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Liverpool
- Thread starter Simster
- Start date
Easy 10
Brain dead MUG SHEEP
Could do with Gerrard being injured till around April ideally, then he'll be good and fresh for the World Cup.
Spot on. Steven, forget your club, they're going nowhere. Put your country first for once.
I just love it.
The fans still blame it on The owners
The fans still blame it on The owners
Basil Fawlty
Don't Mention The War
I really want to know what Benitez sees in Lucas? He is a absolute waste of space, the worst Brazilian I think I've ever seen. Liverpool dismise is down to selling Xabi Alonso, he was the anchorman of the team and selling him was always going to be a huge hole to fill, so what does he do sign a Italian player who is a crock and hasn't started a game all season.
REDLAND
Active member
LIVERPOOL coach Rafael Benitez last night called for his team's immaculate kit to be the benchmark for their success.
Brushing aside the club's 2-1 defeat to Lyon, Benitez insisted his squad were now the cleanest and best turned out in the Champion's League.
He said: "When a panel of ordinary housewives assesses the summer freshness of our socks the table will begin to look very different my friends. Oh yes.
"I have it on good authority that Fiorentina do not use fabric softener and their spin cycle is sluggish at best.
"And when Lyon hold their tops up to the kitchen window on a sunny day they simply expose the greyness of their whites."
He added: "While other managers have fallen for the idiotic fantasy of washing everything at 40 degrees, I have pursued a policy of 60 degrees as well as a vigorous pre-wash. That is how you get outstanding results, every time."
Benitez said his team's impressive record would continue on Sunday against Manchester United when increasingly demanding consumers would see for themselves Sir Alex Ferguson's abject failure to remove the stubborn stains from Wayne Rooney's groin.
Liverpool's assistant manager Sammy Lee said: "Don't tell anyone, but I'm going to manage the club in secret from now on."
Elsewhere it was a bad night for British clubs as Rangers were beaten 4-1 after admitting they did not know they were allowed to include a goalkeeper, while Arsenal conceded a late equaliser after forgetting they were playing in their away kit.
Brushing aside the club's 2-1 defeat to Lyon, Benitez insisted his squad were now the cleanest and best turned out in the Champion's League.
He said: "When a panel of ordinary housewives assesses the summer freshness of our socks the table will begin to look very different my friends. Oh yes.
"I have it on good authority that Fiorentina do not use fabric softener and their spin cycle is sluggish at best.
"And when Lyon hold their tops up to the kitchen window on a sunny day they simply expose the greyness of their whites."
He added: "While other managers have fallen for the idiotic fantasy of washing everything at 40 degrees, I have pursued a policy of 60 degrees as well as a vigorous pre-wash. That is how you get outstanding results, every time."
Benitez said his team's impressive record would continue on Sunday against Manchester United when increasingly demanding consumers would see for themselves Sir Alex Ferguson's abject failure to remove the stubborn stains from Wayne Rooney's groin.
Liverpool's assistant manager Sammy Lee said: "Don't tell anyone, but I'm going to manage the club in secret from now on."
Elsewhere it was a bad night for British clubs as Rangers were beaten 4-1 after admitting they did not know they were allowed to include a goalkeeper, while Arsenal conceded a late equaliser after forgetting they were playing in their away kit.
Makes me smile - I don't want to see any English team doing badly in Europe, but when you've lived through the 70's and 80's and had years of sychofantic commentators wobbling on about the Liverpool way of playing - then yes, it makes me smile.
For you younger chaps, think Man U in the last few years and you'll get the picture.
For you younger chaps, think Man U in the last few years and you'll get the picture.
Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 31,107
It's nice that there's a whiff of change about the top 4.
Rafa is a class manager and there's no doubt the Hicks / Gillette feud and the falling-out with Rick Parry has not helped. Keane was Parry's signing and they resold him to Spurs without too much of a hit. Mascherano, Torres and Johnson are all great signings, as was Pepe Reina, Riera and Kuyt.
Also, without the events of recent months Barry would probably have been a Liverpool player.
The problem is lack of depth and with a World Cup around the corner the big players will have one eye on staying fit for that. I think they're one defeat from being out of the title race, and probably one defeat from crashing out of Europe.
Their best hope is a domestic cup, and with City, Villa and Spurs stronger and out of Europe even that might be beyond them.
Rafa is a class manager and there's no doubt the Hicks / Gillette feud and the falling-out with Rick Parry has not helped. Keane was Parry's signing and they resold him to Spurs without too much of a hit. Mascherano, Torres and Johnson are all great signings, as was Pepe Reina, Riera and Kuyt.
Also, without the events of recent months Barry would probably have been a Liverpool player.
The problem is lack of depth and with a World Cup around the corner the big players will have one eye on staying fit for that. I think they're one defeat from being out of the title race, and probably one defeat from crashing out of Europe.
Their best hope is a domestic cup, and with City, Villa and Spurs stronger and out of Europe even that might be beyond them.
- Thread starter
- #30
To be fair, he's done a reasonable job in the past. Trophies have been won, including the Champions League (& one other final), and they finished second only last year with a record that would have been good enough to win the league in most seasons.
