Wednesday was a very strange day. I think that because the rumours had begun on the Monday, we all probably expected any action to be taken on the Tuesday, at the latest. So the news on Wednesday afternoon took everybody a little by surprise.
But, what’s done is done. I have not hidden the fact that I thought it would be the right decision and going back to last summer I stated much the same then but, as I did with all the previous managers, I was prepared to get behind Kenny and give him all the support he needed.
It just never seemed like he had a proper grasp of what was required in the top division in 2011/12.
The old enthusiasm was there, as was his passion and love for the club and it’s wide fan-base (which was always reciprocated by the fans) but in the modern game, that just isn’t enough, not even when you have one of the most respected and knowledgeable assistants at your side.
So, while I believe it to be the right decision, I can appreciate that some people would be a little p*ssed off, much as I was back in 2010 when Rafa Benitez was sacked. Many fans felt that Kenny had unfinished business at the club and were determined to let him see his contract through. It can’t be nice to see a man you hold up as a god-like figure not live up to expectations, so it’s understandable that reactions would be varied. Not to mention a mix of relief, anger and bewilderment.
But while the list of potential candidates is certainly an interesting one, with a mix of potential and highly sought-after proven experience, I feel there is only one man fit for the job: Rafael Benitez. I can’t deny that the thought of Pep Guardiola being brought in to work alongside the likes of Txiki Beguiristain and David Dein is a seriously, highly attractive proposition but, much like the fans that carried Kenny into his second spell as manager on a wave of love and optimism, I feel like Rafa has a job to finish and this time he’d have the possibility of doing it without one hand always being tied behind his back.
Now, I know from some of the flaming and arguing I’ve seen across other fan-sites and forums in the past few days regarding the new manager that I will get a lot of stick for this so I will just ask this: please try to keep the criticism constructive, guys and avoid personal attacks, it’s unbecoming and a little bit petty. We’re all entitled to our opinions and so am I.
With that in mind, it’s only fair though to present some reason for why I believe Benitez is deserving on another crack. First – and perhaps, most obviously – he was stabbed in the back. To avoid the usual in-fighting surrounding this point, I won’t give my opinions on who or why I believe this was but, in my opinion (and those three words are important here), he was stitched up in his final season and, despite huge protests and marches against the owners Rafa was made the fall guy.
But conspiracy-theories aside, there are a ton of reasons why he is still the best candidate for the job – he loves this club; he may not have intended to but it happened and he is now Liverpool for life. He lives and breathes LFC and has a strong relationship with the City and fans. If you deny this, then you only have to take a glance at this short clip to see what the club means to the man and the man means to the fans. I’ve heard the same sentiments espoused about why Kenny was the man to lead Liverpool forward too so what is good for one must be for the other.
Not only this, but Rafa gave us back our pride between 2004-2010. He made us feared across Europe and England. It was this that led us to a run of 30 consecutive games during which we went unbeaten at Anfield. Only the fourth time in our history that that has happened.
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He took us to two Champions League finals during his 6 years, winning the Cup in 2005 on what was, for most of us, the most memorable and treasured night of our lives so far. For over 20 years before he arrived – or since – we rarely even competed to get in to the Champions League, never mind reach a final or win the damned thing. During the same period we were one of the best, most feared side in Europe and not even the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona relished the prospect of a visit to Anfield. You just can’t put a value on that kind of thing; there isn’t an amount of money that can buy that sort of psychology when it comes to creating an aura around a team and a club but he did it for us.
Then there’s the fact that he signed some of the best players that have ever pulled on a Red shirt. There’ll be those trolls that remind us – for the thousandth time – that he sold Alonso but lets not forget that he also signed him and, in doing so, helped create one of the best midfielders in the world. He also gave us the likes of Reina, Torres, Mascherano, Agger, Skrtel, Arbeloa and Garcia and helped make world-class stars out of the likes of Carragher and Gerrard, for all the appreciation he got for that. People forget that when he signed, Carragher and Gerrard were Englishmen that were largely thought of as being very good but he made them into the players they became and neither have been the same since he left.
