06 Jun 2025 11:51:51
I ran this poll in our local Liverpool supporters group and was interested what others on here thought. Ed, can we have the below poll on here.
Poll Question: As first year manager, who had the greater achievement?
A) - Rafa winning the Champions League
B) - Slot winning the Premier League
In our local poll, 84% - 79 votes went for Slot winning the league.
For me, I went back and forth on it but landed on Rafa winning Champions League.
I'd rank winning the league as more difficult than the Champions League.
But what but what weighted it towards Rafa for me was that the squad he inherited had no rights to be winning anything that season. Whereas Slot's squad, imo, was right on the precipice of winning and he gave it that final push to get us over the edge.
Looking back at that first season for Rafa, he had a new forward line with the main transfer in suffering a horrendous broken leg. We re-tooled the defense with no major signings and the midfield was ok.
Stevie, at that age (24/25), would be the only player from the squad who would sniff our all-time team. Whereas this squad you could make s trong case for Mo, VVD and Alli, maybe Trent also.
Anyways, interested in people's thoughts. It was nice to also think back to that '05 season and try to recall the environment in the squad at the time.
Rafa coming over from Valencia was exciting too. With The Rabbit Aimar, his Valencia team played great footy!
06 Jun 2025 12:01:07
Rafa or Slot poll
06 Jun 2025 12:15:43
Deffo Rafa CL win for me. As you say that team on paper was nowhere near good enough to be winning that competition, but we managed it anyway. League more difficult of course and whilst I don't think many expected us to win, the squad and position of the team in general that Slot took over from Klopps rebuild is a million times better than what Rafa needed to build upon.
In fact, despite the lack of trophies, I would say the rebuild job Rafa did was nearly on a par with what Klopps did. On both occasions both managers took us to being in the top 5 teams in the world, Klopps just finished the job where Rafa couldn't get us over the line.
06 Jun 2025 12:16:43
I’d agree with you there Faith. Slot was chosen to be an evolution of Klopp rather than a complete change. And the squad he inherited had come realistically close to doing the quad twice in the previous 3 seasons, so he had a great starting position.
06 Jun 2025 12:24:30
Rafa did make signings in his first year. Xabi Alonso would get in our team now and Luis Garcia was brilliant for us. But I do agree that Slot had a much better base to start from.
Rafa was a great manager to win cups with as he set out not to lose a game.
Coming down from 3-0 was probably the best night of my life in terms of watching football and I sometimes still watch the highlights now.
06 Jun 2025 12:27:14
Much as I loved Rafa’s CL win, what Slot has done over many more games is the greater sporting achievement. I always see the CL as a nice to win, the league is bread and butter for this club and getting us back on ‘the perch’ in terms of league titles in his first season is very impressive.
06 Jun 2025 12:39:49
The squad now is far superior to the Rafa squad. We hadn’t won anything massive in so so long.
Easily Rafa, but it doesn’t diminish slot has performed a miracle here. He’s a seriously good manager, He walked the league last season spending nothing.
06 Jun 2025 12:44:20
Player for player, is there a worse team that's won the champions league since the rebranding than that one?
06 Jun 2025 12:46:41
Judging by this forum, and the guesswork here of what the players thought, we were going down the drain. Aging squad with players over the hill (including VVD and Salah), unproven manager, no exciting new players, drooling over other teams strengthenings etc.
Arne having a great season was only obvious and smooth sailing in retrospect, wasn’t it?
My vote for best season is Arne, but the CL final 2005 tops as individual result, only bettered by the Barcelona semifinal in recent history.
06 Jun 2025 12:49:47
Liverpool: Dudek, Finnan, Traore, Hyypia, Carragher, Alonso, Kewell, Gerrard, Baros, Luis Garcia, Riise
AC Milan
GK: Dida
RB: Cafu
CB: Jaap Stam
CB: Alessandro Nesta
LB: Paolo Maldini
CDM: Andrea Pirlo
RM: Gennaro Gattuso
LM: Clarence Seedorf
AM: Kaka
ST: Andriy Shevchenko
ST: Hernan Crespo
How we cam back from 3-0 down is nothing short of a miracle. Rafa gets my vote.
06 Jun 2025 12:56:07
Is a tough one but Id agree, winning the Champions league that season should never have happened and provided one of the most enjoyable nights as a football supporter that I can remember.
