Ride The Walrus
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The Liverpool Thread
- Thread starter Steve*
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Ride The Walrus
A pretty cool guy.
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https://docs.google.com/document/pub...yLEjT5eA&pli=1
From the Sunday Times
Restless Rafa Benitez talks exclusively about the Champions League, Kenny Dalglish and his desire to manage in England again
Cruising through West Kirby is a cream Mini Cooper, Union Jack roof, Union Jack wing mirrors. Behind the wheel, smiling beatifically, is Rafa Benitez. When he parks on the promenade, two young mums stop, delve into prams and hand him their babies for photographs. Peeping above trees on the cliffside is a mansion. Mail from everywhere arrives, some addressed: “Rafa Benitez, The Big House, Caldy”. Benitez is royalty in west Wirral.
He was king of Europe not long ago. Only Sir Alex Ferguson, with an English club, has enjoyed the concentrated Champions League success Benitez had when he won with Liverpool, went to another final and lost semi-finals and quarter-finals from 2005-09. In 2007, he beat Barcelona when they were favourites. He is fascinating on how Manchester United could do the same.
He was unimpressed by the negative strategy of Jose Mourinho in defending, then defending some more when he tackled Barça. “It’s really important to have confidence in your own game,” Benitez says, “and a plan. But also know Barcelona can score and be ready to change your plan.” In 2007 he alternated approaches. “In the Nou Camp we used pace. We were waiting, then playing counterattack. At Anfield they expected similar but we pressed them really high from the beginning.”
Where Mourinho paid obsessive attention to Barça’s threats, Ferguson says he will focus on United’s strengths. Benitez nods. “How you play Barcelona depends on your own team,” he says. “If you’re in good condition and have players who do good pressing, you can press high and with intensity. If your team is more technical and a lot of players are not best defending, you have to attack.” United have in their corner, “Premier League pace and style”.
Over lunch, Benitez marshals condiment pots to demonstrate dealing with Lionel Messi. “He plays as a ‘false’ striker. He starts here [between the centre-backs], moves here [midfield] but you can’t be thinking too much about him. If you mark him man to man, he can beat your player. You have to reduce the space for him. It’ll be difficult for him if he cannot receive the ball because you’ve too many bodies in that area.
“But you also have to control [David] Villa, [Andres] Iniesta, Pedro, Xavi, [Dani] Alves. That’s the strength of Barcelona. They have many good players and can move the ball until they create the right situation for the right player.” He smiles. “But I stop [praising Barcelona]. I’m from Madrid!”
It had been Benitez’s idea to model Liverpool like Barça; perhaps with different playing ideas but the same principle of a common style from youth team to first team. He installed at Liverpool’s academy Pep Segura and Rodolfo Borrell, who were formerly key men in Barça’s youth programme, to work alongside director Frank McParland. Benitez believes his vision of a home-grown talent stream flowing into Liverpool’s first team is being realised by Kenny Dalglish promoting Jay Spearing and John Flanagan.
He approves of Dalglish’s permanent appointment at Anfield. “I brought Kenny back to Liverpool because he knows the soul of the club. I thought he could be the key, I wanted him more involved in football things but the people in charge put him as ambassador.” Those people, Tom Hicks and George Gillett (“they talked about not transfers but ‘the draft’,” Benitez snorts) contrasted with Liverpool’s current owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG).
“The difference with these Americans is that they listen to people who know about football. They analyse things with statistics but in the end they know that football’s a different sport. They’re 100% supportive. The whole club sticks together, something we didn’t have.”
Does Benitez wish he’d worked under FSG? “Yeah. It’s a pity. But I cannot think about that,” he says. “Kenny’s doing a fantastic job, I’m happy the club’s moving forward. I’m thinking about the future with another Premier League club.”
He’s a world, European and Spanish champion, FA Cup, Uefa Cup-winning coach for hire. Since leaving Inter Milan in December he has been working at home in Caldy, preparing for his next role. He has pored over the tactical notes and training session diaries kept since he began coaching in 1986. He has studied videos of his old games. He watches matches from around the world on television, monitoring players he’d like to sign.
