1 Nov 2009

RAFA - When did it become acceptable for Liverpool FC to LAY DOWN + DIE?

Bill Shankly once said: “Aim for the sky and you'll reach the ceiling. Aim for the ceiling and you'll stay on the floor”. Against Fulham on Saturday, Rafa Benitez didn't aim for the sky or the ceiling; he didn't even aim for the floor! With his cautious approach and maddeningly incomprehensible decisions, Benitez went against everything Liverpool FC stands for and committed the ultimate footballing sin: he gave up and conceded defeat.

Fulham was a must-win game, and despite 4 defeats in 10 league games, the title was still a possibility. As Liverpool fans, it's our duty to believe that. The players had to believe and the manager had to believe it. That is the Liverpool way - believe you are the best then go out be the best.

Yes, there were players out injured, but that is no excuse. Manchester United were comprehensively beaten last week without Steven Gerrard and Alberto Aquilani. Fulham are not in the same league as United, and even without several of our top players, there was enough quality in the team to win the game.

Liverpool dominated much of the game, and Fulham scored against the run of play. Torres leveled the game with yet another fantastic goal. The game was wide open. Everything to play for. Then, Benitez did the unthinkable:

He waved the white flag and surrendered.

With only 60 minutes gone, he took off Torres, a move of such exasperating caution that I had to rub my eyes to make sure what I was seeing was real. Benitez explained his decision thus:

“We decided to take him off just after the hour because I want to protect him and don't want to lose an important player like Fernando for one month”.

What about protecting Liverpool FC's dignity and pride?!

Yes, there was a possibility that Torres might get injured again, but sometimes you have to take that chance, especially when a win is essential, which it was. Torres played 80 minutes against United and then had 5 and a half clear days off, yet we're supposed to believe he wouldn't be able to handle an extra 20 minutes on the pitch?!

Benitez continued to display a losing mentality with the ridiculous substitutions of Yossi Benayoun and Dirk Kuyt, both of whom were removed while Liverpool were LOSING and in desperate need of a goal.

To add insult to injury, Benayoun was replaced by Nathan Ecclestone, who had never before taken part in a Premier League game. Don't get me wrong - it's great for Ecclestone to get his chance, but at the expense of (arguably) Liverpool's best player on the day?

Benayoun was clearly angry at being taken off, as he had every right to be. His winning mentality was clearly still intact, whereas Benitez had already relinquished his.

Again, are we to believe that keeping Benayoun and Kuyt on the field for an extra 10-15 minutes would’ve made them too unfit to play in the Lyon game next week?! Of course not!

Benitez himself admitted that Liverpool were ‘in control’ of the game - why not try and build on that and go all out for the win? Why sabotage the team's chances to build much-needed momentum and confidence by making such unnecessary substitutions?

A manager of Liverpool FC has a duty to instill a winning mentality into the team and to display that winning mentality with every decision he makes.

Did Benitez do this against Fulham?

Throwing in the towel is unforgiveable. Yes, we have an important game against Lyon coming up but that doesn’t justify Benitez giving-up and waving the white flag when the going got tough.

How many times have Liverpool won games at the death over the last two seasons?! Indeed, in the corresponding fixture last season, Liverpool beat Fulham with a goal in the 90th minute!

With 30 minutes to go there was every possibility that Liverpool could've scored another 1 or 2 goals, and I personally have no doubt whatsoever that if Torres, Benayoun and Kuyt had stayed on the field, Liverpool would’ve won the game.

Instead, the game was catastrophically lost. Benitez basically sent out a signal that winning a game to SAVE LIVERPOOL’S LEAGUE SEASON was not important enough to fight for.

The most disappointing thing, however, is the damage done to the club's winning mentality. Liverpool didn’t just lose; thanks to Benitez, Liverpool are now losers in the truest sense of the word.

Jaimie Kanwar

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85 comments:

  1. LOOK AT ME EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!! >:o

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  2. YOU ARE RIGHT.THE REAL QUESTION IS BENITEZ DOES NT  CARE ENOUGH FOR THE LEAGUE. HE HAS NO RIGHT TO BE OUR COACH.AND NOW HE SAYS HE CAN BE TROPHYLESS BECAUSE HE KNOWS HE WON T BE SACKED. I JUST HOPE PURSLOW KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING CAUSE RENEWING BENITEZ CONTRACT FOR 5 YEARS IS FOLLY. NOW BENITEZ TALKS AS IF HE CAN T BE SACKED. THE FUSS OF THE OWNERS AND THE MANAGEMENT IS GIVING BENITEZ TIME BUT HE LL BE SACKED I JUST WISH IT LL BE SOONER AND NOT LATER CAUSE WE  ARE FAST BECOMING LOSERS AS YOU SAY. THERE S NO CONFIDENCE IN THE TEAM IT S AGAINST SUCH TEAMS THAT WE LOST THE LEAGUE LAST YEAR. BENITEZ DIDN T LEARN ANYTHING.TOO MANY MISTAKES TOO MANY EXCUSES§

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  3. Hey Jaimie. Going to have to disagree with you on the Torres substitution. Benitez said that after last week he needed 4 days to recover. It is obviously key in his mind that he is ready for the Lyon game. At 1-1 this was, in my opinion, the right choice.

    I agree with you about the Benayoun decision, this didn't make sense and probably was a mistake. Although the real problem is having such a weak bench in the first place.

