It may only be a rumour but it says in the sun Benitez is ready to offer Dirk Kuyt a 3 year contract to keep Juventus from signing him. I think that says alot about him if he's willing to give a useless player a 3 year contract but leave a proven player out of what could be a huge game this season.
Coleman for Ireland
Liverpool had qualified for the CL under Houllier, so I dont think that Rafa has really taken them on that much. He has not taken them any closer to getting a league title than either Houllier or Evans for that matter. There is now a very grave danger that their season is about to implode and if that happens he will have to take a very large slice of personal responsibility.
His rant at Fergie was Keeganesque in its idiocy and has only served to galvanise UTD and raise serious question marks about his own judgment and sanity.
His absurd faith in the appalling Lucas has cost us results against both Wigan and Everton.
He has demoralised and discarded Robbie at a time when we desperately need forward cover.
He is on the verge of losing Agger due to his stubborn and sentimental refusal to rotate or rest (or drop) Carragher.
He has failed to give Babel the opportunity to develop and gain confidence when he is clearly an outstanding talent who is in a totally different league to the abysmally mediocre Kuyt.
He has assembled some of the most astoundingly inept fullbacks ever to grace the Premier League
What ever he once was, this man is not a genius.
How many international managers and Premiership manager do you now know more than.
In Trap we trust
Going on the comments by Jamie Redknapp and Gullit in the Sky studio it seems Robbie is on his way out of Liverpool.
12 Million + Aaron Lennon with Keane heading back to Spurs
That would be a great deal for both clubs now that Defoe is out for the next three weeks. Could be the difference between relegation and staying up for Spurs.
I'm as massive Liverpool fan so it breaks my heart to see this move not working out for Robbie. How often does the captain of your country play for your club team? Ah well. I hope he gets back to Spurs tomorrow and plays the rest of the season. Far too much talent to waste the next twenty PL/CL games on the bench or out of the squad altogether.
Benitez clearly isn't playing with a full deck and should be let go immediately. I bet Wenger could be convinced to take the job!
Maybe you could start by pointing out what part of his post you disagree with at least.
I hate this attitude that people have, and one that was prevalent on this site when Trappatoni took charge of the national team, that managers that have had success in the game are automatically right and are infallible. I can see no harm in people forming opinions based on the facts/merits of managers decisions and stating whether they think they are right or wrong rather than people being in favour of certain decisions for no other reason other than he's won this and that so he must be right.
Sky just showed Robbie with street clothes on heading into the Liverpool dressing room (to say goodbye?). With Richard 'Sky' himself suggesting the next time Robbie is at Liverpool he will be entering the visitors dressing room. It is better for Ireland that Keane gets out now and gets back to Spurs (or City who I believe are also involved). He needs to be playing 90 mins. Happy and scoring.
Bellamy was hardly a failure at Liverpool. What makes you say that Ciaran?
Hardly. When I think of Bellamy in a Liverpool shirt I think of his great performances in the knock out stages of the Champions League, especially right after the golf club incident. Great player. 9 goals in 41 games is nothing to sneeze at - how many goals did Kevin Doyle have for Reading last season? Do you consider him a failure there?
Ciaran, that's a very selective memory you have. Finnan was already a well-established and highly-regarded full-back before Rafa arrived. If anything Rafa never rated Finnan and immediately signed a full-back to replace him. He grudgingly brought Finnan back into the team pretty quickly but seemed to try and sign a replacement every season. If anything Finnan was unsettled by Rafa when he was already a class-act at right-back.
Riise was always a full-back, occasionally picked on the wing but Rafa certainly had nothing to do with this. Riise was another of those players who made more of an impact at Liverpool before Rafa arrived.
For Rafa's first two seasons Gerrard was clearly unhappy. He was persistently selected at right-midfield instead of in the centre. Rafa kept telling the press how no one player was more important than others. He was subbed in a lot of important games (and clearly showed his dis-satisfaction). He very nearly signed for Chelsea and needed his family to persuade him to stay. It is only in the last two years that Rafa seems to have realised how good Gerrard is and started to use him in his best position. He is still prone to crazy substitutions though (last Wednesday).
There's no doubt that Rafa has some really good tactical abilities (and got them through to a Champions League playing some of the most stifling and negative football Liverpool have ever played). However, his man management has been generally poor. He has spent an awful lot of money on players who made no impact and quickly moved on.
Can't agree with you on this one.
Last edited by EastTerracer; 01/02/2009 at 3:33 PM.
"There's man all over for you, blaming on his boots the fault of his feet" - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
I will be absolutely gutted if Keane leaves before the summer at the earliest.. Doubly so if he goes back to Spurs... (Who I would have tought don't need him with Bent, Defoe and Pavlyechenko at the club... Even Modric)
To buckle under the adversity is wrong for the captian of Ireland. It's too soon to pack it in. His place in the Irish team is secure. There's no major championship this summer so he's not risking anything by staying to battle it out...
Benitez is clearly a sap with his carry on and it would more than get you down but you have to put it up to him and power through it.... Alonso handled his situation alot better.
The suggestions coming from the press during the week were that Robbie wanted to stay on and fight for his place. It seems likely that Benitez has not given him that option.
Way back when, I thought Robbie should have stayed at Inter Milan when there was a change of management (ironically Tardelli didn't fancy him when Lippi had signed him). This time around though I think Robbie might be making the right move.
"There's man all over for you, blaming on his boots the fault of his feet" - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
yeah I do not think it is a case of Robbie Keane giving up. I think its a case of him being the victim of politics at Liverpool. Benitez obviously does not rate him for the system he wants.
In Trap we trust
Sbraigia has just said Sunderland are in talks with Spurs for Bent. So it looks like Bent to Sunderland for 8 mil. Spurs give back the 8 mil downpayment they received from Liverpool for Keane. And Keane goes back to Spurs.
Bookmarks