Liverpool FC Forum

[Dundalk]

Having read through this I have to say we have a very commited manager who seems to want to know his players inside out. Its good to see he is keeping an eye on Mellor and Potter and by the sounds of things Agger is going to be a very good buy.

From liverpoolfc.tv.....

Sunday: 22 January

After the match on Sunday we were all very disappointed but I try and always look at the bigger picture. Yes, we lost the game but I think anyone watching could see that we didn't deserve to lose. I was unhappy with some of the decisions that were made during the game but I preferred not to talk about them afterwards. When I left the dugout at the end, I went and watched the goal we conceded on a television and then went in to talk to the press. When you lose a match, travelling home on the bus is always very quiet. It is not a happy place at all because everyone wants to win so much. Recently there haven't been too many games where we've had to travel back from games so disappointed and that must mean we're improving because I remember a lot of bad journeys last season! Fortunately, the game was only in Manchester and it wasn't a long trip this time. I think I watched the goal we conceded again when I got home but straight away I was thinking about our next game against Portsmouth.

Monday: 23 January

The players were given the day off to rest but I came into Melwood to do some more work. I was with my coaching staff and we looked at a video of the goal we conceded at Old Trafford again to work out not only how Rio Ferdinand managed to score the header but also what led to the free-kick being conceded in the first place. As a manager, you can either get angry at mistakes that your players or you yourself make or you can try and find solutions to stop it happening again in the future. I'm a manger that likes to try and work out solutions for problems. I always try to think about possibilities that we have rather than concede that anything is impossible to change or correct. It's an attitude that all of the coaching staff here have tried to drum into the minds of the players.

Tuesday: 24 January

The players were all in for training today and their mood was very positive despite it being their first day back after the defeat at Old Trafford. We all discussed the match and what things we needed to improve from the game. I was happy with their performance against Manchester United but there were still things we could have done better to achieve a better result.

The goal cost us a point but if we had done things slightly differently in attack, midfield and defence then we might have come away with all three points.

Tonight I travelled to Telford to watch the Reserves play against Wolves. I wanted to go because I wanted to see how the players got on. We had some senior players playing who I wanted to check on. There were also some young players in our side who I was keen to see in action and I also wanted to see Daniel Agger and Jan Kromkamp. It was a good performance and we probably deserved to win by more than the single goal but what a goal! I don't know if Didi is trying to prove that anything Xabi can do, he can do as well but it was great to see.

Because I was at the Reserve match, I didn't get to see Neil Mellor help Wigan qualify for the Carling Cup final. I am really pleased for him and I know he played very well on Saturday when he scored a good goal. Neil is a good player and this loan move should be very good for him. Already he's started two important games at the highest level and that's invaluable experience that we just couldn't guarantee him here at the moment. I'll keep an eye on how he does at Wigan and hopefully he'll do well.

Wednesday: 25 January

In training we worked on different situations that may arise in the match against Portsmouth on Sunday. Together with the coaching staff, we have studied videos and scouting reports on Portsmouth and it's this information which we try and relay to the players so they know what to expect. We examine where they are dangerous so we know what we will have to combat and we also analyse where there may be a possibility of exploiting any weakness they may have so we can damage them.

I was speaking to Daniel Agger again today and already I can see that we have bought a very good player. He seems very intelligent because when he's told something, he immediately understands what you want him to do. He's still very young but he has a willingness to learn as much as he can from both the coaching staff and also the experienced players he's now training alongside. When I watched him against Wolves on Tuesday, he ended up in front of their goalkeeper and had a left-footed shot that ended up just over the bar. I turned to the people sitting next to me and said: 'We've signed a striker by accident!'