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  4. When a manager says it’s not important to win trophies, it’s time he’s sacked. Just because he has a 5 year contract, Rafa thinks he’s untouchable. Supporters can be forgiven for thinking the Fulham game was a Carling cup game considering the players used – Babel, Voronin, Ecclestone, Kyrgiakos and Degen. Subbing Torres and Benayoun before putting 3 points in the bag is foolish. Losing to Fulham would have been acceptable if Rafa didn’t throw in the towel. Rafa’s excuses are pathetic. A manager who just wants to be there but not win trophies is unacceptable.

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  5. problem with benitez is that he has nothing planned for the future.. no youth products, no exciting young talent other than for torres (cant consider him to be young tho) and gerrard maybe has 2 years max left in him. who ever he has bought has become an utter failure! (again exception torres he was always good) tho i think glen was a good buy, paying 18M is insane! Wenger would have bought 2 maybe 3 for that much. actually no he doesnt have to cuz theres new kids pushing through all the time, even the kid hu played rightback against us in carling cup!.. yes arsenal dont win much (not like v do either) but they have a idea, a concept, a playing style, and youth coming through which is exciting whereas we have NOTHING!! 

    i dont know, sad times for liverpool :(

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  6. Hey Taf - I have to disagree with you about Torres.  The Lyon game is on wednesday at 7.45pm.  That's 4 and a bit days after the end of Saturday's game.  What possible difference could an extra 20 minutes have made to Torres fitness or availaibility for that game?

    What makes it worse is the symbolic impact of Torres going off after just 60 minutes.  It handed Fulham the incentive to go on and win the game.  it gave them some extra urgency and belief.  Liverpool were in control up to that point, and then Benitez basically handed Fulham the game.

    Agree with you about the weak bench.  Did it need to be that weak in te first place?  Were Agger, Aurelio, Skrtel and Ngog all *really* suffering from a virus?  As far as I can tell, this has not been confirmed anywhere.  Benitez was probably being ultra cautious again with Aurelio and Agger. 

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  7. "probably" being cautious, so you cant say for definite that Aurelio, Skrtel and Agger were infact quite alright to be starting the game or on the bench? Can you?

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  8. Idiot.

    He has invested plenty in youth and has plenty of good prospects coming through.

    How old do you think Reina is? Insua? Nemeth? Pacheco?

    Idiot.

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  9. <span>Yawwwwwwwn</span> - don't resort to calling other posters names.  I've edited them out of your post.  Thanks. JK

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  10. What are the chances that Agger, Aurelio, Skrtel and Aquilani were all struck down with a bug to the extent the were so ill they couldn't play?  Slim I suspect.

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  11. you all go on like we have some god given right to win the prem, and if the manager any manager hasn't won it in the first few years at the club, then sack him.

    how long did it take saf to win the league when he started at manu? you all know the score, these days the league is bought, and we simply cannot afford it. plain and simple. sounds cynical but thats the way it is.

    most of the top players we tried to buy are with manu or chelski because most players who want to join a top team will take money over history. Like our previous owners, who took money over what was right for the club. There is more prestige in winning the champions league than the prem, when a player says he would like to play in the prem, it is usually for a big pay day, when a player says he wants champions league football its for the prestige. so for know if we have to make sacrifices to compete for the champions league, so be it, the prem will come soon enough. 

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  12. Although valid points, but what has Arsene won in the last 5 years?... And why is he hailed as the benchmark?

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  13. jaimie I beg to disagree,at least to my eyes torres was not fit and everytime he went down , i feared the worst ,
    true timing of yossi's departure was contentious though he didn't do much justice to his case for  the time he was on . From what I saw fulham scored from whatever meagre they got ...Which for me led to our downfall 

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  14. Hey there - You're perfectly entitled to your view.  Everyone will see the situation in a different way.

    I have to disagree with you re Yoissi though - for me, he was one of our best players on the day, and when some of your best players are injured, it surely makes sense to keep those who are fit on the pitch.

    Yossi scored in the 90th minute against Fulham last season in the same fixture; who's to say he wouldn't have done the same thing again?

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  15. Arsenal don't win much these days but they play football the right way.  Wenger refuses to  compromise his footballing philosophy, which is admirable. Benitez is the same, but unfortunately for us, his footballing philosophy is the opposite of Wenger's, and his failure to compromise is costing Liverpool dearly.

    If Liverpool played good football, I wouldn't care about not winning trophies.  That's how I felt in the 90s under Roay Evans.  I just loved watching us play.

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  16. we as a club need to bring in money, the knock out stage of the champs league is our big earner. The way chelsea our playing, winning the prem looks remote, logic says we must not take any chances with are big earner, and finish as high up the prem as we can, that would usually be in the top 4, but this season could be different. a few teams have spent big money to compete and push for  top 4 place.

    in the prem you need cash, in the champs league, you need tactical vision rafa has the tactical vision, he does not have the cash

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  17. They train together every day, Lucas had the virus early in the week and its entirely possible he spread it round the squad. If you are just going to base your articles on "probabilities" and "likely chances" then youre nothing more than a tabloid hack.

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  18. Jaimie

    I'd love to know what actual pleasure you get out of watching Liverpool or football in General? All you do is blog negative shite on your website. I really do wonder, you seem to get more enjoyment out of moaning about us loosing that us actually winning. I say us, becuase I don't recognise you as a Liverpool fan, have you ever been to Anfield?
    You constant sniping boars the shit out of me.

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  19. Hey Jaimie. I think that Benitez was saying that Torres couldn't train properly for four days, so had only been able to train for 1 day before Fulham. With Lyon coming up he would be going into that game with no training.

    The problem is that Rafa and his staff know things we don't. He also I would imagine knows the symbolism of starting games with Torres (especially while Gerrard is out) so doesn't want to lose him longer term. We really need someone else for when Torres is injured and for minor games to give him a rest. Someone else would give us better options for playing 4-4-2 when Gerrard is injured.

