I KNOW I wasn’t alone last week in feeling almost heartbroken at the news of Rafa accepting the Chelsea job.
Whether interim, or 6 months with options, or whatever, it was a hugely disappointing piece of news and one which left me with mixed feelings.
It’s fair to say I went through several stages of mourning before I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t blame the man for taking another job; he’s one of the top 5 managers in the world and he’s been out of management for almost 2 years: why should he turn a top job down?
Since Wednesday, I’ve had a bit of time to think about the situation and how it affects us in the long-term and I came to this conclusion: Benitez being at Chelsea could make Brendan Rodgers’ job twice as hard.
It might seem like a strange thing to say, but before Rodgers took the job at Liverpool in the summer, Rafa emerged as the front-runner amongst fans and was pulling in around 60-75% of votes in fan polls across the internet right up to the day the Northern Irishman was appointed. And since then I’ve heard a number of fans (myself included) utter the words ‘Rafa wouldn’t have done that… ‘ in direct reply to a number of naïve or poor decisions that the current manager has made.
You see, there are many Liverpool fans that aren’t exactly fond of Rafa, despite Champions League and FA Cup wins and our closest ever run to winning a Premier League title but there are also those of us for whom he is the answer to all of our ills. For those of us, absence has only made the heart grow fonder and given how close he came to making us the finished article, we still harbour hopes that he could return one day and make us great again.
For the first 5-6 months of Rodgers’ reign as Reds boss he’s had it relatively easy. After a revolving door of men at the top most of us are just content to at least let him see a full season through and then make judgements. It’s been pretty tough at times, with some strange personnel and tactical decisions and if we end up with a couple of the more questionable transfer targets in January then I probably won’t be alone in banging my head against a wall at yet more missed opportunities (such as not making an attempt to sign Cavani when he is clearly interested!).
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However, with Rafa Benitez now managing the club with whom he had the most intense rivalry during his tenure at the club things may get more difficult. If he should turn Chelsea into league or – god forbid – back-to-back Champions League winners, many of us are going to start looking longingly down toward the South and will begin to wonder why a bunch of fair-weather, plastic flag-waving know-nothings are cheering on a juggernaut of a team and thinking ‘that should be us’.
Of course, that may not happen. Rafa may just struggle to live up to extreme expectations and not make Chelsea ‘Barca mk.II’ as Abramovich so dearly wants. But that yearning will still be there, like watching the ex you should never have let go being happy with somebody else, who has more money, better credentials and has had a lot more success than you in the past 10 years.
My hope against all hopes is that Brendan Rodgers will turn Liverpool into a great side and, in time, a great football club again in the eyes of the world. His only problem is that Benitez came closer than anybody ever has to doing that, since we were the best team in the world over 20 years ago.
It’s that, that will take some beating and now that he’s back and working at a club that are operating at a different level to ourselves at present, any success that Rafa has at Chelsea will cast a huge shadow over Brendan Rodgers and he may well find himself being put under the microscope a lot more with many of us, as the next 5-6 months go by.
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Anything that makes Rodgers tenure over quicker , can only be good for LFC – Get Rafa Back in July
Rodgers does’nt need Rafa to make his job harder, he’s doing that all by himself. As for Benitez ( self confessed top manager) who bought over £200 million quids worth of players, but only four or five of them were actually any good, then went on to ruin Mourinhos’ Milan side, before, amazingly NOT being snapped up by one of the top 10 clubs around the world, only to find himself an interim job at of all places Chelski, ( where only 2 people want him there) good luck there then Roman, the blokes a nob.
hmmmmmmm your comments on Rafa lack any depth there RoytheRed, have you done any research into Rafa’s signings at Liverpool? about what went on at Inter?
We had 5 brilliant seasons out of 6 under benitez. Most feared team in Europe during his time. We lived the dream. Now finishing 7th is supposed to be an achievement? Nob!!
Nice! I was sticking up for rafa!! I never wanted rafa to leave but I’m not sure about 5 brilliant seasons! We saw definite progression under rafa and had he been supported I have no doubt we would have won the league.
My point, which you missed Ynwa, was that judging rafa on signings alone without seeing the cause behind or the bigger picture in that sense is bonkers, the same as during his Inter spell
zzzzzzzzz … your so predictable timmy . get a life and stop kissing Rodgers ass
timmy is not kissing arse…rafa is a top manager if he is backed with money in the window ….stated that he wanted to bring in hazard a long time a go so really hazard and the others he
missed out on thanks to the yanks would have made us wolrd beaters so you get over yourself! Hazard, alves, Falcao, Bale…he brought in agger skrtel lucas reina torres johnson and made one mistake with alonso…give the guy another go….!!!!!
