Rafa Watch

[Chris]

Robbie Keane - Keane had been bought because of his ability to play off the front man i.e. Berbatov at Spurs - unfortunately it became apparent there was zero understanding between Torres & Robbie.... the club had to cut their losses & sell him - sometimes things just don’t work out as he put it. At the time there wasn’t enough money to buy Barry (the big plusses were being able to play in 3 positions & being English) & Keane - they went for Keane & hoped to raise the money for Barry but his price kept on going up & they couldn’t afford him eventually

Thank **** he put that tedious myth to bed about him not wanting Keane!

Wish I'd gone, thought it was next week!

[Alex]

It will also stop the tedious arguing about it.

[Vermilion]

Eventually the strain of having to expose the owners, fight the financial battles & run the club was too much - he admitted making mistakes in the final season because of this

We know Rafa, we know mate.

[Chris]

It will also stop the tedious arguing about it.

Indeed, if I dare to mention Rafa got the Keane signing wrong in the future hopefully you dont give me reply after reply of how it wasnt his fault like last time.

http://www.est1892.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=2097945&postcount=3562

[Alex]

Yea, if only eh. Maybe next time the person arguing with me will actually read what im posting and argue about that. We cant all have it our own way.

[Yozza]

'I don't think you can really blame the Inter thing on Rafa too, that's more to do with the clubs hierarchy. Moratti has a lot to sort out there. Jose ****ed the club up just enough to make himself look good. Look at the other two managers that haven't exactly set the world alight since. There on there 4th manager in 12 months. Hardly good going is it. '

You're spot on about this - Rafa said Inter went from spending £120M in Mourinhios last season to making a profit of £50M in Rafas tenure

Another harsh lesson learnt he said with a laugh

[dom9]

Yea, if only eh. Maybe next time the person arguing with me will actually read what im posting and argue about that. We cant all have it our own way.

Alas, you ask too much.

[Chris]

You're spot on about this - Rafa said Inter went from spending £120M in Mourinhios last season to making a profit of £50M in Rafas tenure

He definitely should have been given the Balotelli money like Mourinho was given the Ibrahimovic money. And more time.

A lot of the players also looked maxed out after winning everything the previous season then going to the world cup. 13 points behind Milan at the time of his sacking wasnt all Moratti's fault though.

[Mostar]

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2011/10/17/rafa-benitez-wants-to-manage-liverpool-fc-again-he-tells-liverpool-empire-audience-100252-29606671/2/#ixzz1b1WaKh2C

Rafa Benitez wants to manage Liverpool FC again, he tells Liverpool Empire audience




FORMER Liverpool FC boss Rafa Benitez has reiterated his desire to return to LFC one day as manager.

The Spaniard gave an interview at The Empire theatre last night reflecting on his six-year stint at Anfield.

And the 51-year-old admitted his dream of once again taking the hot-seat after Kenny Dalglish’s stewardship ends.

Benitez told a packed audience: “I was really proud to be Liverpool manager and I want to be manager in the future.

“I will wait. I don’t want headlines tomorrow, but I want to support Kenny. But in the future, if I have to wait three, five, 10 years.

“I was really pleased and happy at Liverpool and hopefully they will win a lot of trophies. But when Kenny retires . . . I’ve had two or three phone calls from China, Russia and Mexico, but for me, the priority is the Premier League.

In a intriguing two hours, Benitez revealed how:

former American owner George Gillett told him his son Foster was to make key club decisions like transfers;

former chief executive Christian Purslow was involved in “too many football decisions”;

his final tenure at Anfield would have been transformed without the ownership of Hicks and Gillett;

the famous “focused on training and coaching” press conference was prompted by the same words being emailed to him by the club’s irritated American owners.


Benitez was scathing towards the ex-owners, and recalled: “Gillett told me after the game with Tottenham, ‘Rafa, I want to back you and back you £50m, so we will go to the draft’ [American sporting term].

“At this point, I thought, ‘they [Hicks and Gillett] haven’t got a clue.’

“He said I will decide the plan. My son Foster Gillett will be in charge.”

Exemplifying how the relationship between Benitez and his bosses had broken down, he added: “They were sending emails and I was sending emails back.

“Before that press conference, I received an email that said ‘keep focusing on training and coaching my team’.

The Spaniard also paid tribute to the Liverpool fans, singling out supporter union Spirit of Shankly (SOS) for their backing of him, from the time it emerged the Americans were trying to secretly line up Jurgen Klinsmann to replace him.

He said: “I knew this was around and I could realise something was wrong inside.

“I could not say too much, but thanks to SOS. History will say this was a crucial time. Their [the fans] research and they were in the street and were pushing, pushing, and thanks to them and the rest we could change the situation.”

In a final swipe at Christian Purslow, with whom Benitez had a frosty relationship, he said: “The proof that the owners [Fenway Sports Group] were quite smart was the first thing they did was to move aside Christian Purslow.”

And, alluding to the club’s worsening financial state, he said: “Ian Ayre said we nearly went into administration, that was the situation we had and I could be in now.

“I couldn’t understand or see why I wasn’t getting money when we were selling players.”

[Mostar]

Another pic from last night

[Mostar]

Great video..

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYs9dakBpJI&feature=related"]Liverpool Football and Rafael BenÃ*tez - An audience with Rafa 16.10.11 - YouTube[/ame]

[the rev leeroy brown]

I don't get how that would help exactly.

a team like villa, stoke etc.. would have nothing but prem football to concentrate on 99% of the time (this year with stoke is an exception). rafa had the euro game down to a tee. but IMO he still lacked (even after the second placed finish) an english approach to the EPL. its the trophy every single lfc fan wants more than any other. i feel with a couple of years (3-5) with a team only playing the english game, he would benefit from this and have a better understanding from it. then should he ever come back to anfield, he would have a much better knowledge of how to manage in the EPL.

[Kenneth]

That's all very well, but I can't see us looking at lesser teams in the PL for our next manager.

[SERVO1]

I went with my wife last night and i thoroughly enjoyed it. The videos he used to explain his tactics and zonal marking were real eye openers and made you realise you know little about the actual tactics of the game.

There were some amusing photos of Rafa when he was younger and he told a funny story about going to Tenerife with his teammates at the age of 20. Their manager was 29 and wanted to go out drinking with them, so they'd tell the manager they were going to one pub but actually go to another so he couldn't witness what they were getting up to.

[Craig_H]

Robbie Keane - Keane had been bought because of his ability to play off the front man i.e. Berbatov at Spurs - unfortunately it became apparent there was zero understanding between Torres & Robbie.... the club had to cut their losses & sell him - sometimes things just don’t work out as he put it. At the time there wasn’t enough money to buy Barry (the big plusses were being able to play in 3 positions & being English) & Keane - they went for Keane & hoped to raise the money for Barry but his price kept on going up & they couldn’t afford him eventually

Hopefully this puts an end to the 'Rafa never wanted Keane' and 'He only wanted him if he could get Barry' stuff.

Eventually the strain of having to expose the owners, fight the financial battles & run the club was too much - he admitted making mistakes in the final season because of this

Fair play to him for being a big man and admitting making mistakes. Everyone makes them and in his position, you couldnt really blame him. Puts paid to the 'too stubborn to admit errors' theory.