    Just my opinion - maybe something we'll have to agree to disagree on?

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  20. finally a site where the majority of the opinions make sense. this manager sucks. when you throw in the towel against a fulham, you should be sacked, unless you are a div 3 team (and even then i think it is inexcuseable for any team to give in and not give 100% and more).

    sack this rafa idiot now and bring in king kenny.

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  21. Hi Jaimie, good article, I do agree with you on everything except what you said about Kuyt. You can't put Kuyt in the same position of Torres and Benayoun. Whatever Rafa is stubborn, Kuyt won't succeed as a winger, he doesnt have the potential and the talent to do so. In addition, Kuyt is the one who prepared the ball for the Fulham player to run free and make the second goal. Kuyt did nothing in the last 7 games he played, and still undroppable!!!!
    We need real wingers and talented strikers, we need more options in the squad.

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  22. and to add to that Rafa has always been(and will be) known for being pragmatic and we all know this not the first time he has done this either , there is no denying he had Lyon CL in mind .. Lets also not forget the financial implications of a loss there ..  Rafa has his theories and is stubborn to relinquish any of them ,even then getting rid of him is not an option at least for the near future .

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  23. u r not right like almost. Torres was injured and he must go out and Yossi & Kuyt was shit yesterday, So why not change them?

    We'd 11 Players injured.. and if you see ur self can do better job than Benitez, plz manage Liverpool Fc or at least write some sensible<span> </span>world.

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  24. YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THE BIGGER PICTURE, THE TWO CARPET-BAGGERS WANT THE MONEY FROM THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SO BENITEZ HAS TO DO AS HE IS TOLD AND MAKE SURE THAT WE REACH THE KNOCK-OUT STAGES SO THEY CAN STICK THE MONEY IN THEIR PIGGY BANK.WE WILL HAVE TO SHOW A LOT OF PATIENCE WJTH THE CURRENT SITUATION AS NOBODY IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD INVEST MONEY IN L.F.C.

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  25. Jamie cant work out if your a manc, blue nose or Chelski fan? They all have about the same level of intelligence your articles display. 

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  26. what the hell.. what do u want him to say well done rafa u lost again!! Yay!!! Carry on with the good work!

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  27. i dont think rafa will be sacked, however, of they are going to do it now not at the end of the season, getting a new coach in now means that he has this sseason to prepare for next year, in te next presaeson most of the changes would have happened and it wont all be new to the players, that way we can hit the ground running, it seems to make sense to me. agree regarding we gave up and died, but he done the same thing in the reading game a couple of seasons back, unforgivable!!!

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  28. Any liverpool fan who starts going on about youth prospects should first ask why the 2 most talked about (Nemeth and Pacheco) have never even got a sniff of a sub appearance in the league cup??

    Voronin and Babel have created nothing, Voronin in particular looking way off the pace. Nemeth is in Greece, WHY?? to give him first team football? Pardon me, but at the moment there is a squad that lacks confidence, health and quality at Liverpool, and if i was one of these 2 boys i would be scratching my head as to why i wasnt at least in the squad to show what i can do. Ecclestone (who i havent heard nearly as much exciting reviews as the above 2) is suddenly thrown in the deep end by himself, and as a result looks like a lost lamb.

    WTF is happening??

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  29. Its not difficult to see through these articles. The author tries to make out they are a fan of the club, speaking for the fans. They then rip apart everything they can about the footballing side of the team ( as a loyal fan  of course ). 
    Try reading articles from authoratitive sites such as Anfield.com This guy speaking for Liverpool fans has as much credibility as Nick Griffin becoming the spokesman for the ANC. Take any polls he conducts with a pinch of salt, the Afghan elections results are more credible. 

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  30. Why would a Blue-Nose or a Manc give a hoot about our winning mentality?

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  31. if you are going to play kyriakos, degen, and insua who all cant defend, you are going to leak goals. insua being the worst culprit bombing forward
    without giving a toss and positional play awful or is it since he got his first cap with argentina he thinks hes the finished articule. He maybe young but hes a defender first and there lies the problem, he cant. too slow.
    the team that came off the pitch at fulham would struggle to beat any side in the epl. also kuyt paired with torres last week worked well so why change and he is a forward . benitez to clever for his own good.

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  32. Sorry to disagree redblood, it will not be difficult to get rid of Rafa. The club will only have to continue paying his monthly salary UNTIL he gets a job elsewhere which will not take long. At worst, LFC will only have to make up any shortfall between what he's contracted to earn at Anfield and what he will be earning in his new job.

    My solution for whatever it's worth? Let Rafa go, give King Kenny a chance to turn the season around, then do whatever it takes to get Guus Hiddink for 3 to 5 years after his contract with Russia expires in June 2010 at the latest.

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  33. I have to agree with you on a lot of points here Jamie. While I would like to submit that it is undoubtedly true that Rafa knows far more about the fitness of Torres than we do, it does seem like it was a choice of taking a risk or not in bringing him off. If we are to believe that the Prem is our priority this season, it certainly didn't seem that way in this game.

    Sure, if Torres had stayed on he may have gotten injured and we'd be without him for three-four weeks, and berating that decision. But since he didn't seem to be struggling, an extra 15-20 minutes on the pitch would have seemed like a worthwhile 'risk' to me. Particularly as Fulham perked up and we dropped our heads slightly exactly around that substitution.

    Perhaps there are financial factors involved with the Champs.League qualification, but generally I have to admit that I'd like to see a slightly more 'gung-ho' approach to big decisions with Rafa, when the chips are down in situations like this.

