Liverpool FC Forum

[Owzat]

Rafa's first day in charge of the UAE national side he'll be finding out whether Lucas and Kuyt are eligible to play for UAE!

[tubby]

The "Rafa to take over UAE job" is an extremely interesting one and I have delved into a little and used my imagination to come up with the theory that this is a ploy by a potential suitor to buy the club (Shiekh someone - let's just call him Sheikh 'n' Steven for the purposes of this story).

Steven comes from UAE and has plans to buy the club. He is aware of Rafa's £16m clause and is unwilling to simply throw away £16m to get rid of Rafa. He wants rid of Rafa though so, seen as he has a ruling power in UAE football, has come up with the idea of offering Rafa the managers job so he resigns from the club and in doing so saves the club £16m. Rafa's role within UAE football will be much more than national team manager and he will be tasked with re-organising the league/teams/infrastructure, attracting the top middle/far easters players to the league and using this as a feeding ground for LFC going forward (i.e. WE will get the pick of the best players).

 

That's a nice idea mate. 

[kazza]

SKYSPORTS:

Rafa Benitez has dismissed rumours of being offered a managerial role with the United Arab Emirates.

Reports have been rife since the end of the Premier League season about the Spaniard's future at Liverpool after the club finished in their worst league position for 11 years, with Inter Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid all linked.

After signing a five-year contract last season after his side almost won the title, Benitez has criticised the club's board for not backing him in the transfer market this term.

Now with the board putting the club up for sale and installing Martin Broughton as the club's new chairman, all members are in talks to try and improve on what has been an immensely disappointing campaign.

The cash rich Arabs have reportedly offered Benitez a highly lucrative contract to move to the Middle East to end his tenure on Merseyside, but the 50-year-old refuted the gossip, stating he wanted to stay at the Reds.

"I was very surprised to read about this story (being offered the UAE coaching job) but it seems more and more as if they keep happening from somewhere," Benitez told the Liverpool Echo.

"I am very happy here in Liverpool. I have always been happy and I want to stay here for a long time - if it is possible."

[kazza]

but it seems more and more as if they keep happening from somewhere," Benitez told the Liverpool Echo.

I wander if he is talking about Purslow

[stmichael]

I fully expect the Rafa saga to rumble on and I don't expect the sale of the club to go through any time soon. I'm fully anticipating a summer full of these 'stories' and I'm just not going to take any notice of them. Last week he was a cert to be at Inter, then he said he had four years left on his contract so the press said he was definitely staying at Anfield and now someone has asked him if he was "being defensive" and all he said was "I have to" which in the press means he's definitely 100% going. Of course he has to be defensive when answering questions on his position, because no matter what he says the press will only twist his words to fit their agenda.

Wenger had a pop at the press a few weeks ago about a similar thing and he was spot on with what he said.

[Lando_Griffin]

With Rafa on board, we will again be going to fight for the 6/7th place next year...Mark my words....
His excuse is that the team does not play to the level and that he has insufficient funds!!!!! SORRY RAFA....
Who bought the players - Johnson, Insua, Babel, Aurelio, Riera, Mascherano, Lucas, Ngog, Voronin, Kyrgiakos, Skrtel,Degen.... It's YOU... Who trains them??? It's YOU...
If they do not play well, that means YOU ARE NOT GOOD!!!!

Insufficient Funds!!! It's a joke... 25m for Mascherano, 12 for Babel, 18 for Johnson, >35 for Torres, 10 for Crouch, 20 for Aquilani, plus many others.....

This proves  that Rafa DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO BUY!!!!!!!!

Well then - apparently, Torres cost over £35m...

That's funny - I could have sworn it was less than £22m...

[Lando_Griffin]

The thing is it's all very well saying Rafa should be replaced but whoever comes in as a potential replacement will also have their own faults. Ok you might get a manager in who is warmer to the players, able to motivate them better and put an arm around them when needed but that's just 1 side of the equation.

You also have to make sure that you get a manager who is tactically better or the equal of Rafa, who has the capability of making a team/squad punch above their weight (because that's the expectation from the supporters) and who is able to provide an almost perfect balance in the transfer window, as they won't be able to afford any mistakes.

Easier said than done.

Is this the same tactical genius that has played Ngog on his own upfront for three quarters of last season isolating Gerrard ?

