Excellant benitez article - In the...

Liverpool Football Club - General Discussion

Postby dawson99 » Sat Dec 04, 2004 10:07 am

ok, im ready for everyone to shout me down. but my mate made me read his goals section of the sun, due to an article with rafa.
It is, i admit, a brilliant 2 page spread where rafa tells of his love for the club, and how much he admires the fans. If you get the chance, have a glance. its a good read (not the paper...scum paper, but the article within)
Last edited by dawson99 on Sat Dec 04, 2004 10:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Ciggy » Sat Dec 04, 2004 10:14 am

I would noway ever buy that sh.ite newspaper, but heres the article, What a great boss we have :cool:  poor bloke nearly got killed driving wrong side of the road :glare: .
Love the part where he says the fans ask him to go for a beer :D
Imagine Rafa la do ya wana come for a pint :D

Rafa: I just love this club
By PHIL THOMAS


RAFA BENITEZ took one look into the eyes of the cold, wet young fan who had stood outside the gates of Liverpool’s Melwood training ground for 12 hours.

The Spaniard knew there and then he could not fail in his task at Anfield.

Benitez is currently working at least 30 hours a week more than he did at Valencia — the La Liga club which he twice made champions of Spain and also led to victory in the UEFA Cup final.

He realised he was probably overdoing the 13 and 14- hour days when he nearly drove head-on into the face of an oncoming car recently because his attention had drifted and his car was on the wrong side of the road.

The red-eyed Reds boss has even had to dump his English lessons to make more time for putting Liverpool on the right tracks — which includes taking three points off David O’Leary’s resurgent Aston Villa this afternoon.

Benitez said: “I’m a dedicated hard worker and I love football but the people who follow this club can sometimes freeze your heart and make you stunned with their total dedication to Liverpool.

“For instance, there’s one young lad who waits outside the training ground gates and you see him when you arrive at 8.30 or 9am in the morning.
“He’s not the only one by far but you stop, give him an autograph and even take a picture with him.

“But then when you’ve done your working day and you come out of the training ground gates at whatever time of night that may be, he’s still waiting there looking for somebody else, anybody else, to come out and give him an autograph on their way home.

“No matter how many pictures or signatures these guys get they are still there for hours on end — whether it is raining or freezing. His attitude typifies this fantastic club.

“From day to day it doesn’t actually affect how you work because you give your best, anyway. But being in this environment does make you feel something special.

“You don’t have to be here for long to understand that Liverpool FC is not merely a football club — it is a feeling.

“The fans are stupendous. For example, whenever there is a minute’s silence you hear nothing, absolutely nothing.

“These people put so much value on tradition — they believe that they are distinct from other clubs. That’s why there is so much respect for football people. If people stop to ask you for an autograph and you happen to be with someone or talking on the phone they will wait and wait and then ask for it — and then they’ll follow up by asking you if you fancy going for a beer with them!”

But Benitez has no time for social life, barely even for family life. He has thrown himself head-first into restoring the glory days at Anfield — but believes that whatever he achieves this season will be a bonus.

Much of his work is on planning for how he can develop his squad month by month — in terms of fitness, teamwork, defending, and adding new signings.

That is why he is working almost twice as hard as he did at Valencia. He added: “My guys and I are in to work at 8.30 or 9am at the latest, depending on how heavy the traffic is — and often I’ll not be leaving until nine at night.

“At Valencia my programme was completely different — I’d be at work by nine and almost always back home finished for the day at 3pm.

“Obviously, it now means that I’ve not got as much time with my wife or my young children as I did when I worked in Spain. But I do it because I’m responsible for how this team performs.

“I know I’ve got to put in those hours — otherwise I just couldn’t cope with the job in hand.

“My attitude is that coaches and players earn huge amounts of money and we have to be super-professional in exchange. So, if your performance depends on your physical fitness, for example, then either you work like a proper professional or you’re not fit for the job.

“There are some players who moan a lot when they find out that your style is to be ‘on top of them’ all day.

“But I just tell them ‘We are professionals doing what our fans would dream of doing, so we owe them good professional performances or else’.

“In truth, that attitude goes down pretty well in England because in this country the manager is pretty much the boss and can do what he wants with who does or doesn’t play in his team.

“Also I’m finding that in England the manager is someone who will often only take one or two training sessions per week but I don’t have that kind of mentality.

“I take full responsibility for the meaning of being made Liverpool manager and I love to train, to spend hours on the pitches here, working on tactics and fine-tuning tiny little details.”

But there is a cost associated with Benitez’s hard slog.

Over and above missing the quality family time which he had at Valencia — time he has exchanged for his extended family in the modern ‘boot-room’ — the Spaniard has not had time to come to terms with one or two English customs . . . like the weather and driving on the left-hand side of the road.

Benitez added: “Apart from this climate, which is pretty hard to put up with, things are great — but they are very different from my country.

“Look, every European who comes here finds driving interesting and it’s hard to judge where your left hand wing is while you are parking or passing.

