it doesn't get highlighted, he's also doing it with a stronger squad. If he consistently rotated and failed to get results then I would imagine the press would be on his back as they are on Rafas. Whichever way you look at it to have virtually no option but nando up front is criminal when you consider Rafa is in his 6th season at the club and has had 10+ strikers at his disposal in that time.

My other observation would be that rafa has made a mistake in going public over his 'lack of funds', he is being asked to keep his nett annual spend to Ł20m or less if we are to believe what we read in the papers, the club is being run as a business and that is not entirely unreasonable, it would seem that the Mancs are also in a similar situation due to their own debt problems, even before the sale of Ronaldo Ferguson had bought and sold to balance the books since the Glazers arrived. I doubt he's happy that a club making 50m operating profit and making 60+million profit on their star player only spent 20m in the summer and yet we hear not a peep. You know why? Because he doesn't want to give his players a ready made excuse for underperforming. Rafas constant war of words with the likes of Parry and the owners must in someway, even if it is subconciously, affect the players attitudes. "We don't have the money to compete so we can't compete" has become a mantra for many of our fans so is it unreasonable that some of the players may feel that way too?

Rafa has had money to spend and has proved that his team can compete with United and Chelsea, we topped the 'big4' league last season and proved last week that on our day we can raise our game to beat United, we dropped the points that cost us the title last year against teams with a fraction of our budget and could well have done so this season already. Yes we had injury problems on Saturday but so did Fulham, Chris Baird in Ctr Midfield?! At the KO I doubt there's many people would have said they had a stronger starting line up than us.

It seems to me that many people deferred genius status on the manager long before he'd earned it and are now using any excuse not to question some of his selections and methods. Having faith in someone as undoubtably talented as Rafa is a good thing but blind faith?

[benny]

No, that's not what I'm saying at all. You said that the Americans sold Keane themselves. That has not been proven to have happened, and it's incredibly, incredibly unlikely to have been the case.

What I am saying is that Rafa sold Keane thinking he was going to get the money and found out in the summer that he wasn't going to. That is by far the most likely version of events, and it's also the most popular.

Yea i agree with that,what i'm trying to say is in my opinion i don't think G&H would pay 20 million plus on a player to have him sitting on the bench.As soon as benitez realised Keane wouldn't fit into the system i think he thought h'd get as much back as he can ,then replace him with another 15 mil plus striker.Which didn't happen and although Benitez(allegedly)got nearly all the money back,he is still getting hit with Keane 20 million pound flop stick

[TommySmithsLiver]

Most top clubs rotate their squads, Ferguson been doing it for many years. The diference is that if you get results doing it then it doesn't get highlighted, he's also doing it with a stronger squad. If he consistently rotated and failed to get results then I would imagine the press would be on his back as they are on Rafas. Whichever way you look at it to have virtually no option but nando up front is criminal when you consider Rafa is in his 6th season at the club and has had 10+ strikers at his disposal in that time.

My other observation would be that rafa has made a mistake in going public over his 'lack of funds', he is being asked to keep his nett annual spend to Ł20m or less if we are to believe what we read in the papers, the club is being run as a business and that is not entirely unreasonable, it would seem that the Mancs are also in a similar situation due to their own debt problems, even before the sale of Ronaldo Ferguson had bought and sold to balance the books since the Glazers arrived. I doubt he's happy that a club making 50m operating profit and making 60+million profit on their star player only spent 20m in the summer and yet we hear not a peep. You know why? Because he doesn't want to give his players a ready made excuse for underperforming. Rafas constant war of words with the likes of Parry and the owners must in someway, even if it is subconciously, affect the players attitudes. "We don't have the money to compete so we can't compete" has become a mantra for many of our fans so is it unreasonable that some of the players may feel that way too?

Rafa has had money to spend and has proved that his team can compete with United and Chelsea, we topped the 'big4' league last season and proved last week that on our day we can raise our game to beat United, we dropped the points that cost us the title last year against teams with a fraction of our budget and could well have done so this season already. Yes we had injury problems on Saturday but so did Fulham, Chris Baird in Ctr Midfield?! At the KO I doubt there's many people would have said they had a stronger starting line up than us.