Likewise, the likes of Alonso, Reina and Torres were thought of as risky buys when we signed them but all three became the best at their trade in the Red shirt and they will all attribute that to Benitez. The players who have since left aside, what has happened to his signings since he left? Barely any of them have performed to the same level; even Reina has seen his form dip this season. And also, can anybody genuinely say that Torres would have been so eager to leave had he still been at the club? I just can’t see many managers on that supposed list of candidates that would have the sort of pull he has when it comes to attracting top players, despite a lack of Champions League football.
Others will have their own opinions about his signings and I’m sure more than a few will enjoy pointing out where his dealings in the transfer market failed but one thing that nobody can argue with are cold, hard statistics and I have plenty of those too. For a start, Rafa has the third highest overall win percentage (post-war), at 55.43%, just behind Bob Paisley and Kenny Dalglish (this may have changed since 2011-12 season). He also has the second highest league win % which, for what some (Danny Murphy and Jamie Redknapp included) would argue was an unsuccessful period for Liverpool, is not bad going at all.
And for those that like to kid themselves that he was a defensive manager, I’ll just point out that, under Benitez we scored 585 goals, in all competitions over 6 seasons. That’s near enough 98 goals per season – does that sound like a defensive-minded manager to you? Perhaps it’s the fact that we conceded just 281 goals during those 6 seasons, in which time we also kept over 150 clean-sheets (he coached us for around 350 total games) that makes people view him as a defensive-minded coach. This wasn’t a defensive team, this was just a well-drilled team that happened to be good at not letting goals in. So then, during his time as manager we had an overall positive goal-difference of over 300. Based on statistics alone, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more qualified man for the job than Benitez.
So really, the only arguments against can be personal ones and you can’t really argue with those. None of us would want Mourinho or Alex Ferguson as manager but that’s a purely personal thing because they’re two of the top managers in the world. But any arguments that Benitez isn’t suitable based on ability or managerial reasons just don’t wash with me and getting sacked by Inter Milan means nothing; Jose Mourinho was sacked by Chelsea before he took over at Inter and after Rafa left Liverpool he was deemed the only worthy replacement for the current Madrid coach. Some managers just don’t fit with some clubs but with Liverpool Rafa Benitez is the perfect fit. I just hope that FSG and whoever happens to be advising them has pointed them in his direction.
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Those Sky watching parrots who repeat the same Fergie garbage about Rafa are set in their ways and will not change their minds – they are set in their limited ways and will not change! These are the same ones that wanted the King to come and then wanted him to go. Every team these days has fickle supporters.
Rafa was not backed by H&G (except in their first year – and that was leveraged) and he was stabbed in the back by our own board on numerous occasions.
The reason he left Milan (by mutual consent) or got sacked is because he was promised players and didn’t get them.
The reason he made problems for H&G was the same, they constantly made promises and lied about it – with the aid of the then board. Glad FSG got rid of them.
Those who say he will cause issues are ignorant of the man. He just likes people to keep their word. Tell me what the budget is and I will work with it but don’t lie to me about it!
AVB may work, Martinez may work – both good managers but Rafa is a great manager and a perfectionist!
I am also sick of all those supporters who bang on about Alonso – he had one great year – the last one – yes he’s playing good for Madrid – but he is surrounded by super stars. The pace of the PL was too much for him. Notice to-date he still makes bad tackles! La Liga is more forgiving than the PL.
He bought and sold players – yes he did – but most of them he bought for peanuts and sold for more. Most I say not all. All managers make mistakes in transfers – they see a player and think he will work but things don’t always work out. He also tried to move out players that were disruptive or who wanted to leave aka crouch and bellamy.
FSG should look no further than Rafa – he ticks all their boxes of being young, tactical and uses statistics – unfortunately I too believe that they will not look to Rafa simply because they listened to the crowd once – when Kenny was hired and he wasted their money!
IMO, Kenny should have done the right thing last year and said, “You asked me to steady the ship and I have done that – now bring back Rafa – he has unfinished business!” Alas, for all the things he learned from Paisley and Faggin – knowing when to quit was not one of them.
This season and last has left such a sour taste in my mouth………YNWA.
Too true.
best comment i have read bring back rafa
spot on. Couldnt have put it better. Transfer mistakes ? For every Hernandez there is a bebe/obertain/tosic etc. overall it was good. One just need to look at our best players even now. Lucas was the stick to beat Rafa up with. Remember rafa saying ”’Lucas has talent,” only to be riddiculed by all.
