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)