GH Still in Charge?

[BobTheCharmer]

It may as well be. I had massive doubts about Rafa from the start. But he did an incredible job in winning the CL and so respect was due. But 3 seasons into the job and we still have the same back 4, replaced one calamatious goalkeeper with another, still approach big games with a safety first attitude, hear mumblings of player unrest, get the same nonsensical comments pre match & post match from the manager.

Its like groundhog day.

I hear all this we're working within a tight financial budget which is hampering Rafa, well so is everyone else bar Chelsea. I know for a fact had Martin O'Neill been in charge yesterday, the players wouldn't have lacked for comittement. His teams never do. Rafa has a negative approach to football. His comments pre match about Boltons over phyicalness just served to give the opposition extra belief that he was frightened. They pinned his comments up in the dressing room FFS. Playing one up front against your rivals is not acceptable.

I think we'll improve and scrap for 4th with Villa & Everton. Then the summer will come and what? a renewed title bid? No chance.

[Morph]

disagree, we're having a bad patch no more no less - Reina's better than Dudek, we've got Agger who would be in if he wasn't injured, and we tried very hard to get another RB it just didn't pan out. I wouldn't swap Riise and Carra, so i don't buy your comments about the defence

[Cisseshairdresser]

It may as well be. I had massive doubts about Rafa from the start. But he did an incredible job in winning the CL and so respect was due. But 3 seasons into the job and we still have the same back 4, replaced one calamatious goalkeeper with another, still approach big games with a safety first attitude, hear mumblings of player unrest, get the same nonsensical comments pre match & post match from the manager.

Its like groundhog day.

I hear all this we're working within a tight financial budget which is hampering Rafa, well so is everyone else bar Chelsea. I know for a fact had Martin O'Neill been in charge yesterday, the players wouldn't have lacked for comittement. His teams never do. Rafa has a negative approach to football. His comments pre match about Boltons over phyicalness just served to give the opposition extra belief that he was frightened. They pinned his comments up in the dressing room FFS. Playing one up front against your rivals is not acceptable.

I think we'll improve and scrap for 4th with Villa & Everton. Then the summer will come and what? a renewed title bid? No chance.

I have the same feelings mate, and reading this article on the offal this morning did nothing to decrease the growing similarites of GH's and Rafa's subjective post match comments.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drill...61023-1059.htm

I think Rafa must have been watching a different game, and using an injury to a player as an excuse is not the most admirable thing I have ever seen Rafa do. But, as usual, my faith remains, and I do believe Rafa will sort it out eventually. One difference between Rafa and GH is that Rafa will learn by his mistakes and change things, GH never did.

[Dhav]

I think he got the tactics badly wrong yesterday and it was obvious that Kuyt was isolated on his own up front, but l may I remind you that Houllier always played this system when we were away to Man U and Arsenal and he got some success with it.

I also think calling for O'Neill is a stretch. You can complain about Reina and our back four, but would you rather have Agathe and Petrov and play the way O'Neill teams play?

Some people have really short memories. Houllier achieved less and was given 6 years. Rafa has been here two and a half, and in my view had just as big a rebuilding job to do as Houllier - the difference is Rafa raised expectations to false levels by winning the CL in his first season and has been hampered financially by Houllier's mistakes in the transfer market.

[Slim]

Guillem Balague has just been talking about Rafa on White Van Man Radio, also known as Talksport. He reckons Rafa is so demanding and so driven and obssessed with statistics, analysis etc that he demands the highest concentration levels of any manager that its draining for certain players who cannot mentally sustain this. He also says he isn't the kind of manager who loves players or is particularly a man manager, he is more interested in the team and the system than individuals. As a result of this some players find it hard to relate to him and don't understand how his mind works or why he would drop them if they think theyare playing well. He aluded to the fact that he did not believe rotation or tactics had anything to do with our current bad run.

Found it quite interesting as Balague has connections to Rafa and seems to know him fairly well.