He has a staff researching technical and sports science questions. “Yesterday, one of my assistants gave me information about how Barcelona train different things. It was interesting. I thought, ‘Maybe we use this and that’,” he beams.
The idea is that whatever club appoint him, he’ll be ready. He’d go abroad but with his family settled on the Wirral, a Premier League return would be ideal. “It has to be the right job. It is not a question of trophies now. If you analyse the trophies you can win at club level, we’ve won everything. Except the Carling Cup ... and we were 11 minutes away [in 2005]. It is more a question, ‘Can I teach? Can I improve players and clubs like before?’
“Valencia was a good club but needed a winning mentality. Liverpool, too. The fans tell me that they were really proud because we played the most important teams in Europe — Chelsea, Real Madrid, Milan, Barcelona — and said, ‘We are Liverpool, we can beat you’.” Despite his enduring association with Anfield, “I’ve been in different clubs, some big, some small, and adapted to their philosophies. I feel I can work anywhere,” he says. “You have to listen to the people in charge, they know how their clubs work.”
That is at odds with perceptions, after his boardroom wars at Anfield, that he clashes with authority. “I was always trying to do my best for Liverpool, the club and the city, and if I go to another club it will be the same. At most of my clubs I’ve been improving players, winning trophies and didn’t have problems.”
Improving players is his passion (he tells a hilarious story, moving the condiments again, about the challenges of teaching Ryan Babel) and I ask him to name his biggest successes at Liverpool. “Maybe people will disagree but I think [Steven] Gerrard and Carra [Jamie Carragher]. Gerrard was scoring 24, 21, 20 goals every single year. Carra was playing left-back when I arrived and became one of the best centre-backs around.
“I remember taking Gerrard off against Everton away. 1-1, 11 against 10. We had the extra man but were playing with too much passion. I put Lucas [Leiva] on, he won a penalty, and we won 2-1. When you put so much passion on the pitch, sometimes it’s difficult to choose the right option. You have to keep your passion but be thinking, too, and Gerrard has the balance now.
“[Pepe] Reina was a good player who improved a lot, [Fernando] Torres the same. People can see, now, Lucas is a good player. [Dirk] Kuyt, people criticised him, but now he plays right-wing, target man, second striker. Kenny is showing the squad I left was [contrary to Roy Hodgson’s claims] not so bad.”
Regrets? “People talk about my last year at Liverpool but it was one bad season. We had injuries and had to fight for the club. With transfers — because you were always trying to sign the right players, sometimes you were signing too many and trying to improve your squad too quickly. Maybe next time I try and sign less players and go for more quality.
“But it wasn’t always easy. Because of the economic crisis the most important thing for every club is young players now but at Liverpool the most we spent on a young player was £250,000. We signed one for £10,000. Arsenal bought [Theo] Walcott for £12m, [Aaron] Ramsey for £5m, players I’d been watching. Overall, the signings people criticised were the cheapest: [Andriy] Voronin, [Philipp] Degen. When you look at Torres, Reina, [Xabi] Alonso, Kuyt, [Javier] Mascherano, you can see when we spent money we signed good players.”
When Benitez won in Istanbul, Ferguson sent a congratulatory letter. Should Ferguson win at Wembley, Benitez will applaud but perhaps not leap upright for a standing ovation. What happened to their relationship? “It’s exactly what Arsène Wenger was saying one day. When we were rivals, we were no longer friends. When we were 20 points behind Manchester United, he liked me.”
It’s a wry line. Benitez is smiling and, as ever, sticking up for himself. The Premier League is less interesting without him.
From the Sunday Times
Restless Rafa Benitez talks exclusively about the Champions League, Kenny Dalglish and his desire to manage in England again
Cruising through West Kirby is a cream Mini Cooper, Union Jack roof, Union Jack wing mirrors. Behind the wheel, smiling beatifically, is Rafa Benitez. When he parks on the promenade, two young mums stop, delve into prams and hand him their babies for photographs. Peeping above trees on the cliffside is a mansion. Mail from everywhere arrives, some addressed: “Rafa Benitez, The Big House, Caldy”. Benitez is royalty in west Wirral.