I agree with you totally + i love rafa . I was talkin about the guy who commented above me -wierdly he loves Rodgers
Simon Simon Simon, pleeeeeeeeeease read what I say before commenting, I wasn’t putting rafa down at all, as per my response above! Sheeeesh.
Likewise with Rodgers, please actually read what I say, I believe your comments are quite misguided
Lets have Mr Benitez back ASAP – We dont want Rodgers
I wish BR turns LFC into a wining side sooner dan expected 4 those of u blaming Rafa 4 joining cheski, he clearly had no option but to do so. Goodluck 2 him.
Rafa is a proper top manager who uses his players well , and knows how to get the best out of them . Chelsea are lucky to have him . Our manager on the other hand is looking very poor and clueless . We should have got Rafa back when we had chance
Can’t blame him for taking the Chelsea job. He’s been overlooked twice by our current regime. Seeing Rafa at Chelsea was like seeing my girlfriend with another man.Gutted. Good luck Rafa, chelski don’t deserve a man of your calibre. Ynwa
Rafa attracts top players . Rodgers attracts average nobodys
Rafa wins things . Rodgers won nothing
Rafa doesnt bulls#%t . Rodgers does nothing but
Rafa uses Gerrard well . Rodgers plays him out of best position
Rafas tactics against superior opponents wins games . Rodgers tactics against inferior opponents loses or draws games
Rafa stands up for our club with media . Rodgers licks fergies arse
Rafa is a honourary scouser . Rodgers never will be
Rafa will fight for us against owners for funds etc . Rodgers is FSGs puppet
are you Moose from TalkSport???
I am a very big fan of Rafa fan, never wanted to see him leave the club in the first place unlike some who are now calling for him to come back I imagine! Personally had he been supported, or given the money that we spent last summer of Downing/Adam/Henderson then we would have won the league, no doubts.
but, and this is a big but, there is a big danger of a rose-tinted view being adopted to create a stick to bash Rodgers with as you have done here:
1. The comparison of how Rafa and Rodgers use Gerrard is very unfair, the man is a different player now with age. As to whether Rodgers is using him correctly is another question.
2. Undoubtedly Rafa outwitted the top sides more often than not but Liverpool suffered at an inability to beat the ‘inferior teams’, this isnt a problem exclusive to Rodgers.
3.Rafa is an honourary scouser because of the actions that he took throughout his time at the club and after, to say Rodgers will never be after 4 months is nonsense, unless you are friends with Mystic Meg and can see the future.
4. Rodgers has very different owners to Rafa. Rafa had H&G who are the single biggest reason why we are where we are today, and the public battles with them came from years of withheld frustration. FSG are nothing like H&G, if you want to compare FSG to anyone then surely it is Randy Lerner at this point in time. We have no idea if Rodgers is fighting ‘for us’ with the owners as things are kept in house, the Liverpool Way as they should be.
6. It would be interesting to take a time machine back to this point in 2004 to see what some peoples comments are on Rafa. We were adrift of the leaders and needed to win by 2 clear goals to qualify in Europe (soon also to be knocked out of FA Cp by Burnley).
Am I saying that Rodges is 100% the right man for the job? no, my opinion is reserved as I think 4 months into a job is not ime to judge. Did I want Rafa back in the summer? yes
Rodgers should not hav got the job , hes not right for us .Sack him
yes, sack brendan. get pep in to manage, with mourinho as his number 2. FSG will provide a GBP100mil war chest so that we can sell the whole lot of players save suarez. we then buy falcao, neymar, pirlo, etc, etc, even CR7 and messi. all the emerging talents in south america would be queuing up to join the powerhouse that is liverpool fc.
get a grip fellas and wake the fcuk up. what we have now is the reality so deal with it. the glory days are long gone, the last good years were doing the rafa reign starting in 2005 and tapering off in the end when the two cowboys from texas were running us to the ground.
forget about winning, it’s not gonna happen overnight. after all the damage, we need to rebuild. don’t you get it?
talking rubbish again . NO real fan would want us to keep such a poor manager .
Are u a manc in disguise ?
Every Manc , Evertonion or anyone who hates LFC – all are happy Rodgers is our manager , They want us to keep him forever , its giving them a great laugh
It seems nearly all fans want Rafa back , but the bloody yanks wont listen . Rodgers is their cheap option but it will cost the club millions in the long run
I too want rafa back and BR gone
I Understand the anger filtering through to these comments and i empathise .
I feel FSG have let us down badly with the appointment of BR
But will they be brave enough to remedy their mistake ?
I Hope yes , but think not