Is Rafa Really The Right Man?

I WAS torn, I mean seriously torn, about whether Kenny should be given the opportunity to stay for another year to show exactly what he can or cannot do at Anfield.

I just didn’t want to have to suffer another season of frustration and disappointment like the one we just had to endure, especially in the league, and be no better off 12-months from now, falling even further behind the likes of Man City and Man United.

I was a huge advocate for having Dalglish be offered the job when Rafa left Anfield but the then powers to be decided on Roy Hodgson and once that turned into a disaster the right decision was made and Dalglish was called upon to bring back order and get Liverpool back on track.

But 18 months later, and a lot of money spent on new players, the decision to cast aside the Manager was made and we will now never know if Kenny was indeed the man to lead us to the promised land of the Premiership title, never mind the so-called success of finishing in the top four.

No one can doubt Dalglish is one of Liverpool’s biggest fans. He loves the club and the poor showing this season must have bene killing him as much as anyone else. We all know the issues with Kenny with his frustrating team selections and substitutions throughout the season and reading some of his team-sheets before many of the games you just knew Liverpool were going to get beaten, so the question was why couldn’t Kenny see it as well?

But when you look back at the way Liverpool have dominated games, especially at Anfield, and failed to score from the endless opportunities that were created, and ultimately wasted, was he really that far away from a creating a consistent, winning, team? He certainly proved this season that he’d taken both cup tournaments seriously, reaching two finals and winning one of them. It is no mean feat but once again his failure to recognize his starting line-up at Wembley on May 5th wasn’t working led to delayed substitutions that likely cost Liverpool the FA Cup. But if you are on the side of agreeing with the sacking of Dalglish would you consider having Rafa back?
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Without question Benitez is tactically gifted. He took Liverpool back to the pinnacle of Europe once more and established them as one of the top clubs in Europe and the world. In 2008/09 he almost delivered the league title only losing 2 games all season. But towards the end I was one of those who thought Rafa had lost the plot with his constant team rotation and negative tactics but after reading Brian Reade’s book ‘An epic swindle: 44 Months With a Pair of Cowboys’ I realized just how difficult a job Benitez had under Hicks and Gillett and the fact he managed do what he did under such incredibly difficult circumstances was quite amazing.

I can only imagine what Rafa might be able to achieve with the full backing of the ownership and the funds to get the players he needs. I’ve seen many Liverpool supporters expressing their thoughts that they would love to see Rafa back at Anfield. The key advantage with Benitez is that he is a proven, successful, manager in the modern game whereas Dalglish was yet to re-establish his credentials. Kenny hasn’t been given one more year to prove what he can do and have Liverpool back to winning ways and whether FSG would even consider Benitez is completely unknown, however I have to assume that savvy sports owners such as Henry and Werner will be considering all their options over the next few days and weeks ahead including Rafa Benitez.

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