Rafa Watch

[dom9]

Arn, do you seriously believe we were the best in Europe?

[Shaggy]

We were at least the no.1 ranked side in Europe, and there's definitely a case to be made that we were the best-performing team in Europe over a 4-5 year period. Under Rafa we were the team who everyone wanted to avoid.

[dom9]

But it is clear that there were better teams than us.

The team that won the CL were not a great team by any stretch. Yet somehow they won the competition.

[Red_Polo]

Hahahaha what an epic cunt that guy was

[dww]

But it is clear that there were better teams than us.

The team that won the CL were not a great team by any stretch. Yet somehow they won the competition.

I think the fact that after that we consistently did well suggests that we can reasonably claim to be in the top 4 or so sides in European competition over that period. Until the emergence of the latest Barcelona side there was no clear no. 1 side in Europe IMO and so I think you could make a reasonable argument for us being the best. One win might be luck but repeated performance suggests that there was more to it than that.

[Craig_H]

Yep, for a period, we were consistently there or thereabouts in the European Cup.

Winners, runners up, 2 semi finals (i think) and always in the last 8.

[Shanks]

He would never get the the six years he needed to build up the club. He would as you point out be sacked and start all over again.

If you look at the whole picture and ask questions like if Fergie would have been able to build up a club in three years to be the best in Europe with owners like Moores, Gillett and Hicks. With CEO like Parry and Purslow then the answer would most probably be no. If Rafa would have been able to build up Man U in the same way Fergie have done? Then the answer would most probably be yes. He would have won league title after league title and you can in your worst nightmare imagine how many times he would have won the CL with them. Fergie won it twice. Rafa would probably won it five, six, seven times.

Is this whole argument purely down to the amount of cash Rafa had to spend, whilst at the club?

[dom9]

I think the fact that after that we consistently did well suggests that we can reasonably claim to be in the top 4 or so sides in European competition over that period. Until the emergence of the latest Barcelona side there was no clear no. 1 side in Europe IMO and so I think you could make a reasonable argument for us being the best. One win might be luck but repeated performance suggests that there was more to it than that.

Agreed that there was no stand out team but we were close. Clearly not out in front on our own though. We weren't even the best team in England. We were better at playing in Europe than in the league though.

As for rankings, are England really the 4th best team in the world? Of course not.

[Shaggy]

No, they're 7th.

[Pablo]

[dom9]

No, they're 7th.

They were 4th last month.

[Shaggy]

And now they're 7th

[Arn]

Is this whole argument purely down to the amount of cash Rafa had to spend, whilst at the club?

No. He had **** working conditions. When the owners hire two PR agencies just to throw as much dirt they can at you and the CEO stabs you in the back countless of times then you know that the working conditions is ****.

We all laughed at Newcastle but Rafa had even worse working conditions.

First he had Parry who even bought the wrong player, Keane, and thanks to that destroyed a whole transfer window.

Of course the money played a big part but that is only a part of the picture.

Purslow wasn't an improvement. He continued what Parry started. The stabs in the back continued.

To build a team that was ranked as the best in Europe in those conditions is nothing else than a miracle. It shouldn't be possible. We shouldn't even been playing in the CL but we didn't only played in it. We could beat any team home or away. We finished second in the league with 86 points and scored more goals than anyone else in the league. That in a season when Gerrard and Torres missed almost half the season. That is another miracle right there.

Two man team eh We had a team that played as a team. We had a team that almost never lost a game. To play us at Anfield was a nightmare for every team in the world. We totally dominated at home. If that isn't great then I don't know what is.

That in **** working conditions.

[Kenneth]

This same old **** yet again. Beggers belief.

[Shaggy]