Liverpool FC Forum

[JC_81]

Found this article on www.footballingworld.com...


Rafa Rings The Changes (But Not Enough)

If I've had one complaint (and I actually have two or three) about Rafael Benitez since he took over at Liverpool, it's his hit-or-miss transfer dealings. And I don't just mean buying players like Mauricio Pellegrino or Fernando Morientes who never seemed to fit in the Premiership.

Whether it's for financial reasons or his own failings, Benitez has repeatedly proved ineffective when it comes to addressing key roster spots, particularly at striker and the right side of midfield.

Harry Kewell, John Arne Riise, Mark Gonzalez, and Bolo Zenden can all play on the left and the increased competition will hopefully mean we will get reliable production out of this position. We've yet to see Gonzalez play for Liverpool but watching him last season for Real Sociedad was cause for excitement. He has pace and strength and an eye for goal. This should pressure Riise and Kewell (when he's healthy) to live up to their potential. Zenden looks certain to move to the middle as the fourth central midfielder.

But on the right side, Benitez literally has no options outside of converted strikers and midfielders and 17 year-old Paul Anderson. Steven Gerrard and Florent Sinama Pongolle have both played on the right, but they, Gerrard especially, are so much stronger in their natural positions that it is a waste keeping out on the wing. Paul Anderson has a lot of promise and scored a fine goal against Wrexham on Saturday, but he is not ready to shoulder the entire load. That said, Benitez would be smart to give the youngster some playing time this year.

Much of the transfer talk has centered around Daniel Alves and Jermaine Pennant, but like the build-up to Benitez' previous transfers, patience is required by supporters. With Juventus being demoted in the Italian league, World Cup star Mauro Camorenesi is available, but Liverpool face fierce competition for his signature from Bayern Munich and Inter.

Alves, Pennant and especially Camorensi are acceptable solutions. Hopefully Rafa will settle this sooner than later.

Benitez has also failed to sign a striker to replace Djibril Cisse. While the combination of Craig Bellamy, Peter Crouch, and Robbie Fowler has the potential to be formidable, common sense calls for another proven striker, preferably a selfish poacher who has already performed on the international stage.

Like Alves, we've heard a lot of talk about Dutch international Dirk Kuyt, but again nothing has happened. Benitez might again look to Juventus with both David Trezeguet and Zlatan Ibrahimovic looking to move on. Neither were particularly impressive during the World Cup, but Trezeguet did score 23 goals last season.

Realistically, despite their riches, we are not that far behind Chelsea, and with a little consistency, we can make a run at the title. But for consistency, options are needed at every position. And it's in this department that Rafa has yet to succeed.


...This is probably the most naive piece of journalism I have ever seen.  Clearly the writer has no concept of what Benitez is trying to achieve or the resources he has to work with. 

Criticising Benitez's transfer policy is ridiculous, most of his buys have been successes and the ones who haven't worked out have been shipped out pronto.

Obviously the writer has picked up on the fact that we needed a right winger and a striker last summer and we still do.  I'll admit that mistakes were made last summer and I criticised Benitez at the time.  He left things too late basically and waited too long for Figo and Owen.  But as I see it Benitez has been working flat out this summer in the transfer market to try and solve our problems.  In my opinion we have signed 4 very good players already in Bellamy, Gonzalez, Aurelio and Paletta for a combined 12 million in transfer fees and we have made plenty of enquiries and offers are on the table for Right sided midfielders and strikers.  We haven't put all our eggs in one basket this time - Alves and Pennant are both being courted and we should get one of them.  Kuyt and Trezeguet both seem to have been sounded out for the striker position so we have a good chance of getting one of them or even someone else.

What more can Benitez do?  He has a fairly limited budget and doesn't want to waste money - that is a bloody good thing, not a mistake as this writer is making out.  Plus he still has 6 weeks left to deal with us only needing 2 players to complete our squad.  Personally I'm very happy with how this summer has gone so far.

[onizukaeikichi]

i agree, its better to have a manager that spend wisely on players that he knews how to use and they wont cost a bomb. GH simply spend too much without thinking

[Leonmc0708]

That sounds like bavlondon or oasis writing that load of tosh.

We want signings now, and cant wait.

Poor piece of journalism, and I would assume its not even a journalist who wrote it, just a new age post Istanbul fan.

