what do you want to ask rafa

[Jacko]

Watch it you !

I know you adore that chizzled body of his Mums, but be honest- he's absolute ****e! He's gone from good in 2005/06 to pretty woeful last season to absolutely disgraceful this season.

So far this season i've seen him try and control a knee height ball with a diving header away at Villa, countless times just let his man go (marseile was criminal in the 2nd half) his shooting just keeps getting worse, his touch has already cost us goals and ultimately points at home to Chelsea and Birmingham. I'm not blaming Riise for us losing 4 points but I am highlighting his faults which for the last 18months have been pretty much everything he's done.

Someone wrote a good article not too long ago about Riise that it's not that he's got worse, if anything he's got better. it's just the personnel Rafa has bought in is just so much better. I did agree but i think he is actually getting worse. His attacking play is so one dimensional- as proven in athens and as for a brain- never mind a footballing one- he just doesn't possess one. The biggest loss this summer (player wise) was Heinze. Attacking know how, aggression and not as defensively suspect as JAR.

I'll never forget his goal at the pit or his screamer against utd but time surely has come on his Anfield Career- he's simply not good enough and along with Sami (who can be excused because of his other abilities) is one of the main reasons our ball retention so bloody poor!

Just my opinion

[Red_Al_77]

I think Rafa knows more about football than all of us, including you, and he doesn't have to explain his tactical decisions during a game, especially when his tactical decisions won us a European cup a couple of years ago and got us into a second CL final in three years. He's not the first and won't be the last manager who will make a decision which will seem "strange" to some fans.

When we don't win, people immediately search for reasons, any reason and usually they're the easiest to find.

Whether it's rotation, zonal marking, playing Benayoun when it was a game not suited for him, not playing Benayoun when we lacked creativity, not playing Gerrard when he must play every game regardless of form/fitness, playing Gerrard when he was unfit/uninterested/****e, playing Hyypia because he doesn't have pace, if it's Babel- why not Pennant? If it's Pennant- why not Babel? it doesn't matter. If we didn't win, something must have been wrong with the manager.

Anyone who thinks he can do a better job, go get some coaching badges and start proving it.

Ok we'll just stick to "Do you trim your beard daily?" questions then shall we?

Not that they is any need to defend him but Scousertommy is a fully badged up coach and runs a number of leagues for all ages. But don't let that get in the way of your condescending approach to his post.

Too many sheep around here these days.

[Jacko]

Ok we'll just stick to "Do you trim your beard daily?" questions then shall we?

Not that they is any need to defend him but Scousertommy is a fully badged up coach and runs a number of leagues for all ages. But don't let that get in the way of your condescending approach to his post.

Too many sheep around here these days.

It's not just that Al!

When I do something wrong at work. . . guess what happens- the person accountable to me (my gaffer) asks what the fr!ggen hell i've been doing and why i've been doing it.

I'd like to know why questions can't be asked of Rafa when for the last 6games we've been nothing short of sh!te?!

Now please don't mis-constrew (sp?) this as Rafa bashing- it's not! I love the man. But no ones perfect and I simply don't see what the problem is by wanting to know what the hells going on and whats happened to make our form dip so violently especially when i'm standing in the kop for £34 a ticket next to some OOT hating scouser calling me a wool watching a bottom 3 french league side dick all over us.

If all goes tits up this season i'll still back Rafa for one more season at least- it's only fair, Houllier got 2 more years than he should have so Rafa should at least get the one to sort it out but, not being able to question it- well that's just not on!

[Revo]

Sorry but whoever begins a thread with this ****e:



did not ask for a simple explanation of a tactical decision, but was trying to look all tough, clever and condescending and has the marks of actions done by a genuine long winded pompous arsehole. I doubt you even E-mailed them what you wrote.

Thank you

Listen mate, im very happy for you that your are well verse with the pen and you can use really big words but save them for a few of the plebs on here who are impressed with that ****. cos you see arseholes like me, get to see thru gob****es like you. why would you doubt that i sent the email? is it because soft ***** like yourself wouldnt have the guts to ask a bit of a tough question and revert back to what we achieved yesterday as being good enough instead of focusing on what can make us better or at least see what direction the manager is thinking. its a legitimate question to the manager and like i said earlier, if you cant enlighten me with that substitution then id politely ask you to shut the **** up

[Revo]

It's not just that Al!

When I do something wrong at work. . . guess what happens- the person accountable to me (my gaffer) asks what the fr!ggen hell i've been doing and why i've been doing it.