“When you’ve got a mate in the front passenger seat you can see him absolutely suffering while you drive. But then when he’s driving you and you’re in the passenger seat you suffer just as much!

“But even more difficult is when you’ve worked late at night and there are no other cars on the road.

“That happened to me one night when I’d dropped our coach Paco Herrera off at his house after training.

“I was driving along quite happily when, out of the blue, there was this coach right in front of me, driving at me it seemed!

“And what had happened was that because there were no cars on the road when I set off I’d started driving on the wrong side of the road!

“It’s almost worse when you walk — I try and cross the road and I have to look about seven times in each direction before I set off.”
There is no-one anywhere in the world at any stage who is any bigger or any better than this football club.

Kenny Dalglish 1/2/2011

REST IN PEACE PHIL, YOU WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.
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Postby LFC #1 » Sat Dec 04, 2004 11:01 am

if it's from the s*n i refuse to read it.
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Postby dawson99 » Sat Dec 04, 2004 11:03 am

LFC
i dunno how to say this without sounding insensitive. i hate the sun, will never buy it, but its an article about rafa in rafas own words. I really admire your principles  but.. dunno how to put it. its justa  good article, but i respect u for not wanting to read it i guess
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Postby LFC #1 » Sat Dec 04, 2004 11:11 am

I really want to read it you know, but it's from the s*n, I just can't do it.

I have no problem with others reading it though, as it is not like they bought it.
:)
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Postby dawson99 » Sat Dec 04, 2004 11:16 am

good point
i wont buy it, but rafa just comes across real well, any way i can put ni a quet he said and u can read that?
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Postby LFC #1 » Sat Dec 04, 2004 11:17 am

yeh if you give me the gist of it thats cool :)
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Postby Ciggy » Sat Dec 04, 2004 11:19 am

Its not like anyones bought it giving them money just copyed and pasted from there website.
The sun doesnt sell any copyies on merseyside so no one is lining there pockets.
There is no-one anywhere in the world at any stage who is any bigger or any better than this football club.

Kenny Dalglish 1/2/2011

REST IN PEACE PHIL, YOU WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.
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Postby dawson99 » Sat Dec 04, 2004 11:20 am

ok. he basically says he loves the fans. how when there is a minutes silence, it is a minutes silence, not a murmur. he likes the kid who is always waiting outside the ground, looknig for autographs, and he loves how people ask for his autograph and then ask him if he wants a beer.
what he doesnt love is the driving on the left hand side of the road, and daily he almost crashes

he just came across real well
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Postby LFC #1 » Sat Dec 04, 2004 11:21 am

Rafa is a class act for sure, and it is nice to hear that he loves the club and its fans so much.

thanks for that Dawson. :)
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Postby zarababe » Sat Dec 04, 2004 12:53 pm

.. Fantastic .. Lurve him even more... he will do the business and restore us to where we belong... and .. lest hope he masters driving on the right side of the road... :D
THE BRENDAN REVOLUTION IS UPON US !

KING KENNY.. Always LEGEND !

RAFA.. MADE THE PEOPLE HAPPY !

Miss YOU Phil-Drummer - RIP YNWA

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Postby jim_morrison_supported_liverpool » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:22 pm

i suppose you want him to buy some more of his spanish delights also Zara? isnt that the main reason why you love him? go on admit it :D  :D
its not the chilli sauce on kebabs that give you ring-sting, its the actual meat. had one without chilli, and still had ring-sting. the chilli's only there to mask the nonsense they stuff inside that bread.
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Postby Redrider » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:39 pm

There is no doubt Rafa is a class act.
Moores and Parry need congratulating for biting the bullet, sacking Houllier and relacing him with Benitez !
My feeling is that he will be as influential on the club as Shankly, totally different personalities etc. but also a different age with new and demandiing pressures arising from player power and TV mpney etc that demand a new approach. Rafa appears to have the qualities to cope with the demands of the current football scene, combined with a passion that both ignites and earns respect from players.
A great catch for the club and respect for Moores and Parry on this one !!  :)
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Postby zarababe » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:40 pm

jim_morrison_supported_liverpool wrote:i suppose you want him to buy some more of his spanish delights also Zara? isnt that the main reason why you love him? go on admit it :D  :D

..  :D Hey respect to the Boss.. I've been consistent in saying that ... :)

... but Jim I am consistenty predictable in my support of all the Spaniardo Hunk signings... too ... bl**dy hell.. Jim U lot know me so well...   :D  :devil: 

.. bring on Moreintes... I say ... :blush:
THE BRENDAN REVOLUTION IS UPON US !

KING KENNY.. Always LEGEND !

RAFA.. MADE THE PEOPLE HAPPY !

Miss YOU Phil-Drummer - RIP YNWA

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Postby jim_morrison_supported_liverpool » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:54 pm

O.K. so does that mean you'll also be confessing your undying love for spaniards if Mr Campo if arrives, the original El Uglio Bastardido? ???
its not the chilli sauce on kebabs that give you ring-sting, its the actual meat. had one without chilli, and still had ring-sting. the chilli's only there to mask the nonsense they stuff inside that bread.
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