4 Oct 2012

'It's so frustrating!' - Gerrard admits his biggest regret came under Rafa Benitez...

It's hard to accept, but the sad reality is that Steven Gerrard - one of Liverpool's greatest ever players - will probably never experience the joy of winning a league title with his hometown club. During his 15-year senior career, the Reds have come close to winning the title on two occasions, and Gerrard admits that he still has regrets over losing the premier league titles to Manchester United in 2009.

At the launch yesterday of his new book 'My Liverpool Story', Gerrard insisted that he has 'no regrets' over twice rejecting Chelsea in the mid-2000s, but admitted that he still feels frustration over the way Liverpool missed out on the title in 2009. He explained:

"Some of the games I look back on with frustration and regret are the ones we drew at home which cost us the title [in 2008/09 when LFC finished four points behind United].

"There is no two ways about it, if there was no Roman Abramovich or the guy [Sheikh Mansour] who bought Manchester City I'd have two or three league titles sitting here now"


I can imagine the frustration Gerrard must feel; fans feel it too, and no matter how you try and rationalise the 2008-9 season, the truth is clear: the title was there for the taking and Liverpool threw it away.

In the latter stages of Rafa Benitez's tenure, league draws were a major problem:

* 2007-8: 13 league draws (35% of games/1 every 2.8 games)
* 2008-9: 11 league draws (29% games/i every 3.3 games)

In the 2008-9 season, home draws against the likes of Fulham, West Ham, Hull City, and Stoke City really damaged the club's chances, and if only two of those draws had been converted into wins, Liverpool would've won the title on goal difference. Aaagh!

That's what you get for having a defensive-minded mentality though, and Benitez was definitely a cautious manager. By the time the Spaniard let the leash off that season, it was too late, and the initiative had gone.

Gerrard admits it will take a 'miracle' for Liverpool to win the title whilst he's still playing, and that's probably true, but you never know; Brendan Rodgers is clearly a great manager, and if he's backed in the transfer market over the next year then maybe he'll become a miracle worker...?

Jaimie Kanwar


53 comments:

  1. It breaks me to see one of the best players to ever put on the red jersey not win the league after coming so close

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  2. Regardless of the league medal, he will be remembered as one of the most influential and greatest player of his generation. No two way about it :-)

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  3. We were agonisingly close in 2008/9 it was heart-breaking.

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  4. True he has never won and probably never will win the league. But I don't think there are many players out tere who will retire having won the League Cup, the FA Cup, The UEFA Cup, the Champions League, The Charity Sheild and the European Super Cup. Not a bad haul really and I know some will say 'Id trade all those for a league title' but I don't think he really would. You dont get many nights like Istanbul to look back on at the end of a playing career!

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  5. It wasn't a supposed 'defensive' mentality that was the reason for drawing those games. Unless you're implying you know better than Rafa Benitez. We didn't have enough quality attacking players who could make the difference in those games, and also consider Torres only played half a season in 08/09. Big shame though, Gerrard deserves a number of titles and for him to finish with none would be a massive shame.

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  6. Gerrard only came close to winning the tittle under Rafa, eventhough he states that the money spent by other clubs was the reason LFC never won the tittle your headline is twisted to insinuate it was Rafa that was the problem,
    and you go on about Rafa followers your just as bad if not worse.
    Rafa did make mistakes but im sure if some of the players had have made this pass or another that draw could have turned to a victory, it wasnt to be we dust ourselves down and try again

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  7. The one who perform to win is the player not the manager so blaming the manager is pathetic,no matter how good the coach are they don't score goal player do.

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  8. So defensive ..and yet so close to the title. You're funny Jaimie

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  9. Defensive mngr or not Jamie that was the closest we came to win the league in the last 20 years. And that will b the closest Gerrard came to win the league as well. If I remember that season we scored more goals than MU. Is that defensive. RB YNWA.

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  10. Hopefully stevie G will get into yoga and adapt his game to enable him to play on to close to 40 a la gary mac, scoles and giggs.
    As for rafa and defensive tactics, it depends on if its glass half full or empty as clearly those tactics also won us some games.

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  11. Being so close to the title doesn't change the fact LFC were cautious under Benitez 24 league draws in two seasons is proof of that. Liverpool came 2nd under Houllier in 2002, and that team was also defensive-minded.

