Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Title is a long race : Rafa

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Title is a long race : Rafa

    Eleven goals without reply in their last three Premiership games has seen the Reds move into the Top 3 and prompted talk amongst some fans of a title surge in 2007 but for Rafael Benitez, the message remains the same: just keep winning.
    After a slow start to the campaign that produced some great performances but some not so great results, Liverpool are emerging as the form team in the Premiership. With back-to-back convincing away wins, Benitez believes he's finally starting to see what he's always known his side is capable of.

    So does the Liverpool boss think Liverpool can still mount a realistic title challenge? Make up your own mind.

    "When I was at Valencia we were seven points behind Real Madrid at Christmas time and I said to some of my players at a hotel, 'Keep going because we will win the league,'" he recalls. "Afterwards they said to me that they were laughing at the time but we won the league and we were seven points ahead.

    "Maybe it's not the case when you have two teams at the top of the table because you cannot change the things they are doing. The only thing you can do is keep winning, keep the team with the same mentality and keep the team playing as well as possible, scoring goals and keeping clean sheets and afterwards you will see. You cannot keep looking at the table every day.

    "It's a long race. To be ahead or below for one week is not a big difference. The question is to see if we can keep the team winning and the performance is similar."

    Asked why there has been such a turnaround in fortunes for his team, Benitez hinted that aside from the Reds enjoying a little more luck in front of goal, very little has changed in terms of performances.

    "I've said before, maybe it was bad luck earlier in the season. We were creating chances a lot of times away from home and we could not win. When you have 20 attempts which we had in some of the games against Middlesbrough or Everton were losing 3-0 or drawing, people were saying 'bad performance' but I said 'no'.

    "As a manager you must give the team the idea and they must play well and create chances - and after you need to score. We've now scored three against Charlton and last week four against Fulham but we keep creating chances and I am very pleased with this."


    #2
    Rafa's strategy this season has been geared to finishing strongly. We all know that's how it happened at Valencia, as he mentions again here, and it can clearly be seen in his rotation policy. Ferguson's strategy on the other hand has been to play his strongest team whenever possible, get a flying start and put pressure on Chelsea. Pity about the stumble this weekend.

    On top of that, I think many of us have underestimated the impact of last year's long season and we're now starting to see how well how Rafa has managed it. We now have all (or nearly all - of course HK is out but is anyone else?) of our World Cup players back and firing, including the ludicrously maligned Xabi Alonso. Chelsea meanwhile have got Shevchenko playing appllingly, John Terry with a messed-up back, Ballack playing fitfully (I'm not counting the Cech injury since that obviously has nothing to do with tiredness/overplaying). Arsenal are without Henry for weeks at a crucial stage of the season due to a collection of niggles and strains and judging by their performance against Portsmouth are way off the pace their form in the second half of last season. Man Utd have avoided loss of form of their key players, especially Rooney and Ronaldo but let's not forget that Rooney had an enforced six-week rest in late spring so effectively used the World Cup as a fitness exercise.

    The cost of course has been all those dropped points at the start of this season and it's arguable that that is too heavy a price in terms of our title aspirations. However when you look at our fixtures (I know, we've been over this a hundred times) then I think it's possible that Rafa anticipated that we would struggle in those games anyway, given the excesses of last season, and that we should see what points could be picked up in that bad run of five away games (answer = 0, as it turned out) and concentrate on getting the players ready to play at full throttle from November onwards.
    .
    Suppose you have a physicist and a sociologist standing at the side of a field, observing a set of events unfolding on the field. The physicist does [describes] it using the terminology of mass and velocity and frequency of radiation and the rest. And the sociologist does it by describing it as a rugby match.



    May the Lord bless this post.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by Neil Young View Post
      Rafa's strategy this season has been geared to finishing strongly. We all know that's how it happened at Valencia, as he mentions again here, and it can clearly be seen in his rotation policy. Ferguson's strategy on the other hand has been to play his strongest team whenever possible, get a flying start and put pressure on Chelsea. Pity about the stumble this weekend.

      On top of that, I think many of us have underestimated the impact of last year's long season and we're now starting to see how well how Rafa has managed it. We now have all (or nearly all - of course HK is out but is anyone else?) of our World Cup players back and firing, including the ludicrously maligned Xabi Alonso. Chelsea meanwhile have got Shevchenko playing appllingly, John Terry with a messed-up back, Ballack playing fitfully (I'm not counting the Cech injury since that obviously has nothing to do with tiredness/overplaying). Arsenal are without Henry for weeks at a crucial stage of the season due to a collection of niggles and strains and judging by their performance against Portsmouth are way off the pace their form in the second half of last season. Man Utd have avoided loss of form of their key players, especially Rooney and Ronaldo but let's not forget that Rooney had an enforced six-week rest in late spring so effectively used the World Cup as a fitness exercise.

      The cost of course has been all those dropped points at the start of this season and it's arguable that that is too heavy a price in terms of our title aspirations. However when you look at our fixtures (I know, we've been over this a hundred times) then I think it's possible that Rafa anticipated that we would struggle in those games anyway, given the excesses of last season, and that we should see what points could be picked up in that bad run of five away games (answer = 0, as it turned out) and concentrate on getting the players ready to play at full throttle from November onwards.
      Good stuff.
      Thanks very much for being ‘This Mornings’ Farmer’

      Comment


        #4
        Very very good post Mr. Young.

        Comment


          #5
          This season could be like the much quoted season where he led Valencia fom nowhere to toppling Madrid having been loads of points behind
          Originally posted by Gordon Brown
          (1995)
          "A weak currency is the sign of a weak economy,which is the sign of a weak government"

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Red Chilli View Post
            This season could be like the much quoted season where he led Valencia fom nowhere to toppling Madrid having been loads of points behind
            That was only 7 points though.

