Rafa had on off day?

[brightred]

God I was so pissed off on Saturday evening.

The refs decisions, rafas decisions...

I was mad, so mad.....I even started to doubt Rafa.

Then I started to think.........

We all make mistakes

Maybe Rafa isn't perfect

But he's as near to perfect as we're going to get

[Bari]

If yesterday was a boxing match and Rafa was the trainer of a (former) heavyweight champion he had chucked the towel in.

[Dhav]

Click on all the links on Newsnow, especially the links to the articles the broadsheets are publishing tomorrow and see all the criticism aimed at Rafa from the hacks. It's pathetic if you ask me, the man is becoming an easy target. Yet if Carra hadn't been so reckless, if the ref wasn't so blind, if Gerrard wasn''t so hell bent on steaming in to give the foul away, it would have been a different story.

Then you have the hacks going on about how it was heresy for Rafa to take of Carra, Gerrard and Torres, tantamount to waving the white flag, ignoring the fact that Torres had a knock and that a failure to win on Tues could cost him his job.

It's time to ignore the media exaggerration and sensationalism and instead focus on supporting our manager.

[Harv]

All the Rafa bashing the last 24hrs is quite sad actually.

What happened to the "As always we will focus on supporting our manager" that was writen all over these boards the last fortnight.

There are some seriously delusional fans on these boards.

We lost yesterday beacause of three things. The ref, Carraghers stupid needless tackle, and Gerrards stupid lunge.

It became pretty obvious that it was just one of those days pretty early on. Nothing was going our way. **** happens, lucky for us **** also happened to Arsenal.

This week is massive for us, and if we let this little blip get to us we will be in for a tough week.

I cant wait for the Marseille game

[Craig_H]

Well yesterday hasnt changed my viewpoint.

[Dhav]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you the Voice of Reason....

All the Rafa bashing the last 24hrs is quite sad actually.

What happened to the "As always we will focus on supporting our manager" that was writen all over these boards the last fortnight.

There are some seriously delusional fans on these boards.

We lost yesterday beacause of three things. The ref, Carraghers stupid needless tackle, and Gerrards stupid lunge.

It became pretty obvious that it was just one of those days pretty early on. Nothing was going our way. **** happens, lucky for us **** also happened to Arsenal.

This week is massive for us, and if we let this little blip get to us we will be in for a tough week.

I cant wait for the Marseille game

Amen brother

[bigfooty]

We lost yesterday beacause of three things. The ref, Carraghers stupid needless tackle, and Gerrards stupid lunge.

It became pretty obvious that it was just one of those days pretty early on. Nothing was going our way.

I agree some things went against us in the game, but from the off playing 4-3-3 with Crouch on the left was ridiculous. A complete brainfart. In a 4-3-3 formation your left and right sided players tend to be extremely mobile, pacey with the ability to dribble. The most recent example of this in the Premiership is Chelsea where it's been players like Robben, Cole, Duff, SWP and so on playing off Drogba. Rafa's version? Crouch and Voronin off Torres?

And as for it being pretty obvious nothing was going our way. There is a solution. Make changes. Do something about it. Recognise you've ****ed up and sort it out. Don't just give up and think about the next game. Rafa is a horrible manager at being pro-active in games with things such as subs and anyone who believes differently clearly hasn't followed our club since he took charge.

[MascheredUp]

**** me. Some people really need to get a grip.

We lost our first league game of the season on December 9th.

Let me repeat that, December 9th.

Sometimes you get things go against you like yesterday.

We were the much better team throughout and completely dominated the game after we equalised.

I watched the Manc derby earlier on this season.

Utd completely dominated the match, City scored with a deflected shot and got the three points.

**** happens for ****s sake.

Bring on Marseille!!!

[Dhav]

Don't just give up and think about the next game.

Ordinarily I'd agree, but when not winning that next match could conceivably cost you your job, then I don't think he can be blamed in this instance.

