Rafa Discussion Thread

[FatTony]

i dont back Rafa 100%, he has made many mistakes, and he will get criticized for it....ive criticized him recently actually.

But i also realize how ****ing hard it is to actually win this league, and how much harder it will get if these Yanks dont **** off.

These negative people dont seem to understand that, they demand to much IMO. And bringing the negative Rafa vibes into every thread pisses me off. You may notice that i only abuse one person BTW

My only beef with Rafa is that i'd wish he would start playing some attractive football, and let some of our players of the leash a bit. We dont get forward anywhere near as much as we could and should

What Rafa has said is correct, only one team can win, I understand what he was saying.

The guys who constantly question Rafa are only voicing their opinions, the thing is that each thread is about LFC so its inevitable. If you read something that you don't agree with, you question it, the problem is that we've probably all said the same thing a thousand times already and to some it gets boring, but whilst the guys who continually back Rafa have nothing said, those who think he's not doing a cracking job are being subjected to personal abuse. There are double standards, thats for sure.

BTW, I would have edited my post and blanked it if you hadn't alread quoted it!

I'm not getting brought into any name calling bollox in the future, its fookin daft.

Can't we all just share the love....

[Gazmo1]

I have to echo the sentiment that it isn't the rafa bashing but the negativity. Every thread seems to slant towards negativity.

Everything from Rafa has had his chance to Carra is a tit for writing certain things in his book. It does make you question the loyalities of people that can't post without having a crack about something.

I want Rafa to do well, I want the league, I want the yanks out, I want our club back.

The harsh reality is that we just are not good enough. For whatever reason, whether it be bad player investment by Rafa, lack of funds or lack of pride who knows. We have been living in a false dawn since GH brought us 3 cups in one season and we all thought we were 2 or 3 players away from a title winning side.

So far we are unbeaten 3 games in and in the Champions League proper, why should we bash the club after a weeks into the season? If we are out of it at Christmas then I could understand and probably be vocal.

Just give it a chance and then we can bitch, no?

[Vermilion]

I have no interest in how long Rafa has been here, my only concern is what his challenges have been since taking over, and it seems to me that they get bigger by the year, everything is relative to the challenge of each individual season, should we sack Rafa if he doesn't win the title in the next 2 seasons, even though City and who knows even Newcastle are added to the list of clubs who have a massive advantage when it comes to recruiting the best players.

I don't even think we'd have signed Torres without Rafa being in charge, and i don't think we'd keep him without Rafa, getting players to join us over our rivals is getting more difficult.

So i totally understand Rafa's direction, he's buying up as many young players with potential as possible, because he knows as the club stands now, compared to our rivals...we wont be able to compete for the very best in the transfer market over the coming years.

We would need to start again if Rafa was sacked, would Torres, Pepe, Gerrard, etc stay, or would they take the £150,000 a week on offer elsewhere, they would have plenty of offers, we would be back to square one. And the new manager would still be faced with overhauling the Scum, Chavs, and now the unlimited wealth of Citeh with more clubs likely to be taken over, i don't see any manager being able to do any better, but i do see them doing worse, in Europe for instance, or maybe not qualifying EVERY season, or getting us to 2 finals....things we now take for granted every season like the latter stages of the competition would be a thing of the past. imo.

[Sarb]

i dont back Rafa 100%, he has made many mistakes, and he will get criticized for it....ive criticized him recently actually.

But i also realize how ****ing hard it is to actually win this league, and how much harder it will get if these Yanks dont **** off.

These negative people dont seem to understand that, they demand to much IMO. And bringing the negative Rafa vibes into every thread pisses me off. You may notice that i only abuse one person BTW

My only beef with Rafa is that i'd wish he would start playing some attractive football, and let some of our players of the leash a bit. We dont get forward anywhere near as much as we could and should

Yeah it's something to smile about....I hear that's what you're into. Abusing people on an internet forum....makes you feel like a man

[Craig_H]

Sarb mate, if you just ignore him, he'll get bored.

[Sarb]

No mate, he should get banned

[Craig_H]

No mate, he should get banned

I dont like seeing anyone banned really, but if certain levels of rules are in place, then perhaps he should, yes. But he wont and you'll get nowhere arguing with that kind of childish posting style, so you'd do yourself more favours just ignoring him. Dont drop to that level.

Anyway, i'm off out to enjoy the weather

[Johnny]

Ffs.

[Greebo]

Time for my 2 pennorth since I'm fairly tired of reading the same old nonsense every time I log on.

I've been a Liverpool supporter for over 35 years now, and I'm sick and tired of the fact that we haven't added to our league titles since 1990. I velieve there are a number of reasons for this so I'll try to put them into words so that my views on Rafa & the club's direction are seen in some sort of context.

