Let me come clean. I have a touch of what I can only call Rafa love. The cryptic press conferences, the conspiracies, the paranoia all delivered with a half-smile, with a twinkle of bemusement in the eye and a plethora of downright hard to understand football decisions make him endlessly fascinating, hint at genius and madness and make him compulsive viewing. I love that his decisions are often opaque and highly unusual. There have been times when he appears to be wilfully damaging Liverpool's title chances, which surely can't be his intentions, he is working to a different set of judgements and values that he simply won't allow to falter. But that's exactly why Rafa has a genius element about him. He does things his own way, he walks a different path and he walks it on his own if necessary. That is the mark of an original thinker. Everyone else might think he is mad, but he won't be swayed by common opinion, assumption or default thinking. Like all true eccentrics he probably doesn't even see how odd his behaviour can be. Just because everyone else who has spent 20 million on a striker would play him every game is irrelevant to Rafa. If he bought him and thinks having seen him up close, he's not suitable, he just doesn't play him until he changes. If he doesn't change he'll just sell him. He did. If Liverpool win the league and in fact, even if they finish second, he will have been vindicated. The victory against Chelsea goes some way to doing that already. Buying a player is always a bit of a lottery because you don't know how he will fit in with the other players both in terms of football and relationship-wise. You don't really know someone until you work with them day in and day out. The wrong thing to do would be to stick with the player just because you paid all that money for him, if indeed he did buy him. And aside from anything else you have to have a huge pair of bollocks to make a decision like that. Plenty would crumble, give in and play him. Not Rafa. He doesn't lack bottle, this fella. Let's not forget that the club's owners have tried to undermine him at times and he's had to deal with more off-field politics than most managers could tolerate. He's kept the side at or near the top all season despite it being up for sale, despite the future being very uncertain. The Premier League's managers are a mixed bunch of faux academics, a few old school shouters, straight talkers and cod-psychologists, but Rafa is different from all of them. Liverpool is such a huge club, one of the biggest and most scrutinised on the planet. It's not a job in the 21st century for a regular guy. It's too big, too intense. You need a big personality, strength of mind and purpose to even have a chance. Whatever you do you will be scrutinised in minute detail and you have to stand up to that pressure. It's not a normal job; there is no place to hide. Everyone thinks they know better than you. His grossly mis-named 'rant' was five minutes of pure theatre, full of wry humour and sarcasm and hugely entertaining. Those who criticise him for it should ask themselves this; do you really want a league full of corporate speak say-nothings? Do you want a man who comes out with little more than strings of clichés? There are enough of them already. You can debate forever if it helps or hinders the player's performance, but for the neutral looking on, we can only applaud and call for an encore. And yet there are times when it seems as though he is deliberately speaking less than fluent English for the purposes of obfuscation. Sometimes he seems to speak the language really well, other times he struggles with it, which only adds to his cryptic fascination. It is a brilliant ploy to pretend to understand or express less than you really do when speaking a second language but all the same, he is a master of deflecting questions he doesn't want to answer, fending of inquisitions with smiling, slightly suspicious eyes and a little laugh. I also like that while he is a cerebral man, he is also full of boiling emotion and patrols the touchline on occasions with uncontrolled fury and frustration, unable to sit still, wracked with tension, so much so that he often barely celebrates a goal. People say his sides are overly defensive and lack creativity but he clearly doesn't care. This is his way. It's how he thinks he can win the league and the Champions League and he just won't be moved from it. He's accused of being stubborn but you can't run a club like Liverpool on passing whims and fancies from wise-after-the-event-give-us-success-now phone-in callers and commentators. To supporters of less stellar clubs, to hear Liverpool 'fans' berate him for his tactics and his selections of players such as Kuyt even despite the club being 1st or 2nd in the league, seems hugely self-indulgent and grossly lacks perspective. He is right to ignore such noises off. His critics think that Liverpool would be more successful if they just threw the kitchen sink at every game, but we have no proof of that - it didn't work a few years ago for Newcastle - and Liverpool have hardly been unsuccessful under his guidance. Trying to break the stranglehold that Manchester United and Arsenal have had on the league for so many years is no small task. He is up against two of the best managers of the modern era with so much momentum and experience behind them. After all, he's 11 years younger than Wenger and nearly 20 younger than Fergie and is surely still learning the art of English management. It's not unreasonable to assume his best, most successful years are still ahead of him in English football. It is almost totally down to Rafa that as a neutral, I want Liverpool to win the league, if only to seem him stick it to his critics both within and without the club and their ability to beat the other top clubs may yet be the key to them doing that. But even if he doesn't I hope he sticks around for many years because English football is a better, more entertaining place for his presence and football is all about entertainment on and off the pitch. And on top of all these things he sports a fine beard that closely resembles the kind of felt-tip beard you get with putting felt-tip onto a brown boiled egg. Add to that the charm a Spanish burr gives to the English language and you have got a downright fantastic manager. Like Mourinho before him, he might drive you nuts, he might sometimes seem unbearable or just downright odd, but also like Mourinho, you'd bloody well miss him if he wasn't around. Long live the Rafalution.
