So as these results play out throughout this torrid season, we – the fans, want answers.
WHY are we doing so badly?
WHY when we had the league in our grasp last season have we failed so badly?
The team hasnt changed apart from Alonso
It must be Rafa’s fault.
Well let’s take a look past what Sky and tabloid “news”papers feed us and think for ourselves a second about what could be the cause for this slump.
We havent lost one player for a start since the end of last season – we’ve lost 7:
Alonso, Arbeloa, Keane, Dossena, Voronin, Pennant and Hyypia.
Between them they made 169 appearances last season scoring 17 goals.
Their sales netted us £57.8m.
Now they may not all be world beaters but they all chipped in when required and they were all extra bodies to rotate.
Have a think what an extra 17 goals could do to our current points tally in the league or Champions League status?
We’ve replaced those 7 this season with 4:
Johnson, Aquilani, Kyrgiakos and Rodriguez.
Between them they’ve made 44 starts this season, scoring 4 goals.
The latter 2 cost us £1.5m TOGETHER, the first 2 can be argued about but about £33m MAX in total (minus money owed for Crouch) and Aquilani on the drip.
Total £34.5m
A POSITIVE TRANSFER BALANCE of £23.3m (that means Benitez has actually MADE the club TWENTY THREE AND A HALF MILLION POUNDS) and somehow to replace those who have left we have to find an extra 125 appearances and 13 goals to make up from elsewhere in the existing squad.
A right back was needed to replace Arbeloa and we got an England International right back for £13m due to the monies owed to us for Crouch.
That’s pretty much a bargain, and GOOD business.
Aquilani was of course, a gamble, which has not yet paid off.
Injuries dont help matters either because the other players (who arent good enough) in a smaller squad have to work even harder, and if THEY get injured, then we’re really scraping the barrel.
Having a smaller squad could be thought of as playing every game with 10 men.
Not literally but over the course of the season, more players having to play more games will take its toll.
The other people filling in for the missing bodies and lack of top class players have been Lucas, Insua and Ngog who although may not be good enough have worked tirelessly.
Ngog and Insua started 16 games between them last season and didnt even make the top 18 appearing players.
This season already they’ve had to make 75 appearances between them and have worked damn hard, even though they’re already condemned to be not good enough.
I’m not saying they are or aren’t good enough.
I’m arguing that Rafa’s hand has been forced into playing them.
Have they been brought in too soon?
Do people think Rafa thinks they are his first choice replacements?
Or forced to bring them in too soon cos there’s no-one else?
It must be so demoralising to have the league in your hands last season and with a little extra push this season to go all the way. Look at the results in the top 4 this season – some shockers.
It was ours for the taking, yet it was taken away.
Gerrard scored 24 goals last season – this season? 8.
Some players arent good enough but are trying their hardest to do their job, some players ARE good enough but might have just given up.
I know one man who hasnt given up though.
The same man who didnt give up on Liverpool Football Club in Tokyo when his own father back home in Spain had just died.
He stayed with US when his father had just died.
Some people wont even give him the time of day only 10 months after getting us within a whisker of the league.
You may say its he who should instill morale into the team and should take the blame for the bad times.
If he is responsible for bad morale then it goes hand in hand that it is he who should take the credit for the good morale.
Look at the morale last season and the season before.
Look at the morale when winning European Cups, FA Cups, going to European Finals, getting SO CLOSE to winning the league.
The same people blaming him for this seasons low morale, conveniently ignore and wont credit him for the morale he’s given the team, the fans and the city over the last 5 years.
When we used to sing his name over and over and over again in the match, in pubs, buses, trains and planes.
We were the envy of the footballing world for having him and what he’d brought back to Liverpool.
Yet people now want him gone.
The man would do anything for this club and for us and he’s stuck with us through having his job offered away from under his feet, from being forced to sell players he needed.
You may question his decisions, you may question his man management, you may be baffled as to what is unfolding right before our eyes.
But dont question his devotion to this club, the fans and the people of the city.
The exact same people who have their daggers readily poised behind the man’s back.
He’s fighting our corner.
He’s on our side.
He wants them out as much as we do and god knows they could be on their way out by the end of the year.
It baffles me how some people can be so fickle, short sighted and have such short memories to conveniently pin the lion’s share of the blame on Rafa.
All for a few months of poor performances, with the depleted squad being the most obvious cause, and who do you think is to blame for that?
Do you really think he wants this?
Do you really think he’s the major factor behind all of this?
Do you really think he’s that apathetic about us?
He could have walked long ago but he gave it time.
Time he has spent under constant pressure, scrutiny, mocking, animosity.
He gave us his time.
We cant even give him a season.
