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Benny Benitez: Parky 6 Benny 2 (Benitez watch.). Inter sack the waiter.

Parky

by Parky
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wacko

wacko

Posted
Posted

this now a post-mortem of Benitez at Liverpool?

 

exhibit A then is surely Robbie Keane...maybe the resident scousers have some ITK inside track knowledge of that but ostensibly it looked like one of the most stupid and pointless transfer deals in history and Benitez should probably have been laughed out of the club for it

 

crouch was another actually imo

 

Basically, Keane was supposed to be an accessory to Barry. When the Barry transfer fell through, Keane was surplus to requirements.

 

Possible to expand on that? Just makes little sense to an outsider - i.e. why would signing Barry make any difference to the £20m Keane signing? Not only was the fee vastly inflated, but Keane was always unlikely to fit into the system Rafa prefers (Barry or no Barry). If the plan was to switch to 4-4-2 and have Keane as a partner to Torres, how did Rafa hope to achieve this by adding Barry to the central midfield squad whilst at the same time lacking good quality wingers (and Gerrard having proved to be ineffective in central midfield compared to playing in front of two central midfielders)?

 

To make matters worse, he was signed iirc a short while after you got rid of Bellamy, who is pretty similar to Keane (in terms of the type of forward that he is) but twice as good and far more versatile. If Bellamy struggled in a Rafa system, what made Rafa think that spending £20m on an inferior version of Bellamy would work?

 

Bellamy wanted out. He just wasn't into Rafa's follow-my-instructions-to-the-letter gameplans. From what I recall, I think Keane was supposed to do pretty much what he does, scampering around the edge of the box and feed off Barry on the left of a midfield diamond.

 

At a guess, something nominally like this:

                          Keane        Torres

                                 Gerrard

                   Barry                      Kuyt ()
                  
                             Mascherano

 

And presumably with the full-backs providing the width.

 

That might be a load of cobblers, but it's the best explanation I've heard for what happened with Keane.

 

 

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Disco

Disco

Posted
Posted

this now a post-mortem of Benitez at Liverpool?

 

exhibit A then is surely Robbie Keane...maybe the resident scousers have some ITK inside track knowledge of that but ostensibly it looked like one of the most stupid and pointless transfer deals in history and Benitez should probably have been laughed out of the club for it

 

crouch was another actually imo

 

Basically, Keane was supposed to be an accessory to Barry. When the Barry transfer fell through, Keane was surplus to requirements.

 

Possible to expand on that? Just makes little sense to an outsider - i.e. why would signing Barry make any difference to the £20m Keane signing? Not only was the fee vastly inflated, but Keane was always unlikely to fit into the system Rafa prefers (Barry or no Barry). If the plan was to switch to 4-4-2 and have Keane as a partner to Torres, how did Rafa hope to achieve this by adding Barry to the central midfield squad whilst at the same time lacking good quality wingers (and Gerrard having proved to be ineffective in central midfield compared to playing in front of two central midfielders)?

 

To make matters worse, he was signed iirc a short while after you got rid of Bellamy, who is pretty similar to Keane (in terms of the type of forward that he is) but twice as good and far more versatile. If Bellamy struggled in a Rafa system, what made Rafa think that spending £20m on an inferior version of Bellamy would work?

 

Bellamy wanted out. He just wasn't into Rafa's follow-my-instructions-to-the-letter gameplans. From what I recall, I think Keane was supposed to do pretty much what he does, scampering around the edge of the box and feed off Barry on the left of a midfield diamond.

 

At a guess, something nominally like this:

                          Keane        Torres

                                 Gerrard

                   Barry                      Kuyt ()
                  
                             Mascherano

 

And presumably with the full-backs providing the width.

 

That might be a load of cobblers, but it's the best explanation I've heard for what happened with Keane.

 

 

 

Wouldn't the right FB have been Arbeloa though?

 

Still mental that he wanted rid of Alonso in the first place. Criminally underrated when he was in the PL. Absolutely amazing player although he was a bit of a snidey so & so.

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wacko

wacko

Posted
Posted

Arbeloa, probably. Rafa might have been after someone else, though. I don't know/remember.

