Benítez says he needs fresh investment to compete for title

[Lecter]

What are liverpool about?

Strong defensively?

Flowing football?

Great attacking football?

Building a great young team for the future?

No one knows anymore.

This is why Rafa has to go.

To me Liverpool FC existed to win trophies - thats all it was ever about

All Liverpool FC is about today is servicing its £237 million debt placed on it by the owners

Maybe we should hire an accountant to pick the team rather than a football manager

[Craig_H]

Again his judgement (in transfer terms) can be judged in terms of what hes had available to spend

I tend to sympathise with Rafa's statement the other day in that if he signs a £15-20 million player he cannot afford to make a mistake. Other managers can sign 3 or 4 of players in that value and afford for at least one of them to fail

Lec mate, you claim to attach some blame to him, but with EVERY SINGLE criticism i post, you instantly leap to his defence.

Whatever issue people post, you're always scampering around, trying to find any possible justification for it, whatever it might be, just in order for the manager not to be at fault.

Literally any critical point, like some of the arsenal comparisons earlier, is instantly met with some kind of 'mitigating' circumstance. Whatever it might be.

Sometimes it'd come across as more credible (especially against your claims that rafa IS to blame partly) to just say 'yep, the manager ****ed that bit up' - but no, there's ALWAYS something else And in the next breath, you'll tell me how you do blame rafa for part of it.

It'd be funny if it wasnt so embarrassing

[Craig_H]

I know what your next post will be, you'll say how you've repeatedly said how rafa is to blame in part, you'll mutter something about aquilani and johnson and then go back to loudly berating the owners, as if rafa's only mistakes have been with those two signings, and he's got everything else right.

[Lecter]

Lec mate, you claim to attach some blame to him, but with EVERY SINGLE criticism i post, you instantly leap to his defence.

Whatever issue people post, you're always scampering around, trying to find any possible justification for it, whatever it might be, just in order for the manager not to be at fault.

Literally any critical point, like some of the arsenal comparisons earlier, is instantly met with some kind of 'mitigating' circumstance. Whatever it might be.

Sometimes it'd come across as more credible (especially against your claims that rafa IS to blame partly) to just say 'yep, the manager ****ed that bit up' - but no, there's ALWAYS something else And in the next breath, you'll tell me how you do blame rafa for part of it.

It'd be funny if it wasnt so embarrassing

Craig do yourself a favour and READ some of my posts

I've said countless times Rafa shouldnt have bought Johnson to me Johnson made sense if we had Alonso we havent so we shouldnt have bought him

It didnt make sense to pursue Aquilani after signing Johnson again not because we should have bought a striker but we actually needed a player more like Alonso if we were to sign Johnson

Your problem Craig is that its either black or white. Its either the managers fault or it isnt

To me theres so much wrong with our club its hard to actually put your finger on what or who is exactly to blame to what degree

We have owners who have increased revenue / sponsorship but have failed to deliver the stadium and have saddled us with so much debt that we have an inability to function in the transfer market

We have a manager making mistakes on transfers (at a time when we can ill afford mistakes), hes also made strange decisions tactically at times (I dont agree that the general tactics are that wrong). Hes also failed to get a response from the players

We have had key players who have been either injured or grossly underperforming and have at times turned up with a disgusting attitude some of which you can again lay at Rafa's feet but I also think the players should stand up and be counted

[Craig_H]

Nice try mate, but i've said all along that PART of it is down to stupid mistakes and idiotic decisions by the manager. The owners havent helped in the slightest, with their lack of backing and general lies.

But nothing the owners do, is responsible for rafa continuing to make the very same mistakes, time and time again, and still not learning from them. That, more than anything else, is why i want a new manager - because i dont see why things that have failed far more often than not, are suddenly going to succeed - yet he sticks with them.

PS, i knew you'd wheel out your Aquilani and Johnson 'blame' card

PPS - i am partly winding you up here, because it's quite amusing

[Lecter]

I know what your next post will be, you'll say how you've repeatedly said how rafa is to blame in part, you'll mutter something about aquilani and johnson and then go back to loudly berating the owners, as if rafa's only mistakes have been with those two signings, and he's got everything else right.

