Officially 3 hours and 20 minutes to go no until we kick off the 06/07 season in Bramall Lane. Last season finished on a massive high after the heroics in Cardiff and it was fitting that we kicked off this season in similar fashion last week. Since last season we’ve had what seems like an endless summer. The world cup came and went, and despite some media outlets branding it a ‘great’ world cup, I personally thought it was just ok and the start of this season’s domestic race is just the fillip I need.
This summer also arguably saw one of our best transfer windows since the close season of signing Barnes and Beardsley and the forums seem to have been bouncing off the walls with hype and excitement. However, this is not the first time this happened, under the much maligned Houllier regime I have distinct memories of people saying we will win the league after signing Kewell, Cheyrou, Diouf etc…and we all know what happened after that!
However, this time around I feel the usual, predictable online optimism and heralding of the new dawn, has a lot more credibility to it than ever before. This season is the first season that Rafa has finally got a squad of all his own players. The last 2 years Benitez has been doing a superb job of making the very very best out of a squad that initially was largely Houllier’s and last season was partly Houllier’s and deserves all the plaudits for the silverware and progress he has brought to the club. Now this summer we have seen the many comings and goings that allows Rafa his own squad and rationale would tell you that it must mean an improvement.
Yes, we haven’t spent the money that Chelsea or United are able to spend, but I don’t think Rafa has ever been such a manager. Rafa is a manager from the Arrigo Sacchi school of thought. He has always been a man with a vision of how he wants the team to play. He’s not the type of manager who’s tactics will be dictated by the players he has at his disposal, he insists that the players adapt to his tactics, and if they can’t then they leave. This summer Benitez has got all all but one of his number 1 targets (Alves), players he has obviously been watching for sometime and who he is confident will play to his style. This is massive for us, as we know Rafa is probably the most tactically adept manager in the UK and when he now has an almost complete squad in his own terms then it would be remiss of us not to be more confident than we have ever been over the last 10 years.
If we take a look at our possible bench of Dudek, the awe inspiring Momo, the born again Fowler, the enigmatic yet brilliant Garcia, Speedy Gonzalez/Kewell, Crouch, Kromkamp, Agger etc…we can see that there is so much quality on the sidelines that even with a few injuries we have now have a squad that can cope with that and still get those away wins against the so called lesser teams which have been our downfall in recent times. If we compare this against previous squads where the bench consisted of players like Cheyrou, Diao, Biscan, Vlad etc…well, there is no comparison.
If we look at the squad from back to front we have 2 quality goalkeepers, we have arguably the best centre back pairing of Carra and Sami, with Agger and Paletta waiting in the wings to step in and grab their opportunity. Our left back position has now got quality competition, the magnificent yet sometimes one dimensioned Riise has got serious competition in the very promising Aurelio who will add, speed, flair and attacking prowess, the right back slot we have the ever steady Finnan, in my opinion the best right back in the league, our right mid slot has now been filled, Pennant we all know about, is a fast, skillful winger who can pass, dribble and more importantly cross from the byelines with accuracy, with Luis and stevie on hand to do the business there if needed, our left midfield spot we have the exciting Gonzalez, a hopefully fit Kewell and Aurelio.
Our central midfield, the heart of our team, is as strong as its ever been, Momo is a godsend, Luis and Zenden have shown they can play through the middle and I don’t need to say anything about Xabi or our captain. The strikeforce is where we may have been at our weakest, we were a bit slow and immobile last season and we have now added pace and strength in the form of Bellamy and Kuyt respectively, Robbie has lost tons of weight and if he stays injury free, will bang in goals this season, crouch’s confidence is riding high, his game is improving and will be a valuable player for us this season.
It is such a well balanced squad and with the important injection of domestic players in the form of Bellamy and Pennant added to Fowler, Carra, Gerrard etc... Then we have that much need ‘bite’ to get stuck in and grind out results.
My only concern is that it will take time to gel, but the way Rafa is rumoured to be a drill master in training, and his meticulous preparation for games; I’m confident he will have them as a well oiled unit from today onwards.
Chelsea are obviously the team to beat, and with Schevchenko they look awesome, but there I no doubt in my mind we can push them this year, the key for us will be getting the results against the big teams I feel. And with the squad, the hunger, the confidence, the optimism and expectation, I am confident we can push them all the way.
I heard a radio interview recently with Jamie Redknapp and he said he spoke to Didi Hamann recently. Didi told him that Liverpool will definitely win the league in the next 2/3 years; he had no doubt about it. He said Rafa was the most impressive manager he had ever worked under and is building a squad that will win the league. Now I have no reason to doubt the Kaiser, and given the fact that Rafa has a history of exceeding expectations, winning the European Cup in his first season, winning the league with Valencia way above expectations and way ahead of his timeframe then there is a strong case to argue that if he follows his form then come May we might all be heading down to Anfield to herald our title winning team on an open top bus.
