Rafa: I made a promise to Jerzy.

[desertscouser]

Both for me. Which is why he shouldn't have been lobbed into an important game.

It's hard to say it's totally down to lack of match practise without him playing. Maybe we'll know the answer next season when he's playing regularly... at another club!

Strange how no club has really shown an interest in him. Is he too expensive or do others not think he's good enough either?

[cobain]

Strange how no club has really shown an interest in him. Is he too expensive or do others not think he's good enough either?

His salary's probably too high

[Bob]

Strange how no club has really shown an interest in him. Is he too expensive or do others not think he's good enough either?

Even on a free his basic salary would have the likes of 'Arry running for the hills. When's his contract up? Sooner we get all these spongers off the bill the better.

[einar]

I don't care how long ago he made it. I don't know all the facts, but IMO there is not one single reason i can think of why he should have came to that decision.

Thats my point, we dont know.

[Red_Polo]

Obviously Rafa made that promise to keep what he considered the best possible number 2 at the club, and didn't realise Dudek had arthritis until yesterday. Still, it was a promise he shouldn't have made IMO. Goalkeepers don't need resting, Pepe should be playing every game he's available for. If another goalkeeper plays whilst Pepe is available it should be because he's a young keeper getting some experience against a ****e team in the league cup.

[einar]

Obviously Rafa made that promise to keep what he considered the best possible number 2 at the club, and didn't realise Dudek had arthritis until yesterday. Still, it was a promise he shouldn't have made IMO. Goalkeepers don't need resting, Pepe should be playing every game he's available for. If another goalkeeper plays whilst Pepe is available it should be because he's a young keeper getting some experience against a ****e team in the league cup.

[Neil Young]

All due respect... but that's rubbish.

Rafa made a glaringly obvious conker of a mistake here... Promising him the Carling Cup would be fine by me... but, despite all his pre-match rhetoric about knowing the importance of the FA cup he's went ahead and belittled it (start of the season or not).

And i hate folk saying... it's easier to be wise after the event. If we ran a poll for Dudek/Reina starting before the match i'm sure the results would have favoured Reina '99%' starting against Arsenal yesterday.

Also, it's worrying that our second keeper is so poorly short of what's required.

Yes, but I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing. I agree Reina is better than Dudek, that isn't at issue (for Rafa or anyone else). The point I was trying to make was whether Rafa miscalculated about promising to play Dudek in order to keep him at the club.

I also think it's wrong to make too big an issue of this. Dudek wasn't the only reason we lost yesterday, he was just one of quite a few and even then it's arguable that Reina wouldn't have done any better with two of the goals at least.

[Red_Polo]

I agree Dudek wasn't the only reason, but I do think it was a huge mistake anyway. I was one of many that was a bit miffed to see Dudek was starting when Reina was fit to play yesterday. It's not just something that can be said with hindsight - it was obvious to many people he shouldn't have been playing before a ball had been kicked.

[Neil Young]

Yes but Rafa clearly, as you said yourself, didn't make the decision purely on the grounds of footballing ability.

I think I'm done with this subject. I'm not interested in defending Jerzy "Yeshy" Dudek as a goalkeeper and we're going round in circles.

[Red_Polo]

Yes but Rafa clearly, as you said yourself, didn't make the decision purely on the grounds of footballing ability.

And therein lies the problem. That's the mistake.

[Neil Young]

OK. Why is Kusczak playing for Man United? Why did Almunia play for Arsenal? Are they as good as van der Saar and Lehmann?

It is easy to say that since we lost Rafa made a mistake promoting his no 2 to the first team for yesterday's game. It's actually much harder to decide whether keeping an experienced no 2 as back-up was worth the risk of going into yesterday's game with a less capable keeper.

[dww]

I think that keeping the number 2 keeper feeling like a member of the squad, building a relationship with the defence and giving him some practice is just good sense. The fact is if Reina gets injured we will have to play Dudek. Unlike Rafa I think Dudek makes a rubbish reserve keeper as he seems to need a number of games to get up to speed and is prone to mistakes and unsettles the defence. However once he has made that choice I think it was a perfectly good decision for footballing reasons to play him yesterday, even if he was to weaken the team, as Neill points out all of the other top teams have done the same.

[SouthAfricaRed]

I think that keeping the number 2 keeper feeling like a member of the squad, building a relationship with the defence and giving him some practice is just good sense. The fact is if Reina gets injured we will have to play Dudek. Unlike Rafa I think Dudek makes a rubbish reserve keeper as he seems to need a number of games to get up to speed and is prone to mistakes and unsettles the defence. However once he has made that choice I think it was a perfectly good decision for footballing reasons to play him yesterday, even if he was to weaken the team, as Neill points out all of the other top teams have done the same.

Finally somebody that makes sense

I can remember quite a few asking for Dudek to play earlier in the season when Reina was struggling.

We lost yesterday because of basic Defensive errors. Yes Dudek has to take some of the blame but singling him out is not right,

It's standard practice for teams to play their 2nd goalkeeper in the Cup. In case anybody didnt notice. Was Lehmann in goal for arsenal yesterday?

People are saying that Dudek suffered from lack of match practice, but crucify Rafa for giving him match practice

Bottom line is that the team sent out yesterday, should have done the job. They were good enough. They let Rafa and the Fans down.

[Nicey]

Rafael Benitez explained the reason Jerzy Dudek replaced Pepe Reina in goal against Arsenal was down to a promise he made the Pole at the start of the season.
The Liverpool manager told Dudek he would start in the domestic cup games for Liverpool this season. The Istanbul hero missed the Carling Cup 3rd round win over Reading due to suspension but played in the 4th round win at Birmingham.

"At the start of the season I told Jerzy that Pepe was the number one goalkeeper but I made a promise to him that he would play in the Carling Cup and FA Cup. Once you make a promise you don't go back on your word.

"I thought he did okay against Arsenal and he didn't really have a lot to do besides the goals."

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drill...70107-0906.htm

I thought as much ... Fair Play Rafa ... But I for one wont hold it against you if you drop him on Tues ... Jasus they were soft goals to let in

[Red_Polo]

OK. Why is Kusczak playing for Man United? Why did Almunia play for Arsenal? Are they as good as van der Saar and Lehmann?

It is easy to say that since we lost Rafa made a mistake promoting his no 2 to the first team for yesterday's game. It's actually much harder to decide whether keeping an experienced no 2 as back-up was worth the risk of going into yesterday's game with a less capable keeper.

Kusczak and Almunia are quality number one keepers let alone number twos, so the risk of playing them is not only smaller but worth taking if it means keeping them. As great memories as I have of him, I think we could've found a number two as good as Jerzy who wouldn't have needed the promise of playing in all our cup games to stay with us. Dudek wasn't solely to blame yesterday, but then for me even if he'd had a blinder it would've been wrong for Rafa to make that choice.