The Rafa Thread

[Tee]

Rafa is the man for this job, no question. He has a plan, let him see it out and we will not regret it.

[badpiggy]

Just been reading the Mirror when I came back from work today. Also just found this online

Keane’s purchase took Benitez’s gross spending to above £200m since 2004 and his net to around £120m. He likes to portray Liverpool as “a little club” but in the same period Manchester United’s gross spend is £134m and their net, £72m. Benitez believes he still needs another signing to make Liverpool contenders, Gareth Barry, but the club’s American owners and Benitez’s nemesis, chief executive Rick Parry, are disinclined to meet Aston Villa’s £18m asking price — despite briefings to the contrary.

Apparently in the period since Rafa has been at LFC, Arsenal's net spend is also only £3m. Not sure how accurate this is. I think he has been backed well enough to be honest.

My only issue with Rafa's time in charge is failure to address the wide positions and not challenging in the league. In terms of youth set-up, cup runs etc he's been top notch. He's given me one of the best moments as an LFC fan in 2005.

this type of thing irritates me.

firstly, rafa certainly does not try to portray as as a little club - he tries to portray as a great club that needs to return to greatness.

secondly, regarding utd, your net spend from a position of strength should obviously be less than a big club trying to rebuild and catch you. it's like chelsea fans complaining about their net spend compared to utds over the past 3 years.

wenger is a one-off. in his own way and despite his flaws he is one probably the best coach of our time.

[El Jefecito]

this type of thing irritates me.

firstly, rafa certainly does not try to portray as as a little club - he tries to portray as a great club that needs to return to greatness.

secondly, regarding utd, your net spend from a position of strength should obviously be less than a big club trying to rebuild and catch you. it's like chelsea fans complaining about their net spend compared to utds over the past 3 years.

wenger is a one-off. in his own way and despite his flaws he is one probably the best coach of our time.

Who has also won less than Rafa since Rafa's been in the EPL.

[red g]

Just been reading the Mirror when I came back from work today. Also just found this online

Keane’s purchase took Benitez’s gross spending to above £200m since 2004 and his net to around £120m. He likes to portray Liverpool as “a little club” but in the same period Manchester United’s gross spend is £134m and their net, £72m. Benitez believes he still needs another signing to make Liverpool contenders, Gareth Barry, but the club’s American owners and Benitez’s nemesis, chief executive Rick Parry, are disinclined to meet Aston Villa’s £18m asking price — despite briefings to the contrary.

Apparently in the period since Rafa has been at LFC, Arsenal's net spend is also only £3m. Not sure how accurate this is. I think he has been backed well enough to be honest.

My only issue with Rafa's time in charge is failure to address the wide positions and not challenging in the league. In terms of youth set-up, cup runs etc he's been top notch. He's given me one of the best moments as an LFC fan in 2005.

all i can say is look at the relative squads from the time.....Chelscum you discount, scum had a great squad and Wenger has done phenomenal with a few players to balance the books, dont forget Wenger has had quite a few big money flops

[Vermilion]

all i can say is look at the relative squads from the time.....Chelscum you discount, scum had a great squad and Wenger has done phenomenal with a few players to balance the books, dont forget Wenger has had quite a few big money flops

The squad the scum had when Rafa came was far better, and has still had more spent on it since. The Chav's are just different, they spent 200 odd million immediately, and in doing so bridged the gap to the Scum with one foul swoop, and have obviously continued to spend massively since.

Is it any wonder Rafa has found it hard to beat those two to the title, Wenger managed it while the Scum where in a lull, a sort of transitional phase, he's found it difficult since Chavski turned up as a force., and with the Scum now reorganised.

I have no doubt in Rafa & Wengers ability to manage, but it's going to be tough for either to win a title from here on in, unless something changes at the clubs, or one of the sides just has a perfect season, but then sustaining it would be almost impossible.

The advantage Chavski have is immense, whether it be by being able to pay massive sums for older players in their prime, without a worry for sell on fees, to paying the best wages to attract the worlds best players. They have a big head start in so many areas, as do the Scum, Some areas we can bridge without cash, by doing things better than our opponents, but others we can't, and those two clubs will always hold an advantage because of it.

[Sarb]

The squad the scum had when Rafa came was far better, and has still had more spent on it since. The Chav's are just different, they spent 200 odd million immediately, and in doing so bridged the gap to the Scum with one foul swoop, and have obviously continued to spend massively since.

Is it any wonder Rafa has found it hard to beat those two to the title, Wenger managed it while the Scum where in a lull, a sort of transitional phase, he's found it difficult since Chavski turned up as a force., and with the Scum now reorganised.

I have no doubt in Rafa & Wengers ability to manage, but it's going to be tough for either to win a title from here on in, unless something changes at the clubs, or one of the sides just has a perfect season, but then sustaining it would be almost impossible.

Don't you think we have a squad capable of beating the lesser teams in the Prem? I think the players are there if utilised correctly. The question is when we play the Mancs or Chavs do we have the players to beat them?

[Vermilion]

Don't you think we have a squad capable of beating the lesser teams in the Prem? I think the players are there if utilised correctly. The question is when we play the Mancs or Chavs do we have the players to beat them?

It's the 18 points up for grabs against our biggest rivals that i worry we'll more often than not fall down on, more importantly the 12 points played for against the Chav's & the Scum.

But i realise how important it is to put away the lesser teams. But more often than not, whether we manage to take points off the top two or not we'll still fall short, because the best team usually wins over a season.

[tomasjj]

Good debate here lads.

