Do you still have faith?

[Reina]

No.

[Taffy]

FWIW I voted no. Sad but true.

How very dare you!

[Jazzmaster]

I think everyone is allowed a bit of kneejerkism after a draw to lowly wigan at anfield. Its hard to stomach at the best of times, never mind when we're already chasing the premiership leaders. The performance wasnt necessarily awful, but it did not reach the heights we expect from a home game at anfield. Whatever the reason, tiredness, inability to exploit the flanks, it happened and its over with. We didnt lose, but lost points on arsenal, chelsea and united.

In the poll yesterday, i answered same to the effect that I had lost faith in rafa benitez. Upon reflection though, nothing could be further from the truth. Rafa Benitez has done a fantastic job of restructuring the club from the bottom up and we will be reaping the rewards of this work for years to come. The high achievements of the youth squad so far this season gives great hope for the future of the team. He has also transformed the first team squad, bringing in ever better players as each season progresses, reina, alonso, mascherano, torres. All world class additions to the squad. All this was achieved in the wake of the destructive houllier era, where a sub-standard scouting system brought average player after average player into the first team arena.

Of course Benitez has not been faultless in the transfer market, but being severly limited in funds up until this season, he has not really been able to purchase any of his primary targets apart from Mr Torres, whose unending class is visible to all. Pennant, Kuyt, Bellamy, Voronin - none of these players would be wearing liverpool shirts if LFC had the access to the funds of Chelase and United. Arsenal remain the exception to the high spending rule, but, as iterated above, Benitez is emulating this by putting in place a very strong youth system.

Benitez is a clever man. He quickly realised that on his budget, a large squad of decent players was better and buying one or two top quality players because it allowed the team to cope better with injuries and high demands on the players bodies in busy periods such as Christmas. It doesnt always work, because in tight games where the team isnt playing particularly well, it only takes a moment of quality from a top player to win a game. We only really have two players that fit into this category, SG and FT, whereas our other Big Four competitors have many.

So is fourth place where we deserve to be? Strictly speaking all things considered, probably yes. Granted the squad is proably underachieveing at the moment and certainly we should be jostling with Chelsea for that 3rd place position and I expect that we still might be doing that come the end of the season. 3rd place would be a very satisfactory positon for the club this year, if still someway from our hearts' desire of No19.

Benitez is the right man.

[Frank Leroux]

.....
In the poll yesterday, i answered same to the effect that I had lost faith in rafa benitez. Upon reflection though, nothing could be further from the truth. Rafa Benitez has done a fantastic job of restructuring the club from the bottom up and we will be reaping the rewards of this work for years to come. The high achievements of the youth squad so far this season gives great hope for the future of the team. He has also transformed the first team squad, bringing in ever better players as each season progresses, reina, alonso, mascherano, torres. All world class additions to the squad. All this was achieved in the wake of the destructive houllier era, where a sub-standard scouting system brought average player after average player into the first team arena. Completely agree with this.

Of course Benitez has not been faultless in the transfer market, but being severly limited in funds up until this season, he has not really been able to purchase any of his primary targets apart from Mr Torres, whose unending class is visible to all. Pennant, Kuyt, Bellamy, Voronin - none of these players would be wearing liverpool shirts if LFC had the access to the funds of Chelase and United. Arsenal remain the exception to the high spending rule, but, as iterated above, Benitez is emulating this by putting in place a very strong youth system. I think Benitez has been very good on transfers in general.

Benitez is a clever man. He quickly realised that on his budget, a large squad of decent players was better and buying one or two top quality players because it allowed the team to cope better with injuries and high demands on the players bodies in busy periods such as Christmas. It doesnt always work, because in tight games where the team isnt playing particularly well, it only takes a moment of quality from a top player to win a game. We only really have two players that fit into this category, SG and FT, whereas our other Big Four competitors have many. This is where I think my opinion diverges from yours. Surely a manager should build a team, then a squad? Surely he plays his best team and where circumstances allow/require changes are made (be it mid-game, mid week, or mid-season). This idea of trying to play a group of players to accomodate something which may happen in the future (injuries, contention across a number of competitions, etc.) runs the risk of what has, and is, happening - your chances for the major target(?) disappears early.

The above is one of the two or three major problems I have with Benitez's methods.

And why I voted no.

[dww]

FWIW I voted no. Sad but true.

Is it because he dropped Riise?

[Harv]

I know there are threads about Rafa's future, but I wanted to see in simple, numerical terms where this site stands on the future of Rafa Benitez.

Simple question. Is he still the man for the job? Not "let's see where we are in the summer". Do you, TODAY, think he has a long-term future as LFC manager.

I have faith in him.

He has a clear plan, he just needs the backing to get it done in a time frame in which our fans are happy with. He has his spine sorted, he just needs the wide players.

[CAD]

1 point progress:

Next game: Away to Boro - 0-0 draw
This Year:
P W D L F A Pts
20 10 8 2 34 13 38
Last year:
P W D L F A Pts
20 11 4 5 36 12 37
Sunderland for Watford
Derby for Charlton
Birmignham for Sheffield United

[Pacman]

David Johnson has hit back at those who have already written off Liverpool's season and declared: "There's no crisis at Anfield."
Despite kicking off the new year with a disappointing home draw with Wigan, the former Reds' striker is adamant the future is bright at Anfield and that the sense of frustration among fans after dropping four points over the festive period will soon be turned around.