YANKS OUT NOW
http://www.yanksout.com
Source:
http://www.lfcreds.com/reds/index.php?topic=4416.msg603553#msg603553
(Murph-Forum Ronny Rosenthal)
Cool blog!
Very well done!! My sentiment exactly.
IRWT
I totally agree with all the above! IN RAFA I TRUST…YANKS OUT!
Rafa has completely dismantled the team and replaced them with nobodies, who are you kidding? If he stays one second longer he will wreak more permanent damage to the team. It’s a disgrace.
“IS RAFA TO BLAME FOR ALL THIS?”
In a word. YES.
In more words:
– Other teams have suffered injuries and suspensions too and they are still competing on all fronts.
– Wenger spent way waaaaay less than Rafa during the Summer and his team is now joint top of the Premier League (leaving aside the fact that his own team has also suffered significant injuries and absences – Gallas, Van Persie,)
– Rafa was the one that alienated Alonso when his first child was born and he merely wanted to be there for the birth and with the birth mother, leading to the eventual exit of Alonso and the big gaping massive hole in midfield that we are now suffering. Not to mention brazenly going after Gareth Barry and using Alonso as bait for Juventus to fund the deal.
– Rafa bought Aquilani knowing full well that he wouldn’t be available to the team through injuries for at least a good third of the Season, and what really eventually turned out to be more than half the Season.
– Rafa makes terrible team selections (defensive-minded personnel and formations at relegation threatened teams that we should be attacking) and even worse substitutions, and far too late when the game turns out for the worse
Outside the funding aspect (which by your own admission Rafa has had over GBP 30Million to spend this past summer) the owners have absolutely nothing to do with any of the above circumstances, which we can all agree are the large reasons why Liverpool currently sit at 6/7th position with under ten games to go.
Yes, Virginia, it really is all Rafa’s fault.
Even Lawrensen and Hansen agree with this and that the owners are not exclusively or even largely to blame, and if former Liverpool players and Legends can’t say it like it really is, then who can?
The problem is not the signings it’s the managers style of play he is simply too negative. There are enough quality players in the squad to be in the top 3,no danger. In fact the spine of the team is as good as any in the league if not better. If we were more attacking minded and worried less about the opposition then we’d be in a much better position but with Rafa it just isn’t going to happen,sad but true.
The Injured Aquilani buy as Alonso’s replacement led to a sequence of events that has seen Lucas feature in a wrong position and consequently naive dispalys..
Yes, if not for the full disaster, Rafa has certainly been responsible for a good part of it..but given his last year’s run, he could be given a little more time..
Trust Rafa? It’s hard when you see Lucas playing more matches than anyone else in the team.
Leave Rafa Alone. He’s done so much with so little. A true LFC supporter would never even thought of replacing, but we hold firm in our faith and our strength is being that 13th man on the pitch. Why, weren’t you there in Istanbul?
Give that man some breathing space. Do you want us to turn into a laughing stock in the European scene who sacks managers for fun? Alex Ferguson didn’t win back to back titles within his first few years anyway.
Anyone who’s not committed to this club, don’t deserve to wear its badge on their chest. Go support Manchester City if instant success is your cup of tea.
And someone mentioned Wenger, or did he forget the criticism he has had to endure for YEARS already?
Leave Rafa Alone. Theres really noone better than him at this current situation, at this given time. Noone. Definitely not you.
OMGEE fremen! I agree with everything you say! I always make the same points and it’s kinda annoy when you see your team being beaten up by Rafa that way! and it’s even more annoying to watch blind sheep fans supporting him!
I don’t agree the way he treated alonso, he’s no ragdoll..but rafa basically used him like one! at the end Alonso did the right thing! cos we all get tired… I hate how rafa wanted to sell him the year before, and then when Alonso wanted to go, rafa didn’t kinda approve! =_=’
plus, Aquilani.. wtf… he’s a LIVING injury! why did he spend so much money if he’s always injured? and even when he plays..he plays for 20 mins…good lord! that’s a waste of money! who would buy a player for £20M and bench him like always?
He makes terrible decisions too, and even worse purchases. to be honest I wouldn’t give rafa money..knowing how he spends it!
another good point…the team is pretty good itself! they don’t actually need new players… I’m so shocked that torres wants to bring in 5 star players! like..first of all..how are they gonna pay them? plus..what’s the point? and third… it’s the way rafa sets up the team that doesn’t work! money doesn’t give you the TITLES!
Surely people hate H&G but let me say that they can’t be blamed for what happened this year at all!
otherwise, I’d bitchslap Rafa and the players for playing so poorly. and then kick out rafa!
Thanks for kicking liverpool out all competitions =______=’