04 Oct 2017 06:41:21
My God, things must be bad if we are talking longingly about Rafa. (Does anybody really remember his reign, especially the tail end)?

And while we are at it, what exactly do we think Liverpool "deserves"? Really? let's wake up people.

1.) 04 Oct 2017
04 Oct 2017 08:50:32
Spot on, Delvecs! They want Rafa back. Really? What has Rafa actually done since he left us that is of note? Getting Newcastle promoted from the Championship? The guy took the Chelsea job out of desperation after saying he would never coach a team whose fans need plastic flags to support their team. He is at Newcastle for a reason. How come FSG never hired him each time we needed a new manager? Cos he is toxic and a problem, that's why. Also, No big club will touch him anymore and like you said, he was dire in his last season here and I was happy to see the back of him as his drama was becoming too much.

No wonder LFC has not won the PL in almost 3 decades. Some of its fans are always dwelling on the past hence, can never look into the future with hope and optimism. They want everything done right here, right now and forget that Rome was not built in two years. Klopp came to us in our most dire of straits. He is slowly or surely building something solid and there will always be mistakes made, bumps on the road and will be a roller-coaster as the Eds have said. But that is poison for some fans who simply are incapable of staying the course and persevering through hard times.

They want Klopp gone cos he did not bring them overnight success as if he promised us that when he arrived. They think we deserve success cos we are LFC? Have they been living under a rock for 27 years? We ain't all that special which is why we need someone like Klopp who is a builder and has been successful in building teams to become successful and competitive. But hey, what do I know? I'm just an eternal optimist who believes when there is life, there is hope.

2.) 04 Oct 2017
04 Oct 2017 09:31:17
To the OP
Benitez did a decent job at Chelsea winning a EL and securing 3rd place finish inside 6 months! He also won a trophy and regular CL places at Napoli. He had £20 mill to spend every year at Liverpool and lost the plot when he sold Alonso!

3.) 04 Oct 2017
04 Oct 2017 09:50:33
I love the man but as a manager again for us, bugger that.

4.) 04 Oct 2017
04 Oct 2017 10:23:40
Rafa spent £20m a season?

He spent close to £300m over six seasons Harry. Let's not forget, prices have inflated on a large scale since Rafa's days.

Players who cost £5m back then, they will cost much more now in todays inflated market.

Rafa could not win the League in six seasons Harry. He also went on a dry spell in his last 4 seasons without winning anything.

He did some great things for LFC like sorting out the academy, the work himself and his other half did for the community and still continue to do. CL 2005, nobody will forget that.

Rafa won't be coming back Harry. Let go.

5.) 04 Oct 2017
04 Oct 2017 10:39:39
Big clubs won't touch him bingo? Since leaving LFC he's managed Chelsea, Napoli, Inter and Real Madrid. They are all huge clubs and Newcastle aren't exactly a small club either and he's doing a decent job there under the circumstances of working for mike Ashley. I'm not one of the ones who wants him back but come on, show a bit of respect he's still a good coach and a great man. He's won more than us in the time since he left.

6.) 04 Oct 2017
04 Oct 2017 11:16:53
Tomo, and he got sacked or let go at every single one of those clubs so you just made my point for me. He went to Chelsea after vowing to never go there as LFC manager which shows he was desperate and frankly, a sellout on that front. NO big clubs would touch him anymore was what I said, which is why he went to Newcastle, got relegated (not his fault) and is now back in the PL. Where did I ever disrespect Rafa in my post? I gave my opinion on him and tho he won us 4 trophies, he did not win a thing in his last 4 seasons and wasted funds on dross players. Not having a go at you, bro BUT I am not interested in extolling his successes cos even within these, his failures are numerous and STILL did not win the PL in his 6 seasons here. Love the man as he has a big heart and all, but that is where it ends for me.

7.) 04 Oct 2017
04 Oct 2017 11:22:03
I liked Rafa when he first came, CL 2005 was a huge, huge bonus nobody saw coming, nobody.
FA cup 2006 was decent even though we got lucky in both finals but so what, we won them.

He used to drive me insane with his rotation though and his stubbornness with certain players such as N'Gog. Letting Keane go after 5 months just when he was starting to find his feet.
He wasn't everyone's favourite player, but you couldn't argue with his workrate and his games-goals ratio wasn't bad - one goal every two games at international level is decent and his record for Spurs was about one every two and a half games, not bad for someone who played behind their main Striker at times.

We struggled for goals in the second half of that season 08/ 09 when he was sold far too early, Torres was injured and we only had N'Gog as a back up through Rafa's stubbornness.
He tried offloading Alonso 12 months earlier too and bring Barry in from Villa.

Look, Rafa did a decent job for us (and others) and if he ever comes back, I'll get behind him 100%, but we need to understand that his reign was nearly a decade ago now, stop living in the past, feeling sorry for yourself sitting at your PC/ Laptop and move on. Peace :)

8.) 04 Oct 2017
04 Oct 2017 11:51:14
Spot on, OIrish. If people want to wallow in self pity and keep dwelling on the past then pls, have at it. The rest of us will focus on the present and dare to dream for a better future.

9.) 04 Oct 2017
04 Oct 2017 12:19:54
Bingo, is there any need for the ridiculous hyperbole in every post you make? Looks like you just enjoy arguing for the sake of it.