Rafa only asked clarification . How much is there ? So he could plan. The answer was …. Let’s see later on son!!! The owners wanted to sell the club and didn’t share the same vision. Some fans still don’t get it. Too much talk sport/sky and listening to the xenophobic media
How does AVB all of a sudden become a better option? Portuguese league ? How about Spanish leagues, champions league winner/ finalist/ fa cup/ top seed in europe? Dreaming anyone? Yes !!! It was LIVERPOOL FC!!!
Martinez? What has he proved ? Relegation survival. Ok. Next please ?
Rafa is the safe option. YNWA
We didn’t tell FSG to pay £84m on carroll, Henderson, downing and Adam!!!!!!!! You can buy 4 quality £20m from around Europe. We would have done so much better i am so unbelievably positive about that . We should have gone for jordi alba at Valencia instead of downing. Cheaper, younger and better. There are many strikers for £35m. I wouldn’t have used that much budget on a player who’s only played 11 premier league games. We needed results this year not potential. We should have done a Daniel levy to Torres in that jan window and told him he’s not for sale in the window- especially at such short notice. It forced us to make a rash purchase out of desperation. I’m getting frustrated again. Alls I know Is that rafa is the most experienced, tactically astute, reputable manager that knows the club, the expectations, the prem, European comps, who is free- no compensation. Rafa will be so thorough and his tactics will be as strong as before. He won’t wait 65 mins in a cup final before changing tactics. He will change it and give the players a boost- Istanbul 2005! Martinez is promising but if FSG are talking about immediate success then like our signings, potential is not the answer. We need a strong minded, tactician who is focused and can handle the pressure and at the moment, it’s not villas bias. It’s not martinez. It’s not Rodgers. It’s not lambert. Its rafa. It’s pure and simple. I truly wish, that for once lfc would do the simple things- its obvious to many fans rafa is the man. Unfinished business.
Absolute nonsense…Rafa had his chance and failed. Not only that but he lost the plot and made the club a laughing stock.
How many more times are you muppets going to keep looking at the past?! The only way we’ll get back to where we belong is to move forward FFS.
You are the biggest muppet here. Guessing you’re not too smart.
His comments are really making me laugh…but then it’s not good to laugh at those less intelligent. Or is he the one visionary who sees football through different eyes and his dislike for Rafa should actually be heeded by us delusional masses…probably not.
Oh you mad?
u obviously dont follow lfc and how rafa lifted this club after years of mediocracy
Martinez would surely take the Aston Villa job as the next stepping stone in his managerial career, that would make more sense to him. AVB got a £15 million pay off and a bad taste of the EPL so I think he will take the Roma job unless he wants a year out to spend Romans money. With all other candidates ruling themselves out other than Capello and Rafa then surely it has to be Rafa if not by stats and logic but by default otherwise it looks like FSG will be back on the phone to Kenny again.
Kenny still good as well. Even we finish 8th, but Liverpool.always perform well under Kenny. The reason we always draw and loose is because this season the referee and even the FA are against us. And also Kenny was building the squad. And that’s why people like Carroll start to.perform lately. Should have stick with the King at least for another season.
In one breath you say “none of us would want mourinho or ferguson” and then finish the sentence with “but that’s a personal thing”!! well if it’s YOUR personal thing don’t lump the rest of us in there by saying ‘none of us’ because personally i would LOVE to have mourinho! and PERSONALLY, I DON’T want benitez back! i know we all have our preferences but i think the likes of jose, pep & guus are out of liverpool’s reach, so personally i would welcome any of the following :- AVB, Martin O’neill or carlo ancelotti. I DO trust our owners though and will support whoever they put in the hotseat and that includes giving martinez a fair crack at it if that’s their choice!
AVB or Ancelotti? Maybe we should go for Claudio Ranieri as well? Mourinho? Ruud Guillit? Big Phil Scolari? We already have Steve Clarke…let’s just get Chelsea on the line and tell them that they should put their rubbish in a bin, just send it to us. I thought a desire and affinity with a club actually meant something to the fans, even if it doesnt with the owners.
*DISCLAIMER* – The aforementioned managers are not rubbish, just Chelsea’s rubbish. And Chelsea and Liverpool are not buddies. The only Chelsea manager not to be sacked under Abramovich is Hiddink, but he loves Chelsea too much to even consider us.
chelsea and liverpool are not buddies? what kinds tripe are ya talkin ya numpty? which rivals ARE buddies? the names i mentioned are quality managers, only sacked by chelsea because of roman’s obssession with the CL in carlo’s case and player power in AVB’s case! how you can refer to either as rubbish is beyond me!
