Rafa Watch

[kris90210]

Didn't know that! But that's Van Perciesq if true. And anyone labelled 'the next Baggio' should be snapped up in my opinion!

[Gibbo]

Mash-Alsonso-Gerrard
Suarez-Torres-Bellamy

Manager - Rafa Benitez.

[Chris]

Is he home yet?

Not yet, he can do that in the summer and ruin all Mourinho's good work again!

[Mostar]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soc.../rafa-benitez/

That idiot Chang is a terrible writer.

Absolutely no style and he almost ruined the great Rafa story.

[CJ]

Not yet, he can do that in the summer and ruin all Mourinho's good work again!

[Gibbo]

That smiley is awesome

[baitman]

The best part of his reign was when Thommo was in temporary charge - we actually seemed to improve our play.

[Bender]

The Spaniard, who led the English outfit to Champions League glory in 2005, departed Anfield in the summer of 2010 after a disappointing seventh-placed finish in the Premier League.

According to Benitez, though, things could have been very different had he been given the cash to bring in Dani Alves before the right-back's 2008 move to Barcelona.

"Daniel Alves was our first option on the right side," the Spaniard explained in an interview with Sports Illustrated.

"The problem that we had was that I had to decide to bring Alves as a winger when he was an offensive full-back.

"It was a difficult decision as we had money at the time for only just one striker or a winger/full-back.

"We signed a striker - the striker was [Dirk] Kuyt, who to be fair has turned out to be a fantastic contributor to the club."

Benitez also alleges that he was not given the necessary funds to persuade Fiorentina to part company with Jovetic in 2009.

"Jovetic was our target but we didn't have the money," the former Valencia boss claimed.

"My idea was to play [Javier] Mascherano, Lucas, [Steven] Gerrard, [Alberto] Aquilani - two of these four players in the middle and Jovetic between the lines, but we didn't have the money."

Benitez has been out of the game since parting company with Inter at the tail end of 2010.link

[Lee]

Bender... again. Look above.

[Bender]

Bender... again. Look above.

i was too tired to read all of that

[Phoenix07]

I'm interested in how we would've set up in 2009 with Gerrard, Mascherano, Lucas, Aquilani and then Jovetic between the lines.

Would Jovetic have played in one of the wider areas with Gerrard still supporting Torres then? Aquilani and Mascherano behind them? I thought Jovetic was a player in the AM/FC role to excuse the Football Manager language.

[Lee]

Just trying to figure that out too.

Reina
Johnson Skrtel Agger Aurelio
Mascherano Lucas
Gerrard Aquilani Jovetic
Torres

**** me. What a team that'd have been.

Gerrard back on the right perhaps? And then behind Torres with Kuyt on the right when Aquilani was injured?

[Phoenix07]

I thought about Gerrard on the right, but his dynamic with Torres doesn't deserve to be broken up/altered.

**** me, I'm talking in present tense here.

Rafa liked Dirk a lot on the right. I reckon he would've persisted with him there again for the season.

[Lee]

I thought about Gerrard on the right, but his dynamic with Torres doesn't deserve to be broken up/altered.

**** me, I'm talking in present tense here.

Rafa liked Dirk a lot on the right. I reckon he would've persisted with him there again for the season.

You're probably correct with that.

I suppose one of Lucas, Mascherano and Aquilani would've been out with injury or suspension at any one time. I think Jovetic quite often plays on the left so he'd have competed with Riera for that position.

[Phoenix07]

You're probably correct with that.

I suppose one of Lucas, Mascherano and Aquilani would've been out with injury or suspension at any one time. I think Jovetic quite often plays on the left so he'd have competed with Riera for that position.

Johnson and Aurelio would've been asked to provide more width and stretch the flanks.

I remember when he wanted Barry and the talk of the Christmas tree formation. Degen and Dossena were apparently going to be the ones to stretch the play.

Essentially, if he'd had the money, we would've seen Kuyt, Gerrard, Jovetic and Torres in between the lines with any width coming from Johnson and Aurelio.

Oh well.