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That was an amazing game today. We were the far superior team, Babel, Aurelio, Kuyt played awesome and Torres and Gerrard were outstanding. It just shows you how far we have come under Rafa Benitez....
I just wonder how the hell we cant win games against Pompey, West Ham, Stoke, Fulham, Boro, Sunderland when we know how to play like that. I just find it hard to criticize a manager that gives experiences like the one we had yesterday... and like the one we got in Istanbul.
Any Chelsea fan would kill for this trophy but yet we can not be happy with doing as well as we have Rafa has got us doing Europe. After all this is where we make the most money and this is what ensures that we compete on the financial stage despite Man Uniteds commercial superiority.
Rafa is so important to us.
The good thing is that I do not think Rafa Benitez really meant to charge for the title till next year really. He has gotten a lot closer this year despite really only signing Dossena and Riera... in the summer. I do not count Keane since he barely got a game and ended up leaving before it was crunch time anyway.. Therefore I think we should do everything in our power to keep Rafa at the club. He is the most important asset we have at this moment in time. If we are lucky he will get more control over youth policy and bring through some real English talent *we will need it with the new requirements* and also transfer policy. What people fail to realize is that he has made the team better year on year and the progress in the PL and CL shows that. Even in the CL you can see it. We now win games more comfortably.
We might as well be honest. In 2005 we did not deserve to win against Chelsea in the Semis or was it quarters and we were lucky to scrape through against Juve when we beat them 2-1. IT was not all luck but the team is about 10 times better today than it was back then, and Rafa has been able to do this with a fraction of the Net transfer budget compared to United and Chelsea for example.
The problem is that the income that United is producing with their massive profitable stadium will keep making sure they are on top financially so until we can get into a stadium like Stanley park housing about the same number of people as Old Trafford we are going to struggle to make it all the way to the top. If there is anyone that can do it though it is Benitez, and I think he will make an even better challenge for the title next year.
This year unfortunately we will have to concentrate on the CL. I think and hope that Tom Hicks has taken to Rafa now and that he manages to tie him down. In saying that, I also hope that Rafa gets his way with the transfers and the youth policy.
From the most recent reports that is what I have been reading. Seeing Rick Parry having to leave now I think is a step in the right direction as he has not taken the club forward internationally, comercially and has not insured certain important targets have been signed as well. I do not know much about this Kuwaitee consortium that is trying to buy 50% of the club but hopefully they can aid us in getting Stanley park built so that we can get a foundation to compete with the Uniteds of this world. That mean a stadium that takes more than 70, 000 people.
YNWA
Stian
http://liverpool.no/cda/storypg.aspx?id=18907&zone=84&parentzone=1 For us Norwegian fans I think this was a pretty good article and that the author has a pretty good point here....
1 comment:
I cant disagree with what your saying, but I think youre giving too much credit to Man U and the size of their stadium. Yes, money is important and without it you can not compete on the highest level. But look at Real Madrid...they have bought the best players for a long time, and still cant win domestic or european competitions. So what I think is even more important is the manager, and the reason Man U is doing so well is Fergie....and I will go so far as to say that Man U as a team is'nt that great, but Fergie makes them great.
My problem with Rafa is that even though we play like Champions in europe, he can't get the team to perform like that in the league. And of the 11 games that we have lost points, we really should have won some of them. Now we can blame the squad and say it is'nt strong enough and that will be true...and that we dont have the money to buy the right players and that will be true also...but the problem isnt the squad or money...it is Rafa. He is a really good manager for sure, but he is'nt getting the team to perform like it should against the smaller clubs in the league.
A great manager would have made the team great and some of the games we talk about would have been won. I personally don't think Rafa is the guy who will bring the league trofee back home. I kind of hope I'm wrong here, but I dont think so...
If the ownersituation resolves, and Rafa can buy the players he wants, then maybe something will change, but I dont think so. After next year he will be gone if we don't win the league....
Benny
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