Incidentally, I'd like to add I agree with MascheredUp on the whole (although not sure if we were the best team throughout but certainly Reading were no great shakes)

[Dhav]

I agree some things went against us in the game, but from the off playing 4-3-3 with Crouch on the left was ridiculous. A complete brainfart. In a 4-3-3 formation your left and right sided players tend to be extremely mobile, pacey with the ability to dribble. The most recent example of this in the Premiership is Chelsea where it's been players like Robben, Cole, Duff, SWP and so on playing off Drogba. Rafa's version? Crouch and Voronin off Torres?

And as for it being pretty obvious nothing was going our way. There is a solution. Make changes. Do something about it. Recognise you've ****ed up and sort it out. Don't just give up and think about the next game. Rafa is a horrible manager at being pro-active in games with things such as subs and anyone who believes differently clearly hasn't followed our club since he took charge.

Well Hansen doesn't agree with you:-http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mai.../sfnhan110.xml

Liverpool's season rests on next two games

By Alan Hansen
Last Updated: 2:15am GMT 10/12/2007



You could argue that we are going into the biggest week in the history of Liverpool Football Club. The importance of tomorrow's concluding Champions League group fixture in Marseille cannot be overstated and it is followed by a massive Premier League meeting with Manchester United.


Liverpool's short-term future is going to be determined by these two games. Ideally you would not want the defining moments of a season to come as early as December but that is what's happening.


Anything short of victory in Europe followed by the wrong result against United will subject those at my old club to a long, hard, dreary winter with little to play for. This is the last thing that they would have wanted.

Two wins, on the other hand, will set them up for the rest of the season. They will be right back in the race for the title and they will have the knockout stages of the Champions League to look forward to in the new year. I believe that they will respond to the situation they find themselves in and get the results they need to ease the pressure on those both on and off the pitch.

It is crucial that they have a healthy outlook in place at a time when manager Rafael Benitez is supposedly at odds with the club's American owners and revenue is required to cover the cost of building an expensive new stadium.

It would be catastrophic if before Christmas they went out of the Champions League and fell too far behind United and Arsenal to make their championship ambitions unrealistic, because all the recent issues would come back to haunt them. That is why I wrote a week ago that the dispute between Benitez and the owners should never have been allowed to get into the public domain.
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The unexpected defeat at Reading on Saturday has intensified the pressure. It was a match they should have won - and I still don't know how they didn't win it - and the three points would have provided something of a cushion against the possibility of Champions League failure.

Losing at the Madejski leaves them six points behind United, albeit with a game in hand, and leaves them vulnerable to falling too far off the pace should United go to Anfield and win.

Had they won, they would have been thinking now of closing the gap on United and that would have appeased supporters in the event of a Champions League disappointment - not that I think they will fail in the south of France tomorrow.

The Reading result has meant all the old criticisms are resurfacing with Benitez's so-called rotation policy back under the microscope. Reading are a gutsy team and they are managed by a superb tactician in Steve Coppell, but I watched the match and Liverpool should have won it.

I don't think the manager's tinkering had anything to do with them losing in the Premier League for the first time this season, but it does not stop the detractors from having their say because that is how it is at Liverpool. They are a big club and are always big news.

Benitez brought off his captain, Steven Gerrard, at the point when he thought the match was lost. He also substituted his two other key players - Fernando Torres and Jamie Carragher - to stress how much importance he is putting on the match tomorrow.

Some might argue that to be 3-1 down away from home with 20 minutes to go is not an irretrievable situation and will accuse Benitez of sacrificing potentially valuable league points but Benitez made those difficult decisions because he thought it was the right thing to do.

All managers stand and fall by those kind of key decisions they have to make and a win in Marseille will enable him to say that it was indeed the right thing to do. Defeat, though, would leave him open to even more criticism.

I don't think Benitez's immediate future will be under threat if the next two results go against him but a lot, of course, depends on how the forthcoming meeting with owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett goes.

Personally I think Benitez has done a good job and the fans are certainly behind him as they demonstrated when organising a protest march on his behalf before the last European game against Porto.

