Too many posters in this place post blindly, accentuating only the positive (or the negative) aspects depending which side of the fence they fall on. so if you can't write a balanced post, this probably isn't the thread for you.
Positive
First and foremost for me has to be the fact that Rafa has put us back on the map in Europe. I know Ged started it off with the UEFA Cup win but there is no doubt we have now reclaimed the kind of reputation and status in Europe that was enjoyed by Paisley & Fagan's Liverpool of the 80's. In 5 years our record reads - Champions - Last 16 - Runners-Up - Semi-finalists - Quater-Finalists. Istanbul was (don't tell the wife) the happiest day of my life (please don't tell her) and will live me forever. I've had the opportunity to roar the team on with the stadium at it's most fervent as we've beaten the likes of Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter-Milan and Arsenal in the knockout stages not to mention wins against Madrid (home and away), another in Milan and an incredible draw in Juventus in 2005. It also bothers me a lot how so many fans dismiss our march to the final in 2007. It was a fantastic effort but because we didn't win the final, it's as if the achievement of getting there meant nothing at all. I'll also add that we always seem to get a shoddy draw in Europe, always drawing the English teams.
Negative
A lot of posters whinge on about us not being able to compete with the likes of united and Chelsea in the transfer market and in many ways they are bang on. We can't collect £20 mill plus players in the ilk of Rooney, Ferdinand, Veron, Berbatov etc BUT I wish our manager was capable of picking up a few rough diamonds in the style of Wenger. Rafa simply doesn't make any. You only time i've ever thought to myself 'you clever bugger Rafa, what a brilliant piece of business' was when we signed Fowler on a free, it rejuvenated the fans and the boy came in, got fit and played well for a time. I guess you can add Aurelio and Arbeloa to the list but it's not enough. I watch us play the whole of this season with Lucas (a poor mans Mascherano at best) in our midfield and wonder why the hell we didn't move for a Jimmy Bullard or a Danny Murphy to fill the void until Aquaman is fit? I watch us struggling along with the likes of Ngog and Voronin subbing for the injured Torres and look in wonder at the fact Spurs have Pavlyjenko sitting on their bench as FOURTH CHOICE. If Rafa is ever going to win the title he NEEDS to pull a few rabbits outta hats in the transfer market with minimal funds.
POSITIVE
The best managers in this game turn things around when it all looks like it's going to rats sh...i...t. Houllier's Liverpool got better year on year, they went from 5th to 4th to 3rd to 2nd and then bang, hit the wall, and then begun to free-fall. He simply couldn't turn it around. Keegan was very much the same at Newcastle, good managers both of them but the best ones somehow manage to stop the rot, pick the team up, get the fans back on side and stick it to the press. Rafa definitely falls into this category. I don't think we've had a season go by where the team has fallen into some sort of a skid (not that this is a good thing) but they've always pulled out of it and put a run together (either in Europe, the Cups, or the League). Obviously this current skid is worse than any in the past 30 odd years and the manager has got a SERIOUS rebuilding job to do for the rest of the season.
NEGATIVE
Substitutions Substitutions Substitutions!!! How many times have you been watching a game in which we needed a goal (or two) and sat there screaming at the pitch/TV for the manager to make a change and to do it right now! I've lost count, i've literally been pulling my hair out in frustration at Rafa's subs. Either they come too late, sometimes he doesn't make the final sub until the 85th minute even though we're still chasing the game. The manager NEVER makes more than one sub at a time, I reckon he's done it no more than three times in his whole time as manager (i'd love to see the stats) and i've never understood it. Mourinho and Bobby Robson used to make three subs at once in an effort to really change a game and you know what, sometimes it works!
POSITIVE
Rafa Benitez could have walked away from this club THREE times. The biggest (supposedly) club in world football and boyhood club have come calling and everytime he has politely told them 'no thanks', it's a shame Xabi didn't tell them the same thing. clearly the guy loves the club, he loves the city and he knows and appreciates that LFC fans are greatest in the world. I think he'd stay for another 15 years if we'd have him. The guy is a class act, he understands what Liverpool Football club is all about and he doesn't want to be anywhere else. He has stood up to the fookin idiots in charge and I can't help but wonder what these clueless lying
might have pulled if he wasn't at the club? He has helped (for me) to mobilize (unwittingly maybe) a lot of the protest against the owners. Comments like the one he made about Torres made not seem like a big deal but I think they keep the owners in check. I think it's likely that we'll need more of that.NEGATIVE
Baffling team selections. I can't pinpoint particular matches (i'm sure others can) but many times i've seen the team-sheet on the box or from the announcer and thought 'what the f...u...c..k.!!!', we all have. sometimes it comes completely out of the blue, we might have been playing well for x amount of games, I might have (pretty much) agreed with the team selection for the previous 10 games and then bang! How do ya like this line-up!?! 'Where the fook did you get that idea from Rafa and how the hell do you think it's gonna work!?' Quite often it's a fundumental thing that i don't agree with e.g. Kuyt up front on his own (it should NEVER ever happen happen, I don't care if we beat Newcastle 5-0 playing that way).
POSITIVE
I know it's one more postive than a negative but i have to finish with:
FERNANDO TORRES
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