Thursday: 26 January

More training but also more time spent in my office. In Spain, managers spend the majority of their time on the training pitch because they have a Technical Director who deals with all the business off the pitch. In England it is very different – you take training then you work all the time on the business side of playing matters. You have to deal with agents and managers of other clubs. Then you have to deal with players you want to sign, with players you want to keep and players you want to sell or loan. I am on my phone a lot normally but during the transfer window it is madness. The phone never stops ringing. The transfer window closes next week and if you are going to do a deal, then you don't want to leave it until the last moment because you have fewer possibilities to attract good players.

At this moment, myself and my staff have to use our imagination to try and bring players in because we haven't got a lot of money to spend. Is my job as a manager more difficult here than in Spain? It is different but that is the way it is in England. In Spain, when it comes to bringing new players in, the Technical Director will do all the negotiating and come to you with three or four options of what's available. Here though, it doesn't work that way but I am fortunate because I have a very good scouting department who help identify good players Liverpool Football Club should be interested in.

Darren Potter left today to join Southampton on loan. Like Neil Mellor, he's a very promising young player but he needs more match experience and unfortunately we can't give him that at the moment. He's a young player who needs to play to improve and it would be unfair to keep him right now with so few opportunities for games. Hopefully he can go away, get some first team experience and come back a better player.

Friday: 27 January

Friday's usually press day at Melwood if we've got a game at the weekend. After training, I sat down in the pressroom to preview the next match for the TV cameras. It's funny but the way the press work in England is very different to how it is in Spain. In Spain, you'll generally speak to the press as a whole group but here, I'll do the TV, then I'll do the radio and then, after all that, I'll sit down and answer the same questions from the national newspapers! As I say, it is different to how things work in Spain but it's not a problem.

After the press is out of the way and the players have gone home, it's back to my office. On a week like this week – with the transfer window drawing to a close – that means more phone calls to and from agents, contacts and other clubs. Today was a particularly eventful day as we managed to secure the signing of Robbie Fowler from Manchester City. Manchester City and their manager Stuart Pearce were very helpful in making the deal happen and I think everyone is delighted to see Robbie rejoin the club he loves so much.

Tommorow Robbie will train with the first team squad for the first time and then he'll stay behind to work on his fitness while we travel down to Portsmouth. We'll spend Saturday night in a hotel down there and then prepare for the match on Sunday evening. People ask me if it'll be weird having to wait all day to play a match at 6pm? To me, 6pm is early. In Spain, some matches don't even kick-off until 10pm. Now that's late!

[bigmick]

Great read mate thanks very much.

[Dundalk]

Wouldnt swap him for any other manager in the world, he has to be Liverpools best signing for a long time.

If I had told you back then that our next manager would in his first season win us the European Cup, then make us the second or possibly even the best team in England and the after all that would bring Fowler back!

I reckon they would have thrown away the key and I would still be in the mental home!

Thank you Rafa... 

      

[115-1073096938]

When I watched him against Wolves on Tuesday, he ended up in front of their goalkeeper and had a left-footed shot that ended up just over the bar. I turned to the people sitting next to me and said: 'We've signed a striker by accident!'

The mans a complete freak!

Legend!

[Espionage]

lol, loved the comment on Agger.
Rafa is such a classy guy, I hope he stays as long as Alex Fu#kerson, it will be laughable to compare the trophy cabnets then... 

[laza]

Great stuff

VMT Dundalk

cheers L

[Dundalk]

Sorry Laza Im not really up on all this talk, what does VMT mean ?

[Sabre]

NIce read Dundalk, thank you for bringing that

More training but also more time spent in my office. In Spain, managers spend the majority of their time on the training pitch because they have a Technical Director who deals with all the business off the pitch

Correct. In fact J.B. Toshack had lots of troubles in Spain. If he succeeded it's because he's a good football man. He indeed wasn't used to be only on the pitch, in fact, he brought the concept of "Manager" to Spain. He did have some clashes with the RS board but managed to put his ideas working. In Real Madrid though, he could not. Toshack was a great trainer, he broke the scored goals records, he won the Liga, but he just had too much personality and he wanted to take decissions of an English manager. The twáts in Madrid wouldn't allow that -> Sacked.