Be it this year or the next, I have no doubt in my mind.
Number 19 is beckoning
This summer also arguably saw one of our best transfer windows since the close season of signing Barnes and Beardsley and the forums seem to have been bouncing off the walls with hype and excitement. However, this is not the first time this happened, under the much maligned Houllier regime I have distinct memories of people saying we will win the league after signing Kewell, Cheyrou, Diouf etc…and we all know what happened after that!
However, this time around I feel the usual, predictable online optimism and heralding of the new dawn, has a lot more credibility to it than ever before. This season is the first season that Rafa has finally got a squad of all his own players. The last 2 years Benitez has been doing a superb job of making the very very best out of a squad that initially was largely Houllier’s and last season was partly Houllier’s and deserves all the plaudits for the silverware and progress he has brought to the club. Now this summer we have seen the many comings and goings that allows Rafa his own squad and rationale would tell you that it must mean an improvement.
Yes, we haven’t spent the money that Chelsea or United are able to spend, but I don’t think Rafa has ever been such a manager. Rafa is a manager from the Arrigo Sacchi school of thought. He has always been a man with a vision of how he wants the team to play. He’s not the type of manager who’s tactics will be dictated by the players he has at his disposal, he insists that the players adapt to his tactics, and if they can’t then they leave. This summer Benitez has got all all but one of his number 1 targets (Alves), players he has obviously been watching for sometime and who he is confident will play to his style. This is massive for us, as we know Rafa is probably the most tactically adept manager in the UK and when he now has an almost complete squad in his own terms then it would be remiss of us not to be more confident than we have ever been over the last 10 years.
If we take a look at our possible bench of Dudek, the awe inspiring Momo, the born again Fowler, the enigmatic yet brilliant Garcia, Speedy Gonzalez/Kewell, Crouch, Kromkamp, Agger etc…we can see that there is so much quality on the sidelines that even with a few injuries we have now have a squad that can cope with that and still get those away wins against the so called lesser teams which have been our downfall in recent times. If we compare this against previous squads where the bench consisted of players like Cheyrou, Diao, Biscan, Vlad etc…well, there is no comparison.
If we look at the squad from back to front we have 2 quality goalkeepers, we have arguably the best centre back pairing of Carra and Sami, with Agger and Paletta waiting in the wings to step in and grab their opportunity. Our left back position has now got quality competition, the magnificent yet sometimes one dimensioned Riise has got serious competition in the very promising Aurelio who will add, speed, flair and attacking prowess, the right back slot we have the ever steady Finnan, in my opinion the best right back in the league, our right mid slot has now been filled, Pennant we all know about, is a fast, skillful winger who can pass, dribble and more importantly cross from the byelines with accuracy, with Luis and stevie on hand to do the business there if needed, our left midfield spot we have the exciting Gonzalez, a hopefully fit Kewell and Aurelio.
Our central midfield, the heart of our team, is as strong as its ever been, Momo is a godsend, Luis and Zenden have shown they can play through the middle and I don’t need to say anything about Xabi or our captain. The strikeforce is where we may have been at our weakest, we were a bit slow and immobile last season and we have now added pace and strength in the form of Bellamy and Kuyt respectively, Robbie has lost tons of weight and if he stays injury free, will bang in goals this season, crouch’s confidence is riding high, his game is improving and will be a valuable player for us this season.
It is such a well balanced squad and with the important injection of domestic players in the form of Bellamy and Pennant added to Fowler, Carra, Gerrard etc... Then we have that much need ‘bite’ to get stuck in and grind out results.
My only concern is that it will take time to gel, but the way Rafa is rumoured to be a drill master in training, and his meticulous preparation for games; I’m confident he will have them as a well oiled unit from today onwards.
Chelsea are obviously the team to beat, and with Schevchenko they look awesome, but there I no doubt in my mind we can push them this year, the key for us will be getting the results against the big teams I feel. And with the squad, the hunger, the confidence, the optimism and expectation, I am confident we can push them all the way.
I heard a radio interview recently with Jamie Redknapp and he said he spoke to Didi Hamann recently. Didi told him that Liverpool will definitely win the league in the next 2/3 years; he had no doubt about it. He said Rafa was the most impressive manager he had ever worked under and is building a squad that will win the league. Now I have no reason to doubt the Kaiser, and given the fact that Rafa has a history of exceeding expectations, winning the European Cup in his first season, winning the league with Valencia way above expectations and way ahead of his timeframe then there is a strong case to argue that if he follows his form then come May we might all be heading down to Anfield to herald our title winning team on an open top bus.
Be it this year or the next, I have no doubt in my mind.
Number 19 is beckoning
and yawning.
You're the one who said he was making a cake which turned out to be a "metaphor". 
Comment