I received this email from Mohammed Sami Faizullah, it is excellent. YNWA Mohammed.
I've been thinking about it long and hard. This question has been stuck in my
head- Am i pro-rafa or anti-rafa?
I think ive got the answer, im not pro or anti rafa, im Pro-Liverpool. I care
in the best interest of liverpool. And looking back on the season so far. We
have been poor, very poor.
Does Rafa deserve to evade blame? No he doesnt. He has made mistakes, with
tactics, substitutions, team selection, transfers blah blah blah. He is the
manager, and ultimately the blame comes on him.
Thats the normal working of the world.
But should we continue with the normal working of the world and sack Rafa? No,
we shouldnt, cause we are not normal, we are the most trophy-rich club in
England. Who cares if we are not on top of the league, or we dont have the
finances of Chelsea and Mancity etc. We still love this club. And we want this
club to be where it once was.And that will come with consistency, and
stability. We need to think long-term, not short-term.
Do we really want to become like Chelsea, and change our manager as frequently
as them?! And Have absolutely no stability? Chelsea spend maximum number amount
on wages, demand 'instant sucess' (thats why Rafa has seen 5 different chelsea
managers himself.) and yet they havent won the league in the past 3 season, nor
have they won the UCL.
Do we want to change with the modern times? Yes, we are, new stadium, naming
rights, more foreigners, yes we are changing with the times, but we can proudly
say that we dont forget our age-old traditions. We can very much be proud of
that fact. We can be proud of the fact that Rafa is still incharge of the club
despite what has gone on this season. We can be proud he hasnt been sacked. We
can be proud that the club actually cares about its staff. Look at Chelsea,
they sacked Scolari cause he was coming 2nd in the league, drew 0-0 at home (i
repeat, drew, not lost), very much in the UCL, very much in the FA Cup. Look at
mancity, they sacked Eriksson despite the fact that they did a double over
their rivals and broke their own record of points. Sacked Hughes despite
loosing only 2 matches all season. I repeat- TWO matches!!
Its not the perfect example, but i think we should take a lesson from the books
of manu. We all hate manu, yes we do. But as much as i hate Ferguson, i admire
the fact that he has been in charge for over 20 years. Purslow has said it
before and has reinterated it again- liverpool are looking for long-term. As
Gillett said before- its just a small blip. We want long-term stability which
will amount to success.
This has been a poor season, and thats a fact. Rafa deserves some blame- fact.
Owners deserve blame- fact. PLayers deserve blame- fact. But its also a fact
that refs, bad luck, injuries etc deserve blame.
Yes Rafa has made some wrong decisions. But could he help some of the
astonishing decisions refs have made against us? Could he have moved the beach
ball away? Can he help the injuries (having said that, his fitness team really
deserve a thrashing.).
There was a thread on this as well- did we get lucky last season? Was last
season a fluke? I would hate to think so.
It remains a fact that if we had our full-team available for all our matches,
we would not be where we are. And i dont just mean Gerrard and Torres. I mean
the Benayouns, Aggers, Johnsons, Aurelios, Aquilanis, and after the spurs game
i realised how much we missed and how much i have under-rated Reira. Lucas has
picked up his game, but with the injuries to his team-mates, credits havent
come his way. I wanted Degen gone long back. Seeing his performance recently, i
realise i might have regretted it.
If our current squad had been fully fit throughout the season, we could have
continued our momentum from last season. I sit down time and again, thinking
and watching videos from last season and wonder where it all went wrong. I feel
like crying seeing what one year has done. But whos to say that we cant be back
next season? We surely can!
You can always blame rafa for not making enough transfers, but take a moment to
think about it. Those fans who boo during the matches. Think about it. Next
season, when we are back in the title race (which im sure we will), remember
the main FACT which each and everyone can be proud of, think of the whole
season, think of the spurs game. And tell all those manu, chelsea, arsenal
fans, that we supported our manager in the hardest of times. We were 8th, but
we supported him, we got KO of the UCl, but we supported him. Remember the
words of YNWA: "At the end of the storm, is a golden sky". Be proud of the fact
that we went the Liverpool Way and supported our manager. And when we finally
see Rafa lifting the BPL trophy, we can be proud to say that we ALWAYS
supported him. Thinking of that picture makes me smile. I am not saying that
criticising Rafa makes you less of Liverpool fans, hell no! We can always
discuss that. But until he is our manager, support
him!
With a few additions next season, we can be genuine contenders. Our current
team is one of the strongest in the Premier League. On their day they can beat
anyone. And that will happen this season, when we destroy teams
left-right-centre, we will look back and cry at the fact that we didnt have the
whole team available for the whole season. But we all will smile at the
prospects of next season. I can assure you that!
"Form is temporary, Class is permenant". I realise the true meaning of that
statement. Its almost as if though i have got enlightenment. I feel so much
better to know that im supporting Rafa. I can look back from a few seasons from
now and proudly say "i supported the manager through thick and thin".
Or i could look back and say "i shamefully called for his sacking when he
actually was the right man".
I have so much more to say right now, the thoughts are just boiling over one
another in my head. But my hands are throbing with pain
Sorry if this was too long, but please read about what i have said, and think
about it. And when the pain is gone, i will share more of my thoughts.
Im not pro or anti rafa, im pro-Liverpool.
Keep the faith.
YNWA .