Barrel of Fun
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Josemi - £2m
Morientes - £6.3m
Carson - £0.75m
Gonzalez - £4.5m
Agger - £5.8m
Paletta - £2m
Pennant - £6.7m
Babel - £11.5m
Dossena - £7m
Cavalieri - £3.5m
Keane - £20.3m
Aquilani - £20m
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Benitez sacked from Inter (apparently)
- Thread starter Rookie
- Start date
Josemi - £2m
Morientes - £6.3m
Carson - £0.75m
Gonzalez - £4.5m
Agger - £5.8m
Paletta - £2m
Pennant - £6.7m
Babel - £11.5m
Dossena - £7m
Cavalieri - £3.5m
Keane - £20.3m
Aquilani - £20m
SirElliotBennett
New member
Defently
NET spend of £8 million a year
Lucas, Arbeloa, Gonzalez, and Pennant were/are all good players, Aquilani is a class player just too injury prone. And with limited funds these were the sorts of players Rafa HAD to buy anyway.
Silent Bob
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
- Dec 6, 2004
- 22,172
Mainly because he spent so much time buying dross and shipping it out a year later to replacing it with more dross.
A relatively low net spend doesn't mean you've dealt well, last summer they sold Alonso and someone else, but spent £18m on Johnson and £20m+ on Aquilani. This was after Benitez had made his position more powerful and gotten total control over transfers.
It's beyond me why some Liverpool fans still defend Benitez, he is a wanker and a pretty ordinary manager.
Agger is a top quality player, £5.8m was great business, Pennant was a good signing at the time and done a good job, Keane was not his signing and Aquilani is a proven class player just couldn't hack England, and as stated above because of funds available these were the sorts of players he HAD to buy, and still managed to win 4 trophies, runners up in 3 finals, get the 2nd highest ever points tally in the premier league, and reach 2 other European semi-finals.
And if we are talking his reign at Liverpool, he was replaced by Roy who isn't fit to polish Rafa's shoes.
Which Liverpool clearly couldn't afford..
Selling Luis Garcia, even if it was part of the Torres deal, was a massive mistake, as was selling Alonso, which I guess was much to do with Benitez' tactless hunting of Gareth Barry.
How Benitez has managed to leave that club in ruins, yet Liverpool fans still stick up for him is beyond me. In terms of spending a hideous amount that the club can't afford to get a bit of glory, Liverpool are no better than Portsmouth.
More like because he was only given little money to spend, so had to gamble on dross, and when they didn't cut it, he had to gamble again on the same calibre of player.
He is a wanker? A man who fought tooth and nail to defend the club he managed, and help massively in outing those pathetic owners. And an ordinary manager? If you honestly believe that, then I rank you as an idiot.
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Barrel of Fun
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I bet that doesn't include large amounts spent on agents and signing on fees.
Haha wow, they reason the money spent became a problem was because the owners way of financing the club and heaping millions of pounds of debt and interest payments onto the club. Benitez defended Liverpool to the day he was so incorrectly fired (to then bring in someone who really is nothing more, and probably less, than mediocre). For the money he had on offer and the transfer system he had to work with he showed he is a world class manager.
SirElliotBennett
New member
How much was Keane sold for, back to Spurs?
He only made 19 apps!
He only made 19 apps!
At the end of the day he is one of the best managers in the world, and his record backs that up, without showing the dire circumstance he has worked under.
They lost £6 million, Parry bought him (incorrectly) and Rafa sold him (correctly).
Benitez has shown some signs that he is in fact a world class manager, but on occasion, it seemed as though he had actually gone mental.
Giving Carson his debut against Juve in the CL Quarter finals- leading to that horrific mistake?! Playing Kewell in the 2005 final when he wasn't even fit then watching him limp off after 10 minutes? Playing Le Tallec in any competitive game... I could go on.
Also, Liverpool have one of the finest youth academy's in the world- if finances were that much of an issue, why not give Kelly, Spearing, Eccleston etc a chance? Benitez completely failed to utilise this, bringing through a grand total of f*** all through the academy in his time- just poaching youngsters from Spanish and Argentinian sides.
I agree that Hodgson is not the man for the job though. He simply is not a top four manager. Could work wonders at a lower mid-table side, but not a top four club.
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Wages and signing on fees weren't the responsibility of Benitez.
Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 31,263
Basically, Rafa's literally been "Baled" out. They've not been the same since the Welshman's repeat raping of Maicon.
And Keane was not Rafa's signing, so it's not fair to level that one at him.
It just goes to show how hard it is to follow a managerial legend. There was only one way Inter were going to go after Mourinho left.
And Keane was not Rafa's signing, so it's not fair to level that one at him.
It just goes to show how hard it is to follow a managerial legend. There was only one way Inter were going to go after Mourinho left.
Silent Bob
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
- Dec 6, 2004
- 22,172
The truth is he didn't have little money to spend though, isn't it, he spent loads.
If that was his transfer policy then all it does is highlight his inadequacy. After winning the Champions League he had all the good will in the world, he had a long contract and money to spend. This re-writing of history is incorrect, Benitez is simply not a great judge of a player. If this statement needed further proof, simply look at the fact that a year before he went to Real Madrid, Benitez was trying to force Xabi Alonso out of Liverpool so that he could sign Gareth Barry.
The naiviety of Liverpool fans who think Benitez was some kind of hero is almost sweet. The only thing he ever fought tooth and nail for was his own advancement. This couldn't be better demonstrated than by his cheesy self serving statement upon leaving Liverpool having finally agreed his massive pay off.
I agree Rafa has made some very strange decisions, but I fail to see how anyone can deny he is overall a world class manager. And to be fair Liverpool beat Juve and won't the final (not that anyone needs reminding anymore
). Rafa actually contributed largely to Liverpool have one of the best youth academy's, although he didn't bring any of the players into the first team regularly or at all, his methods and back room staff help improve and bring in the young talent.Being manager of Brighton in 1997 is dire circumstances, please tell me you are joking! He spent SO much money at Liverpool on utter shit/good players that HE played out of position or pissed off by not talking to etc. Completely down to him.
And don't give any ballbags about selling to buy, we looked into this ages ago, only Chelsea and Man City have spent more than Liverpool in the last 5 years, (Man City's being almost all in the last 2 years) taking sales into account. Thus he has massively underperformed.