[alunevans]

Guillem Balague has just been talking about Rafa on White Van Man Radio, also known as Talksport. He reckons Rafa is so demanding and so driven and obssessed with statistics, analysis etc that he demands the highest concentration levels of any manager that its draining for certain players who cannot mentally sustain this. He also says he isn't the kind of manager who loves players or is particularly a man manager, he is more interested in the team and the system than individuals. As a result of this some players find it hard to relate to him and don't understand how his mind works or why he would drop them if they think theyare playing well. He aluded to the fact that he did not believe rotation or tactics had anything to do with our current bad run.

Found it quite interesting as Balague has connections to Rafa and seems to know him fairly well.

It sounds to me that this is a significant weakness as a coach and a manager. I'm not saying its a fatal flaw, but it is a flaw that he should try to overcome.

If I'm dropped I need to know why. If its tactical I need to understand the reasoning to get me in tune with the manager's wishes for when I DO play. If its performance related I need to know how I can improve. If its not performance related and the tactical reasons aren't explained it may affect my confidence by thinking that the boss doesn't rate me, when in fact he does but things aren't communicated well enough.

There's lots in what Balague says which is positive about Rafa, but I don't like the fact that players are dropped and don't know why. Thats bad management not clever management.

He needs to improve on that if this is the case, and if its simply not in his toolkit to express his rationale to the dropped players (we all have our weaknesses), then he should ensure that his backroom staff can successfully plug that gap.

Reading that has made me pretty uneasy.

It's the managers job to formulate the strategy, but the players need to understand whats going on, especially when they're dropped or rotated.

And man management is a large part of football management that I don't think its a good thing that its something which is casually dismissed as "oh Rafa doesn't do that." He should really. Its not chess, we are dealing with human beings, and a good manager should respond to that element of managing too.

Motivation is a key part of the job in my view, and man management is key to doing it successfully.

[Dhav]

It sounds to me that this is a significant weakness as a coach and a manager. I'm not saying its a fatal flaw, but it is a flaw that he should try to overcome.

If I'm dropped I need to know why. If its tactical I need to understand the reasoning to get me in tune with the manager's wishes for when I DO play. If its performance related I need to know how I can improve. If its not performance related and the tactical reasons aren't explained it may affect my confidence by thinking that the boss doesn't rate me, when in fact he does but things aren't communicated well enough.

There's lots in what Balague says which is positive about Rafa, but I don't like the fact that players are dropped and don't know why. Thats bad management not clever management.

He needs to improve on that if this is the case, and if its simply not in his toolkit to express his rationale to the dropped players (we all have our weaknesses), then he should ensure that his backroom staff can successfully plug that gap.

Reading that has made me pretty uneasy.

It's the managers job to formulate the strategy, but the players need to understand whats going on, especially when they're dropped or rotated.

And man management is a large part of football management that I don't think its a good thing that its something which is casually dismissed as "oh Rafa doesn't do that." He should really. Its not chess, we are dealing with human beings, and a good manager should respond to that element of managing too.

Motivation is a key part of the job in my view, and man management is key to doing it successfully.

Obviously players are babies and need their egos massaged.

Players should have the team ethic as well, if they want to win trophies they must learn to put the team first.

Man management shouldn't be an issue if the players are mentally strong.

[alunevans]

Obviously players are babies and need their egos massaged.

Players should have the team ethic as well, if they want to win trophies they must learn to put the team first.

Man management shouldn't be an issue if the players are mentally strong.

I think thats just taking it too far and assuming that everyone should be able to ride out any storm for 12 months of the year. Its not about having ego's massaged, its about knowing why you're left out so you can respond as a professional.

If its tactical then that professional response is to understand the reasons behind them, and get those tactical ideas in your head for when you do play.

If its not tactical and its down to a failure of your own performance, that professional response is to discover where you're going wrong in the boss's view and sort it.

But each requires that communication and man management from the manager so that the players know whats going on and can respond to the truth professionally. If its unclear whats going on then you may be responding to something that isn't even true ie its down to how I'm playing when its really just a tactical decision.

And if a player feels he's doing well and is left out with no clue as to why then he won't have the tools to respond positively and will feel powerless to put things right. That feeling of powerless will affect his confidence.

Its not a lot to ask that everything is explained to players when it comes to tactics and when it comes to not being selected. That's treating them like adults and expecting the correct response to the information that is being shared with them.

Its only keeping them in the dark that treats them as babies.