By Abhijith.M.N
The British media have always been on my bad books for their illogical thrashing of Rafael Benitez. It mounted to farcical proportions at the end of Northampton defeat.This incensed me into finding enough time to write my 2nd article on Liverpool FC.(I am grateful to them for that)
BBC Live Text quoted Jan Molby as saying
But for Liverpool to lose, it was absolutely unthinkable before. They were surely always going to make sure they would win this game, weren’t they? I think we are seeing the legacy of the Rafael Benitez reign right here,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/9021639.stm
Paul Tomkins articulately dissected that immature argument in his classic way
When Liverpool lost away at Championship Burnley in 2005, it wasn’t blamed on the squad Rafa inherited. It was because “he didn’t respect the FA Cup”. When Liverpool finished 5th that season, with just 58 points (only a little less than in the previous two seasons), it was because “he didn’t understand English football”, not because he inherited Diao, Cheyrou, Diouf, Le Tallec, Traore, Biscan, Medjani, et al, or was given Cissé as a replacement to peak-years Owen.
http://tomkinstimes.com/2010/09/so-whose-fault-is-it/
I would not go into whose fault it was as a very much more accomplished and able football critic analyzed it expertly. I am here to give my opinion on Roy Hodgson’s status in Liverpool history in which he has rightly earned a place for 5 consecutive European victories-which is unprecedented.
For me, Rafael Benitez is Liverpool’s greatest Manager ever in Europe. In an era where Liverpool were/are far behind big spending British and European clubs, he gave the team a European Cup, another Final and a Semi-Final. He also consistently placed Liverpool on top 5 of European seedings.
But records have now placed Hodgson in a place enviable to all managers. It is evident to every football enthusiast that Roy has got the easiest of 5 matches that a club of Liverpool’s stature can get in Europe. With a great help from Infostradasports http://www.infostradasports.com/ I was able to glean that Benitez’s first 5 matches were
Grazer AK, Grazer AK, AS Monaco, Olympiacos and Deportivo La Coruña (Aug-Oct 2004)
And http://myliverpoolfc.org/info.htm provides us the results list of 2004-05 season which says
10.08 AK Graz-Liverpool (qualifier – 1.l.) 0-2 Gerrard (23, 79)
24.08 Liverpool-AK Graz (qualifier – 2.l.) 0-1
15.09 Liverpool-Monaco 2-0 Cisse (22), Baros (84)
28.09 Olympiakos-Liverpool 1-0
19.10 Liverpool-Deportivo La Coruna 0-0
Clearly Rabotinicki, Trabzonspor and Steaua Bucuresti are NOT Monaco (Previous year European Finalists), Olympiacos and Deportivo.
It is interesting to see at the rest of the results in group stage of Liverpool in Benitez’s first season. 1-0 Away loss at Monaco followed by now legendary Olympiacos match at Anfield which ended 3-1.
In essence, Benitez conceded 4 goal in his 1st 9 matches in Europe as Liverpool manager. A defence with just 2 internationals Hyypia and Carragher (others-Josemi, Traore and Riise (not estd at that time)). Roy has in his back-line has 4 established interntationals of Carra, Skrtel, Agger and Johnson in addition to one of world’s top 5 goal keepers. I think that is ‘a Legacy’ that Gerrard Houllier did not leave for Benitez. Add to that Kuyt, Torres, Ngog,Pacheco et al-the ammo he has been so generously provided as a ‘worthless’ legacy by Benitez. It would be blasphemy to think anything but complete victories in group stages with.But football is a game of changing fortunes.The coming weeks of European fixtures will show definitely where Roy Hodgson stands in terms of Liverpool’s illustrious former managers.
I find it difficult to understand what leads to a biased criticism against Rafael Benitez even after months of leaving the British Isles
Is it the difficulty to accept for the British media at large that British managers are finding it a tedious task to maneuver a club through Europe? I honestly dread Roy Hodgson would prove me right. I hope he proves me wrong.
