I missed those days
The floor wiping of Real Madrid was the stand out, after one of their directors said they'd wipe the floor with us.
I have to say that was one of my favorites CL matches. The 4-0 thumping of Madrid. I can remember the criticism Rafa recieved from the press here and in Spain for playing negatively in the first leg yet stil coming away with a 1-0 lead, Benayoun header.. Then back at Anfield, you tore them apart for literally the whole 90 mins.
Dont get me going....Rafa is still the wallpaper on my PC
No1 in Europe, Champions League final twice but youll still get muppets coming on to slag him off
This is the man FSG should have backed
Ryan Babel, Roberto Aquilani, Robbie Keane, Insua, Deggen , Jovanovic, Dosenna, Ngog, Benayoun, Voronin, Jermaine Penant, Kronkamp, Gonzalez, Nunez, Pellegrino, Morientes, Scott Carson
I am not sure one manager has ever presided over the purchase of so much dross and wasted so much money.
For every good signing there was the Aqualani, Keane, Babel, Kromkamp, Josemi, that Italian left back
Rafa inherited a very good squad that was in the champs league from Houlier with both Carra and Gerrard in there mid 20s, Sami Hyypia, Riise, Finnan, Hamman so he had a good advantage.
Rafa had already proven himself when we got him and he delivered from day one. Despite his time at Inter I still think he would have been a very safe pair of hands and given the right backing he would have dragged us back up the table. Hopefully BR can do the same. Only time will tell.
Rafa did bring in some quality players but to be fair he also brought in quite a lot of dross.
name all the bad signings you want... but we were ranked No1 in Europe and in the Champions League final twice for a reason...Also Rafas net spend was practically zero
Of course he wasnt perfect but he had to sell to buy....and his net spend about 16m per season.
Krompkamp, Josemi, Jovanovic, N'gog, Voronin, Insua, degen, carson, pellegrino etc were all bouth for nominal fee's and a large number were free...
There were bad buy's too, but not many. All managers have a few flops, including Guardiola, Mourinho and Sir Alex.
Anyway, that debate has been done to death. Can you please try to appreciate some of the good things too.
It's basic respect and class. Arsene Wenger can be heavily criticised for some of his decisions, it doesn't mean he isn't a legend and a genius in his own right.
You don't get a trophy for being ranked number one by the way.
Also Rafas net spend was practically zero
----------------------------------------------------------
Behave lad, he spent nearly £250M gross, which was about £105M net.
You don't get a trophy for being ranked number one by the way.
------
well no... but you do get one for winning the Champions league
No kash but u do for winning a world cup!
He did spend a fair whack compared to David Moyes to be honest
comment by Toblerone Boots (U4965)
posted 6 minutes ago
Also Rafas net spend was practically zero
----------------------------------------------------------
Behave lad, he spent nearly £250M gross, which was about £105M net.
========================
it was nowhere near that, and when you consider he got us into the top4 almost every season, it becomes a minus spend!!!
Brilliant manager
Class man
Rafa
Fantastic manager,made some great buys, some mistakes, much less than many others. Other side of the coin, he appeared to alienate staff, players, owners especially, and at times, fans. Overall, 7-8 out of 10. BR has some of his positive attributes, and thankfully, none of his less appealing points. BR is now our manager, and I will support him. jimmyTheRed
Jimmy
BR is the best manager ever....one competitive game in charge
I did some research on his work at valencia and the games in the europe against them are something i'll never forget. It would be more difficult to achieve what he did at valencia now but credit where it's due. 'The Crushing Machine' as some called them, were a quality side.
Interesting you bought up zonal marking. It was derided when he was manager and it still is today!
Squad rotation (at bigger clubs), yes, but zonal I'm still not convinced by.....
At least 50% of clubs use Zonal marking from set pieces now. And for 2 out of his 6 seasons in charge we conceded the least amount of goals from set pieces. I certainly don't think it should be 'derided'.
After all what do our British pundits and commentators actually know about football.
I think they've proven themselves to be fairly lightweight over the last few years. I include Hansen and Lawro in that., actually i'd like to specifically mention Hansen, Lawro, REdknapp and a certain Andy Gray.
After all what do our British pundits and commentators actually know about football.
Great manager. Hopefully under BR we can get back to that level and even surpass it!
I have great faith in Buck.
AoD, if you think I am judging our manager on 1 or 10 or even 36 games, then please, please, grow up. JimmyTheRed
BahamaSpurs
I'm serious man, they're just idiots. The rest of the world laughs at us because of them. There are a lot of hacks and sub-par journo's around too (A lot of good ones too).
Sign in if you want to comment
The Genius of Rafa Benitez.