Slur Alex Boozy-nose is, much as I hate to say it, an extremely good manager. He's also been backed by a club and board which have made Manure into the organisation they are today - a 70,000 seater stadium with around TWICE our matchday revenue, sponsorship deals which dwarf ours, and massively professional and successful brand marketing for their associated products. We have had a board for much of the last 18 years which still wanted and tried to do things the way we'd done them during the 70s and 80s. Our financial and marketing clout has been massivelt diminished as a result compared with them.

Chelski have had a fairy godfather which even they wouldnt have dreamed possible in the days of Bates. They dont need Manure's marketing and ticket income because their losses will get written off by the russian oil mafia. How the heck can we compete with that?

Arse have been one of the few teams which I actually admired over the last 10 years or so, but let's not forget that they spent massive amounts of money on young players early on to build up their youth set-up. Many of them went on to win the league.

Every year, transfer fees seem to inflate beyond reason. Look at Citeh just paying £32M for an unproved prima donna!

During the last 18 years, we have had the disaster of Souness -basically dismantling the traditional club set-up. We then had Roy Evans - lovely man, but wouldnt say Boo to a goose (or an Ince come to that). We then had Ged, a man who brought us that fantastic treble, but also lumbered us with some serious duds - Diouf, Cheyrou, Cisse, Biscan, Le Tallec, Diao to name but a few!

Nevertheless I felt sorry for Ged, because when all was said & done he clearly loved the club, and nearly gave his life in the club's service.

Then we got Rafa. A man who had already won league and european titles in Spain. With Houllier's side, plus his own acquisitions he managed to bring us No.5 - and that with a certain M Owen jumping ship just before the end of the transfer window!

Since the arrival of Rafa, I have been warmed at how much he, and his family, have become part of Liverpool the city and Liverpool FC in particular. Even so, he faced what I believe was one of the most difficult and challenging jobs in the whole of football. Our entire club infrastructure was in dire need of overhaul and modernisation, from the training and youth set up to the boardroom and the finances.

On the field, Rafa has had to cope with injuries, the general improvement in the rest of the teams around us in the league, signings he didnt want (e.g. Cisse), and above all, a lack of financial clout to go with it. When Rafa started, our club record signing was Cisse for £14M. It's still only £20M for Torres. What's Chelski's? Manure's? People - usually the RCDNR brigade claim he's spent more than anyone blah, blah, blah. Lets not forget that Rafa has had to invest in a youth infrastructure as well as senior playing staff. I actually happen to believe we're starting to see the emergence of youths who will either prove to be class 1st teamers, or at least provide a decent transfer fee when we sell them on. That has all taken time, effort and investment. Wenger started overhauling Arses youth set up 10 years before Rafa came to us. He won the league with many of those players

Nevertheless, somehow, Rafa's expected to deliver a title challenge with all those constraints. Last year, I genuinely believe we'd have challenged for the title but for 2 key injuries (Agger & Alonso) and the injuries inflicted upon us by the two morons who bought the club back in Feb 2007.

I admit, sometimes I am puzzled or frustrated by his team selections. Sometimes I can see people clearly having a mare on the park and Rafa replaces someone else which infuriates me. On the other hand, he's the one who deals with the players day in day out, and when all's said and done, he's the man in charge. I don't see them train. I don't know who's carrying knocks, or who's been out on the booze and unfit. Rafa does. That's why I'm prepared to defer to him in judging these things.

What I do know is that as far as I can see, there's no-one better around to manage Liverpool. Nobody more tactically astute, no-ne more dedicated, and certainly no-one else with the kind of personal integrity which I expect from a Liverpool Manager.

That's why I get p***ed off with all the RCDNR brigade. I'm not here to defend Rafa from them - I'm sure he can defend himself! But when all's said and done...

Who The Frigging Hell Do They Think Can Do Better??????????

[lfc1394]

I'm not happy with the way the team is performing out on the pitch, I think there is loads of room for improvement.

Don't get me wrong I think Rafa has done a fantastic job so far, I don't bash his signings as I think he has got more right then wrong, and the ones that he got wrong I can see why he bought them. The youth setup is fantastic with some genuine potential there. I want him to win the league and the CL for the next 10 years. The squad we have has the potential to do this.

But things do need to change on the pitch, we are far too negative, and if I fall asleep watching us play I just get depressed. For me he has this season and that's it, we have to have a real go at the league and need to be in the mix with 4-5 games left to go.


Please, to all those that say, who would replace him if he went, the same thing was said about GH. There is always some one who can relplace him. The only issue there is the inevitable rebuilding proccess AGAIN!!
Lets hope we start playing well and getting some good results, starting with the mancs.

[Johnny]

Time for my 2 pennorth since I'm fairly tired of reading the same old nonsense every time I log on.