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  34. I agree Ben - the loss would've been palatable if Liverpool had fought to death to get something out of the game, but the player's weren't allowed to do that.  Torres going off so early must also have a dampening effect on the players left on the field too.

    Benitez shouldn't be sacked though in my view. He has to stay till the end of the season.  There's no guarantee that a new manager will achieve CL qualification; Despite all the problems, i don't seriously doubt Liverpool will finish outside the top 4, even with the rise of Man City.

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  35. The Liverpool squad was decimated with injury & flue hence the team and bench chosen by Benitez. The fact is Benitez knows that the Champions League is more important to the financial stability of LFC than winning the Premiership. Torres and Benayoun are vital if we are to win against Lyon, LFC must at all costs progress in the CL. Benitez is faced with a decision, possibly lose 3 points against Fulham or probably gain £20+ million for CL qualification. We have all seen the accounts, we all know the interest payments, we all know that top players cost a fortune both in salary and purchase price & we all know that H&G are businessmen not billionaire benefactors. LFC is skint, it needs the CL money just to stay afloat and stand a chance at competing for the Prem, without the CL money LFC would very quickly slip into mid table at best or administration at worst.
    Benitez has to work under this pressure every day and think about the next game, the next competition, the next transfer window, next season and beyond.
    So many comments especially from you Jaimie suggest that choosing 11 players to win one match is all that is required in the management of LFC but under H&G unfortunately a lot more thought and planning is required to ensure the money doesn't dry up. When the money dries up the administrators move in and LFC just like LUFC will be doomed. Benitez loves Liverpool and it's supporters and is trying his hardest to ensure this doesn't happen while he's in charge. So you talk about Liverpools Pride & Dignity Jaimie, ask a Leeds fan how proud they feel at a League 1 game!

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  36. What Rafa meant was just staying competitive in the Premiership & in Europe is a massive success when faced with other clubs who have either slipped into administration or despite spending millions stay out of the top four and Europe. LFC is battling the odds when so many clubs in the Prem are not bothered about balancing the books like Rafa has to do. The reality is simple LFC is skint and qualification in the CL has unfortunately become more important to LFC than winning the Premiership. That's not Rafa's fault, that's the owners fault for heaping nearly £40 million of interest payments on the club.

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  37. That's all well and good, Mike, but it does not explain WHY benayoun and Kuyt had to go off!  Kuyt starts and finishes almost every game but in this case, he had to go off while we're losing?!

    What possible difference would it have made if Yossi had stayed on till the end?  He is a fit, professional footballer!  It's his job to stay till the end.  There is no credible reason for removing him.

    And I think people are overstatting the negative impact of Liverpool not qualifying for the second stage of the CL. The world will not end.  Yes, it will be bad but so bad that the club will go into meltdown.  You're forgetting the commercial improvements going on behind the scenes and the potential new investment in the near future.

    On top of that, as much as we all don't want to play in the Europe League, there is still money to be won in that competition.

    Not qualifying for next year's CL would be a real problem.

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  38. Extra 20/25 min = + up to 42% extra work. For an injured player it might be a huge difference. The more tired the player is the more probable he'll get injured.

    Benitez was right to substitute Torres. If I were him I wouldnt play Torres in first place. I'm strongly against playing half fit players - I believe thats the reason we didnt win the league last season. We played 1/2 fit Torres and he contributed to 7 of our 11 draws.

    Yossi is another story. This substitution was a huge mistake.

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  39. "<span>If Liverpool played good football, I wouldn't care about not winning trophies.  That's how I felt in the 90s under Roay Evans.  I just loved watching us play."</span>

    hang on - didnt you just write an article saying that we should have gone out for a win at all costs? 

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  40. Rather than take Torres off, I think it would have been a much better approach (particularly psychologically) to start Torres on the bench and bring him on in the second half. I believe we would still dominate had we started without Torres, and when he came on, Fulham would be even more scared and will not go all out for the win.

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  41. It's amazing how ppl can turn on you when thinsg go bad.. In the 1st place can you tell me which manager would be crazy enough to take the rick of resting first team players for youth? Not even Rafa is tat crazy.. It's clearly our players have been hit by a serious virus..  i agree tat Rafa's subbing wasn't right against Fulham. I think bringing Torres out was a good idea though.. as soon as the kick off in the 2nd half.. Fulham had their players chopping down on him and was sitting deep of fearing torres pace. Wat i tot was wrong was yossi's subbing and the fact tat he remain on the left when torres was taken off.. Babel shud have been stuck left and yossi playing behind voronin.. As the defense of fulham started to come higher after torres went off...

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  42. Agreed.

    On the other hand Benitez would be attacked for resting 'fit' Torres... Jaimie would be the first :)

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  43. It is not overstated that the CL provides the top clubs with lots of money and the prestige to go out and buy the top players.
    Yes there may be a few new commercial successes on the horizon however you may have forgotten we have a new stadium to build and next season we will have to renegotiate the bank loans which will cost more in interest payments yet again. Also if transfer fees continue to rocket then we will need even more cash to stay in touch with the cash rich clubs. If H&G were as confident as you that the club wouldn't go into financial meltdown without CL money they wouldn't be travelling the world looking for new investors.
    As for player substitutions, it is a fact that a tired player is more likely to get injured and the last thing we need is more injuries so it is sensible to replace key players sometimes.

