andy_g » Sun Nov 22, 2015 2:30 pm wrote:here's a simple question that i hope will be seen as a possibility for mature discussion and not as an opportunity for points scoring.
rafa took us back to where we belonged, amongst europe's elite, challenging for and winning honours on all fronts, bringing in some of the world's best players (as well as some of the worst). he gave the club belief and standing when we thought it was lost. he stood up to the worst owners we could have ever had. as many people stated, whether you agree or not, he 'got' us
jurgen klopp is just beginning his project here but we can sense something special in the air. again he's renewed belief that we wondered where we would see it again. we've seen him do it with dortmund and we hope/believe he can do it with liverpool.
and the question is simply this:
given the choice of having rafa back as manager right now, or sticking with klopp and seeing if he really can work that magic again, which would you choose?
I was big Rafa fan in the first few years and like you said he really had us back as an elite club during his time here, however he could be infuriating at times with his conservative approach to some league games, especially against smaller sides which at times he showed too much respect for by not playing enough creative talent instead of grafters like Dirk Kuyt. He was an excellent personality and the fans really took to him, when he was around we really did have that super club feel about us again, in the Champions league absolutely no one wanted to play against us such was his tactical acumen and to be fair to Rafa at one point he had some really special players playing for us, the likes of Reina, Alonso, Hyppia, Mascherano, Gerrard and Torres were absolute world class and all played in the same team! we haven't had a collective of that quality since.
Having said all that I wouldn't swap anyone for Klopp right now, hes personality is so infectious on everyone, the players, fans, media and even rival fans all love and respect him and he seems to have the perfect combination of tactical knowledge and man management skills that Rafa lacked slightly, its early days and time will tell if he will be as successful as Rafa but the signs are good and i think with the right backing he could have us competing at the top again sooner rather than later.