Having been a die hard Rafa fan it took me long to figure out why he never managed to win the League. I observed Man Utd runs to their title winning sides and one thing was very obvious. When attacking park the bus teams, one thing that they do is always load the box with as many players as they could. Therefore if you look at Man Utd last minute wins they always have an element of wing play with a tap in or header from crosses brought in. One thing that always frustrated me about Rafa, was he fact that we seemed to have majoriity of the possesion (we controlled the game) but sometimes we did seem clueless and ended up conceding too many draws which in the end frustrated our title chases. Fast forward and Kenny Daglish arrives. After a few games you could see at least 5 players in the box whenever we broke into our oponents half. This allowed players who some considered rubbish or average were actualy looking good. This was the same squad minus a few quality players who had left. In short, the more players you have in the box the more likely you are going to get goals. I have seen Kenny play with 6 defenders on the pitch and look comfortable while Rafa did the same and was called defensive. Its just that Kenny takes more risks by flooding more players in the box. I believe they have more or so the same philosopy of pressing high up the field but the difference between the two coaches is one is willing to take more risks. One thing is for sure we will draw less games next season.
let me set out a few points in reply. 1. rafa is a legend as he did acheive things. 2. he was hamstrung by G&H end the end, once he learned the ropes he learned form some mistakes and had a very good team going in 2008 when masch arrived. 3. Sadly he lost the plot, he got power mad. I don't think he had anyone he trusted to tell him so so his decision making went to pot... aquilani, barry/keane were all highly embaressing. 4. rafa got sodl down the river by g&H and so many bad player arrived for good players going out and the moeny taken in vanished too. so in light of these i think he had gone as far as he could go, he blew his chance in 2009 via his rant and that was actually all designed to get that 5 year deal off of G&H. once he got that and got back to it we flew again but the damage was done. Rafa bascially shold ahve gone and deserved to go for 7th desipte the hampering form g&H. aquilani alone IMO is a sackable offense. More than anything the amount of guys who left feeling slighted or badly treated by him was an issue too. Compare and contrast to ferguson and mourinho where players bascially love them. Rafa was good, no question, but lets judge kenny on actual result this year coming. I am not sure i'd say kenny is actually better than rafa now simply as kenny was totally hamstrung himself by injuries and had to play 3 at the back with wing backs etc... if kenny gets a team that he wants together and like 2008 is ready to go challenge then we can judge. we are a long way off now. Kenny is deffo better at togetherness it seems though, players are loving and working for him. rafa... see rieira, benayoun etc.
Welcome to the forum! I agree with the points that you have made. In our title challenge a couple of years ago, we drew against the likes of Hull City and Stoke City and that cost us the league. However, Rafa still achieved excellent things in charge in challenging conditions. Since Kenny took over, we have played more attacking football and that has helped us get big wins against Fulham and Birmingham. This has increased our goal difference and that can prove very important. We have had some disappointing results though in the final two games and we will be able to judge once Kenny has had a full season in charge and has the players he wants.
My own opinion is Rafa took a while to figure out how to win the PL and had to do it on diminishing resources. He was almost there but the squad erosion caught up with us a season too early. It took Fergie seven seasons to win the league; Rafa was sacked after six. There were very good reasons for wanting Barry. He'd formed an effective partnership with Gerrard when McLaren dropped Lampard. Barry outscored Alonso by two to one and did it in a weaker Villa squad. He could play more positions. Rafa was signing for a future plan, not just to replace Alonso. He wanted Barry and Keane but if he could only have one he wanted Barry without having to lose Alonso. He was given Keane. Aqua had something. He was a decent buy in the search to replace Alonso, though as Arbeloa said this week, it shoudn't be about replacing but of playing a different way. We just didn't expect him to be so soft about his injury and you can't blame Rafa for that. Bogus correlation. That was the calmest rant I've ever seen and how, exactly, does having a dig at Fergie, which prompts several 'thank you' texts from PL managers, upset a Liverpool dressing room? Was Carra concerned for Fergie's feelings? Of course you could buy into the media's take on it, dislliking Rafa as they did because he never gave them anything to fill out their columns with and follow their lead in ignoring the actual rant that Fergie came out with just before we hammered them in their own back yard. Show me the journo who blamed that loss on the "beyond the pale" outburst.
I think the difference is Rafa tried to complicate things by being too tactical.Kenny doesn't do tactical,Kenny's system is quite simple in its creation. Kenny's system requires lots of energy,the passing and moving and getting as many players into the oppositions 18 yard box as possible.The side isn't static,How often have you seen players not stay where they started.Okay there is a need for new personel to make it work further.Under Rafa there was a massive gap between the midfield and the offensive players and the midfield and the defence was like a group of at least 6,now under Kenny that 6 are supporting the front,However the front players are using their energy to win the ball deeper,moving the ball quicker and actually creating more chances.However as I said,it does need new personel,ie widemen,because when the midfield gets over-run ie in away games it needs an outlet to be both offensive and to release the pressure on the full-backs.
money that's it. we were so close and they cut the funds off. Never under Rafa have we had anywhere near the squad cost and wage bill of Manyoo and Chelsea. Yet we still came close. And Aquilani is class. A bit soft but his passing skill is exactly what we need. &*()ing Roy sent him away wrongly.
Rafa was a good manager he brought us CL,FA,SC he nearly won us the league BUT Whenever i saw him in the tech area he was always writing stuff and when we were winning comfortably he would show no emotion or smile in my eyes he wanted our players to be robots you never saw a arm round a player from him But that was just his style of coaching As for Kenny He is completely different he does show emotion smiles and you can see he cares He brings the best out in players I just hope he can bring us the long awaited bread and butter
I agree with that Kop79.Kenny manages like a fan.Look what happens when a player is subbed,no grumbling,no whining.The player that gets subbed high fives the manager.The togetherness is there for all to see.Watch how Kenny calls players over and has a little chat with them.Its an old Bob Paisley trick.Its gives them tit bits of advice.Even when John Flanagan clattered into Carra,Kenny took him to oneside and told him not to worry about it and gave him a clap on the back.