It seems to me that many people deferred genius status on the manager long before he'd earned it and are now using any excuse not to question some of his selections and methods. Having faith in someone as undoubtably talented as Rafa is a good thing but blind faith?

Somebody talking sense.

[tossinho]

My other observation would be that rafa has made a mistake in going public over his 'lack of funds', he is being asked to keep his nett annual spend to Ł20m or less if we are to believe what we read in the papers, the club is being run as a business and that is not entirely unreasonable, it would seem that the Mancs are also in a similar situation due to their own debt problems, even before the sale of Ronaldo Ferguson had bought and sold to balance the books since the Glazers arrived. I doubt he's happy that a club making 50m operating profit and making 60+million profit on their star player only spent 20m in the summer and yet we hear not a peep. You know why? Because he doesn't want to give his players a ready made excuse for underperforming. Rafas constant war of words with the likes of Parry and the owners must in someway, even if it is subconciously, affect the players attitudes. "We don't have the money to compete so we can't compete" has become a mantra for many of our fans so is it unreasonable that some of the players may feel that way too?

[The Bill Hicks Appreciation Society]

Yes we had injury problems on Saturday but so did Fulham, Chris Baird in Ctr Midfield?! At the KO I doubt there's many people would have said they had a stronger starting line up than us.

Yes exactly so why the fuck is the team not getting the flack as opposed to Rafa? The same team started the second half as ended the first so how the fuck after having 74% possession in the first half do we manage to capitulate so badly in the second? Is it just Torres? I mean arguably we had a worse team out against Arsenal midweek and the team stepped up as a whole.

As you say (although going by the rest of the post you didn't realise you were saying it) Rafa put out a team capable of beating Fulham, yet it didn't happen. Why? Well it's all Rafa's fault isn't it, he should realise that Torres going off the field would make the team collapse into a heap in the middle of the pitch crying as Fulham slotted two past Reina. Not the team's fault at all is it?

[Byrneand]

I think this shows how much the squad has actually changed during the years he's been here. The squad on paper is much stronger than the one he inherited.

I think the team in general has a lot more qualiy in it. I think the only place we've really deteriorated is up front - Since Kuyt and Diouf predominantly play in midfield, for me personally we really lack quality upfront after Torres. I think the combination of Heskey, Owen and Baros is better than Torres andany two of the others (despite Torres being the best striker out of the lot).

I personally think it's slightly arrogant of Benitez not to of strengthened up front, Torres is not always going to be fit and one system is not really going to work. (I appreciate Kuyt can get pushed up front but then we struggle for someone decent on the right)

[SquirmyRooter]

Yes exactly so why the fuck is the team not getting the flack as opposed to Rafa? The same team started the second half as ended the first so how the fuck after having 74% possession in the first half do we manage to capitulate so badly in the second? Is it just Torres? I mean arguably we had a worse team out against Arsenal midweek and the team stepped up as a whole.

As you say (although going by the rest of the post you didn't realise you were saying it) Rafa put out a team capable of beating Fulham, yet it didn't happen. Why? Well it's all Rafa's fault isn't it, he should realise that Torres going off the field would make the team collapse into a heap in the middle of the pitch crying as Fulham slotted two past Reina. Not the team's fault at all is it?

I think it is the teams fault, I absolutely do but as I say in my post I believe that some of them subconciously believe that it is ok to fail. Rafa has to take the ultimate responsibilty.

Players get managers the sack, it's been that way for many a season but you have to ask yourself if they are sufficiently motivated. I beleive they are tactically prepared and have the necessary technique but my doubts are around their belief in both themselves and the manager.

If Rafa is constantly complaining about lack of funds to compete it's tantamount to saying 'this lot aren't good enough'.

[ErinMc66]

Yes exactly so why the fuck is the team not getting the flack as opposed to Rafa? The same team started the second half as ended the first so how the fuck after having 74% possession in the first half do we manage to capitulate so badly in the second? Is it just Torres? I mean arguably we had a worse team out against Arsenal midweek and the team stepped up as a whole.