enjoyed that i did.wasnt always a rafa fan,but no one can deny progression this year,its there for all to see,10 points from the 'other' 3 already,ok one or two bad decisions,bemusing at times,but still in there with a big shout,feels good to be able to say that.
Love that article and love Rafa.So much so that just before watching the superbowl with mates i decided to end the rafa abuse by taking a bet that lucas will turn out to be a hell of a player for us within 2 seasons. In hindsight and soberness i think this may have been a rash decision
I am a new poster and Ive realised that only one post has been in support and in praise. Maybe something I need to work on. I have been told that Im talkin b....x sometimes in my opinion of Rafa, but I actually believe that I care more than other fans who wont attack the managers. I cant understand how some people say they love the club but then allow one human away with doin whatever e/she wants to the club. Some decisions are baffling and as I look at some players I have to just say NO NO....they arent god enough and never will be to win a league. That is seemed as bein really negative but to me its being realistic. Phrases such as 'In Rafa we Trust' cant hide the fct that he makes serious serious errors. Am I wrong to have my opinion? I just love this club so much, I can see a serious spine to our team that we havent had in years(yes thanks somewhat to Rafa). We are so close but yet so far away. We have been presented with a golden chance this year and we are not taking it. I appreciate everyones views but the 'trust Rafa' opinions need to be backed up, or else let the people who are negative (but also really care) keep posting.
Here is another site that we know and a response from a fan. Another good read Before Christmas every Liverpool fan that I spoke to told me this was it; this was the season the Premier League trophy would take up residence at Anfield. Fast forward a few weeks and those supporters, like most people looking at the table, think that with every point dropped that hope - expectation even - is fading fast. For the record, I believe Liverpool can still win the title but they must turn the corner soon and what better time is there to do so than against one of their biggest rivals? Sunday's home clash against Chelsea is gigantic. As contests go it's as important as there has been for quite some time. Both teams have watched an in-form Manchester United go about their business and stretch their lead with the luxury of a game in hand to boot. In contrast Liverpool have not won a league game since the so-called 'Rafa rant'; put simply, they've been dropping points in games where they shouldn't. Hold on I think that Rafa's caution has cost them - I really believe that. He likes to deploy two holding midfield players, which restricts his attacking options. It is no coincidence, in my view, that the Reds made a wonderful start to the season when he selected two up front, two wide players and Steven Gerrard in midfield. They had the best start to a season in Premier League history which gave them a wonderful platform to attack the second half of the season but that hasn't happened. Instead, they've gone from top to third and if they don't win at the weekend Villa could go above them. Six weeks ago the players had a belief about them - I don't think that exists at the moment. Since then Benitez has used Gerrard as a second striker and played two holding midfield players and now the side's form has suffered. I watched them play Everton twice last week and thought they were pretty ordinary. They played quite well against Wigan in the first half but fell away thereafter. Magnified When results don't go your way because of the type of decisions you've made as a manager then you open yourself up to criticism. That's what's happening with Liverpool at the moment; every decision the Spaniard makes - good, bad or indifferent - gets magnified and is called into question. Hence we have the uncertainty around Robbie Keane's future. Robbie knows he was bought to create and score goals; if he is not doing that then he will understand why he isn't playing. When he did go on a little run, scoring against Arsenal and Bolton, he looked ready to kick on but he was on the bench for the next game and I don't understand that. He has only finished one league game this season. It is so soul-destroying for a player to know when a board goes up after 65 minutes that your number will be on it. Excuses I don't think Robbie should