ruskiy playmaker wrote:Yeah buying an injured Aquilani was a strange decision, even though he's an exceptional player. Rafa made a big mistake on that one.
The thing about Benitez is that he clearly cracked under the pressure last season. Rafa should have walked in 2007 when the Yanks went behind his back and undermined his job by talking to Klinsman. He was obviously a dead man walking from that point, but to walk away having just gotten to another CL final would be defeatist. Same with the season before last. He should have walked, but to get so close to the title, it would have been wrong in many ways. The thing that's clear, that some people can't seem to grasp, is that had Benitez walked back in 2007, the Yanks would have replaced with someone like Roy, and where would we be now? Buying to sell, selling to buy? No Torres? Gerrard would probably have split too. It's purely conjecture on my part, but a manager like Roy with the other two Yanks in charge? Christ! That would have been a nightmare scenario. Benitez stayed to fight for success at this club. Roy's just happy being here and just admited that he can't do better than mid-table. As the Americans say: go figure.








, Souness took over back end of the '91 Season, we finished runners up, the next two season's we finished 6th, with an FA Cup in '92, he was sacked the following January we ended up that season 8th.