I have been very angry and very uncompromising, as some of you may have noticed. This thread has filled me with calming joy, mostly because all the media myths about Rafa have been regurgitated ad nauseum this week and I recall many divisive threads on Rafa's reign at the time. Thnakfully there's been a lot of revision on what he achieved. not just by us but by other fans who've admitted revising their opinion on Rafa, not just the manager but the man. Anyway, I've just come from a Guardian rumour piece which says Rafa will be considered if nobody else interviewed this week (AVB and Martinez, it seems) fits the bill. I really can't see why they think AVB will do a better job than Kenny when Kenny kicked his butt twice in a week at the Bridge. They seem to want a youthful manager, like Kenny's about to pop his clogs. Sheesh, Ancelotti's no spring chicken but did a double and Fergei'e been pickled by the booze. I heard the LFC site actually asked who fans thought should replace Kenny and why. That was plain silly and I was surprised because watching the TV channel right now feels like watching North Korean TV. I dunno if Rafa could come back while Stevie and Carra are in the squad, though. The dressing room was split at the end and they were part of that division. They wanted an English manager and that's what they got. But Rafa is one of the only names I can think of who would stop me feeling like hitting the roof with a sniper rifle.
This is why the more I think about it the more I believe Rafa is a good appointment! Most of our side is still made up of Rafa players or at least players who were here with him. He also knows the club, the backroom staff and the youth set-up. I honestly think he would be able to utilise Downing, find the perfect position to get the best of Suarez and Gerrard and perhaps find a role for Shelvey. The 30mil we alledgedly have would actually be a fair amount if Rafa took over too because like I mentioned we have the players to play his style and with one or two quality additions I think we would be very competitive. -------------------Reina(Rafa signing)------------------ Johnson(RS)-------------------------------------Enrique(improved since Rafa here)--- ----------------Skrtel(RS-----------------------Agger(RS)-------------- -----------Lucas(RS)--------------------Adam(or better) Kuyt(RS)----------------Gerrard---------------Downing(Better than Riera, supposedly)----- -------------------Suarez---------------- This is without him signing anyone and I am sure he would find a way to bring Shelvey in, I probably would have wanted Rafa anyway but when you consider we are after stability and we don't have too much to spend he makes the perfect choice; well at least in my opinion!
To be fair I am not sure Carra or Gerrard really ahve that much influence under the new regime. Also lets be honest Carra should not feature much now except in cup games or due to an injury crisis, whilst Gerrard needs to improve drastically on the season gone otherwise he will no longer be justified in getting a starting place.
I agree with what you are saying but you have to remember that those players are two years older and Rafa loved a young side. I reckon Rafa would get someone in instead of Adam he will need to replace the outgoing Kuyt too. The bit that concerns me is we all know we need a striker, something we needed for a couple of seasons towards the end of his reign. Of course, if he could unearth one similar to the only one he got that turned out to be a clear success, I'd be very happy! Of course, saying this reminds me of the summer of 2004 when Rafa arrived. We thought we had the nucleus of a decent side then with Dudek, Babbel, Carragher, Hyypia, Henchoz, Riise, Murphy, Gerrard, Hamann, Smicer, Heskey, Diouf, Owen, the incoming Cisse, etc but he soon shipped a few of them out and instantly added Garcia, Alonso and Josemi.
Rafa never played Agger and Skrtel with each other, he always preferred to have Carragher as one of the two centre backs. What makes you think it'd be any different this time around? Also the other problem with Rafa was he always had a high turnover of players. Nearly every summer we had 6 in 6 out. It was like the team never had a chance to gel because we were cahnging the team so often. Especially the wide players. He bought the likes of Riera, Benayoun, Maxi, Babel, Pennant, Garcia, Zenden, Kuyt, Bellamy etc in to try and fill the wide spaces but never managed to find the right player. A quality wide player was the difference between us winning the title in 2009 and drawing all those home games.
agger's injury woes would have had a lot to do with that. He also had Hyypia and, later, Soto... Fair point but it was rarely regular first eleven players that left, I only recall Arbeloa and Alonso leaving that fir this criteria...??? If reports are to be believed, it was for the lack of trying. He wanted C.Ronaldo and Simoa but a certain Rick Parry stood in his way.
Lots of good squad players were ditched though! Players like Crouch, Sissoko, Garcia, Benayoun etc. Ronaldo signed for Man Utd in 2003. Rafa came to Liverpool in 2004. I just don't believe that one. And Simao was actually on a plane to Liverpool but Benfica changed the asking price from £8m to £12m at the last minute so Liverpool, sensibly, pulled out. No way should a club accept a 50% increase in transfer fee after the fee had been agreed.
Fair point about a couple of years older. However I think Skrtel, Lucas and Johnson are better with that experience, granted Gerrard is not the same(but Rafa could probably get the best out of him) and Kuyt would not be my first choice on the right either(better than Hendo though). Of the side I put above I would say we would need a quality CM and a RM.
But that was the plan and they were the future. Remember when Rafa was hanging off on renewing Carra's contract? I believe that was because he knew Carra would have to start making way and being benched. Carra must've known it, too, because a few weeks before Rafa was sacked Carra threatened to leave rather than sit on the bench. He soon took it back, which I figured was after a quiet word from Purslow that he was about to sack Rafa.