 

Alonso was our best, most important player. More so than Gerrard or even Torres. The heart of the side. Even if he did have an iffy season in 2007/8, trying to swap him for Barry was nuts.

 

I think it's quite likely we'd have got into the CL this season if he hadn't left. He was that important.

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Village Idiot

Village Idiot

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You'd have walked 4th spot had Torres remained fit the entire season, if you ask me.

 

There was a very interesting study by UEFA in one of our rags about how the amount of injuries corresponds to a team's performance. Saying that if you had 50+ injuries you were headed to a bad season, and how the last 3 winners of the CL had less than 25 injuries in the whole season. I'll see if I can find it in English.

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wacko

wacko

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"When he handed the cheque over to me he was very emotional, as I was and the committee was, especially when we saw the amount,"

 

I call shenanigans!

 

Good on Rafa, though. Millions or not, he didn't have to do that.

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Liam Liam Liam O

Liam Liam Liam O

Posted
Posted

 

Kenny Dalglish 'key to keeping Liverpool players' 

 

Former Liverpool star Peter Beardsley says Kenny Dalglish would help to keep Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres at Anfield if he was reappointed as boss.

 

"You'd have more chance of keeping the players if you had a hero like Kenny in charge," said Beardsley.

 

"I'm not saying he would be a massive success straight away because there are a lot of problems at Liverpool."

 

Anfield legend Dalglish was reported to be keen on the managerial post following the exit of Rafael Benitez.

 

After the Spaniard left the club by mutual consent on 3 June, managing director Christian Purslow and Dalglish, a Reds player for 10 years and manager between 1985 and 1991, have been searching for a new boss.

 

Fulham's Roy Hodgson and ex-Manchester City boss Mark Hughes, currently out of work, have been touted as potential candidates.

 

Former Anfield players BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson, keeper Bruce Grobbelaar and Jamie Redknapp have all recently backed a return at the helm for 59-year-old Dalglish, who is also the club's academy ambassador.

 

Beardsley, a Liverpool midfielder between 1987 and 1991, also thinks the Scot is the right man and would help to keep hold of top players such as midfielder Gerrard and striker Torres, whose futures remain uncertain following a trophyless season at Anfield.

 

"You look at Torres and he probably came to Liverpool on the strength of watching Dalglish as a player, and Gerrard grew up watching that team," added Beardsley.

 

"So I would think you'd have no problem keeping both of them if Kenny Dalglish was your manager.

 

"I played for four years under Kenny and won the league twice and the FA Cup. We were not able to play in Europe in those days, so what he did in my time at the club, and winning the double before I even arrived, was sensational.

 

"I can't speak for the people of Liverpool but I know the fans would love him and when I look at him, his football knowledge and his football mentality, he loves the game.

 

"What he means to Liverpool is sensational and I would have no qualms about giving him the job."

 

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill, ex-Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink and Croatia coach Slaven Bilic have also been mentioned as successors to Benitez, recently appointed at Inter Milan.

 

Benitez told the Guardian on Tuesday he felt that Dalglish was "the best man for the job".

 

"The owners should listen to the fans because they are unhappy. No one knows the club better than Dalglish and he would be perfect there. He wants the job and in my opinion should get it," he said.

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/8743027.stm

 

Gerrard you could understand, but like Torres give a fuck about them appointing Dalglish.

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wacko

wacko

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I'd rather have Hodgson to be honest. Dalglish has been out of the game for 10 years. Legend though he is, it'd be awfully risky appointing him manager.

 

Besides, I think it's right that an English manager who's proven he can do the business gets a crack at a big club. Not that he'll have any money to spend.

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Disco

Disco

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I'd rather have Hodgson to be honest. Dalglish has been out of the game for 10 years. Legend though he is, it'd be awfully risky appointing him manager.

 

Besides, I think it's right that an English manager who's proven he can do the business gets a crack at a big club. Not that he'll have any money to spend.

 

At least you don't have an attractive to watch, league challenging side currently otherwise Kenny would be a baaaaaad move.

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