Rafa appreciation

[Dhav]

He needs to win in Athens first.

Of course, and I never meant to imply it was a formality. I will edit my post accordingly

[bigfooty]

I know it is nitpicking but #5 was achieved with a lot of GH's players. Rafa just organised them better in Europe. If he wins #6 it will be solely his achievement because over half of the starting 11 - if not more - will be his signings and the qualifcation for the tournament will have been achieved by him.

That, combined with the average league form, is why I don't think Rafa is really ahead of Ged yet. Hopefully by the end of this month he'll be miles in front .

[Red Chilli]

He needs to win the league to be a great LFC manager. That's our bread and butter. Once he's done that then he's up there.

[Dhav]

I know it is nitpicking but #5 was achieved with a lot of GH's players. Rafa just organised them better in Europe. If he wins #6 it will be solely his achievement because over half of the starting 11 - if not more - will be his signings and the qualifcation for the tournament will have been achieved by him.

That, combined with the average league form, is why I don't think Rafa is really ahead of Ged yet. Hopefully by the end of this month he'll be miles in front .

I disagree, I think winning #5 with that dross Houllier left behind is an even greater achievement than if Rafa wins it with the players he's bought in.

No credit at all to Houllier in my view.

PS #5 put Rafa on a different planet to Houllier IMO. Houllier aimed for the moon and reached the stars as he said. Rafa reached the moon

[Dhav]

He needs to win the league to be a great LFC manager. That's our bread and butter. Once he's done that then he's up there.

I disagree. I think if he wins 2 CL that makes him a great manager, if he isnt already.

Imagine if we do win it - 2 wins in 3 seasons nowadays is practically tantamount to dominating Europe - that to me is legend status, and not just Liverpool legend, it's legend status in European football history.

PS agree that the league is our bread and butter and should be the priority.

[Red Chilli]

I disagree, I think winning #5 with that dross Houllier left behind is an even greater achievement than if Rafa wins it with the players he's bought in.

No credit at all to Houllier in my view.

PS #5 put Rafa on a different planet to Houllier IMO. Houllier aimed for the moon and reached the stars as he said. Rafa reached the moon

Agree, Houllier would never have won the champions league even if he was there for another 10 years. He just couldn't step up. Fair play to him for his achievements though

[redpablo]

Rafa. He needs to prove little in Europe. He has the best Euro football brain without doubt. he will def learn after this season how to win the league. he is ****ing amazing.

[Spudo2]

I disagree, I think winning #5 with that dross Houllier left behind is an even greater achievement than if Rafa wins it with the players he's bought in.

No credit at all to Houllier in my view.

PS #5 put Rafa on a different planet to Houllier IMO. Houllier aimed for the moon and reached the stars as he said. Rafa reached the moon

I agree with all that - Houllier deserves zero credit.

However, I don't think Rafa can be classified as a "great" manager until he wins the League.

[redpablo]

Houllier does deserve credit. he took us where we needed to go - to an extent. thats is unfair.

[Iceman]

Feckin Awesome............. but then again anyone whose first reaction after Dudeks penalty save in Istanbul, is to go to Djibril Cisse, to discuss a technical point has to be a bit special

[anfieldanfield]

Houllier does deserve credit. he took us where we needed to go - to an extent. thats is unfair.

Houllier left Rafa with Carra, Finnan, Sami, Hamann, Riise, Gerrard etc

He laid the foundations.

[Spudo2]

He sorted us out defensively, and he signed Hyypia (we were crying out for a proper centre-half at the time).

He's not a winner though. He'll never win any of the competitions which count - the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, the UCL, the WC, etc.

He tightened up the defence by turning us into a "paint-dry watching" side.

Rafa, on the other hand, is an alchemist. He transformed an ordinary group of players (on the main) into Champions League winners.

When I saw Houllier subsequently trying to take some of the credit, I couldn't help but laugh. He's a loser, full-stop.

[redpablo]

yes. agreed. he took us so far, and it was needed, but he didnt have the required skills to make us Kings of Europe again, which Rafa seems to have in spades. Nice. Just the league too Rafa and then you are pure legend mate. As it is, you are pretty ****in close!

[Ron_Mexico]

When I saw Houllier subsequently trying to take some of the credit, I couldn't help but laugh. He's a loser, full-stop.

he's still getting fat off the bung from the cisse transfer

he did some good things, but his last 2 seasons were a disgrace, plus the way he conducted himself made him a laughing stock. by the end of his tenure i couldnt stand the sight of him. not surprised at all he tried to take some credit

rafa's achievements in europe are nothing short of amazing. the exciting thing is this is only the beginning

[Radar]

My wife said 'he's sitting on the ground in a nice suit'.

I slapped her and told her to shut up