Just like you constantly blame Rafa for being defensive minded despite others arguing (successfuly) that an attacking attitude doesnt necessarily deliver better overall results (see Newcastle & Arsenal)

[wiw]

I hope the irony of you laughing at someone for being predictable and tiresome isn't lost on you

(not that I think Lecter is either personally )

[Lecter]

Nice try mate, but i've said all along that PART of it is down to stupid mistakes and idiotic decisions by the manager. The owners havent helped in the slightest, with their lack of backing and general lies.

But nothing the owners do, is responsible for rafa continuing to make the very same mistakes, time and time again, and still not learning from them. That, more than anything else, is why i want a new manager - because i dont see why things that have failed far more often than not, are suddenly going to succeed - yet he sticks with them.

PS, i knew you'd wheel out your Aquilani and Johnson 'blame' card

PPS - i am partly winding you up here, because it's quite amusing

You can try winding me up but frankly you are failing badly, you'd struggle to wind a clock with the "depth" of your argument

Yet you are still here banging on about other managers attacking approaches despite numerous people proving that approach / tactics guarantee nothing

Your argument that offensive tactics deliver is about as flawed as Rafa is sadly

[Lecter]

I hope the irony of you laughing at someone for being predictable and tiresome isn't lost on you

(not that I think Lecter is either personally )

The irony of that didnt escape me either

[Craig_H]

It's ironic that you tell me to READ your posts, while you continually and emphatically miss the point i've repeatedly made.

It's got **** all to do with 'attacking tactics'. Forget 'attacking' and forget 'tactics'.

It's about a WINNING MENTALITY, the kind of mindset which, at 1-1 or 0-0 with 15-20 mins remaining, leads a manager to making game-changing decisions and upping the thrust with which the team is seeking a winner. Rafa doesnt do that, he keeps the same setup that's failing and tries to just replace like-for-like individuals, often not quite getting that it's the lack of pressure on the opposition's defence, that is causing our struggle for a winner, because we dont batter them into submission in those stages, in the same way that the top three often do. It's the difference between a manager who, in this situation, brings on a striker and takes off a striker - and a manager who'll sacrifice a defensive midfielder or defender even, for an extra goal threat/striker. It's not a coincidence that the more pressure you put on the opposition, the more people you push into dangerous areas and the more you get the ball into these dangerous areas, the more likely it is that the opposition will crack and concede a goal. It's not set in stone or 100% fool proof, but generally speaking, it tends to work more often than not.

I dont know why, but you dont seem to get or acknowledge that point. Maybe you dont think doing those things increases our chances of making a breakthrough, but i think most evidence backs up the theory.

When in need of a winner, top managers with a winning mentality make positive changes and pile the pressure on the opposition. When we need a winner, we stick to one striker, we dont put any real pressure on the opposition, we dont put bodies in the box and we find ourselves defending our own box in injury time, instead of piling on the pressure at the other end, breaking our backs to win. For me, this is because rafa doesnt have that mentality, he's a conservative coach who keeps the same rigid mindset and seems to think that if you just keep trying to do the same things which havent worked for 89 minutes, they'll suddenly work in 3 minutes of injury time. They generally dont and wont.

If you want a difference in outcome, you often need a difference in methodology. Rafa shows little sign of realising this, or having the balls to make decisions with it in mind.

Is it the owners fault that on Sunday, for example, two players who have proven records of popping up with a goal or creating one played less than a third of the game, while the 11 that remained on the pitch had no history (barring one individual) of regularly finding goals? Is it the owners fault that instead of adding to our attacking options when we needed a goal, rafa brought on one striker to replace another?

[Vermilion]

So...Barclays eh..

[Kenneth]

Clearly with more investment we'd be better and it would be easier to challenge. But this isn't a game of monopoly. Our squad should be doing better.

If you're losing at monopoly, you don't sell Park Lane and spend all of you remaining money on one of the utilities and Old Kent Road and then blame your imminent bankrupsy on the fact you were behind already

There, a Monopoly based analogy, I think this argument is concluded

[Vermilion]

If only H&G could go Directly to jail !!