As you say (although going by the rest of the post you didn't realise you were saying it) Rafa put out a team capable of beating Fulham, yet it didn't happen. Why? Well it's all Rafa's fault isn't it, he should realise that Torres going off the field would make the team collapse into a heap in the middle of the pitch crying as Fulham slotted two past Reina. Not the team's fault at all is it?

Completely agree with this!  But then, you never see players getting the blame in these types of situations.  It will always be placed at the manager's feet--poor tactics, poor motivating, poor man management, didn't make the right substitutions.  But sometimes those arguments are just hollow and it's down to performance by the players on the day.  Like you mentioned, I see no managerial reason for the same players to put on completely different displays from one half to the next.

[ErinMc66]

I personally think it's slightly arrogant of Benitez not to of strengthened up front, Torres is not always going to be fit and one system is not really going to work. (I appreciate Kuyt can get pushed up front but then we struggle for someone decent on the right)

Arrogant??  Did he turn down some funds I never heard about??

[shanklyboy]

Most top clubs rotate their squads, Ferguson been doing it for many years. The diference is that if you get results doing it then it doesn't get highlighted, he's also doing it with a stronger squad. If he consistently rotated and failed to get results then I would imagine the press would be on his back as they are on Rafas. Whichever way you look at it to have virtually no option but nando up front is criminal when you consider Rafa is in his 6th season at the club and has had 10+ strikers at his disposal in that time.

My other observation would be that rafa has made a mistake in going public over his 'lack of funds', he is being asked to keep his nett annual spend to Ł20m or less if we are to believe what we read in the papers, the club is being run as a business and that is not entirely unreasonable, it would seem that the Mancs are also in a similar situation due to their own debt problems, even before the sale of Ronaldo Ferguson had bought and sold to balance the books since the Glazers arrived. I doubt he's happy that a club making 50m operating profit and making 60+million profit on their star player only spent 20m in the summer and yet we hear not a peep. You know why? Because he doesn't want to give his players a ready made excuse for underperforming. Rafas constant war of words with the likes of Parry and the owners must in someway, even if it is subconciously, affect the players attitudes. "We don't have the money to compete so we can't compete" has become a mantra for many of our fans so is it unreasonable that some of the players may feel that way too?

Rafa has had money to spend and has proved that his team can compete with United and Chelsea, we topped the 'big4' league last season and proved last week that on our day we can raise our game to beat United, we dropped the points that cost us the title last year against teams with a fraction of our budget and could well have done so this season already. Yes we had injury problems on Saturday but so did Fulham, Chris Baird in Ctr Midfield?! At the KO I doubt there's many people would have said they had a stronger starting line up than us.

It seems to me that many people deferred genius status on the manager long before he'd earned it and are now using any excuse not to question some of his selections and methods. Having faith in someone as undoubtably talented as Rafa is a good thing but blind faith?

You are making a few not incosiderable assumptions there.
The first being that Ferguson doesn't complain about not having money to spend, so as not to deflate his players.
Apart from the fact that he HAS had more than a considerable amount of money to spend. If he suddenly came out and said I've never had a great deal of cash to spend,  then one look at his squad would make such a statement laughable.

The second is that Liverpool players are so thick that they can't see that Rafa hasn't had a comparible amount of cash to spend and so are deflated when he mentions it.
You then go on to say how well we have done against the top sides. Either the players are deflated by Rafa's comments or they aren't.....which is it?

As for deferring genius status before he's earned it. I think his tactical brilliance with a limited squad, especially in his early years, against a backdrop of internal wranglings and constantly having to balance the books is testament to his deserved status.If making a mistake negates that status, then no genius ever existed in any field.
If winning the League is the only barometer for genius status, then give Rafa Ł200 million to spend how he sees fit and maybe he can be on the same level as that genius Mourinho.

[The Bill Hicks Appreciation Society]

If winning the League is the only barometer for genius status, then give Rafa Ł200 million to spend how he sees fit and maybe he can be on the same level as that genius Mourinho.

