Rafa backs Kenny

[Molby]

Bit of an operatic duet?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWVC0say78w"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWVC0say78w[/ame]

[Mostar]

Bit of an operatic duet?

[Charly]

Rafa made 6 great signings:

Alonso
Reina
Crouch
Torres
Mascherano
Arbeloa

Problem was, by the time he left, 4 of them got fed upand wanted to leave, and he failed to replace them with quality. His legacy was two great players. Its just as easy to say Houllier left us with Hyypia and Hamman. Beyond that, Im not at all happy with either squads quality. Agger is his only other signing still here that I would call good... if he can stay fit for more than 10 minutes.

When Benitez was good, he was great. But that time had been and gone. I am far from convinced that it would be good to see him return. How would Torres, Gerrard and Reina feel about him coming back? For all he did for the club, he never had a close relationship with the players, and I think we risk alienating the squad if he came back... apart from Kuyt.

[erick]

Just like Valencia, players fed up with rafa before he left but felt regretted and wanted him back after.

Anyway, why do people keep saying reina not like rafa? Where does it come from? Apart from purslow and his media friends, who want to show that everyone inside the club want rafa gone.

[RedReet]

Rafa made 6 great signings:

Alonso
Reina
Crouch
Torres
Mascherano
Arbeloa

Problem was, by the time he left, 4 of them got fed upand wanted to leave, and he failed to replace them with quality. His legacy was two great players. Its just as easy to say Houllier left us with Hyypia and Hamman. Beyond that, Im not at all happy with either squads quality. Agger is his only other signing still here that I would call good... if he can stay fit for more than 10 minutes.

When Benitez was good, he was great. But that time had been and gone. I am far from convinced that it would be good to see him return. How would Torres, Gerrard and Reina feel about him coming back? For all he did for the club, he never had a close relationship with the players, and I think we risk alienating the squad if he came back... apart from Kuyt.

Personally I think £5m for Lucas was a great piece of business and he’s only gonna get better. Benni was a very good signing too.

[tsb]

Any links to full interview?

[Shaggy]

Personally I think £5m for Lucas was a great piece of business and he’s only gonna get better. Benni was a very good signing too.

As do I. Also Agger for £5m was a good buy, Sissoko for £5m also a good buy. Aurelio was a decent free (would've been excellent if he could stay fit). Maxi was a good free, and although Soto and Ngog are far from world beaters, to pick them up for a combined £3m was also excellent business bearing in mind what they've given us.

[Vermilion]

Oh there's plenty of good buys ffs, if he'd been buying players costing upwards of 20mill more often like other teams there would have been a whole lot more too, also if we'd kept certain players when we bought new ones instead of having to sell them we'd have been better off too.

Ah well, those that think Rafa was bad for us will always do so, nothing anyone can do about that, but imo, they are seriously misguided.

[Roboklopp]

To be fair, I think Kuyt was well worth the £10m too. He's not everyone's cup if tea but he's had some huge games for us.

Saying Reina didn't rate Rafa is ludicrous when he came out and spoke if his importance to the club only a few months ago. Not sure you can blame Rafa for the **** situation the Yanks dumped in us that wouldve been a factor in players wanting to leave either- or the fact that foreigners sometimes get homesick.

[Arn]

This is still the best balanced article about Rafa's transfers.

I was recently asked (on Twitter) whose was bigger, Houllier’s or Benítez’s? (Net spend, I hasten to add.)

As each has (to date) managed the club for six years, it seemed a fair time to ask, although the obvious problem is that Houllier started buying players 12 years ago, when transfer fees were a lot cheaper. And of course, his sales were likewise affected.

That’s where TPI© (Transfer Price Index) comes in. It was created with this kind of question in mind.

(As with any transfer studies, we add the disclaimer that 100% accuracy is virtually impossible, given the obfuscation surrounding some deals and the widely ranging fees depending on which source you use, but we’ve done our utmost to be as close as possible; overall, it’s between 95% and 99% accurate.)

In actual terms, Houllier spent £130.9m on players. In today’s money, adjusted using TPI (i.e football inflation) that equates to £245m. But of course, it’s important to see how much was recouped; more on that in a moment.

In actual terms, Benítez has spent £223m. In today’s money (transfer prices have of course risen since he started buying players in 2004), adjusted using TPI (football inflation) that equates to £278m.

Houllier sold players for an actual amount of £60.3m. Using TPI inflation, that translates to £99.4m.

Benítez has sold players for a total of £159.3m. Using TPI inflation, that translates to £215.1m.

Therefore, Rafa Benítez net spend, when adjusted to inflation, equals£63,550,192, compared with Gérard Houllier’s far greater total of £146,061,083.

On average, using TPI to create an even playing field, Benítez has spent £10.5m net per season, while Houllier spent £24.4m; roughly two-and-a-half times as much. Houllier clearly had more supportive backers than Benítez.

