Expectations for next season

[el matador]

I take that point but having a manager who doesn't is an acceptance of mid-table aspirations - which is why I think most people have modulated their expectations accordingly.

I think this is something really important.

If the manager goes into the season believing that our squad isnt good enough to get us back into fourth then that vibe will filter through to the players and you have a team of players that isnt motivated led by a manager that is frustrated.

It couldnt work as it was and at least they have taken action to remedy it.

Albeit arse over tit.

[Kenneth]

I think this is something really important.

If the manager goes into the season believing that our squad isnt good enough to get us back into fourth then that vibe will filter through to the players and you have a team of players that isnt motivated led by a manager that is frustrated.
It couldnt work as it was and at least they have taken action to remedy it.

Albeit arse over tit.

True, although it could be argued that Rafa has done this but saying he needs lots of money (that won't be forthcoming) to get us challenging.

[dww]

True, although it could be argued that Rafa has done this but saying he needs lots of money (that won't be forthcoming) to get us challenging.

Big difference though between going for silverware and 4th. I guess it depends a lot on what Rafa wanted - if he wanted a big amount of money then that is one thing - if he wanted a free hand to buy and sell with a guarantee of money generated being available for purchases then it is different.

Now the best we can possibly hope for is a challenge for 4th in my mind. Sacking Rafa to my mind is a tacit admission that they are not willing to spend money and we need to be able to do that to challenge for honours. While we have a strong team spine we have a thinner squad than Spurs and City (not to mention the top 3) and any manager with Everton like spending parameters will have to set their sights with that in mind.

[el matador]

True, although it could be argued that Rafa has done this but saying he needs lots of money (that won't be forthcoming) to get us challenging.

Which he probably knew he wasnt going to get this season thus undermining our coming even more.

Dont get me wrong i dont agree with sacking rafa but i dont think he could stay either after all that's gone on with the reported player unrest, restricted finances and dire performance last season.

The board are probably hoping that getting in a new man will give the club and players a boost and propel us back into the top 4.

Im worried about the calibre of manager we will attract given that nobody of any repute will want to come into either a 'temporary' position until the club is sold, or work within such tight financial and political parameters.

I also dont think the likes of prandelli, jorge or some of the other foreign coaches are the answer because they dont know enough about the premier league and you can see that not working out well for us.

If we can get hiddink then that would be a huge shining light in all of the darkness.

[el matador]

latest from balague...

apparently players not to blame.

Rafa exit not a consequence of player power


Now it has become clear that the club no longer want Rafa Benitez at Anfield, there are a couple of issues that need clearing up...

Rafa decided last week to move the situation forward when he told me – for an article published in The Daily Mirror – that he wanted to stay. He put forward his reasons for lowering expectations and defended his good record at the club. However, the warning was there; that he would stay, “if he`s allowed”. He hasn`t been allowed, and the club feels the situation has stagnated.




Rafa told me he would love to stay but there were many obstacles. I have the impression that he had a clear idea that not everybody at the club backed him and many were happy to leave him out there in the firing line to take the blame for a disappointing and frustrating season – instead of them admitting that the team`s results were the consequence of a club that had the financial resources to enter the race in a family hatchback - but wanted the results of a Ferrari - But Rafa was NOT talking about the players at the club.




So, is player power behind all of this, as many are reporting? I think it is more a case of club power: people within the club hierarchy have decided there is no point in keeping the manager and he is the easy option to take the blame.



The reports of a complete breakdown in his relationship with key players are false. For example, Rafa called Steven Gerrard on the player`s birthday last Sunday and the pair chatted for 20 minutes.



If Gerrard is seriously thinking about a move it is not because of Rafa, but because there have been so many promises unfulfilled by the people running the club and the Liverpool captain may feel that he must go elsewhere in order to compete for titles. For an elite player, like Gerrard, titles define a career and he has given most of his professional life to Liverpool – understandably he is thinking about a move because the club is not moving in the right direction.



Gerrard has four offers from English clubs and there have been conversations with Real Madrid. Mourinho would love to work with either Lampard or Gerrard and if Mourinho convinces the Real Madrid president to fund a move, then an offer will be made for one of them. Gerrard has not conspired against Rafa even though it is quite likely that the long relationship between them had become professional. I have said before that, in my opinion, the intensive methods of Rafa, means that his squads need to be recycled regularly - every 2-3 years - for their full potential to be realised.




But reports of the distance between Rafa and his players have been grossly exaggerated – granted, he is not their best friend either, but that was not the ultimate reason for his departure. When Ryan Babel suffered an injury scare last week that threatened his place in the Dutch World Cup squad, Rafa was on the phone to him immediately to give him support.