Come again?

How, exactly, is playing someone up front with Gerrard isolating Gerrard?

Schooltime, boyo...

Because the ball never sticks and he gets virtually bypassed in the game.

If you have watched us this season then without being an absolute blind biased head up rafa's a'ss, then you would admit that.

I sort of admire the fact that you are still behind the manager, but it baffles me.

The manager was a disgrace last year.

I am not calling him names, non of that spanish waitor sh!t that some stoop to. But realistically as manager of LFC (who i care more about than Rafa) he was woeful.
He kept the same system all season when it clearly was not working and our season was ruined because of him.
But you keep burying your head.
We are in for more of the same next season with him.

And on the subject of Mourinho. I think you should leave the comparisons alone for a while as you will look a little stupid.
One just won the treble knocking out Barca Chelsea and beating the german champs while our Rafa got us mullered in a p!ss poor champions league group.

No comparison really.

You're right - one has never beaten the other in the Champions' League, though, even with a much better team.

It does make me wonder how you all sleep at night. It wasn't too long ago that Rafa was slated for changing the formation.

So he sticks to the same formation for a bit - all Hell breaks loose and the dozy ones start yelping again.

I'm pretty sure that you'd all still bemoan something if we won everything next season, let alone something.

[Ben Patrick]

See i would talk more with you on here if you were actually sensible.
If you think that playing about half of the season with Ngog upfront on his own is acceptable then fair enough.
Personally i think its a shocking decision.

Rafa did outgun Mourinho in the champions league semi's and fair play to him for that, he did a great job. I can accept that. I can say he got the best out of players that were inferior and his tactics where better. There is no problem with me giving praise where it's due.
Since then though we are going backwards, and Rafa has made huge mistakes both in players signed, players sold (well namely Alonso) and in playing 4-5-1 when Torres was injured for most of the season.
That's killed our season and he persisted with it despite the fact that it was obvious where things were going wrong.

defend Rafa by all means but its pretty strange that you cannot see any mistakes he makes or find fault in his team selections/tactics etc.

[Greavesie]

See i would talk more with you on here if you were actually sensible.
If you think that playing about half of the season with Ngog upfront on his own is acceptable then fair enough.
Personally i think its a shocking decision.

Rafa did outgun Mourinho in the champions league semi's and fair play to him for that, he did a great job. I can accept that. I can say he got the best out of players that were inferior and his tactics where better. There is no problem with me giving praise where it's due.
Since then though we are going backwards, and Rafa has made huge mistakes both in players signed, players sold (well namely Alonso) and in playing 4-5-1 when Torres was injured for most of the season.
That's killed our season and he persisted with it despite the fact that it was obvious where things were going wrong.

defend Rafa by all means but its pretty strange that you cannot see any mistakes he makes or find fault in his team selections/tactics etc.

no one said its acceptable - find me someone who said it is

People dont defend Rafa til the cows come home. Might come as a surprise but some can actually see the good and the bad. Playing N'gog on his own is silly, it certianly isn't clever but there's other things Rafa gets slated for that is just pure bollox. Like commenting on Real, why the fook do people have a problem with that?

Lando has never said it was acceptable - just because he defends Rafa in particular instances does not necessarily follow that he agrees with everything he does. Its these assumptions that people make that make a discussion about Rafa almost impossible with someone who so badly wants Rafa to leave

[Lando_Griffin]

See i would talk more with you on here if you were actually sensible.
If you think that playing about half of the season with Ngog upfront on his own is acceptable then fair enough.
Personally i think its a shocking decision.

Rafa did outgun Mourinho in the champions league semi's and fair play to him for that, he did a great job. I can accept that. I can say he got the best out of players that were inferior and his tactics where better. There is no problem with me giving praise where it's due.
Since then though we are going backwards, and Rafa has made huge mistakes both in players signed, players sold (well namely Alonso) and in playing 4-5-1 when Torres was injured for most of the season.
That's killed our season and he persisted with it despite the fact that it was obvious where things were going wrong.

defend Rafa by all means but its pretty strange that you cannot see any mistakes he makes or find fault in his team selections/tactics etc.

I really don't appreciate this arrogance of yours - I would suggest that if you wish to discuss football, you should refrain from implying I lack sense.
Just a tip, like...

