nemtizz Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Turns out Zidane did a better job at that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedro111 Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Starting to get the feeling that Rafa will stay even if the worst should happen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemtizz Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Madness. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Venkman Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Think the same as I always have, the reasons he came here in the first place will still be applicable if we're in the championship. There are only two barriers: 1) He refuses to entertain the notion of managing in the championship, no-one really knows what he thinks about this; 2) Ashley refuses to give him enough money/power. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacko Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Turns out Zidane did a better job at that. Ronaldo's a player that needs cuddles from a manager, and he's a "free spirit". Not a Rafa player at all. Gerrard was the same, which is why he didn't get along particularly well with Rafa. (Remember the soft bastard putting in a transfer request after Istanbul because he didn't feel valued enough?) Got a semi reading this exactly what we need. None of this "football friend" bullshit or cult of personality tin pot Napoleon's. Don't get me wrong: Rafa's not perfect. We lost/drew a lot of games we could have won by staying too controlled for too long in the game: Rafa didn't like to let go of the reins till the last few minutes. He also had a fetish for the squad and rotation over the first team, often preferring to buy two middling squad players instead of one first-rate first-team player. In those crazy days, when Chelsea and Man Utd hardly dropped a point all season, Rafa's rotation meant we were out of the race before the team could get into its groove (about November). That said, he sacked off the early-season rotation in his last season or two, and I haven't followed him closely since he left LFC. He might have eliminated his weaknesses. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacko Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Think the same as I always have, the reasons he came here in the first place will still be applicable if we're in the championship. There are only two barriers: 1) He refuses to entertain the notion of managing in the championship, no-one really knows what he thinks about this; 2) Ashley refuses to give him enough money/power. He doesn't really care about the money. A piddling transfer kitty will piss him off far more than a piddling salary. I've no idea how he'd feel about a season in the Championship, but I reckon that if he does stay, it's almost certain that Ashley will do something stupid at some point that will push Rafa out the door. Rafa doesn't suffer fools, and Ashley has a fairly strong track record in that department… Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Turns out Zidane did a better job at that. Ronaldo's a player that needs cuddles from a manager, and he's a "free spirit". Not a Rafa player at all. Gerrard was the same, which is why he didn't get along particularly well with Rafa. (Remember the soft b****** putting in a transfer request after Istanbul because he didn't feel valued enough?) Got a semi reading this exactly what we need. None of this "football friend" bullshit or cult of personality tin pot Napoleon's. Don't get me wrong: Rafa's not perfect. We lost/drew a lot of games we could have won by staying too controlled for too long in the game: Rafa didn't like to let go of the reins till the last few minutes. He also had a fetish for the squad and rotation over the first team, often preferring to buy two middling squad players instead of one first-rate first-team player. In those crazy days, when Chelsea and Man Utd hardly dropped a point all season, Rafa's rotation meant we were out of the race before the team could get into its groove (about November). That said, he sacked off the early-season rotation in his last season or two, and I haven't followed him closely since he left LFC. He might have eliminated his weaknesses. I'll settle for all of that and I think most others will. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Turns out Zidane did a better job at that. Ronaldo's a player that needs cuddles from a manager, and he's a "free spirit". Not a Rafa player at all. Gerrard was the same, which is why he didn't get along particularly well with Rafa. (Remember the soft bastard putting in a transfer request after Istanbul because he didn't feel valued enough?) Got a semi reading this exactly what we need. None of this "football friend" bullshit or cult of personality tin pot Napoleon's. Don't get me wrong: Rafa's not perfect. We lost/drew a lot of games we could have won by staying too controlled for too long in the game: Rafa didn't like to let go of the reins till the last few minutes. He also had a fetish for the squad and rotation over the first team, often preferring to buy two middling squad players instead of one first-rate first-team player. In those crazy days, when Chelsea and Man Utd hardly dropped a point all season, Rafa's rotation meant we were out of the race before the team could get into its groove (about November). That said, he sacked off the early-season rotation in his last season or two, and I haven't followed him closely since he left LFC. He might have eliminated his weaknesses. I think he started to sack it off after his split from Paco. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 He doesn't really care about the money. A piddling transfer kitty will p*ss him off far more than a piddling salary. I've no idea how he'd feel about a season in the Championship, but I reckon that if he does stay, it's almost certain that Ashley will do something stupid at some point that will push Rafa out the door. Rafa doesn't suffer fools, and Ashley has a fairly strong track record in that department… Ashley isn't likely to do anything daft, Charnley is the problem if we do go down and he's still here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klaus Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 He is 1000x better than what I expected post Mcclaren. He obviously knows what he is a doing, so much for the whole 'relegation experience' bollocks people come out with. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
