Rafa Benitez - the science of winning

[El Jefecito]

...

[DannyMan2006]

What I will add to this debate is that what ever Rafa says I believe he is prioritising the Premier League this year.

Against Atletico away he took off Gerrard, Alonso and Keane and basically sacrificed the 3 points. I doubt he would have done that before.

Yes Alonso had a slight knock, but he could have got through it. Gerrard was tired, but I bet he could have got through it. Same goes for Keane who managed to play against Chelsea for 60 minutes before taking him off. He now looks set to miss the Pompey game.

In previous seasons I think Rafa would have kept them on and rested them in the following Premier League games.

As for Rafa having a five year plan, that's bollocks. He'd have outlined a long term plan to Moores and Parry but he has never mentioned it.

Is Rafa intelligent, yes he is. Tactical genius, yes of course. Did he know what was required to succeed in the premier league when he joined LFC? No he did not. But he has learnt and will still be doing so.

Tell you what, I see all this 20 points of the title bollocks and it's all rubbish. We were never good enough to win the league but if we had not prioritised other competitions we would have finished a lot closer. But that would have cost us in other competitions so good on Rafa.

[slimbimjim]

With Rafa's science based approach, I wonder if he needed 3 or 4 years of statistical analysis in order to work out the mainstays of the Premier League and this could also be the reason we struggle against the newly promoted teams - Rafa has no data on them!

Just a silly thought but I wanted to share it with you.

[slimbimjim]

Don't be a whopper.

Royale with Cheese

I'm hungry now...

[rage]

What I will add to this debate is that what ever Rafa says I believe he is prioritising the Premier League this year.

Against Atletico away he took off Gerrard, Alonso and Keane and basically sacrificed the 3 points. I doubt he would have done that before.

Yes Alonso had a slight knock, but he could have got through it. Gerrard was tired, but I bet he could have got through it. Same goes for Keane who managed to play against Chelsea for 60 minutes before taking him off. He now looks set to miss the Pompey game.

In previous seasons I think Rafa would have kept them on and rested them in the following Premier League games.

As for Rafa having a five year plan, that's bollocks. He'd have outlined a long term plan to Moores and Parry but he has never mentioned it.

Is Rafa intelligent, yes he is. Tactical genius, yes of course. Did he know what was required to succeed in the premier league when he joined LFC? No he did not. But he has learnt and will still be doing so.

Tell you what, I see all this 20 points of the title bollocks and it's all rubbish. We were never good enough to win the league but if we had not prioritised other competitions we would have finished a lot closer. But that would have cost us in other competitions so good on Rafa.

well said

[bobbyfallon]

You make it sound sooo easy dont you. Just play the same 11 every week. How could Rafa be so stupid not to realise what a handful of armchair generals on here know to be fact?

Rafa rotates for a reason. He's not stupid mate. We always seem to finish the season very strongly under Rafa and a lot of that is put down to rotation. And guess what, the teams we're playing against in the second half of the season are full of 23 years olds.

We've stopped rotating as much this season - who's to say we wont have a poor finish this year? Time will tell. I trust Rafa to get the balance right though.

I am sorry mate, I dont mean to come across as having a go, it just really ****s me off when people trivialise something they dont really have the first clue about. What I'm basically saying is that if it was as simple as picking the same 11 every week dont you think that someone of Rafa's intelligence would be doing it?

i dont mean play the same 11 every week what i am getting at is rest them for carling cup vs anyone - fa cup against lower league teams - champions league when already qualified.

that should be sufficient rest in my opinion giving them a week off and at their age should be enough ??

isnt this the reason for having a squad ??

i am by no means having a go at rafa