[suffering fan]

Has Rafa miscalculated his required transfer budget, I think so.

So Rafa has done his sums and has determined he needs £60m to compete next season, well I’m not so sure. While I’ll disagree with Rafa I do believe Fernando Torres is spot-on. Losing our engine in Alonso has been very costly. Not just because he was a fabulous player but because of the platform he gave others to play off, in particular Steven Gerrard. I am not surprised Stevie has had a poor season.

Alonso left a void which needed to be filled with the a player who played the exact same way or the system needed to be changed to suit his replacement – Rafa did neither and for that I believe this seasons poor results lay at his door. Why, because in playing Lucas in place of Alonso, Rafa has asked a player to perform a role for which he does not have the capabilities – rather like hiring an electrician to undertake some plumbing. This is not a criticism of Lucas rather one of the manager who could not foresee the impact replacing Alonso with Lucas would have on the team without first altering the system. In this respect I feel for Lucas it has given us a false impression of his footballing talents.

Lucas quite simply does not have the range of passing or vision to perform a holding / playmaker role alongside Mascherano. The effect of this is twofold; Gerrard has had to come deep looking for the ball leaving Torres isolated - there has too often been too large a gap between Gerrard and Torres this season, Torres has been forced wide to find space to receive the ball reducing his effectiveness leaving the box void of Red shirts to attack the oppositions goal. Gerrard is in the middle of the park and Torres is stuck on the by-line, and because Gerrard has been pulled deeper both wide players have been drawn deeper to, leaving them unable to link-up with Torres. How often have we seen Torres out-wide with the ball and no red shirts in the box.

Aquilani is neither the player to replace Alonso if Rafa wants to keep to the 4231 system either, as he like Lucas needs to play further up the pitch to stamp his authority on a game to influence its result. We therefore either need a change of personal or a change of system as the team has missed, above all else this year, a link between midfield and Torres / Ngog. I hope Rafa realised this when he made his “mistake” pronouncement. His transfer activity over the summer must rectify the mismatch between system and playing staff.

Our expected limited transfer budget will likely enable Rafa to buy one £15-£20m star, he will then have to sell to reinforce elsewhere, like at left back. I believe Rafa will have to decide to tweak the system or replace Aquilani / Lucas with an Alonso clone. Either way he will need to decide before making his purchase and deciding which players to offload. If a new system is the way forward then which ever one he chooses its a right winger he needs most.

Possible tweaks to formation
1. Play a conventional 442 with Mascherano alongside either Gerrard or Aquilani.
2. Play Mascherano behind Gerrard and Aquilani with a front three, aka Barcelona.
3. Play Mascherano behind a midfield three and Torres as the long striker.

So in conclusion Rafa does not need £60m to turn the Reds into a competitive force, but a mere £15m to £20m spent on a top draw true right winger and a tweak to the playing system. A clearout should follow to install a better left-back and improve central midfield and Nemeth should be returned to the first team squad from loan. Which means we need to keep Riera, spend our budget on Miloš Krasić and sell Kuyt, Plessis, Lucas, Insua, Ngog, Aurelio and Degan. Bring in a proven left back such as Taye Taiwo and an up and coming talent perhaps Joe Mattock plus an all-round premier league hardened central midfielder, one of Stephen Ireland, James McCarthy or Lee Cattermole.

In summary our budget from the two yanks / “new owners” needs to be £20m and must be spent on a right winger. Riera needs to stay unless a better replacement can be found for a similar price and surplus, poor performing or injury prone players must be let go, to fund two new left backs and a central midfielder. Which all adds up to 7-8 players out and 4-5 in.

If Rafa was to really take a leap of faith he would sell Mascherano, install Spearing as our defensive midfielder and use the funds to buy some flair, Eden Hazard perhaps. If only I was paid a few million quid a year to manage the reds.

[Exiled_red]

We need at least one creative player, probably a winger, a fullback and another striker. That's what we need at the moment, we could also do with strengthening another couple of areas. Riera is leaving and needs replacing, and I imagine a couple of othe players will move too. There's no way £20m would cover that. 7-8 players out and 4-5 in leaves us with a squad lacking depth