News of the Screws - Rafa

[anfieldanfield]

I dont hate Mourinho, for me he shows passion, however misplaced, and a degree of arrogance that only comes from being a winner...and regardless of what chelski have achieved from the russians money, winners they have been. If anything i think it has highlighted the fact that Rafa is a FAR better manager because what he has achieved has been through pure talent and skill...I love Rafa and hope he goes nowhere. Mourinho is just another talented manager for me, nothing overly special....Rafa - the real special one.

Mourinho's record is at least equal to Rafa, if not better than...

That included his massive success on a tiny budget at Porto.

[Darth Marty]

like i said, i think hes talented, but for me Rafa is the better overall manager, both have had huge success, mourinhos is now tainted because of the russians money and his own stupid behaviour and comments, rafas is still a work in progress. But anyone, fans and neutrals alike, can tell who has the CLASS, and its not the portugese guy. For me Rafa is the perfect lfc manager today, sucessful, clever and unbelievably talented, but also far from the arrogant, chopsy media friendly chelski man. Long may we be run by a manager who would rather his team do the talking.

[anfieldanfield]

like i said, i think hes talented, but for me Rafa is the better overall manager, both have had huge success, mourinhos is now tainted because of the russians money and his own stupid behaviour and comments, rafas is still a work in progress. But anyone, fans and neutrals alike, can tell who has the CLASS, and its not the portugese guy. For me Rafa is the perfect lfc manager today, sucessful, clever and unbelievably talented, but also far from the arrogant, chopsy media friendly chelski man. Long may we be run by a manager who would rather his team do the talking.

Some valid points.

[Kopite_Colin]

If we can't have Rafa I'd take Jose in a heartbeat. I love his swagger and arrogance - reminds me of Shanks at his outspoken best. He's a winner. And that's what we need. Hiddink a close second.

[rushscored4]

So that's Benitez to Madrid, Hiddink to Chelsea and Mourinho to... us???!!!

[Darth Marty]

I remember the summer before both managers took over, and what i remember is thinking " **** me i wish we had got mourinho"
How wrong was i?! Its not that mourinho is crap, i just prefer a less outspoken manager for the class that we undoubtedly are...yes, id take Jose if Rafa buggered off, buts that my point exactly...jose is 2nd in line to Rafa.
And i genuinley believe that with Rafa in charge of us we will go on to win lots of silverware, premierships and more european cups. I genuinley believe that.

[desertscouser]

But Barca fans hate him - surely no chance of them being interested?

And there's no way they would accept Maureen's ultra negative brand of footie either. There would be mass suicides at the Nou Camp if Maureen took over.

[desertscouser]

Mourinho's record is at least equal to Rafa, if not better than...

That included his massive success on a tiny budget at Porto.

Achievement wise, I still think Rafa's 2 la liga titles and a UEFA cup as well as a CL win for us within 4 years edges him ahead of Maureen but I guess that's debatable.

We have to remember, Porto had some incredible players the year they won the Champions League, arguably better than the players we had at our disposal when we won it. The likes of Deco, Ferreira, Carvalho,Maniche, Costinha, Costa and Vitor Baia were/are all quality players. Compare them to Dudek, Traore, Baros, Smicer, Riise, Cisse etc...it makes Rafa's CL win even the more remarkable.

[checkpoint]

Benitez also knows that a vacancy at Real Madrid pops up about every two years.

He can gladly pass on this one and (if he wants) take the offer in 4-6-8-10 years.

[LadyRed]

I don't think Rafa will be in a hurry to go to Madrid, as someone said the managers lifespan at Madrid is limited anyway, on top of that he knows theres a job for him there pretty much when he wants it.

Many of the directors have been clear about that.

[Dhav]

Achievement wise, I still think Rafa's 2 la liga titles and a UEFA cup as well as a CL win for us within 4 years edges him ahead of Maureen but I guess that's debatable.

We have to remember, Porto had some incredible players the year they won the Champions League, arguably better than the players we had at our disposal when we won it. The likes of Deco, Ferreira, Carvalho,Maniche, Costinha, Costa and Vitor Baia were/are all quality players. Compare them to Dudek, Traore, Baros, Smicer, Riise, Cisse etc...it makes Rafa's CL win even the more remarkable.

You make a more than valid point about the quality of players at Mourinho's disposal when Porto won the CL - the proof is that now most of those players are at top clubs or moved to top clubs after 2004. How many of our players that you mentioned moved up the ladder as opposed to down it?

You also have to look at the quality of opposition Porto faced on their way to winning it - Man Utd, Lyon, Deportivo, Monaco, while we beat Leverkusen, Chelsea, Juventus and Milan - a marked difference in quality if you ask me.

I think Rafa's acheivements are at least the equal of those of Mourinho. There's no comparison between winning La Liga and winning the Portuguese League. In fact winning the Premiership with the resources at his disposal is not as impressive as overcoming Real and Barca without matching their spending.

I just wonder if the roles were reversed, and Mourinho took over Liverpool in 2004 and Rafa went to Chelsea, where would the relative teams be now? You could still see Chelsea winning the League, but would Liverpool have won the CL or improved on Rafa's league position under Mourinho, having the same restraints as Rafa's had to deal with?

[Shaggy]

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has admitted he would like to manage Real Madrid in the future.

Mourinho, who has a contract at Stamford Bridge until 2010, has been widely linked with a move to the Bernabeu as a possible replacement for under-fire Madrid coach Fabio Capello at the end of the season.

But while he admits the post does appeal to him, Mourinho, once on the coaching staff of Madrid's arch-rivals Barcelona, insists he will not be going there any time soon.

"I would very much like to coach there, but not next season because I have a contract with Chelsea," he told Spanish paper Marca.

Mourinho was interviewed at Sunday's Primera Liga match between Osasuna and Valencia in Pamplona, which the former Porto boss attended after watching his Chelsea draw 3-3 at home to Tottenham in the last eight of the FA Cup earlier in the day.

Valencia, who drew 1-1 thanks an injury-time equaliser from former Liverpool striker Fernando Morientes, are Chelsea's opponents in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

"We are going to have a vibrant tie," Mourinho predicted. "I now have many things to think about