I can recall during the 2007-08 season that the majority on here wanted rid of Alonso. He apprantly wasn't good enough, was too slow and couldn't get to grips with the pace of the Premiership.
Rafa wanted to buy Barry and keep Alonso. The board said "no, you have to sell first", so Rafa touted him about. It didn't come off, and the result was the best season-long performance of any midfielder in this Country. Alonso was the difference in 2008-09 - without him, we would have been 4th at best. Riera and Aurelio made a difference, too - they gave Alonso the quality outlets for his passes.

Rafa tried to keep Alonso, but the damage had been done. I think what you should all remember, though, is that most of you would have been happy to see Xabi go, and even then, Rafa wanted to keep him until the owners said someone had to be sold before we could buy.

EDIT:

Just to add, this assumption that I find it acceptable that N'Gog was played up front on his own is a bit naughty, isn't it? I merely commented that playing Gerrard and N'Gog up front can't possibly mean Gerrard is isolated (because it's a contradiction).

The fact is that Rafa tried to buy Tevez. He was on his way here, too, until the board closed the purse. Try as you might, you'll struggle to get anyone with a brain to blame Rafa for that. Our net spend last summer was £16,000. Anyone looking for someone to blame should look at that figure. It shows beyond all doubt that the owners have turned us into a selling club, yet the fans expect success.

People should come to realise this: Selling clubs seldom, if ever, win trophies.

[Ben Patrick]

See i would talk more with you on here if you were actually sensible.
If you think that playing about half of the season with Ngog upfront on his own is acceptable then fair enough.
Personally i think its a shocking decision.

Rafa did outgun Mourinho in the champions league semi's and fair play to him for that, he did a great job. I can accept that. I can say he got the best out of players that were inferior and his tactics where better. There is no problem with me giving praise where it's due.
Since then though we are going backwards, and Rafa has made huge mistakes both in players signed, players sold (well namely Alonso) and in playing 4-5-1 when Torres was injured for most of the season.
That's killed our season and he persisted with it despite the fact that it was obvious where things were going wrong.

defend Rafa by all means but its pretty strange that you cannot see any mistakes he makes or find fault in his team selections/tactics etc.

no one said its acceptable - find me someone who said it is

People dont defend Rafa til the cows come home. Might come as a surprise but some can actually see the good and the bad. Playing N'gog on his own is silly, it certianly isn't clever but there's other things Rafa gets slated for that is just pure bollox. Like commenting on Real, why the fook do people have a problem with that?

Lando has never said it was acceptable - just because he defends Rafa in particular instances does not necessarily follow that he agrees with everything he does

I dont know why they would to be honest, i dont have a problem with it.
He probably was asked a question and answered it.

And to be honest mate i was speaking directly to Lando because he doesnt offer any leeway in his opinion. By that i mean he cant see any fault at all in the manager.
I think i am balanced enough to praise him when he has done good things but will crticise when i think its warranted.
My problem is its been warranted big time this season.

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

Tonight's Liverpool Echo ........... just to reiterate what was said in earlier reports


RAFA BENITEZ today rubbished suggestions he has received an offer to manage the United Arab Emirates – as he again stated his intentions to stay at Anfield.

The Liverpool manager’s future has been a topic of much debate this year and he has been linked with both Juventus and Inter Milan.

It was reported that the UAE want to offer him a £5m ‘golden hello’, a house on Dubai’s exclusive Palm Island plus a £4m annual salary to quit the Reds.

But Benitez has met chairman Martin Broughton and managing director Christian Purslow twice since the end of the campaign to discuss how to move the Reds forward.

More talks are planned in the future and Benitez has made it clear he wants to continue in the role he has filled since 2004 – so long as everyone at the club feels the same way.

“I was very surprised to read about this story but it seems more and more as if they keep happening from somewhere,” said Benitez. “I am very happy here in Liverpool.

“I have always been happy and I want to stay here for a long time – if it is possible.”

While some supporters will still be wondering what the future holds for Benitez, one man who remains adamant he will stay on Merseyside is Pepe Reina.

The Reds’ player of the season is currently preparing for the World Cup finals with Spain’s squad but is still keeping abreast of affairs at Anfield.

“I am convinced that Rafa will still be with us and that is good for us because he wants revenge in the next campaign,” said Reina.