I'd like to know why questions can't be asked of Rafa when for the last 6games we've been nothing short of sh!te?!

Now please don't mis-constrew (sp?) this as Rafa bashing- it's not! I love the man. But no ones perfect and I simply don't see what the problem is by wanting to know what the hells going on and whats happened to make our form dip so violently especially when i'm standing in the kop for £34 a ticket next to some OOT hating scouser calling me a wool watching a bottom 3 french league side dick all over us.

If all goes tits up this season i'll still back Rafa for one more season at least- it's only fair, Houllier got 2 more years than he should have so Rafa should at least get the one to sort it out but, not being able to question it- well that's just not on!

jacko im all for rafa benitez and im fully on board with him running this ship and i hope me asking a question of him wouldnt be disguised as wanting him out, far from it. if i really wanted to take the manager to task id be spouting the ludicrous decisions of underestimating marseille midweek. the manager went with his line up, stuck with it and the players let him down. i would really love to know what the thought proccess was behind kuyt for pennant and not changing the shape of the team. nothing more nothing less

[Red Chilli]

I'm interested in the discussion point Alun Parry raised. Why don't we pass it around?
There can only be 2 reasons: 1. Rafa doesn't want us to play this way or 2. There's a problem with the training methods.

I can't believe that it can take more than 3 seasons to change the approach of the team from the Houllier hoof to Rafa's passers. So the logical conclusion for me is that Rafa doesn't want the team to play that way, which, when you consider his success at Valencia, is baffling.

Good question Alun, let's hope he answers it

[JohnDoe]

Listen mate, im very happy for you that your are well verse with the pen and you can use really big words but save them for a few of the plebs on here who are impressed with that ****. cos you see arseholes like me, get to see thru gob****es like you. why would you doubt that i sent the email? is it because soft ***** like yourself wouldnt have the guts to ask a bit of a tough question and revert back to what we achieved yesterday as being good enough instead of focusing on what can make us better or at least see what direction the manager is thinking. its a legitimate question to the manager and like i said earlier, if you cant enlighten me with that substitution then id politely ask you to shut the **** up

I had more problems with the way you conducted your question rather than the question itself, and it looked like a straight jab at Rafa and his "arse kissers", so I treated it with lack of respect. I think in the interest of raising the level of debate and not having unnecessary bad blood, I'll ignore the cussing and personal attack, I obviously pissed you off, it wasn't my intention. Next time I might be a bit more careful.

I did not rule out questioning Rafa's tactical decision, however I do find such questioning tedious and ungrounded because Rafa has proven plenty of times that he's an excellent in-game decision maker, and also because it's the area where any decision can be interpreted a thousand different ways. You also have to think about all the decisions Rafa has made that were "right", but all of them are usually unnoticed. Again, football isn't a science so you could always say "what could have been".

As for the substitutions, the way I saw it is that Benayoun was never intended to be brought on to play wide midfield in this game, and he indeed spent most of his time when he came on in the centre. Kuyt stayed on the right somewhat, while cutting inside whenever we had possession.

We looked a little like this:

------Gerrard--------Mascherano-------
------------Benayoun------------------
---Kuyt------Torres------Babel---------

Now if you ask yourself why was Kuyt 'out of position' and Benayoun was in the middle, the explanation makes sense. I did point out earlier in the thread that Gerrard had gone missing from the game and we didn't have a creative presence in the middle to dictate the play, so maybe Rafa's thinking was to bring Benayoun to play in the middle while still keeping an attacking formation with three strikers that could break Spurs down.

So in short:

1. Kuyt and Babel were both brought on to add more numbers near the box, sacrificing our wide midfielders in the hopes our full backs will push forward once we press spurs into their half.

2. Benayoun was brought on to add some more creativity and direction in midfield and improve our poor passing game, and he was located in a free role in the middle to maximize his input instead of being stuck out wide.

Of course, this is just my observation after watching the last 20 minutes again.

[Revo]

I had more problems with the way you conducted your question rather than the question itself, and it looked like a straight jab at Rafa and his "arse kissers", so I treated it with lack of respect. I think in the interest of raising the level of debate and not having unnecessary bad blood, I'll ignore the cussing and personal attack, I obviously pissed you off, it wasn't my intention. Next time I might be a bit more careful.

