by Lando_Griffin » Wed Nov 25, 2009 1:07 am
tonyeh wrote:Bad Bob wrote:tonyeh wrote:Bad Bob wrote:bigmick wrote:On the Aquilani substitution, has anybody got any plausible explanation whatsoever? I mean, if he was fit then surely we could have used him earlier. If he wasn't fit then why bother putting him on the bench, and more to the point why bother bringing him on? I'm not asking anyone to agree with the decision, just to offer up a reason which can be construed as remotely realistic? Is it just that we wanted to waste a few seconds maybe?
Very odd.
Had me completely baffled, TBPH. Obviously, at that late stage, it was to waste time but why choose Aquilani? By all accounts, the lad's bursting at the seams to get a run out and Rafa's keeping him wrapped in cotton wool for some reason. But it verges on taking the p!ss to tell the fella to strip off for the last seconds.

The worst thing is Bob, I can only imagine what all this nonsense is doing to the palyer himself.
Surely, he must have been think WTF? himself tonight.
I actually laughed out loud.
But that sub tonight sums up Benitez for me, I'm afraid.
Had that thought myself. I'm sure he was just thrilled to come on in stoppage time. The game was crying out for him by the 50 minute mark and he gets brought on to waste time and see out a 1-0 win against the group whipping boys. Not with a bang but a whimper...
Agreed. If he's fit enough to be on the bench, he's fit enough for more than 30 seconds playing time.
Let's set the scene:
Minute 60; Liverpool are 1-0 up in a tough game on an even tougher surface. They're already without their star striker and their best player is still recovering from a groin injury which could really do with an op. Due to the tough conditions under foot and the delicate nature of the groin, Rafa subs off his Captain and replaces him with Aquilani - still yet to play more than 20 minutes of football in over 6 months.
Liverpool continue to struggle as the Hungarians play the biggest game of their lives yet still manage to run out 1-0 winners...
Do not even consider trying to tell me that you would have accepted this as a good precautionary move. Do not even think about pretending you wouldn't have crucified him for subbing Gerrard off earlier.
That's the position Rafa finds himself in with numbskulls like you: Damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

Last edited by
Lando_Griffin on Wed Nov 25, 2009 1:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
Rafa Benitez - An unfinished Legend.