[bigmick]

When somebody writes about "key rosta spots" I find it very difficult to carry on reading as the author clearly has no understanding of the football World. My money is on him/her being North American and a very recent convert to the game.

[Leonmc0708]

When somebody writes about "key rosta spots" I find it very difficult to carry on reading as the author clearly has no understanding of the football World. My money is on him/her being North American and a very recent convert to the game.

I almost stopped reading at that meself Bigguss Mickuss

[Espionage]

I didnt read the first line saying "found on blah blah blah" and thought wtf is wrong with John Craig? I really hate reading sh!t like that, for every 100 people that read that garbage only 20 people know anything about football and the other 80 jump on the bandwagon with all these stupid theories.  Go play Championship manager, wtf do you expect from our transfer policy.   
Great buys from Rafa this off-season, a penny saved is a penny earned IMO.  I think that he is saving up for something big for next season, no big signing has really made themselves apparent

[Kash_Mountain]

Agree, this is not good journalism.  If we've learn't one thing  about Rafa it's that he is very shrewd when it comes to buying & selling players.  Yes, one or two brought into the club haven't worked out but in football that's how it goes.  These players were then shipped straight out.  Rafa does not waste time, he will get the players he thinks are absolutely worth the price tag.  6 players for a combined 12mil IMO is great business.

Rafa IMO has been doing what any very good manager would do. 
He has the patience, knowledge, shrewdness and a whole load more.  So whoever wrote this article must either be a Mwancker Utd or Cheeski Fan.

[tubby]

That sounds like bavlondon or oasis writing that load of tosh.

We want signings now, and cant wait.

Poor piece of journalism, and I would assume its not even a journalist who wrote it, just a new age post Istanbul fan.

And that sounds like usual Leons uncany critisism. Oh wait it is. 

The article hold some fair points. You could argue that yes its and Rafa will sign the right players in his own time. But the last thing I want is to be left in the dark like the previous Simao deal.

Its only a few months to go until the first game so im sue people have got a right to be anxious and right stuff like this. But im still confident Rafa will pull the rabbit out the bag.

[Sabre]

Well, I agree what you lot are saying.

It's obvious that Rafa makes mistakes, as all managers do. The best part is not that it's obvious but that even Rafa admits, for instace today in Marca, his own mistakes.

He has said that Morientes had the finishing and the ball holding he wanted for the team, but he admits he had adaptation troubles both to the league and the physical part of the game. I've been one of the Morientes defenders here, I always thought it was a matter of time that he'd tryumph here, but watching Rafa admitting it was a mistake, makes him bigger, I like his humbleness.

My point is that it's quite unfair from the journo not to see the big picture of the good job he's doing, not mentioning the good transfers Rafa has ALSO made and his overall positive effect on LFC. Some journalist are pretty good pointing out some obvious things, but they bring no good insight nor real profiles of what they're writing about.

[RUSHIE#9]

Pretty obvious this is a hacks article. If Rafa has been poor in the transfer market then at least he been poor on the cheap unlike previous incumbents of the Anfield hot seat - cough houllier cough.
I think the writers view Rafa is one grasping at straws to find a fault, unfortunately he's picked the wrong manager.

Rafa's main 1st team signings =

Reina - Success (so far)
Carson - Decent (one for future)
Kromkamp - Jury is still out
Josemi - Poor (Shipped out after 1 season)
Agger - Too soon to tell
Xabi Aloso - Undoubted Success (possibly best signing so far)
Momo Sissoko - Success (rising star)
Luis Garcia - Success (There for the big moments)
Nando Morientes - Failure (Admittedly by Rafa)
Nunez - Failure (lumbered with as part of the Owen deal - shipped out after 1 year)
Fowler - Success so far (will always be success in fans eyes)
Zenden - Reasonable Success (Injured for most of only season)

I may have forgotten one or two there and haven't included the youth players as they are too young to be considered.
Out of 12 what you would call major signings that have spent at least half a season at the club 3 have been undoubted failures and rafa has acknowledged these by shipping them out quickly.
For an estimated total of around £40 million (not an accurate figure) Rafa has unearthed some absolute gems like Alonso and Momo with just less than £10 million being written off on poor buys so far. Now the only way in my eyes that Rafa's transfer activity can be measured at the moment is against the signings of Houllier. Without going into the finer details of GH's transfer dealings i'd be surprised if he'd spent more than £15 million on successful signings out of an est. £100 million spent.