I did not rule out questioning Rafa's tactical decision, however I do find such questioning tedious and ungrounded because Rafa has proven plenty of times that he's an excellent in-game decision maker, and also because it's the area where any decision can be interpreted a thousand different ways. You also have to think about all the decisions Rafa has made that were "right", but all of them are usually unnoticed. Again, football isn't a science so you could always say "what could have been".

As for the substitutions, the way I saw it is that Benayoun was never intended to be brought on to play wide midfield in this game, and he indeed spent most of his time when he came on in the centre. Kuyt stayed on the right somewhat, while cutting inside whenever we had possession.

We looked a little like this:

------Gerrard--------Mascherano-------
------------Benayoun------------------
---Kuyt------Torres------Babel---------

Now if you ask yourself why was Kuyt 'out of position' and Benayoun was in the middle, the explanation makes sense. I did point out earlier in the thread that Gerrard had gone missing from the game and we didn't have a creative presence in the middle to dictate the play, so maybe Rafa's thinking was to bring Benayoun to play in the middle while still keeping an attacking formation with three strikers that could break Spurs down.

So in short:

1. Kuyt and Babel were both brought on to add more numbers near the box, sacrificing our wide midfielders in the hopes our full backs will push forward once we press spurs into their half.

2. Benayoun was brought on to add some more creativity and direction in midfield and improve our poor passing game, and he was located in a free role in the middle to maximize his input instead of being stuck out wide.

Of course, this is just my observation after watching the last 20 minutes again.

alls well that ends well

[JohnDoe]

Good

[Jacko]

jacko im all for rafa benitez and im fully on board with him running this ship and i hope me asking a question of him wouldnt be disguised as wanting him out, far from it. if i really wanted to take the manager to task id be spouting the ludicrous decisions of underestimating marseille midweek. the manager went with his line up, stuck with it and the players let him down. i would really love to know what the thought proccess was behind kuyt for pennant and not changing the shape of the team. nothing more nothing less

I was agreeing with you mate! I was just emphesising Al's point. I for one would love to know the thinking behind some of Rafa's desicions. Marseille being a prime example. Just don't think my style of writing is clear,

When you next at a game mate?

[kopdan]

Hi Rafa

Did you ever pat Pako's bald head Benny Hill style?

[tomasjj]

Hi Rafa

Did you ever pat Pako's bald head Benny Hill style?

Now, looks who is back.

Hope you are well.

[einar]

I'm interested in the discussion point Alun Parry raised. Why don't we pass it around?
There can only be 2 reasons: 1. Rafa doesn't want us to play this way or 2. There's a problem with the training methods.

I can't believe that it can take more than 3 seasons to change the approach of the team from the Houllier hoof to Rafa's passers. So the logical conclusion for me is that Rafa doesn't want the team to play that way, which, when you consider his success at Valencia, is baffling.

Good question Alun, let's hope he answers it

I have been thinking about a third reason.

What if Rafa wants his players to play the pass and move of old but does not want to tell them to.

I know this sounds silly but bear with me.

When he first took over he said that he did not belive in motivation. He prefers to create the best environment he can for his players to thrive in.

Some players dont have to be taught to pass and move, they learnt it at an early age and/or do it instinctually. The players we have now that do that are IMO Gerrard, Babel, Torres, Yossi, Mascherano and Kewell. You could make a case for one or two others but I think you see my point. These are all attacking players ( bar one ) and also the only attacking players we have that the other top four would even consider for their team. That is not a coincidence IMO. Players with that frame of mind and talent to go with it are usually very costly.

As can also be seen four of these players where brought in after the new investment, so I personally hope to see more of the same.

The player Rafa had at Valencia where simply more at home to this style and there for it was enough to give them the environment to shine and they did.

So what I´m saying is: We will see better football when Rafa has had more time with money to spend because he does not want to teach his players how to play free flowing attacking football.

Thoughts?

[alunevans]

einar

if thats the case thats not good management in my book.

he is there to provide direction in my view. i think almost all our players have the ability to play that kind of passing game, and those that don't are only useful in those games where we are outclassed and so might be expected to play a more obstructive type of game.

if there's a lad out there who is capable of passing the ball and capable of moving into space and he's not being directed to do it, then that would be a case of rafa being at fault.

i don't think this is what's happening though, but i'm not sure what is.

[carlton]

The fans pay Rafas wages. In the end, he is accountable to us.

id suggest the millions the tv companies put in also contribute. having said that if the fans turn on him he wouldnt last long would he?