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  44. Liverpool had more than enough of the game against Fulham to have taken all three points.  Fulham were on the whole very poor and actually hardly ventured in our half whilst the game was eleven v eleven.  They really only started applying any real pressure when we had gone down to nine men.  Even with our weakened side, we dominated and outplayed Fulham for the majority of the contest.  The goals conceded were very poor, but that has tended to be the story for this season to date no matter who the personnel have been.
    Torres is quite clearly not fit to play the full 90 minutes.  Would people have preferred him to be sitting on the bench and bringing him on if required?  Could you imagine what would have been said about the manager if he'd opted to do this?  I think he was only ever likley to be used for an hour or so and it had to be from the start.
    Whether we like it or not, Wednesdays game is pretty much do or die, the league at this stage mathematically is not.  Whilst I appreciate we are unlikley to win the league having lost five games already, I never thought we were strong enough to mount as challenge as we did last season with the squad being as thin as it is.  The Torres decision was straight forward enough, it was purely down to fitness, the Benayoun one for me was the one to be questioned as he appeared to have no fitness issues.
    And one other point I would take Kuyt off most matches, he is technically the most inept footballer in the premier league.  I cant believe how a player with no first touch, no pace or vision can command a place in Liverpool's starting eleven week on week.  His inability to play at the required level was highlighted in his woeful effort to keep the ball alive on Saturday, resulting in gifting Fulham their second goal.  He should have let the ball run out, let's be honest if he'd succesfully kept it in and retained posession of the ball, he would have misplaced his pass straight to an opponent anyway!  He would not get a game for half the sides in the premier league.

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  45. Yes, we'll have to agree to disagree, which is fine :)

    I agree that we need someone else as a back-up for Torres....but we already have someone else: Dirky Kuty.  He was a Stiker for his whole career before joining Liverpool, and avery effective one at that.  is it inconceivable that he could deputise for Torres every now and again?

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  46. I tend to agree with you re the playing of unfit players, but if Torres is already on the pitch, then it becomes a different argument.

    As we've seen, Torres only needs one chance to make it count.  I see what you're saying about the extra work but I just don't see how the world would've ended if Torres had stayed on for an extra 10 minutes.

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  47. Every other time Torres has been rested in the last 2 seasons I've never 'attacked' Benitez for making that decision.  In fact, it's quite thew opposite - I've repeatedly argued that Liverpool are fine Torres, Gerrard or both.

    Admittedly, my stats for backing up that argument have been dumped in the toilet over the last few games, but still... ;)

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  48. I argued that the Fulham game was a must-win game, yes.  I didn't suggest we should 'win at all costs'. 

    We lost against Sunderland last week - After the game, I didn't complain.  I posted articles supporting Benitez.  if the team.manager does its best and puts in 100% effort then that's all you ca ask for.

    When the team is sabotaged by an over-cautious manager, that's a different story.

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  49. Yes, Torres-Kuyt worked well against United.  having them both together against Fulham might have taken the pressure of Torres  a little too (in terms of running/defending from the front).

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  50. i agree with this jamie, but it is rafa we are talking about, and in the last 2 years even tho kuyt bangs them in very regular for holland rafa WILL NOT use him as a striker, he prefers kuyts defensive abilities over his attacking ones, if thats the case why not go the whole hog and play agger up front??? its rediculous, the tactics rafa employs in the league is the same as in europe and it just doesnt work, he prefers to try nulify the effect of what an opposing team can do to us rather than think about what we can do to them, like i say for the most part this works great in 2 leg matches in europe, regarding your roy evans qoute in the 90's, can u imagine the amount of leagues we would have won if he had the players at rafas disposal??

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  51. It is frustrating that Kuyt is not used more as a striker.  Despite the criticism of Kuyt, he can be effective in that position.  And I agree about Evans - if he had the players Rafa has now, we would've won the league.  The biggest transfer fee Evans was allowed to spend wsa a mere 8.5m (!).  And people alwys seem to forget that under Evans, we never finished outside the top 4.  Neither Rafa nor Houllier can claim to have that record.

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  52. jamie im with you on this point, bring evans back, the defensive side of the team now is pretty much excellent, and with the attacking talent we do have evans would get the best out them, playing football the liverpool way (obviously this wont happen but hey as dr martin luther king once said.....i have a dream....)

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  53. We had a bad decade in the 90s, and it took the massive Treble season to bring back the winning mentality to the club, players and supporters. Unbelievably, Rafa now is claiming winning is not important. Does this kind of defeatist mentality signals the beginning of another decade of being nearly-men again?

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  54. Can i add that at the time 8.5 mill was a prem record and you cannot compare fees then with now. I'll also add that when Evans was in charge, the top 4 places were not champions league spots, so to also say that Neither Rafa nor Houllier can claim to have that record means anything.

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  55. roy evans was only allowed to spend 8.5 mil yes, but in real and relative terms that was a lot of money back then, anyway if u had read robbie fowlers book(im sure you have) he states in there that evans had deals on the table for marcel desailly, heskey(houllier later got him and we know how that turned out) and other top top names, but the board refused to back him in singning these players, but the problem at liverpool at the moments isnt just injuries, isnt just squad depth, a cautious manager, and the board, its a culmination of the lot, you regularly argue rafa has had a lot of money to spend and yes this is the case, but he has also had to rebuild an entire squad from scratch, he has had to deal with rick parry blockin certain transfers (barry, daniel alves, vidic, even christiano ronaldo under houllier for 7 million LESS than utd paid for him) while i think rafa has made excellent progress with us i am beggining to think he has taken us as far as he can now, they say management is a 5 year cycle, either completely change the team or change the manager, 5years of the same training same team talks etc etc becomes a bit stale. i am all for giving him time to turn it around but IF the board are to sack him then do it and get it over and done with, its just more pressure the players dont need right now.