You really can't argue with that. It's just that he has a shelf life like most managers, and his biggest f*** up (not allowing Alonso to be with his wife after giving birth) has cost him dearly this season.
Austrian Gull
Well-known member
Any change to the "big four" is alright by me. It would please me immensely if Liverpool failed to qualify for the Champions League next year seeming as they haven't won their own domestic league for 20 years.
Benayoun off for Voronin? Smacks of a man losing the plot to me.
Benayoun off for Voronin? Smacks of a man losing the plot to me.
Definitely can argue with it. Had his best chance yet to win the Prem last season and messed it up. He has had 5 years and POTS of money to sort the squad with now. Is it stronger than 5 years ago? No.
Take away the Champions League (that Gerrard won, not Benitez, to be fair) and it really is a very poor record, terrible if you actually take into consideration the Newcastle-style expectations of 'Pool supporters.
Seems a poor man manager, does not trust his team to just play so is constantly tweaking, alienated one of their very best players from last season and sold him on.
Completely wasted 2 years of Babel's development. He is NOT a winger. He starts upfront for Holland, one of the best countries in the world. Also see Robbie Keane - treatment thereof.
Due to his misuse of Babel, and use of Kuyt, you've got to say that his 2nd and 3rd choice strikers are N'gog and El Zhar. Who are Villas? Carew and Heskey.
Liverpool minus Gerrard and Torres = Mid Table team. He's spent 5 years building a two man team.
Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 31,107
Care to elaborate why you disagree with me?
2 La Liga titles with Valencia
1 UEFA Cup win with Valencia
2 Champions League finals with Liverpool, 1 win
1 FA Cup final win with Liverpool
Plus Community Shield, Super Cup wins AND Liverpool's best top flight finish in 19 years last season.
There's only of managers in Europe with a better CV than that, AND the guy's not even 50.
All my reasons given above.
Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 31,107
One of the big "push" reasons why Alonso left was Benitez's public courting of Barry in the summer of 2008. Unfortunately for Benitez Man City were taken over by a rich Arab while his directors continued to squabble, and the rest is history.
A first choice team of Reina, Johnson, Aurelio, Carragher, Skrtel, Mascherano, Gerrard, Benayoun, Torres, Kuyt, Riera is still pretty handy, it's just the back-up 11 isn't all that. I expect he could get good money for the likes of Lucas, Babel, Ngog and with a bit of wheeling and dealing might come out of it OK.
The directors of Liverpool should at least wait to see what effect Aquilani has, and I think they'd be mad to sack Benitez.
A first choice team of Reina, Johnson, Aurelio, Carragher, Skrtel, Mascherano, Gerrard, Benayoun, Torres, Kuyt, Riera is still pretty handy, it's just the back-up 11 isn't all that. I expect he could get good money for the likes of Lucas, Babel, Ngog and with a bit of wheeling and dealing might come out of it OK.
The directors of Liverpool should at least wait to see what effect Aquilani has, and I think they'd be mad to sack Benitez.
beorhthelm
A. Virgo, Football Genius
- Jul 21, 2003
- 35,851
and why not? for the money spent, most of it has come from selling players apparently (cash value of some of the players is overstated too with players traded). In Benitez defence, he didnt want Keane and owners wouldnt fund Barry. As for critising as a manager, if he's so bad how come he has done so well with such a poor squad?
but it is funny and they do look now most likely not to make the top 4 this season.
Exactly. That's poor management.
For me it's as simple as this. He took over 5 years ago. 5 years and COUNTLESS millions of pounds later, is the team really any further on? No.
Luckily for Benitez (and those of us enjoying Liverpool's downfall), he has recently signed a 5 year extension. It could get very interesting finances wise should Liverpool:
A. Go out in the group stages of the Champs League
B. Fail to qualify for next year's Champs League
C. Both
They've thrown masses of money away in the last few years, for very little return.
He hasn't "done so well".
Easy 10
Brain dead MUG SHEEP
Well, he's made two European Cup Finals, winning one of them, and took them to within 2 points of winning the Prem last season (losing just 2 games all season, whilst doing the double over Man U and Chelsea). That ain't bad.
Unfortunately for Benitez and his more recent predecessors, he's overseeing Liverpool in an era where Chelsea and Man U (and still Arsenal to an extent) set almost unprecedented standards at the top. The trouble is, Liverpools history and tradition DEMANDS they keep up with them, and whilst they are a "rich" club by most standards, they are still not in the same financial stratosphere as Man U or Chelsea.
Liverpool fell away in the early 90's just as Man U and Arsenal hit an ascendancy when the game got rich, and now with Chelsea in the mix (and City perhaps coming up on the rails now), Liverpool have never managed to catch up. Benitez took them as close as they've been for nearly 20 years last season, but still fell just slightly short. I doubt anyone else could have done much better.
That said, a lot of his signings have been utter khazi, he's not perfect by any means quite clearly. But I think its harsh to label Benitez as a SHIT manager, when he clearly is far from it.
Simon Morgan
New member
N'gog we trust...