rgk_lfc

Not with that short-armed charva in goal they won't. Everyone on the pitch, in the stadium, watching the game knew that there was only one spot the ball was going if it was to be a goal. It was a brilliant brilliant strike from the kid but the shot was not traveling at 300 mph. It was about curl and placement and there was a reasonable amount of time for the goalkeeper to react. If he had positioned himself decently, he could have tipped it over the bar. No way to know but I am betting most PL keepers would have deflected that shot. I think he is great at reaction saves but not that great at positioning and some of the more important fundamentals of goalkeeping. Add to this mix his mouth: 'I won't blunder like Alisson': Jordan Pickford Last season all of a sudden, with no provocation whatsoever, he starts mouthing off about Allisson to the press. No one knows why.

I give Klopp so much credit for allowing them to be who they are and indulge their attacking talent. Under Pardew TAA would be on the bench behind someone like Dummett, because he is a "proper defender". TAA is a special talent offensively. The way Klopp sets up his team also helps him significantly. He is the perfect fullback for Klopp and Klopp is the perfect manager for him. I don't think any other team loads up the opposition penalty box and half as we do in the premier league. Klopp tactics provide him with targets and he manages to land them perfectly with both feet. He is defensively average and he is helped by VVD plus another (Matip, Lovren or Gomez) and a hard-working central midfield which can help cover some of the defensive issues. But offensively, he might end up being one of the greatest ever in the premier league. His assist statistics are staggering. In the last season and a half, he has had as many assists in the premier league as Marc Overmars in his career in England.

I have watched three of your games - against us, Spurs, and City. SB maybe tactically limited but he has been able to coax a defensive performance when needed. You also have goal scoring threats in midfield and defense. You should be safe by the end of February, if not earlier.

P17, W16, D1, L0, 49 points from 51? I get what HTT is saying. This season we are not a traditional Klopp gegenpressing blowing teams out of the water team. We have become a weird hybrid of Klopp and Mourinho style. I mean we do play attractive football. But this version of LFC is more like, do enough to win each game. The CL victory has changed the mentality of this team. We have become more focused on winning stuff, play ugly and cynical if needed, than playing with style. Seems like the team is far more focused as well. Also saving legs for a run in as well, no? Don’t want to lose gas when you need to be sharp across so many competitions. That definitely could be one more aspect of the game plan.

P17, W16, D1, L0, 49 points from 51? I get what HTT is saying. This season we are not a traditional Klopp gegenpressing blowing teams out of the water team. We have become a weird hybrid of Klopp and Mourinho style. I mean we do play attractive football. But this version of LFC is more like, do enough to win each game. The CL victory has changed the mentality of this team. We have become more focused on winning stuff, play ugly and cynical if needed, than playing with style.

While Kevin Keegan, SBR, and Benitez might have different approaches to football, all of them had clear ideas on their approaches to the game and how to execute them. Anyways, forget their footballing nouse which is prodigious. Another couple of things which stands out when you watch the interviews of these three managers is humility and honesty. They never take the fans for fools. None of this front foot football bs. Whether you are at LFC, Newcastle, or Valencia, the fans belong to a tribe and the manager often is viewed as the leader of the tribe. One of the bare minimum we expect out of the manager is that he be a good person, a man of integrity. And Rafa's, Keegan's, and SBR's integrity oozes out in every interview they provide. Kevin Keegan left us to join Hamburg but he was so honest about the entire transfer and his reasons that he is still considered a legend at LFC. No other great player who left us is afforded this level of respect. Rafa and Keegan had the integrity to walk out of something they loved doing (manager of Newcastle) when they felt things werent being done the right way. Rafa at LFC had the integrity to go after the owners. Both of them could have remained silent and coasted their way through life but they didnt. Fans can sense it when they have a manager who has integrity and respond to it. I am surprised as to why the media never cottoned on to this aspect when they keep on complaining about the support Rafa received compared to Hodgson and Bruce.