Of course, these figures include money raised by selling players they inherited.

Both men lost around £12m (actual) on local stars who went to Real Madrid (McManaman in 1999, Owen in 2004) for less than their market worth due to contract issues, within one year of the new boss taking over. So that was an early blow to both managers.

However, only 29.5% of Houllier’s income was from selling his own players (such as Heskey, Barmby and Ziege); the rest came from selling his predecessor’s signings, or home-grown talents like Fowler, Thompson and Matteo.

By contrast, Benítez has raised £128.8m TPI (£109.9m actual) from selling his own players: 59.8% of the money he has raised through sales has been from offloading his own purchases – twice as much as with Houllier.

Now, of course, in some cases (such as Robbie Keane and Andrea Dossena), Benítez was selling his own mistakes for a loss. I don’t think there is a manager alive who hasn’t done this (Houllier did so with Ziege, for example), and the key is to get as much as possible, as quickly as possible.

However, a lot of money was raised from selling the likes of Alonso, Sissoko, Bellamy, Crouch, Carson, et al, for a profit; in some cases, after a few years of sterling service.

What’s interesting is that every single player Houllier signed has now left Liverpool FC. They did so for an actual combined price of just £52.6m, or £86.9m when adjusted with TPI.

Benítez has already raised far more than this from his sales, and that’s before (perish the thought) any potential sale of Torres, Reina, Agger, Johnson, Benayoun, Kuyt and Mascherano, who between them, at current value, could raise another £150m.

In fairness to Houllier, players like Hyypia and Hamann left the club on free transfers having served the Reds with distinction, to the point in time when they were too old to sell. None of us would complain if Torres left on a free, aged 33, after seven more years of goals.

Even so, the figures seem to support the view that Benítez has outperformed his predecessor.

Conclusion

In conclusion – as I’ve said before – Benítez has had to sell his own players to raise much of his own transfer funds. He has also raised more money through European progression, and yet despite this, the current squad costs only £143m, between £50m-£100m behind those of Spurs, City, Chelsea and United.

Benítez’s win percentage in the league is 55%, to Houllier’s 49%. But Houllier only had one year of Chelsea’s wealth to contend with; and the Stamford Bridge outfit spent another £100m the summer Benítez arrived.

Houllier had a great United side (1999) and Arsenal’s Invincibles to battle, but Benítez has had to face what Alex Ferguson believes to be a better United team, plus the might of Chelsea (and now City). And of course, when Benítez arrived, that Arsenal side were reigning champions.

Benítez has averaged 72.2 points per season, Houllier managed 65.7 (just 2.7 more points on average than in the ‘disastrous’ season we’ve just witnessed). Houllier qualified for the Champions League three times (once would be for the season after he left), Benítez five. Benítez’s best tally in a season was 86, Houllier’s was 80.

Houllier won four trophies, Benítez two. Benítez won one of the two that really matter, and made another Champions League final.

Houllier did a good job – especially up to 2002 – and Benítez has done a better job.

However, Rafa cannot regularly work miracles, and the more financially adrift the Reds find themselves, the harder it will be to simply tread water, let alone forge ahead. While we’ve just experienced a relatively poor campaign, the financial undermining of the club by Gillett and Hicks preceded it, and people would do well to remember that fact.

Clicky

[el matador]

if the owners believe that kenny isnt the long term answer then rafa should be one of the people they speak to.

towards the end he took his eye off the ball and got too involved with the politics but we shoulsnt underestimate the role rafa played in revealing the true intentions of hicks and gillett. he knew exactly what those ****wits were up to and he brought it to our attention.

the last 2 seasons we didnt invest in the team. we lost talent and replaced it with cheaper not as good players because of financial restrictions.

he will be fully recharged in the summer, he knows the youth system inside out because he created it. steve clarke can be his pako and i believe rafa can bring the club back to the top with the right financial backing from nesv.

for me we should forget the likes of villas boas, deschamps and co. the solution is staring us in the face.

[Shaggy]

To be fair, I think Kuyt was well worth the £10m too. He's not everyone's cup if tea but he's had some huge games for us.

Saying Reina didn't rate Rafa is ludicrous when he came out and spoke if his importance to the club only a few months ago. Not sure you can blame Rafa for the **** situation the Yanks dumped in us that wouldve been a factor in players wanting to leave either- or the fact that foreigners sometimes get homesick.

Kuyt

Who said Reina didn't rate Rafa?!

[Reece]

Aye Reina was the one player that I remember expressing disappointment about Rafa leaving.

[Arn]

Kuyt

Who said Reina didn't rate Rafa?!

Charly.

Reina supported Rafa 100% and still do.

[Shaggy]

Aye Reina was the one player that I remember expressing disappointment about Rafa leaving.

Reina is on record several times as saying Rafa was the main reason he came here. They had a very close relationship. Anyone trying to claim otherwise is deluded and very, very wrong.