He was king of Europe not long ago. Only Sir Alex Ferguson, with an English club, has enjoyed the concentrated Champions League success Benitez had when he won with Liverpool, went to another final and lost semi-finals and quarter-finals from 2005-09. In 2007, he beat Barcelona when they were favourites. He is fascinating on how Manchester United could do the same.
He was unimpressed by the negative strategy of Jose Mourinho in defending, then defending some more when he tackled Barça. “It’s really important to have confidence in your own game,” Benitez says, “and a plan. But also know Barcelona can score and be ready to change your plan.” In 2007 he alternated approaches. “In the Nou Camp we used pace. We were waiting, then playing counterattack. At Anfield they expected similar but we pressed them really high from the beginning.”
Where Mourinho paid obsessive attention to Barça’s threats, Ferguson says he will focus on United’s strengths. Benitez nods. “How you play Barcelona depends on your own team,” he says. “If you’re in good condition and have players who do good pressing, you can press high and with intensity. If your team is more technical and a lot of players are not best defending, you have to attack.” United have in their corner, “Premier League pace and style”.
Over lunch, Benitez marshals condiment pots to demonstrate dealing with Lionel Messi. “He plays as a ‘false’ striker. He starts here [between the centre-backs], moves here [midfield] but you can’t be thinking too much about him. If you mark him man to man, he can beat your player. You have to reduce the space for him. It’ll be difficult for him if he cannot receive the ball because you’ve too many bodies in that area.
“But you also have to control [David] Villa, [Andres] Iniesta, Pedro, Xavi, [Dani] Alves. That’s the strength of Barcelona. They have many good players and can move the ball until they create the right situation for the right player.” He smiles. “But I stop [praising Barcelona]. I’m from Madrid!”
It had been Benitez’s idea to model Liverpool like Barça; perhaps with different playing ideas but the same principle of a common style from youth team to first team. He installed at Liverpool’s academy Pep Segura and Rodolfo Borrell, who were formerly key men in Barça’s youth programme, to work alongside director Frank McParland. Benitez believes his vision of a home-grown talent stream flowing into Liverpool’s first team is being realised by Kenny Dalglish promoting Jay Spearing and John Flanagan.
He approves of Dalglish’s permanent appointment at Anfield. “I brought Kenny back to Liverpool because he knows the soul of the club. I thought he could be the key, I wanted him more involved in football things but the people in charge put him as ambassador.” Those people, Tom Hicks and George Gillett (“they talked about not transfers but ‘the draft’,” Benitez snorts) contrasted with Liverpool’s current owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG).
“The difference with these Americans is that they listen to people who know about football. They analyse things with statistics but in the end they know that football’s a different sport. They’re 100% supportive. The whole club sticks together, something we didn’t have.”
Does Benitez wish he’d worked under FSG? “Yeah. It’s a pity. But I cannot think about that,” he says. “Kenny’s doing a fantastic job, I’m happy the club’s moving forward. I’m thinking about the future with another Premier League club.”
He’s a world, European and Spanish champion, FA Cup, Uefa Cup-winning coach for hire. Since leaving Inter Milan in December he has been working at home in Caldy, preparing for his next role. He has pored over the tactical notes and training session diaries kept since he began coaching in 1986. He has studied videos of his old games. He watches matches from around the world on television, monitoring players he’d like to sign.
He has a staff researching technical and sports science questions. “Yesterday, one of my assistants gave me information about how Barcelona train different things. It was interesting. I thought, ‘Maybe we use this and that’,” he beams.
The idea is that whatever club appoint him, he’ll be ready. He’d go abroad but with his family settled on the Wirral, a Premier League return would be ideal. “It has to be the right job. It is not a question of trophies now. If you analyse the trophies you can win at club level, we’ve won everything. Except the Carling Cup ... and we were 11 minutes away [in 2005]. It is more a question, ‘Can I teach? Can I improve players and clubs like before?’