"There were great expectations that we would start the second half of the season with a win but unfortunately football doesn't always work like that," said Johnson on LFC TV's 'This is Anfield' show.

"It was a hard game for us but we should have won. On the night we just didn't take our chances, Wigan had one shot and came away with a point.

"If you look back at the Manchester United game a couple of weeks ago we restricted them to one shot as well but they went away with the victory. That's how difficult it can be at times.

"There's no crisis at the club though. In fact things couldn't be better at the moment. We have new owners and new faces within the club, it's just that results aren't quite going our way.

"There is frustration among the supporters but that's only because we haven't been taking our chances. We're called supporters because we support our team through thick and thin and will always continue to do so."
Johnson also points to the stunning performances of record signing Fernando Torres as a main reason why Liverpool fans can look forward to a transformation in fortunes sooner rather than later.

"If you were to describe the perfect striker then you'd want someone with a good physique who can use his left and right foot. You'd want him to have pace, be brave, intelligent and be good in the air. That's Fernando Torres.

"Of course you also want him to be scoring goals and he's producing there as well. I'm delighted with Fernando, he's a great asset for us and will be in the future."

[Jazzmaster]

In the poll yesterday, i answered same to the effect that I had lost faith in rafa benitez. Upon reflection though, nothing could be further from the truth. Rafa Benitez has done a fantastic job of restructuring the club from the bottom up and we will be reaping the rewards of this work for years to come. The high achievements of the youth squad so far this season gives great hope for the future of the team. He has also transformed the first team squad, bringing in ever better players as each season progresses, reina, alonso, mascherano, torres. All world class additions to the squad. All this was achieved in the wake of the destructive houllier era, where a sub-standard scouting system brought average player after average player into the first team arena. Completely agree with this.

Of course Benitez has not been faultless in the transfer market, but being severly limited in funds up until this season, he has not really been able to purchase any of his primary targets apart from Mr Torres, whose unending class is visible to all. Pennant, Kuyt, Bellamy, Voronin - none of these players would be wearing liverpool shirts if LFC had the access to the funds of Chelase and United. Arsenal remain the exception to the high spending rule, but, as iterated above, Benitez is emulating this by putting in place a very strong youth system. I think Benitez has been very good on transfers in general.
Benitez is a clever man. He quickly realised that on his budget, a large squad of decent players was better and buying one or two top quality players because it allowed the team to cope better with injuries and high demands on the players bodies in busy periods such as Christmas. It doesnt always work, because in tight games where the team isnt playing particularly well, it only takes a moment of quality from a top player to win a game. We only really have two players that fit into this category, SG and FT, whereas our other Big Four competitors have many. This is where I think my opinion diverges from yours. Surely a manager should build a team, then a squad? Surely he plays his best team and where circumstances allow/require changes are made (be it mid-game, mid week, or mid-season). This idea of trying to play a group of players to accomodate something which may happen in the future (injuries, contention across a number of competitions, etc.) runs the risk of what has, and is, happening - your chances for the major target(?) disappears early.

The above is one of the two or three major problems I have with Benitez's methods.

And why I voted no.

I see your point alright. But what else does one do without the appropriate funds to get the players to build that team? I think now that the funds are (supposedly) available we should see more of Benitez' original vision for the team.

[Kenneth]

""There is frustration among the supporters but that's only because we haven't been taking our chances. We're called supporters because we support our team through thick and thin and will always continue to do so." "

Imagine if Torres got a serious injury in the next match. We'd have crouch, if Rafa decided to play him, or Kuyt and the crow, with babel playing the odd game. Would be a big problem.

[CAD]

I see your point alright. But what else does one do without the appropriate funds to get the players to build that team? I think now that the funds are (supposedly) available we should see more of Benitez' original vision for the team.

The 'lack of funds' argument. He didn't get enough cash to build a team that can beat Brum and Wigan at home? Or Spurs for that matter. Or Reading away.

There is so much more to this than funding.

8 draws this season! I think the tactics might be a little off.

[Jazzmaster]

8 draws this season! I think the players might be a little off.

When Gerrard and Torres dont score, there are precious few others who pop up with goals when it really counts.....

[CAD]

When Gerrard and Torres dont score, there are precious few others who pop up with goals when it really counts.....

So he drops a striker and moves the only goalthreat at CM up as the 2nd striker. Fields two nonescoring wingers and hopes for the best.

Here is a man who has said time and time again that he would rather have five players scoring 10 each than two scoring 40 or 50 combined. Yet that is exactly what he gets this master strategist.

[Kenneth]

When Gerrard and Torres dont score, there are precious few others who pop up with goals when it really counts.....

We don't get enough players in the box, arriving at the right time. When we set ourselves up for crosses, we don't play crouch, or play 1 up front.

A combination of tactics and our style of play (coaching) is inhibiting us from reaching the potential in our squad imo.

[Jazzmaster]

So he drops a striker and moves the only goalthreat at CM up as the 2nd striker. Fields two nonescoring wingers and hopes for the best.

Here is a man who has said time and time again that he would rather have five players scoring 10 each than two scoring 40 or 50 combined. Yet that is exactly what he gets this master strategist.

That team should have won the match at a canter. Plenty chances not enuf goals. Kuyt has been no goal threat anyway so he most likely wouldnt have made any difference. I do think he should have started crouch though.