[bigfooty]

I've long been a Rafa sceptic but I acknowledge the great job he's done behind the scenes in improving our academy, ressies and scouting network. I also think he's improved the staff off the field in terms of coaching.

But I still think his approach to football isn't the right one to win us the Premiership. To be honest the same could be said of Wenger in that Arsenal probably would be closer over these last four seasons if he'd been bolder in the transfer market to bring in that extra proven quality to mesh with his fine footballing philosophy.

In our case we are a team capable of scoring lots of goals and particularly so in Europe when our strength overpowers teams, or the home crowd makes them **** their pants.

In the Premiership however you do need flair to be competitive. Flair meshed with solidity. Arsenal, even when at their unbeatable best, had a solid core. We have that core. We just need to add the flair. But Rafa seems unwilling to do so.

[El Jefecito]

I've long been a Rafa sceptic but I acknowledge the great job he's done behind the scenes in improving our academy, ressies and scouting network. I also think he's improved the staff off the field in terms of coaching.

But I still think his approach to football isn't the right one to win us the Premiership. To be honest the same could be said of Wenger in that Arsenal probably would be closer over these last four seasons if he'd been bolder in the transfer market to bring in that extra proven quality to mesh with his fine footballing philosophy.

In our case we are a team capable of scoring lots of goals and particularly so in Europe when our strength overpowers teams, or the home crowd makes them **** their pants.

In the Premiership however you do need flair to be competitive. Flair meshed with solidity. Arsenal, even when at their unbeatable best, had a solid core. We have that core. We just need to add the flair. But Rafa seems unwilling to do so.

Do you really think he is unwilling? Or has he just not been able to get the right players. He showed he was willing to bring in flair players like Quaresma, Alves, etc, but for one reason or another it hasn't worked out.

[red g]

I've long been a Rafa sceptic but I acknowledge the great job he's done behind the scenes in improving our academy, ressies and scouting network. I also think he's improved the staff off the field in terms of coaching.

But I still think his approach to football isn't the right one to win us the Premiership. To be honest the same could be said of Wenger in that Arsenal probably would be closer over these last four seasons if he'd been bolder in the transfer market to bring in that extra proven quality to mesh with his fine footballing philosophy.

In our case we are a team capable of scoring lots of goals and particularly so in Europe when our strength overpowers teams, or the home crowd makes them **** their pants.

In the Premiership however you do need flair to be competitive. Flair meshed with solidity. Arsenal, even when at their unbeatable best, had a solid core. We have that core. We just need to add the flair. But Rafa seems unwilling to do so.

do you think he would have the same approach if he had chelsea's millions behind him?

[lfc1394]

I think Rafa has a set way to play. If he had unlimited cash he would still play the same way but with better players across the board. Give or take the players he couldn't get this is a team he built / is building.
I disagree that this is like the GH years in so far as we do have a much more fluid attack then we did under GH (in the last 2 seasons anyway), and we do play the shorter balls, under GH we had no one bar Gerrard that could get the ball down and play.
Yes Rafa's priority is not to loose but we were no different when we were the best around, we always had the hard men who could tough it out and allow Dalglish, Barns, Rush and such like to do their stuff. UTD are no different now, they have their flair players and their workers. Chelsea won two titles playing some of the most boring **** I've ever seen.

I just think don't think we have the right balance between workers and flair players at present, we need at least one more and that's if Babel improves on last season.

[red g]

I think Rafa has a set way to play. If he had unlimited cash he would still play the same way but with better players across the board. Give or take the players he couldn't get this is a team he built / is building.
I disagree that this is like the GH years in so far as we do have a much more fluid attack then we did under GH (in the last 2 seasons anyway), and we do play the shorter balls, under GH we had no one bar Gerrard that could get the ball down and play.
Yes Rafa's priority is not to loose but we were no different when we were the best around, we always had the hard men who could tough it out and allow Dalglish, Barns, Rush and such like to do their stuff. UTD are no different now, they have their flair players and their workers. Chelsea won two titles playing some of the most boring **** I've ever seen.

I just think don't think we have the right balance between workers and flair players at present, we need at least one more and that's if Babel improves on last season.

everybody seems to be crying out for wingers and demanding not 1 but 2 out and out wingers....how many of these 'wingers' we call for have actually helped win there team a premiership in the last 10 years?

Giggs
beckham
pires
errrr???

plenty of failures for all 4 clubs though.

[rage]

everybody seems to be crying out for wingers and demanding not 1 but 2 out and out wingers....how many of these 'wingers' we call for have actually helped win there team a premiership in the last 10 years?

Giggs
beckham
pires
errrr???

plenty of failures for all 4 clubs though.

if we describe wingers as either right/left sided midfielders that can beat their man, deliver quality balls, create space for others and come in with a healthy return then every premiership winning team has had these players.

Utd had giigs, beckham ronaldo that spring to mind immediately
arsenal had overmars and pires
chelsea had robben, duff, cole

show me a team that has won the premiership without a player that successfully played on the wing?

[Roboklopp]

this type of thing irritates me.

firstly, rafa certainly does not try to portray as as a little club - he tries to portray as a great club that needs to return to greatness.

secondly, regarding utd, your net spend from a position of strength should obviously be less than a big club trying to rebuild and catch you. it's like chelsea fans complaining about their net spend compared to utds over the past 3 years.

wenger is a one-off. in his own way and despite his flaws he is one probably the best coach of our time.

"Irritates" is too mild- Infuriates would be better. These people form snap-judgements, then make up "facts" to back them up that are repeated so often they become seen as the truth.

It's like Radish all over again (apart from no-one believes him).