Do you think Rafa Benitez should be replaced and why?

[Raffazza]

No... It's complete bull.

Lol, if you say so. Just my thoughts on the subject.

 

[CrownJewell]

He has a knack of being able to beat top teams, but obviously struggles to motivate his squad to play the "lesser teams"

 

[19-11-08]

In response to the original post, Rafa needs to stay. It's the owners who need to change.


Rafa's premiership record is pretty **** good, despite 'rotation' and 'zonal marking' and the rest of his horrible foreign ways. In the last four seasons he has averaged 78 points, with 82 and 88 in the following seasons which happen to be our highest totals since 1988. When you consider that Gerrard Houllier only managed 65 and 60 points in his final seasons you can see the improvement Rafa has made.

Also, we now challenge each year in the Champions League (well maybe not this year) and have made it past the group stages each year since Rafa has been here. Before that we weren't even doing well in the UEFA Cup never-mind consistently qualifying for the CL.



Alonso, Reina, Sissoko, Arbeloa, Mascherano, Garcia, Aurellio, Torres, Insua, etc, etc...


True he is living off his performance in the Champions League in those first two seasons, but then again Wenger is living off his past success too but for some reason nobody seems to mind Arsenal haven't been challenging for much since 2005.

Challenging for the league days is all about the money, since Rafa has been in charge Liverpool have never been higher than 3rd in the most expensive squads table (currently 5th this season, behind Spurs and Man City now by over £50m) and our wage bill has always been lower than our competitors too. I read something interesting the other week about how a clubs wage bill correlates to a 92% accuracy to the success they achieve, and since the figures have been published (in 2004) only two teams have had wage bills high enough to win the league. Manchester Utd & Chelsea, pretty strange coincidence.




I can't believe he wasted all that money signing Voronin on a free transfer just to have a full International striker as back-up for Torres. Rafa is an idiot. If you think we need a better backup for Torres please go have a look for someone who will match up to your stupidly high standards who will happily sit on the bench week in week out and will only cost us £1-2m.


I'm sorry but why should we even expect anything? Before Rafa came we were a terrible side performing badly in a weaker league than today. I feel sorry for Rafa because of what he has achieved in his short time with us, he has done superbly in Europe and now people expect us to win it, because we do well in the League people now expect us to win it when it just doesn't work that way.

Liverpool are a big name, that is all. We have no right to expect more than what we are achieving at the moment.



Yeah I can't believe Rafa is so little a threat he managed to finish ahead of Chelsea in the league last year. Rafa's tactical knowledge is superb too, stop talking out of your backside please.

Just thought i'd point out that in my opinion at least you hardly "unearthed" Torres or Alonso, as torres had interest from chelsea and united and real madrid were reportedly interested in alonso when you first signed him. I also don't rate aurelio or arbeloa that highly but that really wasn't my point.

 

[Irish Scouse]

Just thought i'd point out that in my opinion at least you hardly "unearthed" Torres or Alonso, as torres had interest from chelsea and united and real madrid were reportedly interested in alonso when you first signed him. I also don't rate aurelio or arbeloa that highly but that really wasn't my point.

liverpool went for him and real tried a chelsea on man u with mikel and essien

 

[Frank]

Arsenal were in for El Nino for a few years

 

[Raffazza]

Just thought i'd point out that in my opinion at least you hardly "unearthed" Torres or Alonso, as torres had interest from chelsea and united and real madrid were reportedly interested in alonso when you first signed him. I also don't rate aurelio or arbeloa that highly but that really wasn't my point.

Torres was universally acknowledged as one of the best strikers in Europe before he went to Liverpool. The media hadnt heard of him because he hadnt played in the Premier League is all...

 

[Kris]

In response to the original post, Rafa needs to stay. It's the owners who need to change.


Rafa's premiership record is pretty **** good, despite 'rotation' and 'zonal marking' and the rest of his horrible foreign ways. In the last four seasons he has averaged 78 points, with 82 and 88 in the following seasons which happen to be our highest totals since 1988. When you consider that Gerrard Houllier only managed 65 and 60 points in his final seasons you can see the improvement Rafa has made.

Also, we now challenge each year in the Champions League (well maybe not this year) and have made it past the group stages each year since Rafa has been here. Before that we weren't even doing well in the UEFA Cup never-mind consistently qualifying for the CL.



Alonso, Reina, Sissoko, Arbeloa, Mascherano, Garcia, Aurellio, Torres, Insua, etc, etc...


True he is living off his performance in the Champions League in those first two seasons, but then again Wenger is living off his past success too but for some reason nobody seems to mind Arsenal haven't been challenging for much since 2005.

Challenging for the league days is all about the money, since Rafa has been in charge Liverpool have never been higher than 3rd in the most expensive squads table (currently 5th this season, behind Spurs and Man City now by over £50m) and our wage bill has always been lower than our competitors too. I read something interesting the other week about how a clubs wage bill correlates to a 92% accuracy to the success they achieve, and since the figures have been published (in 2004) only two teams have had wage bills high enough to win the league. Manchester Utd & Chelsea, pretty strange coincidence.




I can't believe he wasted all that money signing Voronin on a free transfer just to have a full International striker as back-up for Torres. Rafa is an idiot. If you think we need a better backup for Torres please go have a look for someone who will match up to your stupidly high standards who will happily sit on the bench week in week out and will only cost us £1-2m.