    ReplyDelete
  56. I would also state that you have probably never played football, with an injury. Im not stating that i know whats the deal with Torres, but talking about myself i know that 20 minutes when injured can be a difference between a week out and a month or even longer out, such as hamstrings and groin strains.

    When i was 16 i pulled my groin it felt like an elastic band had snapped and whenever i kicked the ball, you could feel it flick around, which isn't a nice feeling, so to start complaining about players coming off when we know hes not fully fit to begin with is ridiculous, you dont have a clue pal.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Defensive side of the team is pretty much excellant, Have you actually watched them this season. Defensively we are awful and it looks like every time a decent ball over the top occurs, we get caught out

    ReplyDelete
  58. Well said matt, we were miles behind utd chelsea and arsenal before benitez now hes closing the gap and we are cons

    ReplyDelete
  59. theres a big difference between bad players and players playing badly, so i stand by my statement we have an excellent defense, individual errors, injuries, constant changing of the team and the style of play the manager dictates all add to the problems, 3 out of the last 4 seasons reina has won the "golden gloves" fair point about this season tho, its players not playing to thier level rather than them not being good enough i see as the main problem there.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Liverpool has got to get rid of Rafa, cant you see that you finished 2nd last season DESPITE Rafa and not BECAUSE of Rafa! you would have run the leage by 10 points if it wasnt for him but not you let the Pox spawn another title.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Another shite article by experts, whom have never managed a football team and know not the challenges and the inticacies that is involved. It is well and true to have an opinion but the joke is none of you nor the pundits have been there and done it yourself.

    …why does the average fan, or, given their ceaseless negativity, almost every football pundit (who have never managed, yet appear to know it all) have to ‘understand’ a manager’s decision?”
    Unfortunately, what we here is a well-documented form of cognitive bias that we all share, known as second-order incompetence, or the Dunning-Kruger effect [1]. Briefly, it describes a person’s incompetence as being the very thing that prevents them from realising that they are themselves incompetent and leads to exactly the kind of hysteria we see surrounding football in the popular media.
    Another way of putting it is to say that, the less knowledge one possesses about a topic, the more likely one is to consider themselves an expert. And equally, the more someone knows of a subject, the less likely they are to claim expertise.
    Although there’s nothing really that can be done to counteract it, awareness of its effects can at least be used to identify those people worth listening to and those who perhaps should be ignored.
    For instance, your own recognition in respect of the Gerrard substitution against Everton, at least marks some writers out there as someone more worthy of attention than, say, Jamie Redknapp, Jaimie Kanwar or Graeme Souness. <img></img>
    Anyway, all the best, and keep fighting the good fight for those who actually do it.

    Cheers,
    Phil Booth.


    [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    I’ll add other links as I find/receive them, but I guess they are thin on the ground right now. Rather than put things into context, the media and the so called experts, wants its flesh to devour.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Another shite article by experts, whom have never managed a football team and know not the challenges and the inticacies that is involved. It is well and true to have an opinion but the joke is none of you nor the pundits have been there and done it yourself.  
     
    …why does the average fan, or, given their ceaseless negativity, almost every football pundit (who have never managed, yet appear to know it all) have to ‘understand’ a manager’s decision?”  

    Unfortunately, what we here is a well-documented form of cognitive bias that we all share, known as second-order incompetence, or the Dunning-Kruger effect [1].

    Briefly, it describes a person’s incompetence as being the very thing that prevents them from realising that they are themselves incompetent and leads to exactly the kind of hysteria we see surrounding football in the popular media.  
    Another way of putting it is to say that, the less knowledge one possesses about a topic, the more likely one is to consider themselves an expert. And equally, the more someone knows of a subject, the less likely they are to claim expertise.  

    Although there’s nothing really that can be done to counteract it, awareness of its effects can at least be used to identify those people worth listening to and those who perhaps should be ignored.  

    At least some writers out there are more worthy of attention than, say, Jamie Redknapp, Jaimie Kanwar or Graeme Souness.

    Anyway, all the best, and keep fighting the good fight for those who actually do it.  
     
    Cheers,  
    Phil Booth.
     
     
    [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect  
    I’ll add other links as I find/receive them, but I guess they are thin on the ground right now. Rather than put things into context, the media and the so called experts, wants its flesh to devour.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Guest - read the comment policy (link on the left).  If you keep posting stuff that contrevenes it, it will keep getting deleted.

    ReplyDelete
  64. It was meant for you.
    As long as you have read it, that serves the purpose! :-D

    Truth hurts eh? Gosh, do I feel good!

    ReplyDelete
  65. No, I didn't read it.  I just get a report detailing which posts were automatically deleted and for what reason.

    ReplyDelete
  66. "I see what you're saying about the extra work but I just don't see how the world would've ended if Torres had stayed on for an extra 10 minutes."

    Its a chance game. Rafa took his chances playing Torres at all. It was a calculated risk. You cant throw your calculation through window because he can play 'five minutes more'. Of course Benitez could take this risk as well. And another five minutes, ando another... Actually he could play him all the game...

    It reminds me a point any addict do: 'just one more glass of whiskey... I had 5 already so what harm to drink sixth?' And then seventh...

    No. As Torres was not fit every minute on the pitch was a bonus. The risk Benitez took payed off: Torres equalized. I would blame Benitez like hell if Torres got injured during this game.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Surprise surprise, confirmed today that the absent players were injured in various ways.