One of the best pure coaches in the premier league in the last 10 years. He did get a decent group of players to work with but it was impressive how he managed to improve each and every one of them and consistently over deliver until this season. There is an element of Klopp at Dortmund and Rafa at LFC with him. It is very difficult to constantly punch over your weight day in day out and get your players to play at 150% again and again and again. At some point you will slip up. The next club he joins is getting a world class manager.

In terms of trophies, he will never get close to Pep. Just because of the type of job he takes over. And yes, Klopp has spent money, but a lot of his purchases both at Liverpool and Dortmund were raised from sales and Champions league revenue. Without the Coutinho sale, we were never going to spend on Vand Dijk and Alisson. Lot of similarities between Klopp and Keegan. One huge advantage Klopp had over Keegan was the footballing setup (scouting, data analytics, sports science, physio) at Dortmund and Liverpool.

He has been very good in the Klopp system. I am guessing the reason for the Ballon d'Or nomination is the two goals against Barcelona in the semi finals. He has been a very good signing for us but not Ballon d'Or good.

I highly doubt the fact that we could not afford the 16 million. We had just won the Champions League, was in our healthiest financial position in ages. Lot of rumors from good sources at that time that Rafa did not fancy him at LFC. He was a great player for us. But at the same time, Houllier set up our attack to go through him. Gerrard, Murphy, all were pretty much instructed to seek him out through quick first time balls and then he could use his pace and finishing. Houllier sold Fowler, had Heskey to do the hard work upfront. We were Michael Owen FC for 3-5 years. But I think the game evolved past his type of striker during that period. If you are to run your entire attack through one player, that player better have Shearer, Henry levels of productivity. As impressive as Owen was, even at his best season he was like 60 % of Shearer and Henry. And elite managers like Rafa, Capello who aspired to compete at the latter stages of Champions league, preferred not to run their attack through one player whose productivity did not quite warrant it. And Owen either did not want to or lacked the ability to evolve his game to the new requirements. I know this is going to sound like sour grapes but in a weird way, as good as he was for us, over-reliance on him hurt us in the 2003-2005 period.

Even if Rafa did watch the cricket, I doubt he would be talking about it during an interview about the game we've just played. It might seem petty, but I just thought it made Bruce look small time. Rafa doesnt watch cricket

He is allegedly a forward, that's how they are judged, do they score or assist. He is like a salesman who does all the customer care but never sells. He is a luxury we can't afford He is an attacking pest in the Suarez, Firminho, Kuyt, Bellamy mold. I have been very impressed with him in the three games of yours I have seen. He definitely needs to score and assist but you cant value his contribution by that alone. If he is made available for 25-30 million in the winter transfer window, I am betting a number of the top 6-10 clubs will bid. I can see LFC being definitely interested. He is a perfect Klopp player.

I am surprised at their attitude towards Coutinho. At the time of the transfer, we knew he was never going to be worth 110-140 million but he is still a fine footballer. Given that Valverde is not considered a great tactician or anything, I thought they would at least try Coutinho under a different manager before pushing Coutinho out of the club. Barça already had a relatively high wage bill so I would assume to bring players in like they have done this summer they simply can’t afford to keep everyone they already had plus the others they’d ditch are all older so harder to move. True. I know the Neymar skewed the market. But you just don't do the second or third most expensive transfer of all time without a clear plan on how to use the player. Not that I am complaining, that Coutinho money helped us assemble the final pieces for our champions league win.

I am surprised at their attitude towards Coutinho. At the time of the transfer, we knew he was never going to be worth 110-140 million but he is still a fine footballer. Given that Valverde is not considered a great tactician or anything, I thought they would at least try Coutinho under a different manager before pushing Coutinho out of the club.

