timeEd32 Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 ...Gini Wijnaldum, Shelvey, and Pereeez. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sturla Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 We haven't had a manager that I truly believe in since Sir Bobby until now. He has been handed mission impossible to keep us up unfortunately. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nufc4eva Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 The changes are immense in terms of work rate, closing down working as team to break up chances and counter attacking. We look more mid table now. If only we got him sooner Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 That Rafa Benitez chant man, I can't get it out of my head. Which fans were singing it? Our fans have been belting it out constantly since the Swansea game. I don't think Liverpool fans would join in while they have Klopp on the touchline, but if they felt it was appropriate then that's fine by me. No, I didn't think we would (well, maybe once before kick-off), but it is so fucking catchy. What words do youse lot sing? You don't have Xabi Alonso, Garcia and Nunez. Chancel Mbemba, Gini Wijnaldum, Shelvey and Perez...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Chancel Mbemba, Gini Wijnaldum, Shelvey and Pereeez. Rafa Benitez, Rafa Benitez, Rafa Benitez. 1,2,3,4 (repeat) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
newsted Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 OMFG What is this man? I literally had no idea. He's some kind of magician. We're climbing that mountain. Holy fuck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
timeEd32 Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Knew I forgot someone. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanji Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Chancel Mbemba, Gini Wijnaldum, Shelvey and Pereeez. Rafa Benitez, Rafa Benitez, Rafa Benitez. 1,2,3,4 (repeat) I love this song been singing it in my house since full time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomson Mouse 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. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Venkman Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Aye, if he's not a motivator that makes the recent results even more impressive, tbh. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsunami Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 I'm hoping that although we'll go down that Rafa will have seen enough from the players he can keep, the fans, the club itself and the city to decide to give it a go. If it doesn't work in a season he can do what he wants but if we go up he should be well prepared for what he'll need to compete. Ashley has a huge responsibility in having appointed him, making sure he stays. Ashley must be thinking what the hell he was thinking of by sticking with McClaren so long; the post match guff McClaren used to come out with to the common sense talk from Benitez is startling, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacko 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 fuck 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 fuck 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 fuck 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. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemtizz Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanji Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Absolutely love Rafa. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si 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. 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. Got a semi reading this exactly what we need. None of this "football friend" bullshit or cult of personality tin pot Napoleon's. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klaus Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Ryan Babel ✔@Ryanbabel Benitez on his way to Real? He will make Ronaldo a great defender... remember this? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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...
Recommended Posts