I'm sorry but why should we even expect anything? Before Rafa came we were a terrible side performing badly in a weaker league than today. I feel sorry for Rafa because of what he has achieved in his short time with us, he has done superbly in Europe and now people expect us to win it, because we do well in the League people now expect us to win it when it just doesn't work that way.

Liverpool are a big name, that is all. We have no right to expect more than what we are achieving at the moment.



Yeah I can't believe Rafa is so little a threat he managed to finish ahead of Chelsea in the league last year. Rafa's tactical knowledge is superb too, stop talking out of your backside please.

Lee Alonso, Reina, Sissoko, Arbeloa, Mascherano, Garcia, Aurellio, Torres, Insua, etc, etc...

With the exception of Insua and Sissoko who are rather guff the rest were already pretty well known before they signed

 

[Lee]

Sorry Kris must of read someone else's **** post about bad signings and forgot I was responding to unearthed.

Sissoko is not guff, he can hardly pass the ball but he's the best ball winner I've ever seen. Whenever you watched him play he just seemed to be everywhere.

Insua is a little off form at the moment but he's a pretty decent player.

Rafa hasn't really been there that long so a lot of the younger players he has signed haven't had a chance to come through yet. Players like Nemeth, Plessis, Pacheo, etc could still be something special.

Agger and Skrtel were basicly as unknown as Reina and Alonso were at the times of their signings. If you'd watched their domestic leagues you knew about them but they weren't on the world stage yet.

With hindsight.. He basically should have bought one good player per year rather than so many squad players.

Mentioned this already, we didn't have the squad or finances to gamble it all on just one new player each season.

 

[Roonaldo]

he's made two good signings in torres and benayoun but rubbish signing in dossena, morientes, mark gonzalez, cisse and worst of all LUCAS
i think that if he doesn't get a result on sunday i think he will get sacked
possible candidates:
mancini
schuster
van basten
bilic
fatih terim
spaletti

 

[Raffazza]

Mentioned this already, we didn't have the squad or finances to gamble it all on just one new player each season.

Good point, it'd be a gamble, but, honestly, I think it is one he should have taken on occassion. It works in all areas of football, teams that get promoted often buy quantity, and rarely works.

He seems to have gone for fewer signings for more money. I don't agree with his signings, have a bad feeling about Aquilani, and Johnson was VASTLY over costed. Whoever did the negotiations was an idiot. If Portsmouth sell Kranjcar to Spurs for less than £3m they would have sold Johnson for far less than £17m....

 

[Lee]

he's made two good signings in torres and benayoun but rubbish signing in dossena, morientes, mark gonzalez, cisse and worst of all LUCAS
i think that if he doesn't get a result on sunday i think he will get sacked

Cisse was a Houllier signing. Morienties and Dossena are just those occurrences were a player just doesn't cut it for one reason or another, both had great seasons before they signed for us.

If we lose on Sunday hopefully everyone's knees will be jerking too much they will be incapacitated and won't be able to call for his sacking.

 

[Div_Muzza]

Not payed too much attention to liverpool but though he has to do better in the league but has done well I neurope.

 

[Frank]

Lee you need to wake up and smell the cheese.

 

[Scott=FM GOD]

i think rafa need to leave, and i am sorry to evryone who runs on about no money given to him, he has brought in 68 players in 5 years more then any other club in europe, so to bring in 68 players and only have 3 off world class quality is pathetic.

he is to no-one to blame but himself to blame, he has bought players, played stupid zonal marking, if liverpool are in a finicial hole, well why spend 8million on lucas then, the money has only just became bad, it wasnt always bad

 

[Chris]

I don't think he should leave. Every manager goes through their bad spells. Ancelotti is hardly on the greatest run of form for Chelsea but hardly anyone wants him sacked. Rafa has got Liverpool along way since Houllier and deserves alot of praise. He is a top manager.

 

[JordanWhite]

He needs to stop playing Babel on the left, its stupid he WAS such a good prospect but now look at him :/

 

[jimmykebab]

Never liked Rafa. His record for Liverpool in the Premiership is poor. His signings have been sup standard and never good enough to win the Premiership (with the exception of a few)

His scouting system is not great...apart from Agger and maybe Skrtel i can't think of anyone he has unearthed.

He is living off his champions league win and i think that isn't good enough. Maybe if Liverpool were challenging for the league every year but they are not.

i agree rafa is a muppet!!!! his tactics are shocking, signings rank, his reputation in spain stinks ( popular belief is hes a lucky manager not a good one) hes amatuer compared to fergie and wenger.

more importantly!!! rangers for the premiership!!! more like the west of scotland junior league!!! after last nite they proved just how sub standard thye really are. lol muppets!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[19-11-08]

i agree rafa is a muppet!!!! his tactics are shocking, signings rank, his reputation in spain stinks ( popular belief is hes a lucky manager not a good one) hes amatuer compared to fergie and wenger.

more importantly!!! rangers for the premiership!!! more like the west of scotland junior league!!! after last nite they proved just how sub standard thye really are. lol muppets!!!!!!!!!!!1

hmmmm. A thoroughly well thought out post.

 

[Irish Scouse]

everyone seems to forget Ferguson was almost sacked at man u in his first few seasons.

 

[19-11-08]

everyone seems to forget Ferguson was almost sacked at man u in his first few seasons.

doesn't mean he's not better than benitez. also its always been denied that ferguson was close to being sacked.