I've been a Liverpool supporter for over 35 years now, and I'm sick and tired of the fact that we haven't added to our league titles since 1990. I velieve there are a number of reasons for this so I'll try to put them into words so that my views on Rafa & the club's direction are seen in some sort of context.

Slur Alex Boozy-nose is, much as I hate to say it, an extremely good manager. He's also been backed by a club and board which have made Manure into the organisation they are today - a 70,000 seater stadium with around TWICE our matchday revenue, sponsorship deals which dwarf ours, and massively professional and successful brand marketing for their associated products. We have had a board for much of the last 18 years which still wanted and tried to do things the way we'd done them during the 70s and 80s. Our financial and marketing clout has been massivelt diminished as a result compared with them.

Chelski have had a fairy godfather which even they wouldnt have dreamed possible in the days of Bates. They dont need Manure's marketing and ticket income because their losses will get written off by the russian oil mafia. How the heck can we compete with that?

Arse have been one of the few teams which I actually admired over the last 10 years or so, but let's not forget that they spent massive amounts of money on young players early on to build up their youth set-up. Many of them went on to win the league.

Every year, transfer fees seem to inflate beyond reason. Look at Citeh just paying £32M for an unproved prima donna!

During the last 18 years, we have had the disaster of Souness -basically dismantling the traditional club set-up. We then had Roy Evans - lovely man, but wouldnt say Boo to a goose (or an Ince come to that). We then had Ged, a man who brought us that fantastic treble, but also lumbered us with some serious duds - Diouf, Cheyrou, Cisse, Biscan, Le Tallec, Diao to name but a few!

Nevertheless I felt sorry for Ged, because when all was said & done he clearly loved the club, and nearly gave his life in the club's service.

Then we got Rafa. A man who had already won league and european titles in Spain. With Houllier's side, plus his own acquisitions he managed to bring us No.5 - and that with a certain M Owen jumping ship just before the end of the transfer window!

Since the arrival of Rafa, I have been warmed at how much he, and his family, have become part of Liverpool the city and Liverpool FC in particular. Even so, he faced what I believe was one of the most difficult and challenging jobs in the whole of football. Our entire club infrastructure was in dire need of overhaul and modernisation, from the training and youth set up to the boardroom and the finances.

On the field, Rafa has had to cope with injuries, the general improvement in the rest of the teams around us in the league, signings he didnt want (e.g. Cisse), and above all, a lack of financial clout to go with it. When Rafa started, our club record signing was Cisse for £14M. It's still only £20M for Torres. What's Chelski's? Manure's? People - usually the RCDNR brigade claim he's spent more than anyone blah, blah, blah. Lets not forget that Rafa has had to invest in a youth infrastructure as well as senior playing staff. I actually happen to believe we're starting to see the emergence of youths who will either prove to be class 1st teamers, or at least provide a decent transfer fee when we sell them on. That has all taken time, effort and investment. Wenger started overhauling Arses youth set up 10 years before Rafa came to us. He won the league with many of those players

Nevertheless, somehow, Rafa's expected to deliver a title challenge with all those constraints. Last year, I genuinely believe we'd have challenged for the title but for 2 key injuries (Agger & Alonso) and the injuries inflicted upon us by the two morons who bought the club back in Feb 2007.

I admit, sometimes I am puzzled or frustrated by his team selections. Sometimes I can see people clearly having a mare on the park and Rafa replaces someone else which infuriates me. On the other hand, he's the one who deals with the players day in day out, and when all's said and done, he's the man in charge. I don't see them train. I don't know who's carrying knocks, or who's been out on the booze and unfit. Rafa does. That's why I'm prepared to defer to him in judging these things.

What I do know is that as far as I can see, there's no-one better around to manage Liverpool. Nobody more tactically astute, no-ne more dedicated, and certainly no-one else with the kind of personal integrity which I expect from a Liverpool Manager.

That's why I get p***ed off with all the RCDNR brigade. I'm not here to defend Rafa from them - I'm sure he can defend himself! But when all's said and done...

Who The Frigging Hell Do They Think Can Do Better??????????

Excellent post.You should post more mate.

[Greebo]

Excellent post.You should post more mate.

Its precisely because I cant be bothered with two word posts that I dont post very often. That, and the fact that all to often I cant be bothered to get into the inevitable argument.

Thanks anyway...

[Johnny]

Its precisely because I cant be bothered with two word posts that I dont post very often. That, and the fact that all to often I cant be bothered to get into the inevitable argument.

Thanks anyway...

Know the feeling,I just can`t help myself.

[rudedog]

my impression from rp's last post in the 'rafa warning' thread is that criticism of the manager is out of bounds. i understand and accept this in say a thread about dic but come on what about transfers (last i looked rafa buys these players), team selections, tactics on the pitch, post match interviews and indeed newspaper articles such as in the above mentioned thread?

ffs - nobody is saying that Rafa is beyond criticism, its the continual criticism (often put in a snipey way) in so many threads which sparks the same boring arguments and counter arguments that is getting tiresome and annoying.