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  12. Houllier's team came close in 2002 also.

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  13. I don't agree with Stevie's faith that we would have won the league if it weren't for the owners of Chelsea & City. Only one season where we truly good enough to challenge for the title during Stevie's time at the club and neither City or Chelsea won it in that season. More likely that Man Utd and Arsenal, to a lesser extent, would have won those titles that City and Chelsea won, instead of us. We have rarely looked good enough, when it comes to being genuine title challengers, in the past two decades, and that was more down to our failures as a club, rather than some team having a rich owner, as we have spent plenty.

    A real shame he hasn't won the title but at least he has won the CL, especially with that fantastic turnaround in his performance in the final was truly memorable from an individual as well as the team.

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  14. Didnt 'defensive' Liverpool score more goals than United that Season?

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  15. Still doing nterviews with Republik of Mancunia? Those who read this shoudl google Jaimie Kanwar and republik of mancunia....Interesting reading eh Jaimie? I await you deleting these comments despite you being the virtue of free speech

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  16. But Rafa managed to win Europe some thing Houllier couldn't do.

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  17. What do you call the Uefa Cup? That's a European competition as far as I recall.

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  18. 'Defensive' meaning that Rafa would rather take one point than 3.

    Out of those 24 draws from 07/08 & 08/09, 13 of them were at Anfield.

    Rafa might be a great tactician in CL matches but when it comes to the EPL he is lost and it showed over his 6 year tenure.

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  19. So you take Gerrard's comments, which in no way attribute blame to Rafa, and decide to do it yourself.

    By all means blame Rafa for the loss of the league that season, as is your right, but don't try to minipulate Gerrards comments to somehow add weight to your , IMO, flawed assesment of that season.

    Many times that season, especially in the games you mentioned, the PLAYERS failed to show the composure nesecary to lift a title. Yes Rafa was a defence minded manager.. but for heavens sake its almost like your suggesting he ordered them not to cross the halfway line !!

    Rafa is not blameless but neither were the players.. It was not only a lack of comosure but a lack of experience of actually being in a title winning position that cost them that year.

    The failure to win the title that year was a collective responsibility.. so perhaps you might put the Rafa beating stick away and accept the FACTS of life

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  20. and the yank idiots failed to back rafa at that crucial time, could of had silva mata and villa etc, all would of came i believe.
    "rafa was made for liverpool and liverpool made for rafa"

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  21. Not as close though. Seven points behind the champions.

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  22. "Brendan Rodgers is clearly a great manager" !!!!! based on winning what exactly?. Benitez took Liverpool through its best period since the late 80's and he gets hammered on here, Mr Rodgers has done nothing yet but he is "clearly a great manager" (were you trying for irony ?)..............Graeme shakes his head sadly and walks away

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  23. Are you on smack? The only reason we challenged at all was because of Rafael Benitez.

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  24. I can't see the whole insight into Benitez letting go of the leash too late. I remember distinctive games where draws were dominated but chances were not taken. I remember when we tied vs Middlesborough, Benitez brought on El Zhar to make an impact on the game when it was tied and the Middlesbourough were putting up shop. Really?!! He was never backed like Mancini, and Mourinho. Just look at the average amount of money that went towards players for the first team. When he did spend big, however, he hit the jackpot most of the time. And then it turned into the sell and buy game which brought the whole Alonso affair. Its just as Gerrard says. Money buys success, and Liverpool never had the money to go out and buy players. If they had the money, I am sure they would have gone out and bought Barry without ever pushing Alonso out.

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  25. JK are you serious mate??, you reckon the highest points total LFC ever got since the start of EPL was because we were defensive??, what am I missing?

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  26. Jason Livingstone2:04 am, October 05, 2012

    JK, When you are appointed manager of Liverpool FC and you win a league title then I will respect your opinion on Rafa Benitez. All you do is criticize the poor guy....every other article.

    We've had Roy of the rovers and King Kenny since so get over it and move on. Talk about now and be positive rather then have sour grapes. Move on. Rafa has a website now, go and insult him on that and just get over it. He gave us a CL title and a final place two years later. So leave him alone.