10.) 04 Oct 2017
04 Oct 2017 17:28:09
Can, you are been harsh there mate just as a was to a rival supporter the other day, bingo posts some good stuff at times lad! And atleast he explains his ways of thinking weather its to others opinion or not.
If you have a problem then atleast explain why you have a problem instead of been a one sentence puppet with no explanation, it certainly would be duller on here without the likes of bingo and others with there's reasons to there thinking but you just want to abuse him why?

11.) 04 Oct 2017
04 Oct 2017 19:19:10
Thanks for the compliment, Knuckles. Can, I don't understand your post. Could you pls, explain to me where I used hyperbole in any of my posts on this thread?

12.) 04 Oct 2017
04 Oct 2017 22:17:14
Getting back to the point, does nobody remember how boring we were under Rafa? The only exception was 2008/ 2009 when we finished 4pts off Utd after a good run at the end. Otherwise we were awful.
Finished top 4 every season apart from his last (and 2005 but got in the CL anyway) but we were one of the big 4 and everyone else was miles behind. He was way too pragmatic and structured for me.
Give me Klopp's passion and aggression any day of the week. Yes it leads to over exuberance and unpredictability at times but at least it's exciting! I'm loving watching us play right now and hating it at the same time! It's pain and pleasure in equal measure during every 90 minutes but it certainly gets me off my seat!

13.) 04 Oct 2017
04 Oct 2017 23:50:24
I don't know why anyone wants to have a go at Rafa or downgrade his achievements.
We won the champions league. There is no higher club achievement. We won it with a squad literally cobbled together after Michael Owen left us high and dry.
Not only that, Rafa Benitez got LFC to be UEFA number 1 ranked team. That's quite an achievement and is no fluke. We were one of the most feared teams in Europe.
He bought us the most exciting striker we've had since Fowler in Torres. He assembled "the best midfield in the world" in Gerrard, Alonso and Mascherano AND our defence was so tight our keeper won the golden gloves multiple times in a row.
Make no mistake, Rafa Benitez is an LFC legend and without doubt one of the premier managers in the world today. He has achieved success in multiple leagues with multiple teams.
Do I want him back?
There is no vacancy so there is no discussion for me, end of story.

14.) 05 Oct 2017
05 Oct 2017 06:27:33
And the first season Ings lol.
Not having a go at Rafa, just pointing out that we only got 5th in his first season, 04/ 05.

15.) 05 Oct 2017
05 Oct 2017 06:35:11
Cannot disagree with anything you said there Ron - good post.
There was a time under Rafa that we went into every European match feeling alomst invincible.
We almost expected to win in games we should have no right to.
That says a lot about the squad he assembled.

His only failing in my (reasonably) realistic head was not getting a good enough backup for Torres when injured/ unavailable.
Not winning the league was a failure in many fans' eyes but not in mine, he came damn close and had us in the top 4 more often than not, as frustrating as it was watching him making unnecessary rotational changes every week.

16.) 05 Oct 2017
05 Oct 2017 07:56:30
I was far more confident in Europe with home and away than i was in the league where a draw away and a win at home was not good enough. I also disagree about a great squad. We had a great spine and decent 11 but never had depth. While we had patches of excellent football, i found us predominantly boring under Rafa. That is not to be ungrateful of his achievements or to suggest he isn't a fantastic bloke and very good manager. I very much think both but done is done.

17.) 05 Oct 2017
05 Oct 2017 08:34:34
Orlish I did say that about 05 but he won the CL so I gave his a pass on that.
Hey look I liked Rafa but his brand of football was dull and towards the end he made some questionable signings and for me lost the plot a bit. Upto 2009 it seemed like a progression that would lead us to the title but went south quickly after that.
He's a clever guy and a decent manager but would I have him back? Let's say he wouldn't be my first choice.

18.) 05 Oct 2017
05 Oct 2017 08:47:15
Ron, I agree with your post bar the part of "Rafa is one of the premier managers around". Nope, that is not true. IMO. I can name several managers who are way better than him right now (Mou, Allegri, Pep, Poch, Sarri, Jardim, Emery, Conte, Zizou just off the top of my head) and he would not even make the top 15-20 right now. He is at Newcastle for a reason as his hey days are LONG gone, bro.

Make no mistake, Rafa is one of the best managers in LFC's history and at one time, he was top 3-5 in Europe. However, he had his own share of mistakes and screw ups that have been mentioned on here. Also, the football he played under us was after a while, quite tedious on the eye and his negative tactics (11 draws in 08/ 09) and stubbornness cost us the PL that season. There is nothing ungrateful about being fair and truthful about someone's record. Nothing at all.

19.) 05 Oct 2017
05 Oct 2017 09:16:46
Ingsy, my apologies mate. You're right!
I'm afraid I did what bugs me the most about some posters, I only half read what you posted - it's early in the morning, please forgive me mate :)
Apologies again!

20.) 05 Oct 2017
05 Oct 2017 09:23:05
It's such a fine line Bingo isn't it?!
He was so close to delivering the title.
He had the personnel, he had most of the tactics.
It's very difficult to sum up or to compare how good managers are or were.
In my eyes, they're only as good as their players allow them to be - think Rodgers in 13/ 14, Mourinho in his last season at Chelsea, Ranieri at Leicester.