Happy 50th Birthday Rafa, you have not aged gracefully

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Rafa Benitez celebrates his 50th birthday today and most probably the birthday will be a low-key event.

Rafa in 2004, right after he joined Liverpol

The Spaniard joined Liverpool from Valencia in the summer of 2004 and after six years at the helm of Liverpool F.C. it is shocking to see how much he has aged during his time in Merseyside.

Rafa has put the welfare of the club before his very own health, he himself  joked with the Romanian journalists before the Unirea game about gaining weight due to stress. Unfortunately there are some (including our own fans) who have made nasty remarks about his weight and mocked his physical appearance, this behaviour is really disgraceful. Agree with him or not, let us all as Liverpool supporters respect Rafa. After all this is the man who did not attend his dad’s funeral to be with the team for the FIFA Club World Cup Final  in 2005.

I am a dying breed of supporters who still supports Benitez however he really needs to take care of himself. For the sake of himself and his family, Rafa needs to do something. If it does mean leaving Liverpool, then I am willing to accept it.

The memory of Gerard Houllier’s massive heart-attack  during the game against Leeds back in October 2001 still haunts me. Gerard like Rafa put Liverpool before his own health and it almost cost him his life.

A recent photo of Rafa

Rafa,  I do urge you today to please take care of your own health, do it for your little girls and for Maria.

I have never attacked Rafa on any of his decisions but putting Liverpool F.C. before his own health is a wrong move.

Feliz cumpleaños Rafa

Y.N.W.A.

-Antoine

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22 Comments

  2. YNWA!!!

    I am backing Rafa 100%
    I see no other decent manager in a mere distance, who is able to come in and give those “glory hunting” fans their trophies!!

    YNWA Rafa

  3. I’m shocked. Really! We don’t realise how much he has changed physically because we’re always “seeing him”. And to think of the people who just relax on their couches sipping their grape juices criticising him week in, week out.

    Shame on you. Rafa’s has probably done more for the Club in 5 years then you have in a lifetime.

  5. I will seriously be in bits if Rafa goes. What more can the fans want from a manager? One bad season out of 5 is not bad and when you think about it we have had 4 good seasons before this. Ya, maybe Rafa annoys me sometimes by beating around the bush in press conferences and not telling us what is happening but you have to respect him for keeping going even with the plastic Liverpool fans we see nowadays wanting him to go and the media trying to rip him to bits!! IN RAFA I TRUST!! And I don’t know any other manager in the world I would rather than him!

    And Antoine you are a legend for this website, i don’t know how I ever lived without it (as a Liverpool fan)!!

    YNWA JFT96

  6. His goatee adds 5 years.

    Rafa is a top manager and a top man.

    However I cant help but feel that he has added to his own stress by at times deploying negative tactics and being stubborn causing the team to lose far too many games.

    Half that squad don’t have the right to wear the red of Liverpool but these days its seems you dont have to be particularly talented to make the first 11 not to mind the 22.

  10. I support Rafa. There is something to be said for stability and continuity at a massive club.

    YNWA

  11. Happy 50th Birthday Rafa, god bless you and family.
    You have taken too much heat and pressure from many quarters which is not fair to you but admire your strength and passion you have for my beloved Liverpool FC then my so called Red fans.
    You will succeed with Liverpool FC with the Premier league title soon.Keep working on and believe in yourself.

    Good Bless to you and your family.

    Kris

  14. He’s also earning a fortune, that’s the real reason he’s worried, about losing his money. Big useless so’n so.

  16. I agree completely with Juan. Rafa is a top man and there is no doubt that he loves Liverpool genuinely – which is not the case for most of the other managers.

    To be blunt though, half the squad are rubbish and part of that is Benitez’s fault. Its true that he has rarely been able to buy the big players that he really wants, so it is not entirely his fault.

    I really wish he would see the light and stop playing Lucas and Insua though, they are crap and no one can say otherwise if they are completely honest.

    I don’t agree with the nonsense that we can not criticise our manager or players though, because everything can not always be perfect in this world. There is always room for improvement, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion of what is good about our club, and what is not so good.

    On current results things need to change, and possibly that includes the manager as well if (and its a big IF) a better replacement is found.

  17. what a load of rubbish – 50 year old Rafa looks older than 44 year old Rafa. Shocker!!!

    And do these little incidents prove that Rafa and Houllier love Liverpool more than Evans, Dalglish or even Souness?? Liverpool FC is bigger than any one man, including Rafa, and it is a privilege for him to be manager of the club NOT vice-versa!

  20. No, Antoine, you’re not part of a dying breed at all.

    Most fans acknowledge he’s not perfect, hell, even HE says he’s made mistakes but he’s still the best in the business!!!

    Anyone who says otherwise watches too much $ky or falls hook, line and sinker for what the papers say.

    Happy Birthday Rafa, mate.

    Justice for the 96
    YNWA

  21. See Antoine you are not a dyin breed…many still support rafa and wil always do…In Rafa We Trust

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