I posted this in the Rafa thread but might be more suitable here: https://twitter.com/MidKnightGaz/status/1160689967137525763

https://twitter.com/MidKnightGaz/status/1160689967137525763

Rafa's training is incredibly intense and to a certain extent repetitive and boring. He will make players repeat drills, positions till they are 100% perfect. It is a lot of information for folks to process. And he is incredibly cold and brutal apparently during training. His attitude was "you train 4 hours per day for 4 days, get paid millions of dollars, why are you complaining, this is nothing compared to what the rest of society do, if you cant take this get out of here". It takes players of a certain mentality to appreciate Rafa - Torres, Reina, Baraja, Mascherano, Garcia. I think there is a big cultural mentality difference in how players from some of these countries approach training - they are ok with it being hard, repetitive, and boring. At LFC too, when Rafa left, there was a lot of statements from players like Gerrard, Carra on how training was "more fun" now. Even Bellamy, who played for LFC under Rafa and King Kenny said how training was more fun under King Kenny. However, at the end of their career, almost all of them acknowledged that Rafa was the best manager they trained under. I think pretty much all of them realized it once we started dropping down the table. So I don't think the NUFC players are being disingenuous or anything. I think they are genuinely enjoying freedom. They don't have a person walking up to them shouting at corners, when the opposition is making 32 degree runs in front of you using zonal marking, you should stand 26 inches from the goal line at 48 degrees. You were at 24 inches and standing at 41 degrees. Let us repeat this 37 more times till you get it right. Well it worked - end of last season our form was excellent. Tactically the players knew what they had to do. Yes, I can imagine many players resent the seemingly endless grind of repitition but they also have to have been aware of how often it paid off in the back end of last season. That said I imagine they could get pretty disillusioned at the beginning of the season. Its only in hindsight they will look back and realise. I still feel that we will see a gradual deterioration this season as defensive duties get neglected in the middle of the pitch, the doubling up, the being in the right place. With Bruce having no answers. Two months after Ranieri replaced Rafa at Valencia, some of the senior players met Ranieri and complained that the training was a bit too simple. Ranieri asked them how Rafa did the defensive drills. The senior players told them Rafa had five overall defensive system drills customized to different types of opposition with tweaks introduced every weak to nullify specific threats for that weeks opposition.

Rafa's training is incredibly intense and to a certain extent repetitive and boring. He will make players repeat drills, positions till they are 100% perfect. It is a lot of information for folks to process. And he is incredibly cold and brutal apparently during training. His attitude was "you train 4 hours per day for 4 days, get paid millions of dollars, why are you complaining, this is nothing compared to what the rest of society do, if you cant take this get out of here". It takes players of a certain mentality to appreciate Rafa - Torres, Reina, Baraja, Mascherano, Garcia. I think there is a big cultural mentality difference in how players from some of these countries approach training - they are ok with it being hard, repetitive, and boring. At LFC too, when Rafa left, there was a lot of statements from players like Gerrard, Carra on how training was "more fun" now. Even Bellamy, who played for LFC under Rafa and King Kenny said how training was more fun under King Kenny. However, at the end of their career, almost all of them acknowledged that Rafa was the best manager they trained under. I think pretty much all of them realized it once we started dropping down the table. So I don't think the NUFC players are being disingenuous or anything. I think they are genuinely enjoying freedom. They don't have a person walking up to them shouting at corners, when the opposition is making 32 degree runs in front of you using zonal marking, you should stand 26 inches from the goal line at 48 degrees. You were at 24 inches and standing at 41 degrees. Let us repeat this 37 more times till you get it right.

Surprised folks think Man Utd have had a poor window. Wan-Bissaka has potentially solved their right-back problem for the next 5-10 years. Maguire is a quality defender. Definitely overpriced but Utd have a ton of money. So it doesn't matter whether Maguire is value for money or not.

It is all from the same PFM playbook I know we have an Aston Villa fan who posts here sometimes. I am sure he will recognize variants of those quotes but with the same underlying theme.