Why would you want Ancelotti? He prefers older players and this is not the route FSG want to take. Plus the amount he’s spent at PSG he has yet to win anything.
AVB has potential. But also alienated many at Chelsea. Would be hit or miss but definitely one of the better options open to us.
O’neill: I just don’t understand this one. He has achieved nothing in the EPL and is just a good motivator. Rarely takes training and does not have the tactical nous required for us to be where we need to be. Just another media darling like Roy Hodgson. There’s a reason teams from over Europe don’t go after managers like O’neill – he’s not good enough.
why would i want ancelotti? let me see now, he won the PL & FAcup, he’s won seria A a couple of champions league finals… need i go on? and how long has he been at PSG?
Yes and at Chelsea he had the older players he prefers to work with. I like the guy and his record is good – but he isn’t right for us due to what FSG want. Don’t think Chelsea should have fired him but he will require a big budget too.
Steve Mcauley – The problem is with today’s expectations and fickle fans wanting immediate success a manager will not get a fair crack, if managers were given a fair crack at getting it right Kenny would still be manager until at least Christmas. My personal opinion is that Rafa would be a great choice, out of all the candidates left it his name that sticks out and excites me most. His stats speak for themselves. However I think we will be lucky to get him as to him it must appear he is down the pecking order somewhat. What really needs to be asked is why so many of these so called top flight managers that have been approached have turned us down.
Agree with u 100% mate.Finally somebody at this site who talks sense.WELL DONE.
RAFA – or my season ticket gets binned! sick of the club, sick of fsg already, sick of talk of second rate managers, martinez, avb, fcuk them, RAFA or im out!
I’ve never been a massive fan of Rafa, but IMHO, if the choice is AVB or Martinez, I’ll pick him until the end of the universe.
Meanwhile, I think some fans are simply wasting time calling for Rafa’s return: FSG will simply overlook Rafa’s application for the job, because They wiil always be fiercely reluctant to follow another fans’ choice.
Options are very limited for the CLub now, and after King Kenny’s sacking not many manager are willing to risk the same fate, with Owners infamously famous for their axing record: and it’s the proof that sacking Kenny in an ignominious way was a huge step backward. Anyway, If AVB will step down, then i Think owners will consider an approach for Paul Lambert. In the last few hours I heard some rumours about Harry Redknapp: I think He’s on his way from WHL and He’s definitely, IMHO, an option for the managerial role.
yeah, harry’s an option, would certainly have the respect of the players AND the majority of fans i suspect. and if FSG limited his budget, he could get a loan from the dog!
Not Harry. He has a fairly appalling record at financially ruining clubs. Tottenham play great football at times but his signings have not been that great and he has no plan B!! If they are trailing you can predict his subs as they are always the same and are usually like for like, very rarely do they involve a tactical change.
Please please for the love of god do not appoint rafa. I want to be excited again about a season. Not rafa’s awful negative tactics, constant team changes, lack of emotion, boring dreadful press conferences and poor signings. Appoint Martinez, i knows it’s a risk but he plays good football is young and could be as good a manager in world football, know one knows yet. Take than chance. I beg not boring benitez!!
98 goals on average a season. Real boring.
Nice Article.
I don’t understand this obsession with a young manager, RM 48, AF 71, AW 63, HR 65 ages this year, RB is 52. When you look at coldly Rafa ticks most if not all the boxes and probably then some more. However, one problem and regrettably I think it is a big one with the people that run LFC at this moment and it is Rafa is autocratic. Just read Gary Ablett’s book and speak to ex employees that worked at LFC and the Academy, this is Achilles heel.
As for AVB if the quotes are correct i.e. just got to make sure it is the right project, sorry Liverpool FC is not a project so Ian Ayre had better say thanks but no thanks.
A comment on the technical Director’s post I have it on good authority that they are speaking to Fabio Paratici technical Director at Juventus, should have gone for Frank Arnesen a big reds fan !!
Finally has anyone wondered why LFC has not accepted Steve Clarke’s resignation ? Could it be the person that the person they want and have spoken to already wants Clarke to stay, just a thought.