But everything ultimately depends on what happens on the pitch. Defeats lead to uncertainty which in turn creates conflict and friction and the mood at Anfield will vary enormously on what happens over the next six days.

[Nicey]

All the Rafa bashing the last 24hrs is quite sad actually.

What happened to the "As always we will focus on supporting our manager" that was writen all over these boards the last fortnight.

There are some seriously delusional fans on these boards.

We lost yesterday beacause of three things. The ref, Carraghers stupid needless tackle, and Gerrards stupid lunge.

It became pretty obvious that it was just one of those days pretty early on. Nothing was going our way. **** happens, lucky for us **** also happened to Arsenal.

This week is massive for us, and if we let this little blip get to us we will be in for a tough week.

I cant wait for the Marseille game

I was speaking to my mate who is a Manc unfortunately about the numpties on this site and he told me its exactly the same on the Manc sites .. so much so he does not bother any more. I wish I could do the same but overall I enjoy the interactions on these boards. Just pathetic the lack of support or the ease which some "supporters" find it easy to turn on their own.

[Diego]

All the Rafa bashing the last 24hrs is quite sad actually.

What happened to the "As always we will focus on supporting our manager" that was writen all over these boards the last fortnight.

There are some seriously delusional fans on these boards.

We lost yesterday beacause of three things. The ref, Carraghers stupid needless tackle, and Gerrards stupid lunge.

It became pretty obvious that it was just one of those days pretty early on. Nothing was going our way. **** happens, lucky for us **** also happened to Arsenal.

This week is massive for us, and if we let this little blip get to us we will be in for a tough week.

I cant wait for the Marseille game

i also talked about it yesterday that, when we win it's never because of him but always because of individual players, but he's always to blame when we loose. it's not a balanced view. it's silly to be honest.

[Harv]

I agree some things went against us in the game, but from the off playing 4-3-3 with Crouch on the left was ridiculous. A complete brainfart. In a 4-3-3 formation your left and right sided players tend to be extremely mobile, pacey with the ability to dribble. The most recent example of this in the Premiership is Chelsea where it's been players like Robben, Cole, Duff, SWP and so on playing off Drogba. Rafa's version? Crouch and Voronin off Torres?

And as for it being pretty obvious nothing was going our way. There is a solution. Make changes. Do something about it. Recognise you've ****ed up and sort it out. Don't just give up and think about the next game. Rafa is a horrible manager at being pro-active in games with things such as subs and anyone who believes differently clearly hasn't followed our club since he took charge.

i guess he ****ed up when he brought Didi on in Istanbul too

Face the facts everybody has off days....its life. We lost our first game of the season on the 8th of december. If you had of offered that to people on here in August 100% would have taken it.

This statement that Crouch was playing on the left is a bit misleading IMO. He wasnt playing on the wing at all. Riise was playing in a wingback style ala AC Milan......its just that he is ****, and his final deleivery is woeful 90% of the time. Crouch WAS on the left side of the pitch, but he was still very central, if you know what i mean.

Our eyes were clearly on Tuesday in thsi game, it was obvious.

But lets not ruin a pretty decent season so far over a dodgy ref at a plucky Reading.

We are still right in the mix

[Guest]

What happened on saturday hasn't changed my viewpoint. We'll win the league with Rafa. Haven't bothered browsing the site after saturday night anyway, as I'd knew the sharks would be there once again. It was an off day ... Move on.

[Harv]

I was speaking to my mate who is a Manc unfortunately about the numpties on this site and he told me its exactly the same on the Manc sites .. so much so he does not bother any more. I wish I could do the same but overall I enjoy the interactions on these boards. Just pathetic the lack of support or the ease which some "supporters" find it easy to turn on their own.

I dont really post that much in here anymore...mainly stick to the music forum and the gaming forum.

Its quite depressing in here sometimes, so i just stay clear from getting into arguements. Ive got a quick temper, so its best that way