worry his lack of club action will affect his Republic of Ireland place but, as a former striker, I know you need to be playing regularly against the best players to keep your sharpness and your game at its very best and he's not playing enough to do that. Nor do I accept the argument that off-field issues at Anfield are affecting the players; co-owner Tom Hicks may well be in takeover talks with interested parties but that's an excuse, not a reason, for sub-par results. I went through all this at Wolves when the club went bankrupt and the receivers came in; now, that is a worrying situation - wondering if you are going to get paid. But things like the ownership of the club should not affect the Liverpool players or the way they play; there is a job to do and they will get on with it. No-one wants that more than Fernando Torres; I'm not surprised he is struggling for form because his season's been so disjointed. He just needs four or five games to find his feet and then Liverpool will be in business because they need a fit and firing Torres deep in the second half of the season. As for Sunday, well it's going to be tight; we've got two of the country's best defences going head-to-head. Chelsea's away league form has been magnificent but Liverpool remain a very difficult side to break down. I suspect Sir Alex Ferguson might be smiling come the final whistle. Comments Patrick Conway (Liverpool fan) says... Once again andy spot on. I have been emailing sky sports with 2 or 3 years beating the same drum that this man will not win us the premiership. I am not been pesimistic but realistic. Since his 5 years in charge he has spent countless millions on players that would not make the united bench. Does any liverpool fan think that beanyoun lucas, reira, ngog, el sahar, dossena would be regulars in the man u or chelsea squad. The perfect example is when bebatov was having his doubters at man u 2 months ago, did alex ferguson humiliate him by leaving him on the bench when their team needed to win or leave him sitting at home when a cup tie needed to be won. This man has been given plenty of resources and time to build a team and this is the best he has done. When liverpool had a great start last season we beat derby 6 nil, torres was playing unreal and we were gaining momentum, what does rafa do he leaves torres on the bench for 70 min against birmingham and we draw the game nil all. We were out of the premiership by xmas last year. Just as we were looking good this year he starts the overthink everything. The treatment of robbie keane is hard to watch. The sight of lucas starting is even harder to watch. I love liverpool but the day we get martin o neill in charge of us will be the day we can realistically challenge for premiersip. Posted 14:58 31st January 2009
I fail to understand the purpose of your post. The title of the thread is 'In praise of Rafa' and the 1st poster submitted an excellent article. Your post was totally anti-rafa and what's more it now has no relevance because it is talking about a match that took place last Sunday. Perhaps you are not aware that Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-0 or have I been dreaming all week. Slur Alex was not smiling at the final whistle
i introduced the post as a post from a different site, its not my post Yep Slur Alex is nervous, keep living in dream land
You couldnt argue with the points in the post so you turn to arguing against "the purpose of the post". Everyone apart from the blind can see a lot of them points were true. Put your admiration for Rafa aside and start thinking for the better of the club
I knew it was not your post you said as much. I never said Slur Alex was nervous and I do not live in dreamland. I never attempted to argue with the points in your post as I still think copying and pasting a point from another site written before the 4pm KO last Sunday was irrelevant to this thread. Yes, I have great admiration for Rafa. But I am always interested in opinions as to how the present position of the club can be bettered. So please enlighten me?
No matter what you say we have made progress every year under Rafa. Thats fact not opinion. Thats the reason lots of us have faith in Rafa. So why slag anyone for sayin in Rafa we trust? If you love the club so much get behind them. If the day comes we are no longer progressing everyone will feel the same way. But for now, in my opinion, you and others like you are blinded by wanting to be know it alls and Glory Hunters .............