So much credit to Slot and the boys for this season but that Champions league campaign and that night in Istanbul were incredible.
06 Jun 2025 13:04:55
Winning champs league must be seen as the easier competition…so for me slot.
06 Jun 2025 13:13:01
Slots a bigger achievement as he brought the league trophy home in front of supporters for the first time in over 35 years.
Rafa’s probably the harder as the squad was so poor and we were 3-0 down in the final.
06 Jun 2025 13:19:55
Has to be Slot. As amazing as the CL win was in 2005 I think we all know we rode our luck and were nowhere near the best team in Europe.
The CL is a cup competition that can be won like that with a few lucky results and the bounce of a ball.
The league on the other hand you have to be consistently on your game and the best team over 38 games to win it.
Give me the league over the CL every time. I don’t even think there’s a debate to be had here.
06 Jun 2025 13:24:33
Slot, all day long. We had a massive amount of luck to win CL. No luck involved in winning the PL.
06 Jun 2025 13:24:56
Slot - winning the league is ahead of the CL any day for me.
06 Jun 2025 13:35:36
Clearly Slot for me. The Champions League is a higher competition for me, despite the EPL being the best of the lot in domestic competitions. What Rafa did was one night of brilliance in a tournament of a few games, albeit the best teams in Europe being involved. What Slot did was show brilliance over a 38 game long season full of pitfalls and all kinds of issues. Consistent brilliance over a much longer period in the toughest league of the continent. And to do it in your first year without the experience of having played most of the other 19 teams before, is an additional feather in the cap. Did it with Klopp's team? Yes he did. Did what Klopp couldn't do.
06 Jun 2025 13:41:49
As improbable as the champions league win was in tournament football you always have a chance. It's not like we won because of a tactical masterclass either. Slot on the other hand, won us games we probably would have dropped points in with any other manager by fixing problems as they presented themselves. If we hadn't faced psg so early I think we could have gone all the way in the champions league, too. For a coach with no experience at the very top level (Rafa had won la liga and made the cl final with Valencia) that was an incredible season.
06 Jun 2025 13:42:05
Slot winning the league is a fantastic achievement. The most insane game of footy I ever watched was the Rafa champions League final though. Anyone name a more edge of the seat game.
06 Jun 2025 13:45:09
If we replayed that Champions League final 100 times - We lose 99 times. The fact that team won it was nothing short of a miracle.
That squad being in the CL, just making to the quarter finals would have been a good result.
The team Slot took over was head and shoulders ahead of Rafa's team. That's not to diminish what Slot has done. He has been brilliant.
But that 2005 win was a once in a lifetime achievement. It has to be that for me.
06 Jun 2025 14:03:03
Rafa winning the CL with that team is a better achievement than Slot wining the league with this team. 100%.
06 Jun 2025 14:36:24
I think it’s worth separating the story of winning #20 from the achievement as a stand alone event. It’s not like there was extra pressure this year to win #20 this season.
I think the squad Slot inherited was way more tailor made to win compared to Rafa’s squad. Totally get the point of the detractors on here but they will always be noisy no matter well we play lol.
This squad won a cup last year and for much of the season we’re being talked about as a chance of a quadruple. I said in pre-season the best thing we did was not overhaul the squad so we had consistency and hunger within the squad. The only unknown would really be Slot.
With Rafa, that team definitely rode their luck but you also have to make your own luck. People don’t seem to remember the 0-0 in Turin to knock out Juve. Or the battles with Chelsea in the semi. Elements of luck but also great management to get through.
06 Jun 2025 14:48:05
I just think to be a true Liverpool legend as a manager you have to win the league. Klopp and Slot will always be head and shoulders above Rafa to me for that reason.
Rafa won a cup competition, Houllier won 3 cups in one season but neither won the league so they won’t go down in History as some of our best managers.
The League trumps the Champions League all day, every day.
06 Jun 2025 15:11:53
I look at that Milan team and 20 years later i still don’t think we are going to win that final.
07 Jun 2025 11:37:45
Would ‘04/ ‘05 Alonso make this year’s squad?
The poll results are in and it’s Rafa for the win!
as I said in my original post, the two squads are not comparable. Two top goal scorers left, CB left and replaced with a dude almost 35 lol
It’d be as if Slot started this season without Mo, Diaz and say he replaced Joe Gomez with someone old.
Anyways good chat!