    <span> Steven Gerrard (groin) Albert Riera (hamstring) Martin Skrtel (muscle) Daniel Agger (back) Glen Johnson (calf) Fabio Aurelio (calf) Martin Kelly (ankle) David Ngog (ankle) Alberto Aquilani (flu) Diego Cavalieri (flu) </span>

    ReplyDelete
  68. <span>“We decided to take him off just after the hour because I want to protect him and don't want to lose an important player like Fernando for one month”.</span>
    I agree with you Rafa, things would have been much worse without Torres for a month. 

    ReplyDelete
  69. <p>
    </p><p><span><span>
    <p><span><span>Part 1)</span></span>
    </p><p> 
    </p><p>
    </p><p><span>Just wondering if you've ever coached or taken part in competitive sport Jaimie? No? Shock.</span>
    </p><p><span> </span>
    </p><p><span>Have you ever had to manage the needs of individual players bodies and your own desperate need for victory? No? Shock.</span>
    </p><p><span> </span>
    </p><p><span>Your almost total silence after last weeks complete schooling of Manchester United speaks volumes. You are nothing but a nasty little, cancerous voice of spite. When we win, you rarely (if ever) mention Benitez. When we lose you do nothing but contribute bile and spite. Thank heavens you weren't around during Bob Paisley's 5 match losing run, Kenny’s, or Shank's poor runs. I doubt you were even aware of these names before you discovered LFC on the night of May 25th 2005.</span>
    </p><p><span> </span>
    </p><p><span>Once again you should refer to a BORN and BRED Red, Paul Tomkins:</span>
    </p><p><span> </span>
    </p><p><span>http://tomkinstimes.com/2009/10/time-for-understanding/</span>
    </p><p><span> </span>
    <span>But of course you will spit back at me, how dare you bring up the 'I go the match', 'I'm from Liverpool' argument. Why not Jaimie? I, as a season ticket holder and speaking as someone who attended the Fulham match (and saw us dominate until a lucky goal and two sendings off), I believe I speak with far more credibility than you. I have been watching Liverpool for 25 years, my family for over 60. And I don't mean on Sky Sports or whatever little web stream you gaze at over your PC... I mean watching. Being there. Seeing the tiredness in the players who eventually get subbed. Seeing the kicks that Fernando Torres receives OFF THE BALL and OFF CAMERA. Seeing the effect a heavy and hard pitch can have on players. Seeing how utterly SHATTERED Dirk Kuyt was for the final 30 mins (of the last two games). But you didn't see any of this did you Jaimie? You only saw what Sky Sports provided you with.</span>
    </p></span></span>

    </p>

    ReplyDelete
  70. <span><span>PART 1</span></span>
    <span><span>2004/05</span></span>

    <span>£2m - Josemi</span>: peanuts and was moved on in a swap for Kromkamp 18 months later
    <span>£1.5m - Antonio Nunez</span>: part of the Michael Owen deal and filled a gap for a while. Peanuts.
    <span>£10.7m - Xabi Alonso</span>: Massive success and sold for £30m+ in the summer when he wanted to leave
    <span>£6m - Luis Garcia</span>: Massive success and sold to Athletico Madrid for £4m
    <span>Free - Pelligrino</span>: Stop gap that allowed us to rest Sami for league games, benefitting us massively in Istanbul. Now on the coaching staff.
    <span>£6.3m - Fernando Morientes</span>: Pretty much everyone made up when we signed him, top class, but never settled. Sold for £3m to Valencia.
    <span>£1m - Scott Carson</span>: One the most highly rated young keepers around. Lost out through injury and signing of Reina when Dudek left the club. Sold for £3.25m.

    <span>Total bought: £27.5m</span>

    <span>Free - Marcus Babbel</span>: Released to Stuttgart at the end of his career.
    <span>£2.5m - Danny Murphy</span>: Xabi Alonso signed to fill the role Murphy had in the side
    <span>£8.5m - Michael Owen</span>: Wouldn't sign a new contract and sold before he left on a free. He's done nothing since that is a masterstroke with hindsight.
    <span>Free - Stephane Henchoz</span>: Released to Celtic at the end of his career

    <span>Total sold: £11m</span>

    A total of £16.5m net spend in his first year at the club, with the vast majority of that being spent on Xabi Alonso.

    <span>2004/05 net spend: £16.5m</span>

    ReplyDelete
  71. <p>
    </p><p>Just wondering if you've ever coached or taken part in competitive sport Jaimie? No? Shock.
    </p><p> 
    </p><p>Have you ever had to manage the needs of individual players bodies and your own desperate need for victory? No? Shock.
    </p><p> 
    </p><p>Your almost total silence after last weeks complete schooling of Manchester United speaks volumes. You are nothing but a nasty little, cancerous voice of spite. When we win, you rarely (if ever) mention Benitez. When we lose you do nothing but contribute bile and spite. Thank heavens you weren't around during Bob Paisley's 5 match losing run, Kenny’s, or Shank's poor runs. I doubt you were even aware of these names before you discovered LFC on the night of May 25th 2005.
    </p><p> 
    </p><p>Once again you should refer to a BORN and BRED Red, Paul Tomkins:
    </p><p> 
    </p><p>http://tomkinstimes.com/2009/10/time-for-understanding/
    </p><p> 
    </p><p>But of course you will spit back at me, how dare you bring up the 'I go the match', 'I'm from Liverpool' argument. Why not Jaimie? I, as a season ticket holder and speaking as someone who attended the Fulham match (and saw us dominate until a lucky goal and two sendings off), I believe I speak with far more credibility than you. I have been watching Liverpool for 25 years, my family for over 60. And I don't mean on Sky Sports or whatever little web stream you gaze at over your PC... I mean watching. Being there. Seeing the tiredness in the players who eventually get subbed. Seeing the kicks that Fernando Torres receives OFF THE BALL and OFF CAMERA. Seeing the effect a heavy and hard pitch can have on players. Seeing how utterly SHATTERED Dirk Kuyt was for the final 30 mins (of the last two games). But you didn't see any of this did you Jaimie? You only saw what Sky Sports provided you with.
    </p><p>Let me put this to you. What would you have said last week had United gone on to equalise or win after Torres' substitution. What would you have said after Gerrard's substitution at Goodison the other year had we gone on to lose and not win (a winner brought about by the player brought on)?
    </p><p>After Saturdays defeat you could have written about the injuries and illnesses to 4 key players (Gerrard, Johnson, Agger and Aurelio). ALL starters. You could have written about the injuries or illnesses to the players who would have at least made it in to the squad (Aquilani, Skrtel, Ngog, Kelly and Cavallieri). You could have written about the fact that Fernando Torres is having to be nursed through games after being broken by the Spain once again. I wonder if you've ever suffered an adductor (not aBductor injury as many internet bloggers seem to think)... probably not. Well, not from behind a PC eh Jaimie. Maybe after installing Vista!

