21 Aug 2024 23:15:53
Just watched Rafa on the overlap. Great to watch. he was talking about a lot of things, how meagre his transfer money was, Alonso who had a deal with Arsenal done but he had to play a champs league qualifier (he didn't want to play) etc . well. worth a watch. I loved Rafa when he was manager of us, always had our back, I know some people don't see things that way but I thought he was great for us.
22 Aug 2024 01:24:33
Overall he was a great man who loved the city, fostered a connection with the fanbase and did a lot for Liverpool, as a coach he had serious flaws though, he made some seriously poor buys given the budget he was handed (granted he also got us torres/ xabi and had deals in hand for villa, cristiano and silva etc. ), tactically very rigid and negative and the way he would alienate and freeze players out held us back.
22 Aug 2024 02:15:11
Thumbs down for PatrikBurgher’s post.
22 Aug 2024 05:49:37
Gerard best came when he played on the right. He must have ~16 goals or so. but he refused to play and came back central. He weilded too much power that led us down.
Rafa got us the chapions league and 2nd place finish if I am not wrong.
The press conf when we were top was one of the low lights and we slipped. Cracked under pressure.
Imagine if he had got backing with Silva and Villa from Valencia.
He was good/ decent when he lasted and deserves due credit.
22 Aug 2024 05:55:21
PB, I think you will find Liverpool were in place to sign Cristiano Ronaldo while Houllier and Phil Thompson were at the club. Man Utd gazumped us.
Unless you mean another Cristiano? In which case, I will shut up.
22 Aug 2024 06:56:40
Great manager at that time Rafa, seriously handicapped by those above him in the club back then.
22 Aug 2024 07:56:04
His interview just confirmed that Hick and Gillette screwed the club and Rafa did an amazing job being anywhere bear a league title. It was a sad day when he left because it was obvious he'd just got sick of the owners screwing him and the club.
22 Aug 2024 08:16:30
Great interview and I loved everything he did at the time. He was clearly hindered by the powers above, I’d recommend reading Brian Reade’s An Epic Swindle which goes into detail the whole Rafa, Hicks and Gillette period. However I’ll never forgive Rafa for wanting to sell Alonso, he was too stubborn in his own creative control at times and that was part of it.
22 Aug 2024 08:59:59
@SamiKewell
Gerrard also scored some 20 plus goals and fed some 40 times to Fernando Torres playing Centrally. The guy was a champion.
He led us down? What a Tosser.
He single handedly won us the FA cup. Also was instrumental in the CL final. There were clubs and managers lining up to sign him. Jose Mourinho himself tried 3 times at three separate clubs. He carried a bunch of dross for nearly 15 years.
He let us down! My god some people.
And on Rafa. The guy is a bitter. Bottled a 10 point gap in December drawing some 11 games and couldn’t win a Jack rubbish with arguably the greatest midfield at his disposal in Alonso / Mascherano / Gerrard.
He flopped at Inter. Didn’t he?
Imagine if he had gotten the backing! Oh well what Jack arse did he do with Aquilani?
22 Aug 2024 09:59:26
Def not the hero he’s made out on here to me, albeit respect for what he did for the city. Spent a fortune on far too many average players and no good at buying wingers. When we finally had the players to win the league he made too many weird substitutions and tactical blunders and had a melt down with his Mr Ferguson rant. Maybe too clever for his own good / over complicated things and wasn’t great at building relationships with his players. 6-7/ 10 for me.
22 Aug 2024 10:02:54
Frode kippers I believe that's Rafas point. In order to freshen squad he had to sell. And Alonso was one of the few that would garner a decent fee. And then there is this myth that Alonso was brilliant for us. He had 2 poor seasons and a couple of really good ones.
22 Aug 2024 10:56:54
He won us the CL when were not even the best side in Liverpool ?.
22 Aug 2024 11:10:22
I have said it before, and I will say it again. The hate Gerrard gets on here is completely bizarre and downright hilarious. He was by far our best player for a good 15 years when we were not even close to being good enough, and the guy single-handedly kept us relevant for a long time. I don't know him personally and I think that impacts the view some have of him here, but as a footballer you can't question him. If he was not so great, not every team in world football would want him at some point or the other. In my opinion, he is still the most complete midfielder PL has ever seen.
22 Aug 2024 11:29:26
The sheer disrespect. Guy put us back on the map after 15 years of mediocrity, and he did it with Djimi Traore, Harry Kewell and Vladimir Smicer.
I regret massively that the club didn’t back him more when he was in charge, as Dani Alves, David Villa and David Silva would’ve more than made up for selling Alonso. I also wish he’d stayed on after that poor 09/ 10 season. If he’d stuck it out through the takeover and subsequently been given the money that Dalglish and Comolli spurned, we’d have been back competing for titles again by 2011/ 12. He’s have gone for guys like Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla instead of Charlie Adam and Stuart Downing.
22 Aug 2024 11:37:08
Was fun to see how enthralled the others were with every word Rafa was saying - even if he was jumping around topics like a madman. He couldn't finish a story haha.
You can't fault Rafa's for his heart. An LFC legend. The ownership situation clearly forced him to get involved in things that were probably ideally suited to him. It does show you that good football structures are vital for belt and bracing the risk taking. You can't have the coach/ manager with no understanding of finances playing about with a home-made own spreadsheet in 2024.
22 Aug 2024 11:38:52
Rafa said Alonso had already had an agreement with Arsenal done ( think it was Alonso choice to leave ) and he refused to play a champs league qualifier but Rafa made him play because masch lucas n Gerrard weren't available. iv always thought like most people that Rafa wanted him out.
22 Aug 2024 12:40:00
Fafa had his issues and that's fair. On the other hand, his overall record as a manager is severely underrated, IMO.
22 Aug 2024 12:49:57
Very interesting reguarding alonso. It's his word but that's interesting. Players have loyalty to only themselves. Club will always remain bigger.
22 Aug 2024 19:39:21
Aqualani what an absolute joke signing……as for gerrard he was superb and atleast in the top 5 of all time greats for the club.
22 Aug 2024 22:33:51
With Rafa I remember dreaming having this dream team:
Villa + Torres, Silva/ Mata + Xabi + Mascherano + Gerrard, Aurelio + Agger + Carragher + Arbeloa, Reina.