Perspective and perception. Is Rafa a victim of his own success?

[Craig_H]

My only worry about future seasons is that Chelsea wont be so bad, Arsenal wont be so bad, Villa might well push on and become a contender (or might not) and then there's City, who can only get better with their money.

This season really is the one.

I feel that if we get that title monkey off our backs, we can be a regular force on a regular basis, even allowing for the greater competition i think there'll be in coming seasons.

If we dont this season, when two of the main contenders have had absolute stinkers, you wonder when we ever will.

[Baldemort]

My only worry about future seasons is that Chelsea wont be so bad, Arsenal wont be so bad, Villa might well push on and become a contender (or might not) and then there's City, who can only get better with their money.

This season really is the one.

I feel that if we get that title monkey off our backs, we can be a regular force on a regular basis, even allowing for the greater competition i think there'll be in coming seasons.

If we dont this season, when two of the main contenders have had absolute stinkers, you wonder when we ever will.

Citeh will no doubt become a force once they get a top manager. Chelsea I think may struggle as their squad is getting on and they have lost an exceptional manager in Jose. Having said that, Mr Grant did incredibly well with that squad so who knows. I still think that as long as Fergie is still in charge, Manu will always be favourites. The others will get closer, but we still have to get past Manu.

[Tee]

My only worry about future seasons is that Chelsea wont be so bad, Arsenal wont be so bad, Villa might well push on and become a contender (or might not) and then there's City, who can only get better with their money.

This season really is the one.

I feel that if we get that title monkey off our backs, we can be a regular force on a regular basis, even allowing for the greater competition i think there'll be in coming seasons.

If we dont this season, when two of the main contenders have had absolute stinkers, you wonder when we ever will.

Stinkers?!! Chelsea, maybe, but Scum have won there last 8 games in a row and have not concede a goal since losing to Derby. Hardly an absolute stinker is it?

IMO they have got themselves back in this race just rather than us throwing it away.

[Kenneth]

I'm not sure mate. Since he Rafa 'rant' and the following slump in performances, he's gone from being a great manager at the top of the table to being someone who had well and truly blown it. It maybe just me, but it feels as though there has been a much more negative bias since that turning point.

There has been more focus and probably more criticism, but that doesn't necessarily mean bias imo.

[saj]

How sad to read some of the anti-Rafa ****e after a conceived 'bad' result. FFS 1 defeat ALL season!! Rafa will prove the doubters wrong.

I think some of the anti-rafa jibes are justified. It's not about not losing - remember, a win and a loss are worth more than 2 draws. I'm not pro-Rafa or anti-Rafa. I don't care who manages this team as long as he makes the right decisions, win or lose. But Rafa really has made some **** up's in previous years and in particular this year. We should be points clear as opposed to points behind - the league table and results do not lie. We all believed Houillier would prove his doubters wrong and win the title - he never did. Rafa unfortunately looks like he's heading in the same direction...

[Baldemort]

I think some of the anti-rafa jibes are justified. It's not about not losing - remember, a win and a loss are worth more than 2 draws. I'm not pro-Rafa or anti-Rafa. I don't care who manages this team as long as he makes the right decisions, win or lose. But Rafa really has made some **** up's in previous years and in particular this year. We should be points clear as opposed to points behind - the league table and results do not lie. We all believed Houillier would prove his doubters wrong and win the title - he never did. Rafa unfortunately looks like he's heading in the same direction...

So you think he's making more mistakes? Care to clarify?

[EwarWoo]

Stinkers?!! Chelsea, maybe, but Scum have won there last 8 games in a row and have not concede a goal since losing to Derby. Hardly an absolute stinker is it?

IMO they have got themselves back in this race just rather than us throwing it away.

I think he was referring to Arsenal. He did allude to that earlier in his post

[Craig_H]

Stinkers?!! Chelsea, maybe, but Scum have won there last 8 games in a row and have not concede a goal since losing to Derby. Hardly an absolute stinker is it?

IMO they have got themselves back in this race just rather than us throwing it away.

I was talking about Chelsea and Arsenal.

[EwarWoo]

We should be points clear as opposed to points behind

Bull****, bull****, ****ing bull****. Sick of seeing thios crap.

All teams make mistakes otherwise we'd be behind anyways. Or is it just Rafa not allowed to make mistakes?

Go roast someone elses team for a change, go whine at Mancs for making mistakes and not being more points clear, or Chavs and Arse for being further behind.

What a ****ing cop out let's have a ****ing whinge argument.

- the league table and results do not lie.

No, they don't, we've improved our position and are fighting for the title still. At the start of the season most would have snatched your hand off oif you offerred that.