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posted on 3/8/12
I missed those days
The floor wiping of Real Madrid was the stand out, after one of their directors said they'd wipe the floor with us.
posted on 3/8/12
I miss *
posted on 3/8/12
I have to say that was one of my favorites CL matches. The 4-0 thumping of Madrid. I can remember the criticism Rafa recieved from the press here and in Spain for playing negatively in the first leg yet stil coming away with a 1-0 lead, Benayoun header.. Then back at Anfield, you tore them apart for literally the whole 90 mins.
posted on 3/8/12
Dont get me going....Rafa is still the wallpaper on my PC
No1 in Europe, Champions League final twice but youll still get muppets coming on to slag him off
This is the man FSG should have backed
posted on 3/8/12
Ryan Babel, Roberto Aquilani, Robbie Keane, Insua, Deggen , Jovanovic, Dosenna, Ngog, Benayoun, Voronin, Jermaine Penant, Kronkamp, Gonzalez, Nunez, Pellegrino, Morientes, Scott Carson
I am not sure one manager has ever presided over the purchase of so much dross and wasted so much money.
posted on 3/8/12
For every good signing there was the Aqualani, Keane, Babel, Kromkamp, Josemi, that Italian left back
Rafa inherited a very good squad that was in the champs league from Houlier with both Carra and Gerrard in there mid 20s, Sami Hyypia, Riise, Finnan, Hamman so he had a good advantage.
posted on 3/8/12
Rafa had already proven himself when we got him and he delivered from day one. Despite his time at Inter I still think he would have been a very safe pair of hands and given the right backing he would have dragged us back up the table. Hopefully BR can do the same. Only time will tell.
Rafa did bring in some quality players but to be fair he also brought in quite a lot of dross.
posted on 3/8/12
name all the bad signings you want... but we were ranked No1 in Europe and in the Champions League final twice for a reason...Also Rafas net spend was practically zero
posted on 3/8/12
Of course he wasnt perfect but he had to sell to buy....and his net spend about 16m per season.
Krompkamp, Josemi, Jovanovic, N'gog, Voronin, Insua, degen, carson, pellegrino etc were all bouth for nominal fee's and a large number were free...
There were bad buy's too, but not many. All managers have a few flops, including Guardiola, Mourinho and Sir Alex.
Anyway, that debate has been done to death. Can you please try to appreciate some of the good things too.
It's basic respect and class. Arsene Wenger can be heavily criticised for some of his decisions, it doesn't mean he isn't a legend and a genius in his own right.
posted on 3/8/12
You don't get a trophy for being ranked number one by the way.
posted on 3/8/12
Also Rafas net spend was practically zero
----------------------------------------------------------
Behave lad, he spent nearly £250M gross, which was about £105M net.
posted on 3/8/12
You don't get a trophy for being ranked number one by the way.
------
well no... but you do get one for winning the Champions league
posted on 3/8/12
No kash but u do for winning a world cup!
posted on 3/8/12
He did spend a fair whack compared to David Moyes to be honest
posted on 3/8/12
comment by Toblerone Boots (U4965)
posted 6 minutes ago
Also Rafas net spend was practically zero
----------------------------------------------------------
Behave lad, he spent nearly £250M gross, which was about £105M net.
========================
it was nowhere near that, and when you consider he got us into the top4 almost every season, it becomes a minus spend!!!
posted on 3/8/12
Brilliant manager
Class man
Rafa
posted on 3/8/12
Fantastic manager,made some great buys, some mistakes, much less than many others. Other side of the coin, he appeared to alienate staff, players, owners especially, and at times, fans. Overall, 7-8 out of 10. BR has some of his positive attributes, and thankfully, none of his less appealing points. BR is now our manager, and I will support him. jimmyTheRed
posted on 3/8/12
Jimmy
BR is the best manager ever....one competitive game in charge
posted on 3/8/12
I did some research on his work at valencia and the games in the europe against them are something i'll never forget. It would be more difficult to achieve what he did at valencia now but credit where it's due. 'The Crushing Machine' as some called them, were a quality side.
posted on 3/8/12
Interesting you bought up zonal marking. It was derided when he was manager and it still is today!
Squad rotation (at bigger clubs), yes, but zonal I'm still not convinced by.....
posted on 3/8/12
At least 50% of clubs use Zonal marking from set pieces now. And for 2 out of his 6 seasons in charge we conceded the least amount of goals from set pieces. I certainly don't think it should be 'derided'.
After all what do our British pundits and commentators actually know about football.
I think they've proven themselves to be fairly lightweight over the last few years. I include Hansen and Lawro in that., actually i'd like to specifically mention Hansen, Lawro, REdknapp and a certain Andy Gray.
posted on 3/8/12
After all what do our British pundits and commentators actually know about football.
posted on 3/8/12
Great manager. Hopefully under BR we can get back to that level and even surpass it!
I have great faith in Buck.
posted on 3/8/12
AoD, if you think I am judging our manager on 1 or 10 or even 36 games, then please, please, grow up. JimmyTheRed
posted on 3/8/12
BahamaSpurs
I'm serious man, they're just idiots. The rest of the world laughs at us because of them. There are a lot of hacks and sub-par journo's around too (A lot of good ones too).
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