Yer kiddin' aren't yer, I mean that would get you probably 6 great players at the very most nowadays.

[TommySmithsLiver]

Yes exactly so why the fuck is the team not getting the flack as opposed to Rafa? The same team started the second half as ended the first so how the fuck after having 74% possession in the first half do we manage to capitulate so badly in the second? Is it just Torres? I mean arguably we had a worse team out against Arsenal midweek and the team stepped up as a whole.

As you say (although going by the rest of the post you didn't realise you were saying it) Rafa put out a team capable of beating Fulham, yet it didn't happen. Why? Well it's all Rafa's fault isn't it, he should realise that Torres going off the field would make the team collapse into a heap in the middle of the pitch crying as Fulham slotted two past Reina. Not the team's fault at all is it?

Because when a team is underperforming as a unit it is generally accepted that it is the manager's fault.

[The Bill Hicks Appreciation Society]

Because when a team is underperforming as a unit it is generally accepted that it is the manager's fault.

You fail to acknowledge that they were performing fine before the break

[ErinMc66]

Because when a team is underperforming as a unit it is generally accepted that it is the manager's fault.

Yeah.  Andy Gray told me so.

[SquirmyRooter]

You are making a few not incosiderable assumptions there.
The first being that Ferguson doesn't complain about not having money to spend, so as not to deflate his players.
Apart from the fact that he HAS had more than a considerable amount of money to spend. If he suddenly came out and said I've never had a great deal of cash to spend,  then one look at his squad would make such a statement laughable.

The second is that Liverpool players are so thick that they can't see that Rafa hasn't had a comparible amount of cash to spend and so are deflated when he mentions it.
You then go on to say how well we have done against the top sides. Either the players are deflated by Rafa's comments or they aren't.....which is it?

As for deferring genius status before he's earned it. I think his tactical brilliance with a limited squad, especially in his early years, against a backdrop of internal wranglings and constantly having to balance the books is testament to his deserved status.If making a mistake negates that status, then no genius ever existed in any field.
If winning the League is the only barometer for genius status, then give Rafa Ł200 million to spend how he sees fit and maybe he can be on the same level as that genius Mourinho.

I think you're being a little disingenuous there. I didn't say Ferguson hadn't had money to spend, I said he'd balanced the books since the Glazers arrived and could possibly have been unhappy that out of all the operating profit and Ronaldo profit most of it went to debt repayments rather that be reinvested in players.

I also didn't say the players were deflated, I believe they could suffer from inconsistency due to a lack of belief on occasion, not every week which would mean a relegation battle, many sports people can raise their game when facing top class opposition. Winning leagues, as this club should know so well, is to do with the weekly grinding out of results against the so called 'lesser' teams. Something we have struggled to consistently deal with over the last few years

[TommySmithsLiver]

You are making a few not incosiderable assumptions there.
The first being that Ferguson doesn't complain about not having money to spend, so as not to deflate his players.
Apart from the fact that he HAS had more than a considerable amount of money to spend. If he suddenly came out and said I've never had a great deal of cash to spend,  then one look at his squad would make such a statement laughable.

The second is that Liverpool players are so thick that they can't see that Rafa hasn't had a comparible amount of cash to spend and so are deflated when he mentions it.
You then go on to say how well we have done against the top sides. Either the players are deflated by Rafa's comments or they aren't.....which is it?

As for deferring genius status before he's earned it. I think his tactical brilliance with a limited squad, especially in his early years, against a backdrop of internal wranglings and constantly having to balance the books is testament to his deserved status.If making a mistake negates that status, then no genius ever existed in any field.
If winning the League is the only barometer for genius status, then give Rafa Ł200 million to spend how he sees fit and maybe he can be on the same level as that genius Mourinho.

If ferguson does comaplian (and I guess the old soak does) he does so to the managment behind closed doors and doesn't bring it in to the public forum.  And Rafa has had the money to spend as the net buy and sell that we can ALL see is that he has had the money to spend, he has consistantly spent money and whilst he has built a brilliant first team he has not created a squad that is rotatable.

