KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum Mascherano and Alonso

Nice points Coxy and very true. I doubt there is too much of a comback from Ged here. Even Emp has given Rafa a bit of support on this one. It's a breath of fresh air having some decent posts and arguments on hereDepth in the squad was one of the main reasons we didn't win the title last season and hence Rafa has stated on numerous occassions that he wants to build depth in the squad and that is what he intends on doing!

it's beyond my thinking that anyone at all can criticize and call for Rafa to be sacked. Complete madness! He's the only reason we are now serious title contenders and a major force in Europe!!! And all this has been done from scratch whilst fighting on all fronts.(Carra and Gerrard are now the only players Rafa inherited)

What happens after Benitez is sacked is the same thing that happend after Dalglish, Souness, Evans and Houllier left we keep whats good about the team and throw away whats bad then hopefuly a manager comes in with better tactics, brings in better players and then gets more out of the existing players that are already at the club, this is what Benitez done with Houlliers players when we won the champions league in 2005. Benitez has had one good season in the league out of five and thats simply not good enough, his overall record in the league is appaling having been out of contention well before xmas apart from last season and one domestic cup win against a very poor west ham team who we beat on penalties having been second best all day. If your asking me to name a manager who i think can come in and take us to another level then for me it has to be Guus Hiddink, what he achieved in just a few months for me eclipsed more than Benitez did last season and he is the man to take us forward,we need to break the bank for Hiddink next summer when his contract with the Russian team expires and he is free to return to club management. Arsene Wenger has spent less money than Benitez in the time Benitez has been at the club, Benitez has bought four players who cost more than Arsenal's transfer record in that time as well.

and arsene wenger took over a team that already had the best backline in english footie in place plus dennis bergkamp and built on those foundations

rafa came in and had to rebuild the shower of [oops] houllier left him

Rafa leaves and half the backroom staff leave with him aswell as most of our spanish contingent. And then how long are you going to give Hiddink to reestablish the side? If we change managers now we will have to wait another 4 or 5 years for Hiddink to get the players playing his brand of football and replace players we would lose if Rafa left. It would take Hiddink just as long to be close to the title again. Your kidding yourself if you think otherwise.

We're knocking on the door now so whats the point in changing all that just to get rid of Rafa?

Wenger is hardly a good example of challenging for silverware. They've had a longer trophy drought than us and they're not exactly challenging for the title either are they.

Totally crazy looking for him to be sacked. Correct me if i'm wrong but I think in the five years Rafa has been here, in two of those we had more points than in any other season we have had in history!!! Not too bad in my opinion and unlucky for us there were a couple of teams who bettered us on those years!! We have also had three seasons with the best defensive record and the season just gone we had the best attack (goals for) in the Prem. To say he he needs to go is ludicrous and the reason we have improved so much over the past 5 years is a credit to him. He has had limited funds to spend and bought players to fill gaps where he had to and then moved them on. Now he has built the foundations of an excellent first team and is trying to add to that to strengthen the squad and build for an exciting future. Why do you think so many of our players have extended their contracts???? Because they see trophys coming our way in the very near fututre and this team will be remembered as one of the best in Liverpool history!

ged I do not agree with you at all. You really think Hiddick could have done any better with the same funds and resources that Rafa has had at his disposal? Come on! Think of what Rafa inherited - players and board - LFC was on a slippery slope!
You write Benítez has had 1 successful season out of 5 but what you have to consider is that we have constantly improved season on season and we are now in a position to really contend for the title plus being one of the most feared clubs in Europe.
I really don't see what more anyone could have achieved in so little time. One thing I do know though, is that Rafa Benítez is the best thing to have happen at Liverpool since the days of Kenny Dalglish!

No ones perfect Emp - every manager has made mistakes.

we may be the 4th most supported club with an amazing history but we are nowhere when it comes to financial might of other clubs (mancs/chavs/arsenal/barça/madrid/milan/manshity/bayern etc etc), and I'm afraid that today that is of nº1 importance.

this is why rafa had to buy in mediocre players instead of stars, selling them on for a profit most of the time and then using that money to buy better and better players hence our current squad plus the fact we are slowly becoming a club that great players want to play for again.

Rafa has his footballing style, like it or not. He could get us playing like arsenal but I'd prefer to be challengers for the title than being back in 4th again watching our arses for the likes of villa and everton and wondering about the chances of Champions League games next season.

Negative? Top goal scoring team in the league with the best goal difference says not. OK we lost the title for drawing silly games, mainly at home - the only reason we didn't get that little bit extra is due to our squad. The mancs won cos their 2nd string has far more quality and more importantly, experience than ours, which all boils down to MONEY again or the lack of.

poor selections?

all boils down to money = squad strength, Emp.

also, are we to know who's fit to play and who should be rested for bigger up-coming matches? Rotation (that dreaded word which only applies to Rafa) is the key to all the top sides' successes over a season, and if Rafa had a second string of players like that of the mancs or the chavs I have no doubt we'd have won the league last season, no doubt whatsoever. (plus don't forget the injury problems we had with Torres etc - he and Gerrard didn't have a chance to show off their partnership at all!

don't start on zonal marking again Emp! please

it has it's critics but the stats prove it works for us and the players are happy with it - we have one of the meanest defences in the top flight with Reina just falling short of the golden glove. But it's always the same, every time we concede a goal from set pieces, zonal marking is blamed - as if man marking's 100% guaranteed to work every time and no other team concedes from set pieces, only LFC. It's just a load of pundit crap who are so long in the tooth they can't even remember what playing was like