Cheers mate. Great article.
Here is a post which may put some light of why he’s hated in the British Isle.
“I’m purely speculating here, but I think it was one part ambition for his job from lesser managers, one part xenophobia, one part wanting to assert the ‘superiority’ of english footbal by seeing a Spanish champion fail, and most of all jealousy. He was a better man than them. They knew it, he knew it – Carra claimed in his book that Rafa didn’t rate many of the managers in the league.
You look at the background of quite a lot of the current managers in the league: ex-footballlers made good, from working class backgrounds in the UK. You wouldn’t associate academic achievement with any of them. Ferguson, Allardyce, Hughes, Bruce etc. They understand the same culture, a similar mentality. Benitez was different, both in terms of his academic qualities – you’re dealing with a guy who was good enough academically to make the grades for medicine at university for a year before giving it up for fooball (yes Socrates went one better), and is excellent I think in around five languages. Maybe more now. And that’s before going into his football qualities. There’ll be plenty of takes on this, but to me, of all the football teams I’ve watched, either live or recorded, which includes many great teams of their respective generations…Rafa is the best organiser of a football team I have ever seen.
I think one of the main issues that contributed to his alienation was he did not seriously attempt to put his peers at ease by at least pretending to give a fuck about them. You can never really totally put a guy at ease who you know you’re better than, and more problematically he does, but you can bridge the gap a bit. Benitez might not drink, but he could have probably attempted more to have a bit of a convo, social links, a dinner or two etc, with this peers.
I don’t like that either, but it’s usually bullshit like this that tends to put an idea in people’s heads of you being a good man or a cold soul. Irrespective of the truth.
I get a feeling he did not seriously attempt this. I remember reading in one of his bios that when he first joined one of his earlier clubs, he invited one of the prominent journalists for the local paper to dinner and gave him his take on things. A few days later, he felt the ire of and was questioned by the rest of the journalist pack who were unhappy with the other guy’s special treatment. Since then, it was stated, he made it a habit of staying away from such things.
I think he kept himself to himself a lot of the time, and many lesser men than him felt it was snobbery. In a job where the old boys club link is still strong, taking one of the top four jobs hungered after by every underqualified fuckwit there is, only consistent top level results would have kept them quiet.
Just a speculative vent.”
Before, writing this piece I must confess two things:
a) Lfc for me/every one is bigger than players/managers
b) I am a hard core Lfc fan
c) I am not a Rafa- hater
d) Every one is entitled to their own opinions.
I want to put forth a simple question to the writer. Which one you think is easy for a person to handle with? Inheriting an already UCL team (2004-Liverpool finished 4th) or a team which has finished 7th in the table??
Give, this RH some time. Rafa in his 1st season took a 4TH club to 5th spot, (and tell me honestly, in that particular 2005 European campaign, any body has ever thought with such a poor domestic season we will conquer Europe?? Even when we were 3-0 down?? Nope, it took some thing more. Wonder goal of Garcia, lines man interference against Chelsea, heroics of Gerrard & Dudek, match of their life time to get there. )and I would rate RH higher than RB, if he can can take a 7th club to the 4th place. That would be some achievement.
Haha mr.Mandal.
You’re oblivious to the fact that Chelsea’s spending power came into effect that summer Rafa came. Not to mention Tottenhams and City’s some years after. Furthermore it’s undoubtedly obvious to any football enthusiast that this years squad is far better that the one Rafa inherited. But in this league every other club strengthened every year. Before the yanks came we won a CL + FA cup and were in another final. It all went downhill from there.
Oh.. another idiot who says that the CL win was not up to Rafa. I sincerely think that there are Liverpool fans that wish we didn’t win that cup.
And if you calculate the achievements of the managers just by the league position from the year before to the year after you’re one hopeless guy.
Why don’t you mention the 2nd place finish of 09 ?