“Valencia was a good club but needed a winning mentality. Liverpool, too. The fans tell me that they were really proud because we played the most important teams in Europe — Chelsea, Real Madrid, Milan, Barcelona — and said, ‘We are Liverpool, we can beat you’.” Despite his enduring association with Anfield, “I’ve been in different clubs, some big, some small, and adapted to their philosophies. I feel I can work anywhere,” he says. “You have to listen to the people in charge, they know how their clubs work.”
That is at odds with perceptions, after his boardroom wars at Anfield, that he clashes with authority. “I was always trying to do my best for Liverpool, the club and the city, and if I go to another club it will be the same. At most of my clubs I’ve been improving players, winning trophies and didn’t have problems.”
Improving players is his passion (he tells a hilarious story, moving the condiments again, about the challenges of teaching Ryan Babel) and I ask him to name his biggest successes at Liverpool. “Maybe people will disagree but I think [Steven] Gerrard and Carra [Jamie Carragher]. Gerrard was scoring 24, 21, 20 goals every single year. Carra was playing left-back when I arrived and became one of the best centre-backs around.
“I remember taking Gerrard off against Everton away. 1-1, 11 against 10. We had the extra man but were playing with too much passion. I put Lucas [Leiva] on, he won a penalty, and we won 2-1. When you put so much passion on the pitch, sometimes it’s difficult to choose the right option. You have to keep your passion but be thinking, too, and Gerrard has the balance now.
“[Pepe] Reina was a good player who improved a lot, [Fernando] Torres the same. People can see, now, Lucas is a good player. [Dirk] Kuyt, people criticised him, but now he plays right-wing, target man, second striker. Kenny is showing the squad I left was [contrary to Roy Hodgson’s claims] not so bad.”
Regrets? “People talk about my last year at Liverpool but it was one bad season. We had injuries and had to fight for the club. With transfers — because you were always trying to sign the right players, sometimes you were signing too many and trying to improve your squad too quickly. Maybe next time I try and sign less players and go for more quality.
“But it wasn’t always easy. Because of the economic crisis the most important thing for every club is young players now but at Liverpool the most we spent on a young player was £250,000. We signed one for £10,000. Arsenal bought [Theo] Walcott for £12m, [Aaron] Ramsey for £5m, players I’d been watching. Overall, the signings people criticised were the cheapest: [Andriy] Voronin, [Philipp] Degen. When you look at Torres, Reina, [Xabi] Alonso, Kuyt, [Javier] Mascherano, you can see when we spent money we signed good players.”
When Benitez won in Istanbul, Ferguson sent a congratulatory letter. Should Ferguson win at Wembley, Benitez will applaud but perhaps not leap upright for a standing ovation. What happened to their relationship? “It’s exactly what Arsène Wenger was saying one day. When we were rivals, we were no longer friends. When we were 20 points behind Manchester United, he liked me.”
It’s a wry line. Benitez is smiling and, as ever, sticking up for himself. The Premier League is less interesting without him.
Ride The Walrus
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Don't be stupid, you troll. Gtfo.
I'll say this politely once: this thread is for LFC fans specifically. Other fans have their own threads which we repect. Please stop trolling on our thread.
Mods are watching you.
Well, he's won a Champions League with Liverpool, more than can be said about certain other clubs...
Manager
Real Madrid U-19s
- Spain U-19 League (1): 1993
- Spain U-19 Cup (2): 1991, 1993
- Segunda División
- Promotion (1): 1997–98
- Segunda División (1): 2000–01
Liverpool
- UEFA Champions League (1): 2004–05
- FA Cup (1): 2005–06
- FA Community Shield (1): 2006
- UEFA Super Cup (1): 2005
- Supercoppa Italiana (1): 2010
- FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2010
- Don Balón Award (1): 2001–02
- UEFA Manager of the Year(2): 2003–04, 2004–05
- FA Premier League Manager of the Month (5): November 2005, December 2005, January 2007, October 2008, March 2009
Do one.
Steve*
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More importantly im watching
Dont rise to the bait though
If people come on here and dont adhere to the rules set out in the op the tread will be suspended and will be reported to moderators.