            BTW Any stattos out there know the biggest margin overcome since say christmas? Has someone already done what we are about to do?
            The Crushing Machine MKII

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by SpeedyG View Post
              That was only 7 points though.

              BTW Any stattos out there know the biggest margin overcome since say christmas? Has someone already done what we are about to do?
              I remember us being near the bottom in November and then coming back to win it. It was under Paisley in the early 80's but I can't remember what year because I'm 36 next month and I'm going senile
              "Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."
              - Denis Diderot (1713-1784)

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by PLY View Post
                I remember us being near the bottom in November and then coming back to win it. It was under Paisley in the early 80's but I can't remember what year because I'm 36 next month and I'm going senile
                Trust me mate you're not senile. It gets much worse after 36
                The Crushing Machine MKII

                Comment


                  #9
                  The League, We're Gonna Win The League, We're Gonna Win The League!!
                  "Let me say for the record, I am not a gangster and never have been. Im not the thief who grabs your purse. Im not the guy who jacks your car. Im not down with the people who steal and hurt others. Im just a brother who fight back."
                  Tupac

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Marky18 View Post
                    The League, We're Gonna Win The League, We're Gonna Win The League!!

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Neil Young View Post
                      Rafa's strategy this season has been geared to finishing strongly. We all know that's how it happened at Valencia, as he mentions again here, and it can clearly be seen in his rotation policy. Ferguson's strategy on the other hand has been to play his strongest team whenever possible, get a flying start and put pressure on Chelsea. Pity about the stumble this weekend.

                      On top of that, I think many of us have underestimated the impact of last year's long season and we're now starting to see how well how Rafa has managed it. We now have all (or nearly all - of course HK is out but is anyone else?) of our World Cup players back and firing, including the ludicrously maligned Xabi Alonso. Chelsea meanwhile have got Shevchenko playing appllingly, John Terry with a messed-up back, Ballack playing fitfully (I'm not counting the Cech injury since that obviously has nothing to do with tiredness/overplaying). Arsenal are without Henry for weeks at a crucial stage of the season due to a collection of niggles and strains and judging by their performance against Portsmouth are way off the pace their form in the second half of last season. Man Utd have avoided loss of form of their key players, especially Rooney and Ronaldo but let's not forget that Rooney had an enforced six-week rest in late spring so effectively used the World Cup as a fitness exercise.

                      The cost of course has been all those dropped points at the start of this season and it's arguable that that is too heavy a price in terms of our title aspirations. However when you look at our fixtures (I know, we've been over this a hundred times) then I think it's possible that Rafa anticipated that we would struggle in those games anyway, given the excesses of last season, and that we should see what points could be picked up in that bad run of five away games (answer = 0, as it turned out) and concentrate on getting the players ready to play at full throttle from November onwards.
                      Top post Neil Are you Rafa in disguise!?!

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Slim View Post
                        Top post Neil Are you Rafa in disguise!?!
                        Yes, for sure.

                        .
                        Suppose you have a physicist and a sociologist standing at the side of a field, observing a set of events unfolding on the field. The physicist does [describes] it using the terminology of mass and velocity and frequency of radiation and the rest. And the sociologist does it by describing it as a rugby match.



                        May the Lord bless this post.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Neil Young View Post
                          Rafa's strategy this season has been geared to finishing strongly. We all know that's how it happened at Valencia, as he mentions again here, and it can clearly be seen in his rotation policy. Ferguson's strategy on the other hand has been to play his strongest team whenever possible, get a flying start and put pressure on Chelsea. Pity about the stumble this weekend.

                          On top of that, I think many of us have underestimated the impact of last year's long season and we're now starting to see how well how Rafa has managed it. We now have all (or nearly all - of course HK is out but is anyone else?) of our World Cup players back and firing, including the ludicrously maligned Xabi Alonso. Chelsea meanwhile have got Shevchenko playing appllingly, John Terry with a messed-up back, Ballack playing fitfully (I'm not counting the Cech injury since that obviously has nothing to do with tiredness/overplaying). Arsenal are without Henry for weeks at a crucial stage of the season due to a collection of niggles and strains and judging by their performance against Portsmouth are way off the pace their form in the second half of last season. Man Utd have avoided loss of form of their key players, especially Rooney and Ronaldo but let's not forget that Rooney had an enforced six-week rest in late spring so effectively used the World Cup as a fitness exercise.

                          The cost of course has been all those dropped points at the start of this season and it's arguable that that is too heavy a price in terms of our title aspirations. However when you look at our fixtures (I know, we've been over this a hundred times) then I think it's possible that Rafa anticipated that we would struggle in those games anyway, given the excesses of last season, and that we should see what points could be picked up in that bad run of five away games (answer = 0, as it turned out) and concentrate on getting the players ready to play at full throttle from November onwards.
                          Brilliant post, gives all us reds out there a bit of hope and realism.
                          "Let me say for the record, I am not a gangster and never have been. Im not the thief who grabs your purse. Im not the guy who jacks your car. Im not down with the people who steal and hurt others. Im just a brother who fight back."
                          Tupac

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Neil Young View Post
                            Yes, for sure.

                            It's a "possibility."

                            Comment


                              #15
                              In 1981 we lost at home to Man city over Christmas, I think that put us in 11th place...........from the new year till the end of the season we did not loose another game and won the league quite easily
                              Lawrenson:"Well thats 3 good chances they have had in the first 3 minutes of this half"

                              Motson:"" Yes Mark, you could almost say that they have had 3 chances in as many minutes"

                              Lawrenson: Errr I thought I just did say that, John"

                              Voronin Fan club member #438

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X