He's clearly doing something right looking at our position, and if getting it right most of the time means experimenting and getting it occasionally wrong, shouldn't we stop the little girl whiny bollocks and support him?

I thought you'd ****ed off anyways?

[Craig_H]

Bull****, bull****, ****ing bull****. Sick of seeing thios crap.

Go roast someone elses team for a change, go whine at Mancs for making mistakes and not being more points clear, or Chavs and Arse for being further behind.

It's not bull**** to say we should expect more than 5 points from Stoke x2, WHU, Fulham and Hull at home.

Why would we go and slate other teams for doing poorly? We dont care about their positions or dropped points, our focus is LFC. Chelsea and Arsenal are doing **** and it's good, but it doesnt lessen the need for us to avoid dropping silly points at Anfield.

[saj]

So you think he's making more mistakes? Care to clarify?

How many games have we drawn? How many of those drawn games could have been prevented had different players been on the pitch? I don't mean to single out players but Lucas has been a big culprit and caused us to drop points at Wigan and lose against Everton. Why does Rafa wait until the 65th minute to make a substitution in games where we're clearly struggling? The signing of Robbie Keane was a mistake (it doesn't matter who apparently made the signing, but Rafa gave the initial OK to the transfer and could have prevented it if he wanted). The list of mistakes this season has been endless.

[EwarWoo]

It's not bull**** to say we should expect more than 5 points from Stoke x2, WHU, Fulham and Hull at home.

It is bull****, because if top teams shouldn't be dropping points in these games neither should mancs, chavs or scum and we'd be behind anyways.

But the fact is top teams do sometimes drop points in what should be easy games. ALL of us.

That's why it's the beautiful game, no such thing as a certain result.

[Craig_H]

How many games have we drawn? How many of those drawn games could have been prevented had different players been on the pitch? I don't mean to single out players but Lucas has been a big culprit and caused us to drop points at Wigan and lose against Everton. Why does Rafa wait until the 65th minute to make a substitution in games where we're clearly struggling? The signing of Robbie Keane was a mistake (it doesn't matter who apparently made the signing, but Rafa gave the initial OK to the transfer and could have prevented it if he wanted). The list of mistakes this season has been endless.

There have been mistakes, but that's the case every year. The thing which makes those mistakes more prominent this time, is the fact that we're actually in the title race, so every mistake is magnified and more costly.

The reason we're in the race is down to all the good things he's done too, so he deserves praise for that.

I agree about the mistakes and they frustrate the hell out of me, but it's wrong to imply that the season has only been full of mistakes.

There have also been superb results against direct title rivals, which few would've really banked on.

10 points out of Chelsea x2, Arsenal away and Man Utd is a fantastic return.

Had we only dropped something like 8-10 home points against rubbish teams, the results against the top sides would've balanced out the dropped points and we'd be top. It's just a shame there's been maybe 2 home draws more than we could really afford.

The disallowed goal against Stoke and onslaught to claw Hull back that sadly stopped at 2-2. Small margins, but they make a big big difference unfortunately.

[Craig_H]

It is bull****, because if top teams shouldn't be dropping points in these games neither should mancs, chavs or scum and we'd be behind anyways.

But the fact is top teams do sometimes drop points in what should be easy games. ALL of us.

That's why it's the beautiful game, no such thing as a certain result.

They all do, you're right. But title winners dont drop fourteen of them at home. That's the difference.

So it's not bull**** to say we should've done better at home and our home points tally is slightly short of what's to be expected of a title winning side.

[saj]

Bull****, bull****, ****ing bull****. Sick of seeing thios crap.

All teams make mistakes otherwise we'd be behind anyways. Or is it just Rafa not allowed to make mistakes?

Go roast someone elses team for a change, go whine at Mancs for making mistakes and not being more points clear, or Chavs and Arse for being further behind.

What a ****ing cop out let's have a ****ing whinge argument.


No, they don't, we've improved our position and are fighting for the title still. At the start of the season most would have snatched your hand off oif you offerred that.

He's clearly doing something right looking at our position, and if getting it right most of the time means experimenting and getting it occasionally wrong, shouldn't we stop the little girl whiny bollocks and support him?

I thought you'd ****ed off anyways?

Where am I have supposed to ****ed off to 'anyways'?

Why should he still be experimenting after almost being in charge for 5 years? Don't you think it's poor management if a manager is still experimenting after 5 years in charge? And if you read my original post, I'm not pro or against Rafa. I don't support Rafa - I support Liverpool FC. No manager, player is bigger than the club.