Originally posted by Pablo1981
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This comment from the bottom of that Sky Sports article:
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I'm guessing Shaggy posted that.
That rug really tied the room together. -
From BBC Football during today's game
Jethro Colmer on Twitter: "Rafa, I take it back- I BELIEVE IN YOU."
Go **** yourself Chelsea fans -
Jellyfish are 97% water or something, so how much are they doing? Just give them another 3% and make them water. It's more usefulComment
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Hey pandejos lay off the Mexican abuse! Entiendes? 
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Early in the afternoon high above Yokohama's bustling quayside Rafael Benítez is brimming with optimism. Chelsea are through to /Sunday's final of the Fifa Club World Cup against Corinthians. A level of order has been restored with three successive victories to boost the players' confidence and the interim first-team manager is in his element shifting bottles of fizzy water, empty glasses and a salt cellar around the table to demonstrate all manner of tactical nuances.
This is all still a work in progress – and his team could find themselves slipping 13 points from the Premier League's summit on Saturday afternoon – but the outlook can seem brighter from the observation room on the 70th floor of the Royal Park hotel. "At Valencia we were well behind, eight points in February, but I remember speaking to my players and telling them we would win the league," says Benítez, his mind drifting back to the winter of 2004 when Real Madrid appeared out of sight. "We were in a corridor at the team hotel, with [Roberto] Ayala, [Santiago] Cañizares and [Mauricio] Pellegrino, maybe [Pablo] Aimar too. And they all thought I was crazy."
Over the next three months that deficit from Real was transformed into an eight-point advantage at the top, those same players who had doubted their manager's sanity revelling in a second Primera Liga title in three years. It is a story Benítez has told before, not least while he was at Liverpool where he was never quite able to secure the domestic title those at Anfield so craved. Yet, having been handed an unexpected seven-month opportunity at Stamford Bridge and a lavishly assembled squad of players, with the promise of more additions to come next month, the Spaniard may as well dare to dream.
For all the team's recent toils a deficit at the turn of the year might not feel so daunting if they are world as well as European champions. There is also the sense that no team, not even Manchester United, will tear away with the title race this term. The leaders may already have won 3-2 at both Manchester City and Chelsea but they had carelessly cast away 2-0 leads in both those fixtures before biting back late on.
Chelsea could point to mitigating circumstances with their own loss, a defeat eventually confirmed with only nine men on the pitch even if it was to prove the beginning of the end for Roberto Di Matteo. Regardless, Benítez has watched footage of the Manchester derby and studied the scout reports and is convinced the title pursuit is far from a foregone conclusion.
"People tell me that it's a two-horse race but, realistically, if you win two or three games in a row then you have more confidence," he says. "If we win here against Corinthians and play like we did against Monterrey, good football with the quality we have going forward and the right balance in defence, this team can go on to win games in a row easily. How many? I don't know. But if you win three or four in a row, confidence will be so high. With Liverpool [in 2008-09] in our last 11 games we drew 4-4 against Arsenal and won the other 10. OK, that was not enough to win the title but why can't we do the same kind of run here?
"At Valencia the way we trained was key. With the way we train here I'm confident we will be better and better every single week. When I talk to the players I can see in their faces they have the belief. They know that what we are doing is all working. It will be about that first league game back, against Aston Villa next Sunday. If we can reproduce the same level in that match and win, the players will start building this confidence.
"The difficulty I have is there is not much time and we have a game at Leeds [in the quarter-final of the Capital One Cup] two days after we get back from Japan. I started preparing that squad yesterday but I cannot lose my focus: now it is on Corinthians. The message has to be always on the next game."
Benítez can look only short-term at present. His own seven-month contract, while effectively allowing him to audition for the long-term role he craves, dictates that he can have only limited input into squad strengthening and his players' contractual negotiations. He has had no influence over the decision not to extend the stay of Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard beyond the summer.
"They are both very, very good players and no one can argue with that," he says. "But you have to analyse decisions in context. It's not just about the quality of the players but all these things: fitness, age ... You put that together and the club make a decision. My job is to use them, to improve them if I can and get the best from them."
Likewise he can offer only his opinions on prospective signings for the midwinter window, even if Roman Abramovich and the sporting director, Michael Emenalo, appear to respect his judgment. There will be money spent next month, with Benítez hopeful for a striker and a central midfielder to supplement numbers. The need for another forward to alleviate the strain on Fernando Torres, who has featured in all but one of Chelsea's games this season, is privately acknowledged even by the striker himself.
The Colombian Radamel Falcao is admired, though the club are doubtful whether Atlético Madrid will sanction a sale mid-season. A move is anticipated for Bayer Leverkusen's Andre Schürrle while Robert Lewandowski and Marco Reus of Borussia Dortmund, as well as Napoli's Edinson Cavani, are also options. The names are all familiar and whoever arrives will come at a premium but this club is prepared to demonstrate its clout even if it cannot offer Champions League football at present.