It is true that certain players who do not feature regularly for the first team are not all entirely happy – but that is normal under any manager at any club – and it requires a huge leap of imagination to say that unhappiness brings conspiracies against the manager. The impression I am getting from key players is that they hate the idea of people thinking it was a player power versus Benitez – rather a frustration at a 7th placed finish and 4 years without a trophy and the growing sense that unless there are changes – at all levels – little will change.




My own view is that, in hindsight, if Benitez had focused all of his resources on winning the Premier League instead of trying to challenge for the cup competitions as well, maybe his story at Liverpool would have been different: delivering a league title at Anfield given the circumstances and resources of the club at the moment would have given him a huge amount of credit with the club, fans and media.



However, as he admitted to me in his last interview as Liverpool manager, during his six years at Liverpool, Manchester have United averaged 83 points a season, Chelsea 77.8 and Arsenal 77 - and in two of those seasons Liverpool have broken their all time record points tally - 82 points in 2006 and 86 in 2009. Yet even that appears to have not been enough.




So what`s next?
Reaching a severance agreement will not be easy. Rafa will remain in holiday in Sardinia while the lawyers do the talking - and the £3 million being offered might not be enough…




Benitez` best option was Juventus: he did consider it, but was never entirely convinced because he felt there was a chance to stay and finish the job at Anfield. Inter Milan is the most likely option, but taking on the job of managing a club with an ageing squad that has just won everything is not a challenge many would relish.

http://www.guillembalague.com/blog_desp.php?titulo=Rafa+exit+not+a+consequence+of+player+power&id=455

[Maxiedge]

Whatever my expectation, I believe we would do better with Rafa at the helm than anybody else. I really really do believe that.

Oh ****in well.

[Kenneth]

Whatever my expectation, I believe we would do better with Rafa at the helm than anybody else. I really really do believe that.

Oh ****in well.

Yeah, I'm not convinced. I think a different manager could have achieved more with the same squad last year.

We'll see.

[el matador]

Whatever my expectation, I believe we would do better with Rafa at the helm than anybody else. I really really do believe that.

Oh ****in well.

i think balague has a point in that the squad needs to go through an evolution avery 2 - 3 seasons with rafa benitez. The young players who come into the team really believe in his methods until they become world class players and experienced internationals in their own right.

Then they dont like being told that although they scored a hattrick he could have and should have had 5. Experienced players dont like being told what they're bad at things because of their egos. Remember he fell out big time with some of Valencia's senior players just before he departed. I think his methods bring friction.

We just dont have the finances to recycle teams every 3 years and therefore im not sure if rafa could have stuck at this or any club for more than the six he's been here.

There's no doubt he knows his stuff but his methods are controversial, and he is a political animal.

Saying that, im not sure if he could handle such an experienced squad like inter milans and pointing out javier zanetti's shortcoming to a 34 year old argentinian international might not work in his favour.

[Maxiedge]

Yeah, I'm not convinced. I think a different manager could have achieved more with the same squad last year.

We'll see.

What, with Lucas in midfield?!

i think balague has a point in that the squad needs to go through an evolution avery 2 - 3 seasons with rafa benitez. The young players who come into the team really believe in his methods until they become world class players and experienced internationals in their own right.

Then they dont like being told that although they scored a hattrick he could have and should have had 5. Experienced players dont like being told what they're bad at things because of their egos. Remember he fell out big time with some of Valencia's senior players just before he departed. I think his methods bring friction.

We just dont have the finances to recycle teams every 3 years and therefore im not sure if rafa could have stuck at this or any club for more than the six he's been here.

There's no doubt he knows his stuff but his methods are controversial, and he is a political animal.

Saying that, im not sure if he could handle such an experienced squad like inter milans and pointing out javier zanetti's shortcoming to a 34 year old argentinian international might not work in his favour.

I agree with what you say. Player egos are out of control.

[Neil Young]

I genuinely don't understand how, in the current circumstances, anyone can see Rafa leaving as a good thing in any way whatsoever.

[Reece]

I genuinely don't understand how, in the current circumstances, anyone can see Rafa leaving as a good thing in any way whatsoever.

This.

I think the old adage of "you don't know what you've got till it's gone" will apply here.

[Kenneth]

Then on to 'there's no point crying over spilt milk'

[Mattshark]

No expectations now - only hope there is no more embarrassment to come.

[Mattshark]

I genuinely don't understand how, in the current circumstances, anyone can see Rafa leaving as a good thing in any way whatsoever.

Because a lot of people are not very good at thinking.

[Exiled_red]

I genuinely don't understand how, in the current circumstances, anyone can see Rafa leaving as a good thing in any way whatsoever.