Back Rafa.. or the Kop wilderness years could stretch on to eternity(Reade)

[Guest]

And as much as some may think that Kuyt is **** and that we paid over the odds for him, I think he has been an excellent signing for us. It's just that what he does isn't spectacular or gets noticed. His game isn't based on all flair and skill and I think Rafa bought him for just that i.e Doing what he does, non stop running and creating space for others.

It would be good to keep him as a pure squad player, when we buy more quality forwards.

[Jesus]

Case in point, City finished 26 odd points behind us last season, Sven spends only 5 million more than Rafa in the summer and they are currently looking down on us in the table.

It's how you spend your money, and Rafa went for quantity and average bench warmers over quality.

You can argue all day about needing this and that, but we'd finished with 82 points the previous season and in his lust to implement his rotation system decided to bring in Kuyt, Bellamy, and Pennant, none of whom are good enough. That's when it all started to go wrong. He should have secured Alves and then seen how much was left over for a striker.

I mean, is Kuyt really any better than Morientes, who we sold that summer? We could have had Morientes, Crouch, Bellamy and Pongolle up front, and Alves on the right, sorting out our right side for years to come in the process.

Now we're stuck with more average unwanted ****e.

[Jesus]

And as much as some may think that Kuyt is **** and that we paid over the odds for him, I think he has been an excellent signing for us.

[Red_hot]

Terrible, terrible article.

Why?

[Kopite_Colin]

But when you are given £30m you have to decide how to spend it. If you need 6 positions filling then you have to split the cash 6 ways.

That logic is debateable depending uopon your point of view. Rather than splitting it 6 ways it may be better to split it 2-3 ways buy much more quality in those (potentially key) positions and use the youngsters to fill the other gaps. That's potentially the difference between winning and losing. Having enough quality players to create something out of nothing (i.e. those who are capable of performing at the top level) and "filling" the other positions with youngsters who may not be that much below the "average" standard players that you would have otherwise bought for those positions. If nothing else their natural youthful exuberance may offset any lack of ability / knowledge that the otherwise "average" player may have had.

This is excatly what we setttled for when we got Pennant & Bellamy instead of buying real quality and look where it's got us: we're still looking for a goalscoring striker and a quality wide man.

[Guest]

Would you swap him for Elano ?

[Jesus]

That logic is debateable depending uopon your point of view. Rather than splitting it 6 ways it may be better to split it 2-3 ways buy much more quality in those (potentially key) positions and use the youngsters to fill the other gaps. That's potentially the difference between winning and losing. Having enough quality players to create something out of nothing (i.e. those who are capable of performing at the top level) and "filling" the other positions with youngsters who may not be that much below the "average" standard players that you would have otherwise bought for those positions. If nothing else their natural youthful exuberance may offset any lack of ability / knowledge that the otherwise "average" player may have had.

This is excatly what we setttled for when we got Pennant & Bellamy instead of buying real quality and look where it's got us: we're still looking for a goalscoring striker and a quality wide man.

Exactomundo.

He got it badly wrong that summer.

****ing annoys me to think we missed out on Alves just so we could pad out the squad with inferior players. Fat lot of good that did anyway.

Imagine adding Torres to a team already consisting of Alves and Simao?

Rafa only has himself to blame.

[Jesus]

Would you swap him for Elano ?

In a heartbeat.

[Guest]

Exactomundo.

He got it badly wrong that summer.

****ing annoys me to think we missed out on Alves just so we could pad out the squad with inferior players. Fat lot of good that did anyway.

Imagine adding Torres to a team already consisting of Alves and Simao?

Rafa only has himself to blame.

How could he get Alves ?? They wouldn't sell him. He's still at Sevilla.

We wouldn't be able to compete to buy this lad.

[Red Chilli]

Why?

Well it's just my opinion, but he's exaggerating and speculating on things going on with the board but he's playing down the poor performance of us in the league. It's totally imbalanced eg:

The most depressing sound coming out of Anfield this week was not the boos from the stands or the desperate words from Rafa Benitez about the title still being winnable.

It was the eerie silence from the men who run the club. A silence which continues to deafen.

It was far more depressing hearing the boos.

When the new owners handed David Moores £88million last February, they also tossed the fans some bold pledges: "This club is not far from being the best in the world. That's what we want. We need to look at all the resources we possibly can, to compete with Manchester and Chelsea", said George Gillett. And many Kopites believed that paradise was about to be regained.

A year on, those fans are still in purgatory, completely in the dark as to the thoughts going through the heads of the club's selfstyled "custodians".

So does he want more soundbites? It sounds like he just wants them to confirm the rumours he's hearing.

There have been soundbites and flattery but little else. The new stadium plans, which were unveiled in July, have been ripped up on cost grounds. There are stories that the debt incurred in the takeover will have to be piled on to the club, Glazer-style.

Scare-mongering at it's worst. Stadium plans "ripped up?" err what? Rumours of them piling debt on Glazer-style. Heaven forbid we were as uncompetitive as the SCUM have ben since that takeover

Despite reaching two European Cup Finals in three years, Benitez is frozen out due to an ill-judged outburst, and is unsure how much, if any, cash he has for the January transfer window.

Speculation not classified as such. How does he know what Rafa knows about his budget? Frozen out? What a dramatic piece of nonsense. An ill-judged outburst, well that's the sugar-coated description.

One of the few world-class players, Javier Mascherano, is left in limbo, with nobody prepared to say if the club will pay the going rate for him despite his desperation to stay. Every draw (not defeat) sparks speculation about Benitez's future, fuelled by informed sources saying the owners want him out before next season

Informed sources = made up stories.
As for no-one being prepared to say whether the club will pay the going rate, why the hell should they tell the press what they are prepared to pay, surely they want to negociate the best price

[Guest]

In a heartbeat.

I don't think he has a much better record than Kuyt. And he did nothing when we outplayed them last Sunday. Kuyt was the better player of the 2.

I think it's unfair looking at one player in isolation.

[Jesus]

How could he get Alves ?? They wouldn't sell him. He's still at Sevilla.

Last I heard they wanted 18 million and Rafa decided to pull the plug.

Kuyt + Pennant.

[Kopite_Colin]

Depending upion who you believe, there were reports that we'd agreed a fee, only the structure of the deal remained to be sorted out. they then upped the proce last minute by a million or so, and we wouldn't / couldn't go any higher. But when you have the chance (and are so close) to secure such a talent, deal structures and 1-2 m more shouldn't stop you. The lad has been class for 3 years now. Imagine the quality coming into the box from him had we had him in our side for the last 2 years.

Him or Pennant & Bellamy. No contest.

[Red Chilli]

continued...

Well Texans like plain speaking, so here's some. If taking over Liverpool now looks like an expensive error, own up and sell. If you don't want Benitez, sack him instead of waiting for him to sack himself. If you believe in the Spaniard, then honour your pledge to the fans and give him licence to compete at the top end of the January transfer window

This journo's agenda is clear

Despite some terrible home form and bucketloads of hysteria, Liverpool aren't that far behind Manchester United. But there is a crucial factor holding them back. Alex Ferguson has superior quality all over his squad, meaning when he rotates (which he does as much as Benitez) he gets away with it.

Not that far behind? How far do you want to be?

[Guest]

Last I heard they wanted 18 million and Rafa decided to pull the plug.

Kuyt + Pennant.

Well he got 2 players for 2 positions instead of splashing out on one. If he had the money he would have bought Alves as well.