The stand-in manager is merely relishing this involvement. Those two years since his acrimonious departure from Internazionale, immediately after claiming the cup for which his new side will compete on Sunday, had crawled by with a succession of job offers failing to stir his enthusiasm. Life as an also-ran, even at a vast salary, did not appeal. "I could be working now in Spain, Italy or China, earning massive money on a long contract at a club in mid-table, but I wanted to win trophies. Here, at Chelsea, I don't say I'm an 'interim'. I am manager until the end of the season. Afterwards you never know.
"In England you talk about projects and needing time. In Spain or Italy it'd sometimes be considered amazing to have one year in a job. But if you have one week, you cannot change too much. If you have three months, you'll see little things change. If you have three seasons, it'll be easier. I'm sure that, doing the right things on the training pitch, signing the right players and with proper time, you can compete at the maximum level. Why not?"
He has already spied signs of real progress, citing specific "penetrating passes" slipped through from midfield to the full-backs, César Azpilicueta and Cole, in the defeat of Monterrey. Both had been fine-tuned in training ground drills. "I am giving the players solutions," he says.
Chelsea's support is still rife with grumbling discontent at the answer stumbled upon by Abramovich and his board but Benítez is ploughing on regardless. His team may be world champions by the end of the weekend and could yet challenge United and City at the top of the league before the campaign is out. Chelsea are not giving up just yet.
That rug really tied the room together.Comment
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Warnock stirring the ****e before the game, saying the last time he heard from Rafa was an e-mail with his name on it sent by his solicitor, threatening legal action if he mentioned Rafa playing a weak squad that time being the reason Sheffield went down.
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What were the results immediately after he said it? Did we win?Originally posted by Shaggy View PostOff topic but I can never let this myth slide.
We did not collapse, and after Rafa "mouthed off", it was absolutely backed up by results. This was our record post "rant"
P18 W12 D5 L1 F42 A14 GD+28 Pts 41
Some 'collapse'.
2.28 points per game - our points per game pre "rant" was 2.25.
The results were excellent - how we'd kill for a collapse like that now. Our problem was United's results were just fractionally more excellent.
So there we have it.
Anyway, back to Rodgers.Forwards.......Comment
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The interview was prior to the Stoke game where we drew 0-0 wasn't it?!Originally posted by DannyMan2006 View Post
I'm sure that's the game where Gerrard had a perfectly good goal (from a freekick) disallowed.Comment
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Liverpool 2009-2010 results after (Rafa Rant Jan 9th 2009):Originally posted by DannyMan2006 View Post
Man United 2009-2012 results after Rafa rant:
I think we can clearly see how the whole Rafa rant affected United.... that being made them play better!!!
Liverpool: 8 wins 6 Draws 4 Losses
Man United: 13 wins 2 Draws 2 Losses
EDIT: IMO was a massive mistake, should have kept quietLast edited by danperkins; 18-12-12, 05:05 PM.Comment
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Oh Maybe it was the Gerrard Thug Fight effect.
We Lost it in that Jan. Our Results were not good enough.Comment
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0-0. Is that a collapse?Originally posted by DannyMan2006 View PostThanks very much for being ‘This Mornings’ Farmer’Comment
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I love the fact people think what Rafa said in his so called rant, was on any players minds as they went out to play the games that followed till the end of the season.
Did the utd players run out in all games till the season finished thinking...we're gonna show that Rafa!
Last edited by Vermilion; 18-12-12, 06:05 PM.Comment
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You've posted the wrong seasonOriginally posted by danperkins View PostLiverpool 2009-2010 results after (Rafa Rant Jan 9th 2009):
Man United 2009-2012 results after Rafa rant:
I think we can clearly see how the whole Rafa rant affected United.... that being made them play better!!!
Liverpool: 8 wins 6 Draws 4 Losses
Man United: 13 wins 2 Draws 2 Losses
EDIT: IMO was a massive mistake, should have kept quiet
Wrong season, wrong results. You've posted 09-10. It was 08-09.
Wrong season/results for United too.
I've already posted LFC's results post 'rant'.
P18 W12 D5 L1 F42 A14 GD+28 Pts 41
As I said, some 'collapse'.
2.28 points per game post 'rant' - our points per game pre 'rant' was 2.25. You can't control what opponents do.Thanks very much for being ‘This Mornings’ Farmer’Comment
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The only league game we lost after the 'rant' IIRC was Boro away. Always struggled there.
"Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob PaisleyComment
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Originally posted by Shaggy View PostYou've posted the wrong season
Wrong season, wrong results. You've posted 09-10. It was 08-09.
Wrong season/results for United too.
I've already posted LFC's results post 'rant'.
P18 W12 D5 L1 F42 A14 GD+28 Pts 41
As I said, some 'collapse'.
2.28 points per game post 'rant' - our points per game pre 'rant' was 2.25. You can't control what opponents do.
There are two reasons why even LFC fans seem to think Rafa's rant was a mistake.
1) The 0-0 draw with Stoke immediately afterwards, even with the wrongly disallowed Gerrard freekick.
2) The frankly ridiculous run of results that United went on - including crazy, dramatic late winners by **** players.
We were superb after the "rant" the reason we didn't win the league was Torres' injuries and Keane was kept/replaced in January.James Philip Milner Fanclub #1
Curtis Julian Jones Fanclub #1Comment
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