Personally i was glad to see Rafa go (dont attack me) when he did but all the same he is a top man and i would be glad to see him back working in england. Not for one of our rivals though. Wish him all the best wherever he goes.
More importantly im watching
Dont rise to the bait though
If people come on here and dont adhere to the rules set out in the op the tread will be suspended and will be reported to moderators.
Personally i was glad to see Rafa go (dont attack me) when he did but all the same he is a top man and i would be glad to see him back working in england. Not for one of our rivals though. Wish him all the best wherever he goes.
Mate, I'm no huge Rafa fan either. He made a huge mistake in falling out with Xabi; everything went belly up when Xabi left. Imo that was the chief cause of his & our fall from grace. Wasn't a great fan of his style of football either, but I hate seeing him spammed.
Istanbul will live long in the memory.
Steve*
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Exactly the same thoughts as me. More or less forced Xabi to go so wont forget that and i wasnt a fan of the negative football he encouraged aswell.
However Isntanbul will last in memory and he was also responsible for getting Kenny back involved with the club. And he brought in Segura and Borrell for the academy and they have been doing wonders.
However Isntanbul will last in memory and he was also responsible for getting Kenny back involved with the club. And he brought in Segura and Borrell for the academy and they have been doing wonders.
Yeah the Academy is all fired up now & producing thanks largely to Rafa's reforms. He's going to indirectly save us a pile of cash in the transfer market.
More importantly im watching
Dont rise to the bait though
If people come on here and dont adhere to the rules set out in the op the tread will be suspended and will be reported to moderators.
Personally i was glad to see Rafa go (dont attack me) when he did but all the same he is a top man and i would be glad to see him back working in england. Not for one of our rivals though. Wish him all the best wherever he goes.
I'm watching
instant 10 points for any nonsense. Dont say we didnt warn you
In fairness Rafa will end up with one of your rivals if he returns. he'll want to be involved with elite football
Steve*
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Dunc already warned people yesterday.
I really cant see him going to Spurs,United or Arsenal. Would possibly be interested in City or Chelsea but i reckon he will end up back in spain if Mourinho leaves Madrid.
Anyhow, heres who liverpool legends voted for player for the season:
Jan Molby: Dirk Kuyt
David Fairclough: Lucas
Alan Kennedy: Luis Suarez
Phil Neal: Dirk Kuyt
Ronnie Whelan: Raul Meireles
Gary Gillespie: Dirk Kuyt
Tommy Smith: Jamie Carragher
Ian Callaghan: Jamie Carragher
Jason McAteer: Jamie Carragher
So 3 votes a piece for Carra and Kuyt. Suprised that Lucas only got one vote and Suarez was given a vote aswell.
Vote for your player of the season here:Best player of 2010-11? Vote now - Liverpool FC
There should have been a 'Most Promising Newcomer' category which LS would have steamed. Dirk Kuyt has had a phenom time since Kenny came back in, but Lucas has been great all season - even whilst suffering from the Hodgon handicap. Carra with 3 votes ? hmm.....
Steve*
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There is a vote for youngster aswell.(its between academy and reserves)
Carra has done well since he came back from injury but has missed too much of the season to get Player of the season i believe.
Heres what Sky sports had to say:
Skysports.com understands that Liverpool have shown an interest in landing Turkish ace Hamit Altintop.
The midfielder's departure from Bayern Munich has already been confirmed and he will be leaving on a Bosman transfer.
He has held talks with Real Madrid already and is widely expected to join the Spanish giants, becoming their second Turkish import of the summer following on from Borussia Dortmund's Nuri Sahin.
But it is understood that Liverpool have made an approach to try and convince Altintop he would be better served continuing his career with a move to England.
Altintop has long been linked with the Premier League and, at 28, is far from past his best although he was only able to start eight league games this season.
Altintop is hugely versatile and can play anywhere across the midfield, which is of obvious appeal to any suitors.
It now remains to be seen whether Altintop will be able to reject the overtures of Real to move elsewhere.
What do people think about the rumours of Scott Dann coming in the summer aswell?