[shanklyboy]

I think it is the teams fault, I absolutely do but as I say in my post I believe that some of them subconciously believe that it is ok to fail. Rafa has to take the ultimate responsibilty.

Players get managers the sack, it's been that way for many a season but you have to ask yourself if they are sufficiently motivated. I beleive they are tactically prepared and have the necessary technique but my doubts are around their belief in both themselves and the manager.

If Rafa is constantly complaining about lack of funds to compete it's tantamount to saying 'this lot aren't good enough'.

Are you saying 'He's lost the dressing room' as I've got a bet on with my mate as when the first Liverpool supporter will say it?

As for your last comment. Benitez is NOT constantly complaining about a lack of funds. Nor will you ever hear him moan about injuries as many of the press have also been stating recently.

If a manager wanting to improve the squad is seen as him saying 'these aren't good enough' in your eyes, then let's fuck this transfer malarkey off as from today. No transfers ever again as it's telling the players they arenot good enough! It's detrimental to moral!

If improving the squad was conceivably beyond the comprehension of Liverpool players, then they are in the wrong profession and certainly at the wrong club.

[TommySmithsLiver]

You fail to acknowledge that they were performing fine before the break

You're right, they were kicking arse until Rafa talked to them at half time.  What did the tactical genius say to them to make them give up so badly?

[Hendoben]

I think it is the teams fault, I absolutely do but as I say in my post I believe that some of them subconciously believe that it is ok to fail. Rafa has to take the ultimate responsibilty.

Players get managers the sack, it's been that way for many a season but you have to ask yourself if they are sufficiently motivated. I beleive they are tactically prepared and have the necessary technique but my doubts are around their belief in both themselves and the manager.

If Rafa is constantly complaining about lack of funds to compete it's tantamount to saying 'this lot aren't good enough'.

Spot on for that for me and your previous one too. One of the few truly balanced posts on the matter. 

[The Bill Hicks Appreciation Society]

You're right, they were kicking arse until Rafa talked to them at half time.  What did the tactical genius say to them to make them give up so badly?

I actually have inside knowledge of his team talk, I confirm he said "we've got this one in the bag lads, slacken off a bit or we might get done for bullying"

[SquirmyRooter]

Are you saying 'He's lost the dressing room' as I've got a bet on with my mate as when the first Liverpool supporter will say it?

As for your last comment. Benitez is NOT constantly complaining about a lack of funds. Nor will you ever hear him moan about injuries as many of the press have also been stating recently.

If a manager wanting to improve the squad is seen as him saying 'these aren't good enough' in your eyes, then let's fuck this transfer malarkey off as from today. No transfers ever again as it's telling the players they arenot good enough! It's detrimental to moral!

If improving the squad was conceivably beyond the comprehension of Liverpool players, then they are in the wrong profession and certainly at the wrong club.

I don't believe he's 'lost the dressing room' as such but I do believe that the XI players that were selected for Liverpool XI against at least 5 teams of the last 7 we've faced should have performed considerably better than the opposition XI and got results. Where does the buck stop for that?

If we consistently lost against teams with bigger budgets and hammered the so called lesser lights then I'd accept that we are now only ever going to finish 4th at best because the 2 Manc clubs and Chelsea can outspend us. Does any one really believe that that is the case?

I'm sick of hearing about the transfer budget to be honest, it is what it is and the players and manager have to get on with it and start putting in performances like the one against United for week after week against the likes of Villa, Fulham and Sunderland, as they should have done last season against WHU, Hull & Fulham at home. Victories in those games would have won us the tile and debunked the myth that budget restraints make it impossible for us to compete.

It's pure bunkum.

[the_prodigal_s0n]

I actually have inside knowledge of his team talk, I confirm he said "we've got this one in the bag lads, slacken off a bit or we might get done for bullying"

I heard he made a gesture when Torres was coming off. Apparently he made a gesture to say "Don't worry, it's over. Babel will finish them off. No need for Torres". If you didn't notice it, Allardyce will be bringing it up in his press conference in about an hour.