STM Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Hopefully, Charnley will be binned off. I think Rafa would make a decent team out of the current rabble if we went down (minus a few wasters). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 He doesn't really care about the money. A piddling transfer kitty will p*ss him off far more than a piddling salary. I've no idea how he'd feel about a season in the Championship, but I reckon that if he does stay, it's almost certain that Ashley will do something stupid at some point that will push Rafa out the door. Rafa doesn't suffer fools, and Ashley has a fairly strong track record in that department… Ashley isn't likely to do anything daft, Charnley is the problem if we do go down and he's still here. I'd say letting Charnley keep his job would be pretty fucking daft. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsley Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 You know what, there are plenty of motivational mangers and I've read/heard many players saying Benitez isn't one of them and that's fine with me, they have a limited shelf life (and I'm including Keegan in that) so long term I'll stick with the tactical genius. Rafa doesn't give a f*** about "man management". There is the plan. The tactics. The endless drills. Either a player is mature and professional enough to do his job, or he'll be replaced. He'll also be out if he's too dumb to follow Rafa's instructions. At Melwood, he'd spend hours holding the ball in his hands and walking about the pitch, while the players had to move into the appropriate position relative to the ball. Absolute discipline. And he doesn't f*** about. He didn't hesitate to replace Dudek with Reina, even after the Dude's legendary performance in Istanbul, and Riise was gone after his batshit header against Chelsea. Dry as f*** is Rafa, but Super Effective™. A lot of the players who've worked under him don't like him. But they all respect him. Carra once said that he'd never had a conversation with Rafa that wasn't about football. I remember Sid Lowe telling a story about Rafa and Fernando Torres - can't remember whether it was at Liverpool or Chelsea. IIRC Torres had just become a father and the next day in training, Benitez came over to offer his congratulations and a handshake...for carrying out his instructions correctly at the game just gone Strictly business. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacko Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 I think he started to sack it off after his split from Paco. Not sure how much of a factor Paco's leaving was, but it was definitely something the players complained about. But as noted, they were fairly special times, with Chelski and ManU hardly dropping any points. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Good posts Wacko. I think what you've pointed out is why he's perfect for us but not a good option for your Chelsea's and Real's. The most successful managers there over the last decade + have been Ancelotti, Mourinho and Del Bosque. At their best very good with man management (Jose seems to completely fall out with everyone after a couple years). At a slightly underdog club that's Rafa's best role. If we could get him in the PL for 5 seasons I think we would break our trophy drought. The thought - the possibility - in the face of the odds of this season are crazy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 In the post-Fergie era that Liverpool side with Torres, Alonso, Masc, Carra and Gerrard win the league comfortably. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
STM Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 And this year. Standards dropped massively. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nufcjb Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Hope we change the players in that Rafa chant because 2 of them are absolute cowards and hardly belong in the same breath as Rafa. Chancel Mbemba, Moussa Sissoko, Mitro/Cisse, Perez? Just having a go at it. Love the chant but hate Gini and Shelvey in it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacko Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 I'll tell you one thing about Rafa's time at Liverpool. I was never worried that the opposition would score when they had the ball. Of course, they did. Many times. But he had our defence working so fucking well that I always thought we'd mop up. The fact that we could be so solid at the back while playing a really high defensive line with notable slowcoaches Carra and Hyypia in central defence speaks volumes for the quality of Rafa's system. The pundits loved to rip into his zonal marking, but that's only because they had neither a player to blame for a mistake (as in man-marking) nor the wit to comprehend zonal marking. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 I'd say letting Charnley keep his job would be pretty f***ing daft. Most of us would say that, most of us wouldn't have given it to him in the first place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacko Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Good posts Wacko. I think what you've pointed out is why he's perfect for us but not a good option for your Chelsea's and Real's. Exactly. He's a terrible fit for sides full of trophy players. The polar opposite of Del Bosque. The most successful managers there over the last decade + have been Ancelotti, Mourinho and Del Bosque. At their best very good with man management (Jose seems to completely fall out with everyone after a couple years). At a slightly underdog club that's Rafa's best role. If we could get him in the PL for 5 seasons I think we would break our trophy drought. The thought - the possibility - in the face of the odds of this season are crazy. I have no doubt that Rafa will win trophies for NUFC if he sticks around. People always loved to beat us over the head with his "poor" league performance, ignoring the fact that he was concentrating all his resources on the CL (and we were the top-ranked side in Europe—and highly-feared abroad—for a few years). If you don't mind sucking up a relatively mediocre league finish in return for a very strong push for a cup, he's absolutely your man. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Rafa would be mad to leave here, we've never won anything domestically since before most of us on here were born, yes, me included. He would be under absolutely no fan pressure and he'll be idolised. win something and he would never be let out of the north east again. I doubt he'll ever get a better job than this one in England and I think he'll be clever enough to realise that before the season is over. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 I have no doubt that Rafa will win trophies for NUFC if he sticks around. People always loved to beat us over the head with his "poor" league performance, ignoring the fact that he was concentrating all his resources on the CL (and we were the top-ranked side in Europe—and highly-feared abroad—for a few years). If you don't mind sucking up a relatively mediocre league finish in return for a very strong push for a cup, he's absolutely your man. We get those anyway, 17th will be seen as a good season for us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallsendmag Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 I honestly couldn't care less if we went down this season as long as we could guarantee Benitez staying on. The fact that he's somehow got this heartless rabble resembling a competent footballing outfit speaks volumes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacko Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 We get those anyway, 17th will be seen as a good season for us. Hence my usage of the word "relatively". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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