Do you still have faith?

[Red_Al_77]

so explain Manu losing to West Ham. We've a way to go yet but we are moving in the right direction and building a youth set up that will in the future allow us to spend our budget on one or two big players instead of 6 lesser ones.

I was responding to 1979's comment that it is solely the player's fault.

Of course you will get the one offs where the team doesn't turn up or some dodgy decision affects the result. That will account for one or two weird results but we are not beating crappy teams consistently. You cannot just blame players when it goes wrong but the manager is bulletproof.

[Snigger]

I was responding to 1979's comment that it is solely the player's fault.

Of course you will get the one offs where the team doesn't turn up or some dodgy decision affects the result. That will account for one or two weird results but we are not beating crappy teams consistently. You cannot just blame players when it goes wrong but the manager is bulletproof.

of course not, somtimes the team plays badly somtime the manager gets the selection wrong. We didn't beat Wigan because Rafa had 5 in midfield with 2 holding midfielders at home to a **** team like Wigan. That had nothing to do with the players, the formation and team selection was so wrong it was unbelievable.

[Red_Al_77]

of course not, somtimes the team plays badly somtime the manager gets the selection wrong. We didn't beat Wigan because Rafa had 5 in midfield with 2 holding midfielders at home to a **** team like Wigan. That had nothing to do with the players, the formation and team selection was so wrong it was unbelievable.

Well then we are in agreement. However there is also an underlying malaise which finds us incapable of beating other crappy teams. Is Rafa capable of solving this issue? As yet I see no evidence of any killer instinct in our team when it comes to the PL...consistently. The top two year on year batter the likes of Wigan and Reading. This season we are no more potent than Citeh, Villa, Everton, and to a lesser extent Portsmouth.

[el matador]

of course not, somtimes the team plays badly somtime the manager gets the selection wrong. We didn't beat Wigan because Rafa had 5 in midfield with 2 holding midfielders at home to a **** team like Wigan. That had nothing to do with the players, the formation and team selection was so wrong it was unbelievable.

have to agree with all of that. the formation that he used would be a decent away formation at a top to mid-table side.

i have lost faith in rafa and expect him to be gone by the beginning of the new season. Yet another false dawn...

[CanadianRed]

Faith that he'll win us the league? No, I'm sorry to say. In cups? Sure, because his tactics are perfect for those competitions. But, I want the league above all, so sadly, I have to vote no.

[glynner]

I'm all for giving Rafa 5 full seasons in charge, and adequately backing him in the market.

We have improved as a team since he joined us no doubt - his zonal marking system has turned our defense into one of the League's best, and I feel confident with how we deal with set pieces, something I never used to.

On the negative side, Rafa needs to throw caution to the wind a little more, and go for the jugular against inferior opposition.

We're 3/4 players away from being a title winning team, though, and we won't get any better unless we sign players that actually improve our first 11 (rather than squad fodder).

Rafa's far from perfect, but there's less than a handful of available managers on earth who could do a better job than him with Liverpool.

[Helios Creed]

I'm all for giving Rafa 5 full seasons in charge, and adequately backing him in the market.

We have improved as a team since he joined us no doubt - his zonal marking system has turned our defense into one of the League's best, and I feel confident with how we deal with set pieces, something I never used to.

On the negative side, Rafa needs to throw caution to the wind a little more, and go for the jugular against inferior opposition.

We're 3/4 players away from being a title winning team, though, and we won't get any better unless we sign players that actually improve our first 11 (rather than squad fodder).

Rafa's far from perfect, but there's less than a handful of available managers on earth who could do a better job than him with Liverpool.

He's also sorted out our away form this season. Now if he can just get our home form back to the level of last season...

[glynner]

That's one of the baffling things about us under Benitez.

We took our excellent home form from last season, and converted it into cracking away form this season. But we just can't seem to kill off "lesser" teams at home this year.

When we're on form, we truly are a joy to watch (like against Newcastle). But equally we can be as frustrating as trying to scratch your balls with your hands tied behind your back.

[Helios Creed]

That's one of the baffling things about us under Benitez.

We took our excellent home form from last season, and converted it into cracking away form this season. But we just can't seem to kill off "lesser" teams at home this year.

When we're on form, we truly are a joy to watch (like against Newcastle). But equally we can be as frustrating as trying to scratch your balls with your hands tied behind your back.

I just watched the highlights and was sort of encouraged (especially after reading all the comments on here) - we weren't far away from winning by 4 or more. I don't think we're as far off as it seems. Compare that performance to some of the really bad ones from previous seasons, when we didn't look like scoring at all.

[mick the click]

I just watched the highlights and was sort of encouraged (especially after reading all the comments on here) - we weren't far away from winning by 4 or more. I don't think we're as far off as it seems. Compare that performance to some of the really bad ones from previous seasons, when we didn't look like scoring at all.

We weren't as bad as some people think last night - we were close to a 3 or 4 goal margin. It was (is) irritating though.

[desertscouser]

Where's El Matajo these days??

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

Where's El Matajo these days??

He finally saw the cold light of day and hung himself.

[desertscouser]

He finally saw the cold light of day and hung himself.

He was pretty insane.

[Mr Tourette]

unsure.

But like many fans i cant see a better candidate for the job. Hes bought himself favour with the fans for the teams remarkable exploits in Europe. We also have perhaps the best squad of players weve had for years, miles ahead of anything Houllier assembled and whatever people say - we are infintely more attractive than we used to be under GH. unfortunately everyone else has progressed light years and the premier league is now the best there is.

So while he has done the job in europe and brought in a couple of world class players he remains a failure in the domestic league. we consistantly come out worse against the other top sides and his tactical tinkering and rotation drives me to distraction.

If the bloke stops worrying about the opposition and sends out the best team to win a football match by playing attacking football, we might get somewhere. The issue is slightly confused by the fact that he has not been backed 100% in the transfer market, but without getting into the maths - hes not been significantly hard done to in this respect.

I cant keep getting myself out of bed at 3am to watch some of the ****e ive been watching, so i just hope we dont continue to tamely surrender points against teams like wigan. Heartbreaking.

[Howard_lfc]

FWIW I voted no. Sad but true.