I am an outsider so feel free to disregard this post. Couple of points. Why is he is NUFC through and through a criteria to fill the most the important position in a 100 million dollar operation? This point is not just at Newcastle but at other clubs also. It also seems to be a common line to justify PFM appointments at other places. I get it if the person has a unique connection, best placed to incorporate a style of football due to his past connection with the club like Guardiola or Keegan. Or the person can use his legendary status to make changes which other people cant, like Zidane. But otherwise, does it matter? Especially with someone as shit as a resume as Bruce. I am dreading the time, the calls for Gerrard to take over, start in the media. If he is definitely NUFC through and through and has the club at heart, why did he manage Sunderland? It is not like he needed the money? He had opportunities to manage NUFC in the past which he turned down. Steve Bruce might have a soft spot for NUFC, but let us be honest. He is here because at this stage in his career, no other club with even half the profile of NUFC in the premier league would touch him with a bargepole. That is the only reason. He probably cannot believe the fact that he is at a PL club. He also knows that even if he fails miserably, as long as he is being discussed in the media (which your club will ensure due to its profile), PFMs are like whac-a-mole, will pop up somewhere. never seen a bad post from this lad, always on the fucking money Yep, always worth reading his views. He gets it a lot more than some actual supporters of the club, that's the mad thing. I have experienced exactly the same thing ten years ago when Rafa was replaced by Hodgson. Media blitz about how Hodgson bough positivity to the club. Players are now able to "express" themselves. Release the shackles. None of this pesky tactics which is restraining the midfielders from showing their true talents. Training ground is now a happier place. Arms around the shoulder approach to management. All from the classic PFM and their desperate media shill playbook. You can expect similar quotes from Bruce also. 22 September: “They’ll be a formidable challenge” (Before facing Fourth Division Northampton Town) 24 September: "The protest does not help" 17 October: "As good as we have played all season" (After the woeful loss to Everton) 17 October: “To get a result here would have been Utopia” (Also after the defeat to Everton) 21 October: "We will cross that bridge when we come to it" (On rumours of Torres to Manchester United) https://www.lfchistory.net/Articles/Article/3279 I think his quotes after Everton loss and Torres to Utd rumors finally drove people over the edge. I see a lot of parallels here. And you are in a worse shape because while we were declining, we still had a number of great players to rely on and as bad as Hodgson was for us, compared to Steve Bruce, he is Arrigo Sacchi.

I am an outsider so feel free to disregard this post. Couple of points. Why is he is NUFC through and through a criteria to fill the most the important position in a 100 million dollar operation? This point is not just at Newcastle but at other clubs also. It also seems to be a common line to justify PFM appointments at other places. I get it if the person has a unique connection, best placed to incorporate a style of football due to his past connection with the club like Guardiola or Keegan. Or the person can use his legendary status to make changes which other people cant, like Zidane. But otherwise, does it matter? Especially with someone as shit as a resume as Bruce. I am dreading the time, the calls for Gerrard to take over, start in the media. If he is definitely NUFC through and through and has the club at heart, why did he manage Sunderland? It is not like he needed the money? He had opportunities to manage NUFC in the past which he turned down. Steve Bruce might have a soft spot for NUFC, but let us be honest. He is here because at this stage in his career, no other club with even half the profile of NUFC in the premier league would touch him with a bargepole. That is the only reason. He probably cannot believe the fact that he is at a PL club. He also knows that even if he fails miserably, as long as he is being discussed in the media (which your club will ensure due to its profile), PFMs are like whac-a-mole, will pop up somewhere.

I was one of them. The irritating part of Rafa being replaced by Hodgson was the patronizing tone of the media and the justification for every result. With Bruce at the helm, you are going to see a unity among news media, all of them pushing the same agenda in unison. When a PFM is being compared to someone like Rafa by the fans, it is unbelievable the amount of unity shown by the media in defending the PFM. Bad results, not Bruce's or Ashley's fault. Geordies expect too much. Bruce is unfairly being targeted creating a poisonous atmosphere. Rafa is to blame for leaving the club at the last minute. His poor signings caused the issue. And if Bruce manages to keep you up next season, it will be heralded as the greatest achievement in British football since Clough. The sad part is, some of the fans actually fall for this.