Now who's got a poor transfer record DICKHEAD!!

[Lando_Griffin]

Found this article on www.footballingworld.com...


Rafa Rings The Changes (But Not Enough)

If I've had one complaint (and I actually have two or three) about Rafael Benitez since he took over at Liverpool, it's his hit-or-miss transfer dealings. And I don't just mean buying players like Mauricio Pellegrino or Fernando Morientes who never seemed to fit in the Premiership.

Whether it's for financial reasons or his own failings, Benitez has repeatedly proved ineffective when it comes to addressing key roster spots, particularly at striker and the right side of midfield.

Harry Kewell, John Arne Riise, Mark Gonzalez, and Bolo Zenden can all play on the left and the increased competition will hopefully mean we will get reliable production out of this position. We've yet to see Gonzalez play for Liverpool but watching him last season for Real Sociedad was cause for excitement. He has pace and strength and an eye for goal. This should pressure Riise and Kewell (when he's healthy) to live up to their potential. Zenden looks certain to move to the middle as the fourth central midfielder.

But on the right side, Benitez literally has no options outside of converted strikers and midfielders and 17 year-old Paul Anderson. Steven Gerrard and Florent Sinama Pongolle have both played on the right, but they, Gerrard especially, are so much stronger in their natural positions that it is a waste keeping out on the wing. Paul Anderson has a lot of promise and scored a fine goal against Wrexham on Saturday, but he is not ready to shoulder the entire load. That said, Benitez would be smart to give the youngster some playing time this year.

Much of the transfer talk has centered around Daniel Alves and Jermaine Pennant, but like the build-up to Benitez' previous transfers, patience is required by supporters. With Juventus being demoted in the Italian league, World Cup star Mauro Camorenesi is available, but Liverpool face fierce competition for his signature from Bayern Munich and Inter.

Alves, Pennant and especially Camorensi are acceptable solutions. Hopefully Rafa will settle this sooner than later.

Benitez has also failed to sign a striker to replace Djibril Cisse. While the combination of Craig Bellamy, Peter Crouch, and Robbie Fowler has the potential to be formidable, common sense calls for another proven striker, preferably a selfish poacher who has already performed on the international stage.

Like Alves, we've heard a lot of talk about Dutch international Dirk Kuyt, but again nothing has happened. Benitez might again look to Juventus with both David Trezeguet and Zlatan Ibrahimovic looking to move on. Neither were particularly impressive during the World Cup, but Trezeguet did score 23 goals last season.

Realistically, despite their riches, we are not that far behind Chelsea, and with a little consistency, we can make a run at the title. But for consistency, options are needed at every position. And it's in this department that Rafa has yet to succeed.


...This is probably the most naive piece of journalism I have ever seen.  Clearly the writer has no concept of what Benitez is trying to achieve or the resources he has to work with. 

Criticising Benitez's transfer policy is ridiculous, most of his buys have been successes and the ones who haven't worked out have been shipped out pronto.

Obviously the writer has picked up on the fact that we needed a right winger and a striker last summer and we still do.  I'll admit that mistakes were made last summer and I criticised Benitez at the time.  He left things too late basically and waited too long for Figo and Owen.  But as I see it Benitez has been working flat out this summer in the transfer market to try and solve our problems.  In my opinion we have signed 4 very good players already in Bellamy, Gonzalez, Aurelio and Paletta for a combined 12 million in transfer fees and we have made plenty of enquiries and offers are on the table for Right sided midfielders and strikers.  We haven't put all our eggs in one basket this time - Alves and Pennant are both being courted and we should get one of them.  Kuyt and Trezeguet both seem to have been sounded out for the striker position so we have a good chance of getting one of them or even someone else.

What more can Benitez do?  He has a fairly limited budget and doesn't want to waste money - that is a bloody good thing, not a mistake as this writer is making out.  Plus he still has 6 weeks left to deal with us only needing 2 players to complete our squad.  Personally I'm very happy with how this summer has gone so far.

Mate - you've no idea the foul abuse I'd lay at that tw*t of a journo's door if I could!!!

