Liverpool FC Forum

[DrTNT]

This LINK will bring you to a website that has an interesting video of one technique Rafa uses to help develop the players game. It is under the title The Benítez method positioned about half way down the page.

We already knew Rafa and his backroom staff analyse each match by watching it again but most would not know of the technology the also employ to gain further knowledge of players pros and cons. It would also be used by Rafa on the opposition to highlight their strengths but more importantly their weaknesses. It shows how dedicated the manager and the club are to develop the players by installing the equipment that is needed.

It shows the club is really moving forward and with luck if or when the new stadium is built they can design it to get the maximum use of the technology by positioning them in the optimum areas to get the best feed back possible.

The futures bright the futures RED!!!

[BOODIDDY]

dr tnt if its bright and red then please don't write in blue. I hate it

[adamnbarrett]

Yes I've seen that video before. It's quite interesting how much he concentrates on the fitness and movement of the players and then works on tactics.

The computer generated thing is clever, but it looks like a bad version of Football Manager

[DrTNT]

dr tnt if its bright and red then please don't write in blue. I hate it

I will post in whatever colour I want irrespective of what you or other members think or how it makes you feel. 

[Alonso14]

Excellent little clip that. Good piece of software he seems to be using. Reminded me of when he answered the question of taking Peter Crouch off around about on the 70mins mark. It was something along the lines of ‘Because he covers more of the pitch then Gerrard, and can get very tired’.

On a side note that channel it was show on is excellent, when I was staying in Barca, you could come in anytime of the day and guaranteed that their would be a match on, weather it be 1pm or 4am. 

[bigmick]

The clip gets interesting towards the end with the defenders linked by a dotted line. I've been told on a couple of occasions where on the continent the coach ties a piece of rope in between each defender in the line and gets them to move in a defensive formation. This is the way by all accounts that the line is encouraged to "feel" the movement of his teammates. It's not as many think so you can play offside more effectively, (this is normally co-ordinated by one central defensive "organizer" who the other defenders have to try and stay in line with) but so the defence can "drift" better. As the opposition load up on a full-back and the centre-half gets sucked accross you want your other central man and your opposite full-back to "drift" in. It also helps of course if your opposite midfielder comes in behind to avoid the ball clearing everybody.
It's an interesting and effective theory, rather like an umbrella suspended from the cieling upside down by it's handle. As one full-back pushes on the rest of the defenders swing in behind, drifting to cover. It requires much more movement and awareness than a standard British style and is much more fluid. Judging by our defensive record last season, you would have to say that this system along with the zonal marking from set-pieces has been an unqualified success.

[adamnbarrett]

(this is normally co-ordinated by one central defensive "organizer" who the other defenders have to try and stay in line with)

Any bets Carra has that job 

[weringo]

I think Rafa is really playing Championship manager when he should be working When someone asks what he is doing he says its his new "software"

[GOAT]

I think Rafa is really playing Championship manager when he should be working When someone asks what he is doing he says its his new "software"

I was just thinking that!  Rafas having a sneaky go of footy manager! 

Nah its great to be able to see how rafa helps develop the players and the way they work on the pitch, shows us he knows exactly what he is trying to do with the team at all times and he is working very hard to improve every aspect of the team, fantastic bit of software that, must help the team greatly.

[stoney]

All top level managers are most likely using this pro-zone software for analysis which is used in the footy manager game engine so it's nothing special.

[taff]

BigMick, the tying a rope was a trick used by Arsenal under George Graham.

I would assume all pro clubs use this software or varieties of it.  There was an interesting article in 442 magazine with Sir Clive of rugby fame.  This analysis has been around in rugby for a long time, especially as the Kiwis and Aussies tend to be ahead of the game or very inventive with this type of thing.  People on here might not like this but Rugby is forward thinking now, in fact heavily criticised for being too scientific.

[bigmick]

BigMick, the tying a rope was a trick used by Arsenal under George Graham.

Didn't know he'd used it aswell Taff but I was told about it being used abroad by a lad who was at Palace. Come to think of it, it figures that they did it at Arsenal because that Dixon/Adams/Bould/Winterburn back four was absolutely rock solid as I remember.
It's also no surprise to learn that George Graham was up with the thing tactically. Though it wasn't pretty to watch, the way that particular Arsenal team exploited the changes in the back-pass rule by playing channel balls to the exclusion of everything else in an almost Wimbledonesque manner was quite clever at the time.
Maybe it's just my imagination but the way that the back four moves in almost military formation towards the end of the clip would suggest maybe something has been done.

[LFC #1]

Maybe it's just my imagination but the way that the back four moves in almost military formation towards the end of the clip would suggest maybe something has been done.

I think this is one of the most important things Rafa has achieved while at the club. However it often gets overlooked by some, who would rather judge his work solely on which big name signings he has brought in.

If you watched our defensive performances last season, the amount of times we'd catch the opposition offside as the back four stepped up in perfectly synchronised fashion was a testament to the work Rafa had put in. I think it is especially important to get this aspect of the game right when your centre-halves aren't lightning fast. This is why Sami Hyypia is so good at what he does - what he lacks in pace he makes up for with his reading of the game.

Rafa has also mastered the zonal-marking system, which many wrote-off as not possible to succeed with in English football.

I remember reading Guillem Ballague's book about when one of Valencia's defenders asked Ranieri how they should defend, and he said "like you did last season (under Rafa)", to which the Valencia defender responded "but coach we had 5 or 6 ways of defending depending on the opposition and the circumstances".

That's the difference for me between a good manager and Rafa - the scrupulous work he puts into every aspect of the game.

RAFA 

[taff]

When you watch football live I do like to be behind the goal, the kop obviously although in the last few years my trips to Anfield Ive been either main or centenary stand, but I loved watching the teams move from side to side in unison almost with the flow of the game, football is complicated whilst being simple at the same time if that makes sense.

When I played I was a central defender and remeber playing once with an old pro, lower divisions etc but still an old pro and the shouting and running he did for positioning was incredible compared to what I'd been through before was a proper lesson especially in communication.

I do believe that Rugby is ahead of football in many ways especially with the science, I think this is down to the likes of New Zealand and Australia and lately England,  teams now have to look for that extra 1% here and there at the highest level. Try and read Clive Woodwards article mostly about Englands failure and Sven.  I know he's not popular and I aint his biggest fan but he is very succesful and has won a World Cup away from home. 

Whilst we romanticise about Shankly etc it is people like Rafa who are the new type of modern manager whilst at the same time the game aint changed that much but he is looking for those little advantages and using science and whatever secrets he has.