Rafa rips into Ferguson

[Mattshark]

Rafa is spot on with his comments, the crap that Utd have got away with for years is appalling, i heard no mention in the media of Rooney's elbow and Ronaldo's kick recently against Stoke for example.

The other unsporting stuff that they get away with as well, i remember a couple of years ago at OT at half time they watered the pitch, but only the end Utd were attacking, in fairness it was Andy Gray who pointed that out. Maybe we do the same thing at Anfield but i hope not.

To be fair the BBC highlighted them both. However the FA's lack of action for Ronaldo's three attempted kick outs and Rooney's elbow is appalling.

[Frenchie]

Rafa's outburst on SSN..magic

Just on SSN fabulous...

[dww]

whatever you say about whether what rafa is saying is true or whether he is being a bit of a hypocrite seeing as he made a big fuss over fixtures and decisions by refs himself. everyone does it, why he is targeting ferguson when he has not said anything directly related to liverpool i simply do not know

he also makes a few contradictory statements, this is just bizarre and unnecessary

ferguson wont really care, he wasnt speaking to benitez in the first place so won't feel compelled to respond which makes our rafa look even more silly

why can we not just shut up and concentrate on trying to win the league title?

I'm not sure he does look silly at all actually. This are legitimate concerns that I have heard from basically all non-United fans at one point or another.

I agree that Rafa did make points about fixtures before but he always carefully couched them (as far as I remember) in the sense that he suggested no one should play away after a European game which I think all top managers would probably get behind.

I think you are wrong in assuming that Fergie is the prime target. It seems clear to me that he wants to gain a level playing field as he sees it at the FA/PL and with referees. He is targeting Fergie as he has genuinely been above the law for years and made a statement that was baffling to all who saw it in a deliberate attempt to get the media to take their focus of his teams relatively poor performances and some fortuitous decisions that went his teams way.

[UncleBob]

It was television gold.

[yukpo]

I'm not sure he does look silly at all actually. This are legitimate concerns that I have heard from basically all non-United fans at one point or another.

I agree that Rafa did make points about fixtures before but he always carefully couched them (as far as I remember) in the sense that he suggested no one should play away after a European game which I think all top managers would probably get behind.

I think you are wrong in assuming that Fergie is the prime target. It seems clear to me that he wants to gain a level playing field as he sees it at the FA/PL and with referees. He is targeting Fergie as he has genuinely been above the law for years and made a statement that was baffling to all who saw it in a deliberate attempt to get the media to take their focus of his teams relatively poor performances and some fortuitous decisions that went his teams way.

that actually lays it out much better than anyone else in this thread

still think he shoulda stayed out of it though, leave the so called mind games to the others and just concentrate on our own games.

[fah-q]

Its so unfair, I did the same in FM09 and Stevie and Xabi said I was being unprofessional. Mind you I did edit it to call him a moaning old drunkard though.

[Skrtelmania]

loving this rafa

The reporters on SSN look shocked, 'an extrordinary attack' 'a bizzare 4 minute rant' get used to it ****ers!!!

[Assassin]

Rafa


"Or there is another option. That Mr Ferguson organises the fixtures in his office and sends it to us and everyone will know and cannot complain. That is simple"

[Pablo]

About time we were genuinely involved in some mind games!

As has been pointed out this was 100% calculated and timed to perfection (he even made sure his press conference started after Fergusons had finished so as not to afford him an immediate reply).

Oh and the bit about Scolari needing to get Chelsea to man mark the United staff was genius

[Assassin]

..........and a little dig at Dumb and Dumber




"There is still no news about my contract, my agent has not received any documents so he is a little bit disappointed. But we will see"

[Assassin]

About time we were genuinely involved in some mind games!

As has been pointed out this was 100% calculated and timed to perfection (he even made sure his press conference started after Fergusons had finished so as not to afford him an immediate reply).

Oh and the bit about Scolari needing to get Chelsea to man mark the United staff was genius

Aye, the Zonal marking jibe was sublime

[Frenchie]

RAFA ON STOKE, MIND GAMES AND FERGUSON
Joe Curran 09 January 2009
Rafael Benitez today addressed the media ahead of Liverpool's trip to Stoke this weekend and you can now read what the manager had to say in full.
Click here to watch this press conference in full>>

Rafa, this is the first chance we have had to speak to you since the Cup draw - what are your thoughts on a Merseyside derby in the fourth round?

It will be a good game, I think that everybody will be excited and it will be good for everyone to see another derby. OK, it will be tough, it will be difficult, but everybody will be excited.

Could you have done without two derbies in a week?

We don't like to play two important games in a few days, but we will try to do our best.

Is there any truth in the talk about Emile Heskey?