I honestly can't believe you are pretending you do not understand this when it has been repeated by so many people recently.


My advice would be if you want to be critical, try to do it in a reasoned and balanced way, don't just throw negative 'off the cuff' comments around - this just comes across as 'baiting' and is probably why so many on here regard you as a wum.

[Craig_H]

Time for my 2 pennorth since I'm fairly tired of reading the same old nonsense every time I log on.

I've been a Liverpool supporter for over 35 years now, and I'm sick and tired of the fact that we haven't added to our league titles since 1990. I velieve there are a number of reasons for this so I'll try to put them into words so that my views on Rafa & the club's direction are seen in some sort of context.

Slur Alex Boozy-nose is, much as I hate to say it, an extremely good manager. He's also been backed by a club and board which have made Manure into the organisation they are today - a 70,000 seater stadium with around TWICE our matchday revenue, sponsorship deals which dwarf ours, and massively professional and successful brand marketing for their associated products. We have had a board for much of the last 18 years which still wanted and tried to do things the way we'd done them during the 70s and 80s. Our financial and marketing clout has been massivelt diminished as a result compared with them.

Chelski have had a fairy godfather which even they wouldnt have dreamed possible in the days of Bates. They dont need Manure's marketing and ticket income because their losses will get written off by the russian oil mafia. How the heck can we compete with that?

Arse have been one of the few teams which I actually admired over the last 10 years or so, but let's not forget that they spent massive amounts of money on young players early on to build up their youth set-up. Many of them went on to win the league.

Every year, transfer fees seem to inflate beyond reason. Look at Citeh just paying £32M for an unproved prima donna!

During the last 18 years, we have had the disaster of Souness -basically dismantling the traditional club set-up. We then had Roy Evans - lovely man, but wouldnt say Boo to a goose (or an Ince come to that). We then had Ged, a man who brought us that fantastic treble, but also lumbered us with some serious duds - Diouf, Cheyrou, Cisse, Biscan, Le Tallec, Diao to name but a few!

Nevertheless I felt sorry for Ged, because when all was said & done he clearly loved the club, and nearly gave his life in the club's service.

Then we got Rafa. A man who had already won league and european titles in Spain. With Houllier's side, plus his own acquisitions he managed to bring us No.5 - and that with a certain M Owen jumping ship just before the end of the transfer window!

Since the arrival of Rafa, I have been warmed at how much he, and his family, have become part of Liverpool the city and Liverpool FC in particular. Even so, he faced what I believe was one of the most difficult and challenging jobs in the whole of football. Our entire club infrastructure was in dire need of overhaul and modernisation, from the training and youth set up to the boardroom and the finances.

On the field, Rafa has had to cope with injuries, the general improvement in the rest of the teams around us in the league, signings he didnt want (e.g. Cisse), and above all, a lack of financial clout to go with it. When Rafa started, our club record signing was Cisse for £14M. It's still only £20M for Torres. What's Chelski's? Manure's? People - usually the RCDNR brigade claim he's spent more than anyone blah, blah, blah. Lets not forget that Rafa has had to invest in a youth infrastructure as well as senior playing staff. I actually happen to believe we're starting to see the emergence of youths who will either prove to be class 1st teamers, or at least provide a decent transfer fee when we sell them on. That has all taken time, effort and investment. Wenger started overhauling Arses youth set up 10 years before Rafa came to us. He won the league with many of those players

Nevertheless, somehow, Rafa's expected to deliver a title challenge with all those constraints. Last year, I genuinely believe we'd have challenged for the title but for 2 key injuries (Agger & Alonso) and the injuries inflicted upon us by the two morons who bought the club back in Feb 2007.

I admit, sometimes I am puzzled or frustrated by his team selections. Sometimes I can see people clearly having a mare on the park and Rafa replaces someone else which infuriates me. On the other hand, he's the one who deals with the players day in day out, and when all's said and done, he's the man in charge. I don't see them train. I don't know who's carrying knocks, or who's been out on the booze and unfit. Rafa does. That's why I'm prepared to defer to him in judging these things.

What I do know is that as far as I can see, there's no-one better around to manage Liverpool. Nobody more tactically astute, no-ne more dedicated, and certainly no-one else with the kind of personal integrity which I expect from a Liverpool Manager.

That's why I get p***ed off with all the RCDNR brigade. I'm not here to defend Rafa from them - I'm sure he can defend himself! But when all's said and done...

Who The Frigging Hell Do They Think Can Do Better??????????

The frustration is that HE himself can do better, but he undermines his own chances of success.