[the_prodigal_s0n]

If we consistently lost against teams with bigger budgets and hammered the so called lesser lights then I'd accept that we are now only ever going to finish 4th at best because the 2 Manc clubs and Chelsea can outspend us. Does any one really believe that that is the case?

Our defence against United cost about 24.1 million. Against Fulham it cost 2.8 million. I think that might have something to do with why we beat United and then lost to Fulham.

[freddwarf]

I would go along with the "yer can't blame Rafa " crew if the squad wasn't so weak. Apart 5/6 players the squad is not good enough, I would think everybody accepts that apart from those wearing Rafa tinted glasses. Yes he hasn't had the same money as the Old soak but he has HAD money to spend. If you throw the Old soak into the equation then you have to throw in Wenger,who has spent considerably less than Rafa and has a better squad.

[shanklyboy]

If ferguson does comaplian (and I guess the old soak does) he does so to the managment behind closed doors and doesn't bring it in to the public forum.  And Rafa has had the money to spend as the net buy and sell that we can ALL see is that he has had the money to spend, he has consistantly spent money and whilst he has built a brilliant first team he has not created a squad that is rotatable.

If you think that Ferguson having a bottomless pit of money for the past 15 years and an 18 year start on Benitez is justification to make a comparison on the last 5 years then there is no discussion to have.

[The Bill Hicks Appreciation Society]

I don't believe he's 'lost the dressing room' as such but I do believe that the XI players that were selected for Liverpool XI against at least 5 teams of the last 7 we've faced should have performed considerably better than the opposition XI and got results. Where does the buck stop for that?

If we consistently lost against teams with bigger budgets and hammered the so called lesser lights then I'd accept that we are now only ever going to finish 4th at best because the 2 Manc clubs and Chelsea can outspend us. Does any one really believe that that is the case?

I'm sick of hearing about the transfer budget to be honest, it is what it is and the players and manager have to get on with it and start putting in performances like the one against United for week after week against the likes of Villa, Fulham and Sunderland, as they should have done last season against WHU, Fulham at home. Victories in those games would have won us the tile and debunked the myth that budget restraints make it impossible for us to compete.

It's pure bunkum.

It's not pure bunkum, yes budget constraints aren't stopping us competing but that's not because we have enough money to compete it's because we have Rafael Benitez as our manager. If Rafa leaves (pushed or of his own accord) and you truly love this club (not just here for recent successes) then I guarantee you will regret every single assumption you've made.

[SquirmyRooter]

Our defence against United cost about 24.1 million. Against Fulham it cost 2.8 million. I think that might have something to do with why we beat United and then lost to Fulham.

Sorry but they are players selected for the squad to play for Liverpool by the manager.

If United had got beaten by Blackburn at the weekend would it have been excused by the fact that 3 of their back 4 were ex youth team players?

[ErinMc66]

There are people here who will criticize Rafa for buying too many cheaper squad players over past years, and then turn around and slate him this past window for spending all of his available funds on two expensive quality players.  It defies logic!  And is slowly driving me insane.

[ErinMc66]

Sorry but they are players selected for the squad to play for Liverpool by the manager.

If United had got beaten by Blackburn at the weekend would it have been excused by the fact that 3 of their back 4 were ex youth team players?

ARE YOU FOR REAL?!?!

[SquirmyRooter]

Our defence against United cost about 24.1 million. Against Fulham it cost 2.8 million. I think that might have something to do with why we beat United and then lost to Fulham.

Is that for real?!

[The 5th Benitle]

Is that for real?!

Go on, explain what's wrong with that assertion.

[The Bill Hicks Appreciation Society]

There are people here who will criticize Rafa for buying too many cheaper squad players over past years, and then turn around and slate him this past window for spending all of his available funds on two expensive quality players.  It defies logic!  And is slowly driving me insane.

Absolutely, it's pure agenda driven bullshit. Don't worry next time we put in a result against a major european giant Rafa will be god again... never have I known an opinion about someone change so drastically from game to game.