    Regards

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  27. This defensive liverpool team also won more away matches in a season since 1905! at the itbwas also the highest points tally in the LEAGUES HISTORY not actuasly win the thing. Some call it defensive others call it tactics. I wont point a direct fingrr at the ignorant.

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  28. The game that defined the season was the 0-2 loss at Boro , who got relegated that season.Next week at ot we beat utd 4-1 who also lost the week after at fulham but it was too little too late

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  29. Aston Villa and Tottenham handed MU the title after throwing away winning matches. I could not believe how MU won those games

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  30. We were top scorers that season. Defensive my sack.

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  31. Don't forget that against Stoke at home the ref chalked off a perfectly good goal by Gerrard in the first couple of minutes from a free kick. Also, he hit the bar in the last minute of the draw away at Stoke! Finally, just to confirm that I still haven't got over it, don't forget this was the season that Utd got 2 penalties when losing at home to Spurs and Bolton and afterwards both refs wrote to Spurs and Bolton to apologise for their decisions! Don't tell me things even themselves out over the season as they clearly did not that year. Maybe Benitez was right in his rant after all!!

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  32. On the contrary, he will be remembered as one of the most influential players of his generation without a single league title to his name. No two ways about it!

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  33. Benitez was fighting for the club the supporters and himself against Hicks and Gillett, he would have taken a few league titles if given the backing of these two muppets but because of this we lack behind United in league titles, And to say we played defensively in 2008/2009 under Benitez is insain, If he would have been given a bit more money too spend he would have bought another decent striker instead of N'gog, and we would be talking about how we won the title but whether people like it or not Rafa will always be loved by true LFC supporters, And if Rodgers dosen`t succeed im sure that the majority of LFC supporters would want Rafa Benitez back.

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  34. Stop blaming Rafa! Without him Liverpool won't even come close to 2nd place. The likes of Alonso, Torres and Mascherano joined LFC because of Rafa!!!

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  35. How many penalties Manure was awarded in 2008/2009? The 2 deciding matches...Liverpool's draw against Stoke at home where G8 hit the post in the last minute and Manure's 3:2 win over Villa where the young Italian striker (can't recall his man) curve in a goal in injury time!!!!

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  36. As Rafa would say, look at the facts. Liverpool had a superior goal difference to everyone in the league, and scored more goals than anyone that season. How is that defensive?!

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  37. We lost it when Rafa did his Seeralex rant if you ask me.

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  38. never will win the league, to be honest dosent deserve to not that good a player the reason he looked half decent was because the rest of the team were total rubbish.

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  39. Jamie K is obviously a spesh and a racist towards spanish people

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  40. I love Rafa and wish he'd never been sacked. Going back to 2008/09 season you have to look at the fact we let Robbie Keane go mid-season, leaving the only cover for Torres as N'Gog. There is no way Torres would have been able to put 110% into each match due to fatigue. If the board had acted sooner and cut their loses on Keane, perhaps we could have brought in a replacement that could have challenged Torres for his spot. That was definitely our season, you can only blame the manager to an extent, but the way clubs like Stoke City set up at Anfield back then it's hardly a surprise points were dropped.
    I was hesitant about Rodgers to begin with but I like what I have seen from him in terms of integrating youngsters. Give him time and hopefully he will deliver.

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  41. Poor article Jamie, Rafa's negative mentality got us second, it was ok when we were winning but suddenly it becomes an issue when we don't. Second in the league means we were the second best team. We were also top scorers that season, lazy article.

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  42. Check the stats out. 'Rant' had no effect on league. Lazy opinion

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  43. Haha sorry Jamie, but as one who always uses stats to prove a point, this comment proves you only see the stats you want to. In my recollection, many of those draws were dominated by us, we just couldn't seem to get the ball in the back of the net. Plus Manu always had the ref on their side, anyone recall their game against Spurs that season?!

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  44. Jaimie you couldnt answer Lee_ Question above.He asked if we were so defensive, how come we had more goals than even ManU that season?

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  45. I didn't say LFC were defensive; I said Benitez was a 'defensive-minded manager'. I wish people would actually read the article properly.