Koulibay on Rafa There is an expression, “When you learn all the languages, you can open all the doors.” I will not lie to you, I am just as guilty as anyone of having my own ideas about people and places. Before I came to Napoli, I was really anxious because I didn’t know the language, and I had heard some people talking bad about the mafia and crime and all this stuff. I had never been there, so I didn’t know if they were telling the truth. Actually, this is a funny story. When I was in Belgium playing for Genk, my friend Ahmed was coming to stay at my house for a few days. So I’m waiting for him to arrive from the train, and I get this call from a strange number. I answer, in English, “Hello? Who is this?” The voice says, “Hello, this is Rafa Benítez.” I say, “Come on, Ahmed, stop playing with me. I am waiting here for you.” I hang up the phone. He calls me again, and now I’m annoyed. I say, “Ahmed, stop it. I am here. When do you arrive?” He says, “Hello? I’m Rafa Benítez.” I hang up the phone again. Then I get a call from my agent. I pick up the phone. He says, “Kouli, how are you? Have you heard from Rafa Benítez at Napoli? He’s going to call you.” I said, “What?! Are you kidding me? I think he just called me. I thought it was my friend playing a joke!” My agent calls Rafa to explain what happened, and then Rafa calls me again, and I pick up the phone like nothing has happened. I say, “Hello, Rafa! Hello! Bonjour! Hola! Hello!” He says, “Hello, do you want me to speak in English?” I say, “As you wish, we speak whatever you want.” So we ended up speaking in French. He was asking me so many questions — do you have a girlfriend, do you like to go out to party, do you know the city, the players? I said, “Well, Mister … I know Hamšík?” The truth is, I didn’t really know the players or anything about the city, but of course I knew Rafa Benítez, and I was very impressed with everything he said. I called my agent right away and I said, “Do whatever you have to do. We’re going to Napoli.” There were only 48 hours left in the winter transfer window, and Napoli could not work out a deal with Genk. But Rafa was true to his word, and he bought me in the summer. When I arrived for my medical, I was very nervous, because I didn’t speak any Italian yet. I was greeted by the chairman, Mr. De Laurentiis, in the hallway. And I think this says everything about Napoli and the club. He’s looking at me kind of funny, and he says, “Oh, you’re Koulibaly?” I say, “Yes, I am Koulibaly.” He says, “But you’re not tall? Aren’t you 1.92 meters?” I say, “No, Mr. President, I am 1.86 meters.” He says, “Damn! It is written everywhere that you are 1.92! I am going to have to speak to Genk and get some money back!” I say, “It’s alright, Mr. President, you pay the full amount. I will give every centimeter back to you on the field, don’t worry.” He liked that a lot. He was laughing and he said, “O.K., O.K., you are welcome here in Napoli, Koulibaly. You are welcome.” Mr. President, you pay the full amount. I will give every centimeter back to you on the field, don’t worry. After my medical, Rafa took me out to lunch, and the first thing he did after we sat down, before we even got the menus, he took all the wine glasses from the other tables. He was laying them out on the table and sliding them around. I am thinking, What is he doing? Is he mad? He said, “O.K., now I show you the tactics.” The waiter comes over, and the Mister is pushing the glasses everywhere, saying, “This is how we play. You go here, then you go there. Do you understand? Now, you must do two things very quickly: You must understand these tactics, and you must learn Italian.” I said, “O.K., boss, O.K.” When I returned from a little vacation, Rafa shut me in a room with the head of video analysis, and he was showing me all of my best plays. Sensational passes, dribbling, sliding tackles. He says, “This, this and this?” I say, “Yes? It’s good, no?” He says, “Don’t do this shit anymore.” I say, “But I won the ball back!” It’s hard to translate the next part, but he says, “This is ass! You won it back because of your strength. If your opponent was smarter, you would be in trouble.” Then he shows me this other video. Very boring. Normal plays. He’s smiling and he says, “Yes! This is good. This is very good.” I say, “But, sir, these are simple plays.” He says, “Yes, Kouli, exactly.” This says everything about my experience here. When I arrived in Italy, I was a boy. I became a better footballer, because I learned top-level tactics. They are so meticulous with the tactics here. But the most important thing is that I also became a family man and a real Neapolitan.

I wouldn't be surprised if Pep moves to Juve in a couple of years and Sarri is like a transition between Allegri and Pep.