There'd be many "You f*cking dumb-punk w*nker"'s, and several "C*ckroach's spleen-shafter"-like comments winging their way to the demented pile of rat's rectal expulsion.

Let's hope he takes the advice I'm about to give him:

Bite off your own penis, you turd. Then f*ck yourself.

[account deleted by request]

To be fair to the writer I think his critisism of Rafa was more on his failure to buy players rather than the buying of flops.ie Simao/Figo and Owen last season. What I dont think the writer is giving Rafa credit for is the way in which Rafa surmounted the difficulties these transfer problems caused. Gerrard had possibly his best season playing mainly on the right, Sissoko filled the gap left by Gerrard to perfection and while we struggled for goals early in the season we didnt do too badly overall and at least we got Robbie back for Christmas. FA CUP and 3rd place without 2 major signings aint bad.
          I think a lot of the frustration about signings stems from the fact that we can all see the light at the end of the tunnel now. We are getting so close to having a epl title winning team we just want to see the final pieces in place ASAP. Yes we still need a right winger and a striker but at least the manager KNOWS what we need and is doing and has done everything in his power to get the right ones.I am sure Rafa is just as impatient as we are, but he is totally professional and will buy at the right time AND the right price. It just hurts to see crappy clubs like Spurs and Newcastle throwing their money around as if they were big clubs, I hope it all blows up in their faces.

[Pedro O'Maradona]

Well, I agree what you lot are saying.

It's obvious that Rafa makes mistakes, as all managers do. The best part is not that it's obvious but that even Rafa admits, for instace today in Marca, his own mistakes.

He has said that Morientes had the finishing and the ball holding he wanted for the team, but he admits he had adaptation troubles both to the league and the physical part of the game. I've been one of the Morientes defenders here, I always thought it was a matter of time that he'd tryumph here, but watching Rafa admitting it was a mistake, makes him bigger, I like his humbleness.

My point is that it's quite unfair from the journo not to see the big picture of the good job he's doing, not mentioning the good transfers Rafa has ALSO made and his overall positive effect on LFC. Some journalist are pretty good pointing out some obvious things, but they bring no good insight nor real profiles of what they're writing about.

yep as usual ur on the ball.....buying players is guess work, some work some dont, luck of the draw a lot of the time, now granted some transfers are bigger risks than others but no manager is perfect in this regard, wenger, ferguson have all bought bad and good players....even houllier bought some good players.... hammann, babell, henchoz, mcallister, litmanen and hyppia, spring to mind.......i think it is often a case of whats out there at that time and can that player do a job for the team.....

[davo_LFC]

To be fair to the writer I think his critisism of Rafa was more on his failure to buy players rather than the buying of flops.ie Simao/Figo and Owen last season. What I dont think the writer is giving Rafa credit for is the way in which Rafa surmounted the difficulties these transfer problems caused. Gerrard had possibly his best season playing mainly on the right, Sissoko filled the gap left by Gerrard to perfection and while we struggled for goals early in the season we didnt do too badly overall and at least we got Robbie back for Christmas. FA CUP and 3rd place without 2 major signings aint bad.
          I think a lot of the frustration about signings stems from the fact that we can all see the light at the end of the tunnel now. We are getting so close to having a epl title winning team we just want to see the final pieces in place ASAP. Yes we still need a right winger and a striker but at least the manager KNOWS what we need and is doing and has done everything in his power to get the right ones.I am sure Rafa is just as impatient as we are, but he is totally professional and will buy at the right time AND the right price. It just hurts to see crappy clubs like Spurs and Newcastle throwing their money around as if they were big clubs, I hope it all blows up in their faces.

Its already blown up in newcastles faces. They're fu.cked 

Fat sheperd had to take out an overdraft to buy owen and they have outstanding loans on the stadium apparently,they need strikers and the money has dried up. I knew it would end t!ts up for inter...sorry newcastle... coz they spent all that money and didnt qualify for europe. The risk hasnt payed off for the club that thinks its big.

Spurs have a chairman willing to splash the cash but the money should dry up...eventually.

At the end of the day it doesnt matter if these clubs are spending here and there because what matters is what happens on the pitch and we are progressing extremely well ahead of the likes of spurs and newcastle. We will continue to progress if the financial health of the club is good so IMO its better that rafa spends carefully rather than takes risks.