We are not talking about any player.

Stoke did well at Anfield earlier in the season, didn't they?

It was a difficult game. We scored an early goal, but it was disallowed. We had plenty of possession after that and controlled the game. We had a lot of opportunities but we couldn't score. But they deserve credit because they worked very hard and it was positive for them. OK, we were saying that we had a job to do at home and it was a bad moment, but I think that they are a stong team, very physical, and I am sure that playing at home they will be more offensive.

Do you sense that maybe as a team they are not as together as maybe earlier in the season?

No I think they were doing well. They have a very strong team spirit and they have been working very hard.

It would suit you though, wouldn't it, if they play more offensively?

Yes I think it will be good for us because we could find more spaces.

People talk about pressure and there seems to be pressure every week - is there pressure at the moment?

I like to be at the top of the table under pressure - it's better than being at the bottom.

What do make of Alex Ferguson's comments recently?

I was surprised, but I have to talk about facts because I think it is important.

I think that they are nervous because we are at the top of the table. But I want to be clear that I do not want to play mind games too early. I think that they want to start that so I have taken some facts so it will be easier to talk about this.

November 1 they played against Hull City and Mr Ferguson, their manager, was given a two-match touchline ban and fined £10,000 after confronting Mike Dean, the referee, for improper conduct.

We have started a Respect Campaign. And we started with the sending off of Javier Mascherano at Old Trafford from the referee, Mr Bennett. But that was also the referee when Manchester United played Wigan, and he couldn't see the handball from Rio Ferdinand. He didn't give a penalty and they won the title.

I think that will also be the same referee that they have in the game in hand against Wigan.

During this Respect Campaign, he was charged by the FA following comments made towards Martin Atkinson, but he was not punished. He is the only manager in the league who cannot be punished.





Two years ago we were playing a lot of early kick-offs on a Saturday morning away, while United were playing on a Sunday and no one was saying anything. Now he is complaining that everybody is against United.

They will play against all the teams in the top of the table in the second half of the season - I think that is a fantastic advantage. But I don't know why, at Christmas time, United played on the 29th December instead of the 28th, while we played against Newcastle away. He was not complaining this time. He was not thinking about this.

About his behaviour with referees, the Southampton manager knows how Mr Ferguson works. He was very clear the other day. It is a fact. I am not playing mind games. This is about facts.

If Mr Ferguson wants to talk about the fixtures, and we want to be on a level playing field here, there are two options: one is where is the same as in Spain. The first part of the league, all the teams know at this time they will play against this team on this weekend, or that weekend, and the second half of the league will be the opposite - you will play away. After that, Sky or Setanta who has the rights will choose the game and everybody will know when they are playing. That way it would be the same for everyone so Mr Ferguson will not be complaining about the fixtures.

Or maybe the other option would be Mr Ferguson organising the fixtures and everything in his office and sending them to us - then everybody will know and nobody can complain.

Talking about football, because I want to finish with this and the mind games. We know what happens when we go to Old Trafford. Mr Scolari maybe needs to know to use zonal marking against the staff of United because they are always using man to man with the referees when they go to the bench and especially at half-time when they are walking close to the referees and talking and talking and talking.

All the managers need to know, only Mr Ferguson can talk about the fixtures and the referees - nothing will happen. I think we need to know about this. We are talking about facts, we are not talking about my impression. Everybody can see this every single week.

The fact that he has said these things, is this a sign of the pressure getting to United?

I think that they did not think that we would be at the top of the table in January. But we are at the top of the table, and clearly they are nervous.

Do referees need to take a firmer stance with United?

I will not say that. I want to be very clear - I have been here for five years and I just know how long these things have been going on?

Will you be watching the game on Sunday?

I think so.

What are your thoughts on that game?

It doesn't matter. I am just trying to think about Stoke and trying to win tomorrow.

Would any particular result suit you?

As long as we win against Stoke, it doesn't matter.


from offal

[The Birdman]

It really is pure genius, if we go on to win the league it'll be hailed as a masterstroke and if we don't win it then the perception will be that we went down fighting until the end, not fizzling out.
Puts all the pressure on Man U for Sunday, they cannot afford to lose against Chelsea because of the points to be made up and the games in hand, lose and they effectively have to win 2 more games than us between now and the end of the season and thats if they win the 2 games in hand.

It's brilliant that people are taking us seriously as challengers again "maybe they are nervous because they didn't expect us to be top of the league"

[anfieldanfield]

Anything EXCEPT Man Utd win would be a great result for us on Sunday.

Now let's beat Stoke first!

[Ferrrrnando]

Keegan-esque. Hopefully it wont back fire





Think the Mancs might drop points on sunday because of it