Off course m theres only one man for the job and anyone with half brain knows RAFA is that man….
Unfortunately For us the owners listened to the Fans and granted them their wish by Kennys appointment.
Now we can’t accuse the owners of not listening to the fans! We can accuse Kenny of not buying the players we would have liked! The owners backed Kenny heavily!
We have have to respect them for that.
Kenny has come out said nothing but good things about them since Stepping down.
That’s simply because he failed to achieve the outlined target of reaching the top 4 after spending freely.
Yes we have a ling term plan.. But that’s to win the league! Nothing long term about finishing 4th! That was supposed to happen now.
Anyways point being FSG backed the fans and backed the manager in the transfer market….
Now why will they listen to us now after giving us the chance to pick our manager… They haven’t let us down….
The fans that wanted Rafa out in the first place and fans that didn’t want him back have let us Down…
So who can blame the owners for making there own decision now… I couldn’t!
After all this If they do pick RAFA, then we trully do have the best owners in the world… And manager :))
I strongly believe rafa is the best choice for LFC. Pls FSG get rafa back pls. He has what it takes too bring LFC back too where it was. He has the potentials, mentality and tactics too play @? the premier league.
the fact that steve clarke has been coaxed into remaining at the club, surely suggests that avb is fsg’s first candidate, as avb and clark have already worked together. discussions had already taken place with avb prior to kennys sacking. therefore the reason why clark is still at the club. martinez not up to it. rafa puke football. best option is avb, unless laudrup or rijkaard show an interest.
Rafa Puke football??
And there was me thinking we scored the most goals in the season we finished 2nd…
4-1 at OT? 5-0 agg Madrid? Just a few examples..
If that’s puke football..Rafa can puke all over your face… Mate!
I think you could be spot on Alfonzo mo
silver fox, what do you think about avb
People must stop to say “FSN will not appoint Rafa because a sentimental manager is already been a failure”, because if our owners are so incompetents to not understand that there’s a difference between Benitez and Dalglish well, we’re in the wrong hands…again…
sorry rory, but with all due respects rafa while he did a good job at times, he has a dire view of how football should be played. cant build a team by changing personnel so much while also rotating the first team. in any case he will be on collision course again with owners with his inability to work with the proposed restructuring. look at his work at inter. taking a winning team and prodcing dross. accept rafa day has been and gone (thankfully). be positive about a new era ffs.
ffs dire football?? this is the biggest myth. Have a look at AVB’s interview where he talks about Rafa re-inventing the 442 to a more dynamic system. We scored 98 goals on average each season and managers rotate all the time to keep their players fresh for ALL competitions.
I think with FSG he will receive a board and a club that will support him not constantly handicap him!!
The Inter argument is fairly weak if we end up with AVB!! And how well did Inter do once he left?? he didn’t sign much so I guess that team DID not an influx of players to keep it fresh.
Here’s another one who speaks without facts, read my reply to my post of May 21st, 2012 at 5:58 pm…HE WON IN TWO MONTHS THE WORLD CLUB CUP then he was sacked because he asked for few players since the team was finished as you can see now, i’m from Italy and i saw that situation pretty well, everybody was by Benitez side, even the journalists and he was right as you can see now, trust me they still regret to have sacked him…
i think we all need to accept avb is earmarked as our next manager. and he’ll do a good job too i think. he plays good footy. plays 433, 3 up top which is great, 2 up front thing of the past. bit worried about his man management skills, due to his time at chelski, but it was an impossible job to try and change the style and ageing personnel at the club. also interference from roman must have been unbearable, while jt, fl and dd disrupting the show. we ought to get behind him should it be him or whoever it may be.
So his job at Chelsea was like Rafa at Inter then??
Not convinced about him Alfonzo mo
We need to have someone to come in and hit the ground running, don’t think he can do that. He certainly made a mess of Chelsea’s defensive game. better than Martinez though,staring relegation in the face until a couple of weeks before end of season so what’s that all about !.
Rafa was made for Liverpool and Liverpool is in his blood. Go for AVB and come January 2013 the owers will be regreting with fans chanting Rafa Rafa
I hope we get Rafa, but if not we must really support the man who comes in. I want Rafa as much as most do, but if we don’t get ‘our way’ we must support our new manager. If it’s not Rafa then AVB is probably the best option we have.