Reina has also spoken with his club mate Fernando Torres about what his plans are for the forthcoming season and, again, the message is positive.

Though Manchester City and Chelsea covet Liverpool’s number nine, Reina says their pursuit will be a fruitless one.

“I am calm about Fernando,” Reina, said. “I spoke to him about his future and he has told me that he intends to continue with us. Fernando suffered so many blows last season. But he is a professional and has always wanted to do well for us. That is what he remains – committed to this club."

Meanwhile, sources in Holland described Ryan Babel as being “touch and go” for the World Cup, Liverpool’s forward damaged his hamstring in training on Friday and went to hospital for a scan.

Although the injury is not as serious as first fared, he still “must improve quickly” to name Holland’s” final 23-man squad.




Benitez ,Gerrard and now Torres apparently staying with the best supported Club on the Planet (As if we ever doubted their  allegiance )    well there is always the  Benayoun stories for the press to embellish

[Ben Patrick]

See i would talk more with you on here if you were actually sensible.
If you think that playing about half of the season with Ngog upfront on his own is acceptable then fair enough.
Personally i think its a shocking decision.

Rafa did outgun Mourinho in the champions league semi's and fair play to him for that, he did a great job. I can accept that. I can say he got the best out of players that were inferior and his tactics where better. There is no problem with me giving praise where it's due.
Since then though we are going backwards, and Rafa has made huge mistakes both in players signed, players sold (well namely Alonso) and in playing 4-5-1 when Torres was injured for most of the season.
That's killed our season and he persisted with it despite the fact that it was obvious where things were going wrong.

defend Rafa by all means but its pretty strange that you cannot see any mistakes he makes or find fault in his team selections/tactics etc.

I really don't appreciate this arrogance of yours - I would suggest that if you wish to discuss football, you should refrain from implying I lack sense.
Just a tip, like...

I can recall during the 2007-08 season that the majority on here wanted rid of Alonso. He apprantly wasn't good enough, was too slow and couldn't get to grips with the pace of the Premiership.
Rafa wanted to buy Barry and keep Alonso. The board said "no, you have to sell first", so Rafa touted him about. It didn't come off, and the result was the best season-long performance of any midfielder in this Country. Alonso was the difference in 2008-09 - without him, we would have been 4th at best. Riera and Aurelio made a difference, too - they gave Alonso the quality outlets for his passes.

Rafa tried to keep Alonso, but the damage had been done. I think what you should all remember, though, is that most of you would have been happy to see Xabi go, and even then, Rafa wanted to keep him until the owners said someone had to be sold before we could buy.

Why is someone who criticises the manager automatically talked about as wanting Alonso to leave ?
I never wanted him to leave, when his form wasnt great i still knew he was a top player and appreciated what he gave to the team.
I know you were a staunch Alonso fan and didnt want him to go.
At the end of the day you believed in Alonso more than Rafa by the sounds of things. He was wrong to treat a good pro like Alonso the way he did imo.
Also i think that he could have told him he was going nowhere.
I would have.

[woof woof !]

At the end of the day you believed in Alonso more than Rafa by the sounds of things. He was wrong to treat a good pro like Alonso the way he did imo.
Also i think that he could have told him he was going nowhere.
I would have.

Ben, come on mate, if you have a player determined to leave (forget for a moment the reasons why, thays another arguement) how the f'uck do you hang onto and get the best out of them.

If you were a pro footballer who'd decided he wanted away and the manager told you "you're going nowhere", what would your reaction be ?

At a guess I'd say you might say something to the manager that might at least make him think again 

[dawson99]

At the end of the day you believed in Alonso more than Rafa by the sounds of things. He was wrong to treat a good pro like Alonso the way he did imo.
Also i think that he could have told him he was going nowhere.
I would have.

Ben, come on mate, if you have a player determined to leave (forget for a moment the reasons why, thays another arguement) how the f'uck do you hang onto and get the best out of them.

If you were a pro footballer who'd decided he wanted away and the manager told you "you're going nowhere", what would your reaction be ?

At a guess I'd say you might say something to the manager that might at least make him think again 

If you cant get the best out of those that wanna leave, it seems this season then a feckload of our players wanna leave, as Rafa couldnt get a thing out of anyone with his stale tactics all season