    Benitez *was* a defensive-minded manager; he was cautious, and would take off attacking players and bring on defenders, for example. I'm sure you can remember the times he played 8 defenders in the starting line-up, with Fabio Aurelio in central midfield, or when he subbed off Fernando Torres with Liverpool needing to win. I can give dozens of examples but you know what I'm talking about. Benitez didn't go for broke when LFC really needed to win games.

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  46. sacking kenny took the club down a new route with the great brendan rodgers,who will be sacked or kept on to save face or money perfect yesman but rafa got results and were in deep shit

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  47. "Second in the league means we were second best." Maybe but I'd rather be second than were we are now and in the last few years since 2009. Fact is Rafa Benitez did an incredible job for us. Defensive? Look at the number of goals we scored that season. Strong defence. Definitely!! I think you will find that the majority of the best teams are strong defensively. This was a good characteristic of all Rafa's teams and not something to be dismissed. Look at our season so far this year!!

    Given what has happened since Rafa left I'm amazed that some are so critical of him. That year LFC was ranked #1 in Europe based on their 5 year Champions League record. This was only 3 years ago too! How far we have fallen!! And why were we so good and so consistent over this team? You don't need to be a genius to workout why.

    Some "memories" of 2008-2009:
    1). Rafa's Rant. Fergie manipulates the media brilliantly. Rafa stood up to him. As with Suarez now, Rafa was an easy target for a media in awe of SAF. Would Sir Alex like Rafa back at Anfield now? Absolutely not. Again, you don't need to be a genius to know why.
    2). Liverpool was a 2 man team part 1. Or so the media told us. Gerrard & Torres were at their peak and brilliant that year. Both, however, missed substantial parts of the season due to injury. LFC's squad never had the numbers and depth of the other top teams of the last few years. Someone must have got the best out of what we had at our disposal! We may have drawn too many that season but only 2 league games were lost. LFC was a tough team to beat back then!
    3). Liverpool were a 2 man team part 2. Then Alonso left & the media let us know we weren't anymore. Actually, Liverpool was full of quality at the time ... Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Skrtel, Aurelio, Benayoun, Mascherano. Of that team 2 moved to Real Madrid, 1 to Barcelona & 2 to Chelsea. We had several top players then.

    The accomplishment of that season was that the team was that good in spite of things starting to come apart off the field. The Keane debacle in a sense was the beginning of the end and that is why LFC has tumbled so far so fast. Arguably, we were the best team in 08-09 but as Shanks second is nothing. However, don't knock Rafa for what he accomplished in his time here. He is a great coach, tactician & manager and his record speaks for itself. Besides the great times, games and memories look at the youngsters making their mark at Anfield right now. This is Rafa's legacy.

    I agree that all Liverpool fans should get behind the present team and manager. Brendon Rogers appears to be a talented young coach. I think its fair comment that the team presently is neither consistent in attack or in defence. Lots of emphasis on midfield and there's some promise for sure. Overall its way too early to pass judgment. Beyond this I think that Gerrard is correct. How many teams can truly win the Premiership without the big bucks behind them? LFC came agonizingly close. They had some money put into them but nowhere near the levels of United, Chelsea or City. The 3 teams to win the league in the past 7 years. Brandon Rogers, or any coach for that matter, can improve the team to a certain point but in the end if real success is to be achieved FSG will have to open their chequebook. In the meantime, let's hope Brendon is as resourceful as Rafa was!!

    Well its getting late over here in Boston! I wonder who the new Red Sox manager is going to be?!! A young hot-shot or an experienced, seasoned coach! (By the way, I hate baseball).

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  48. Jamie jumps to conclusions based on fragments of evidence. We all look out to reality selectively to find bits of evidence that support our views, but this is specially dangerous in football.
    Until Rafa comes back, LFC will be at most a mid-table team.

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  49. Jaimie is clearly right. Liverpool were so defensive in 2008/09 that it is a huge surprise how they managed to score the most goals in the league, 77. That's only 9 goals more than Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea that were second highest scorers. Just imagine what would have happened if Liverpool were more offensive ... just like how brenden rogers is making Liverpool win match after match with his offensive tiqui-taca football...oh wait...

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  50. Wow, our highest league total in the pl and benitez is being critisized for drawing some games. Maybe if Gerrard and others played better the last season Benitez was there Benitez wouldn't have been shipped out and we might have a league trophey with the money given to hodgeson and kenny.

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