    </p>

    ReplyDelete
  72. <span><span>PART 2</span></span>
    <span><span>2005/06</span></span>

    <span>£240,000 - Antonio Barragan</span>: Kid for the future. Sold for £675,000 to Deportivo a year later.
    <span>Free - Boudewijn Zenden</span>: Signed for nothing and released for nothing. Did a job for us.
    <span>£6m - Pepe Reina</span>: In the top 3 or 4 keepers in the world now and still young. One of Rafa's best signings.
    <span>£5.6m - Momo Sissoko</span>: Brilliant for a few years, had that eye injury and sold to Juventus when his form dipped for £8.2m. Replaced by Mascherano.
    <span>£7m - Peter Crouch</span>: One signing I did question but proved to be a great bit of business. Turned him from a laughing stock into an international. Sold for £11m.
    <span>Unkown - Miki Roque</span>: Kid bought for peanuts. Sold again for an unknown amount.
    <span>£150,000 - Jack Hobbs</span>: Highly rated 16yr old signed from Lincoln. Didn't progress as hoped and sold to Leicester for a reported £1.5m, although figure not confirmed.
    <span>£190,000 Besian Idrizaj</span>: No idea who he is
    <span>£1.5m - Mark Gonzales</span>: Cheap player to provide back up for the left wing. Sold for £3.5m to Real Betis.
    <span>Exchange - Paul Anderson</span>: Swapped for John Welsh. Sold for £250,000.
    <span>Exchange - Jan Kromkamp</span>: Swapped for Josemi. Later sold for £1.75m
    <span>£5.8m - Daniel Agger</span>: Blighted by injuries but potentially top class and great signing for the money.
    <span>£250,000 - David Martin</span>: Young reserve keeper
    <span>Free - Robbie Fowler</span>: Pay as you play deal and no risk involved. Scored a few goals. Released in the summer.

    <span>Total bought: £26.73</span>

    <span>Free - Vladimir Smicer</span>: Out of contract and released. Played a small part in Istanbul.
    <span>£3.5m - El Hadji Diouf</span>: The best £3.5m Rafa has ever recieved.
    <span>Free - Pellegrino</span>: Filled the gap in the last 5 months of the previous season, not good enough and released.
    <span>£2m - Alou Diarra</span>: Sold for £2m. One of Houllier's buys.
    <span>£2m - Antonio Nunez</span>: Bought for £1.5m and now sold for £2m when didn't work out.
    <span>£6.5m - Milan Baros</span>: A Houllier signing sold at a profit. He's done nothing since.
    <span>Exchange - John Welsh</span>: Swapped for Paul Anderson
    <span>Exchange - Josemi</span>: Swapped for Kronkamp.

    <span>Total sold: £14m</span>

    <span>2005/06 net spend: £12.73m</span>

    ReplyDelete
  73. <p>If only I could block your posts from my favourite news aggregator I would. It is disgraceful that you write such bile at a time when support and understanding is needed. How can you possibly suggest that RB does not care about the League? Did you miss the final third of last season? Or do you simply switch off and spew bile on to your PC keyboard as soon as we concede a goal. I imagine you began writing on 23:07 match time on Saturday only to hit delete at 41:57. Relieved were you when Fulham popped in the final two goals? Relieved that once again you could push forward with your hateful, spite and bile filled agenda against Rafa Benitez.
    </p><p> 
    </p><p>You, and many like you (for examples see some of the posts above, especially the one written entirely in Caps Lock!) are quite simply a disgrace to the very legacy that Liverpool supporters, sorry, REAL Liverpool supporters, have built over many decades. I wish so much that there was a way to place you in front of the Kop on a match day to have you make your case to the people who can actually be bothered to attend a game or thirty!
    </p><p> 
    </p><p>And yes Jaimie, that IS a picture taken with my phone on the night you discovered LFC. We won that one remember? Wonder what you would have written had we lost!
    </p><p> 
    </p>

    ReplyDelete
  74. <span><span>PART 3</span></span>
    <span><span>2006/07</span></span>

    <span>£6m - Craig Bellamy</span>: Good signing and later sold for £7.5m to fund Torres deal.
    <span>£2m - Gabriel Palletta</span>: Played a few league cup games, not good enough and sold for £1.2m
    <span>Free - Fabio Aurelio</span>: Very injury prone but a good player when fit. Great signing for nothing.
    <span>£6.7m - Jermaine Pennant</span>: Second choice after missing out on Alves. Ran his contract down and released. Attitude stank.
    <span>£9m - Dirk Kuyt</span>: Has his critics, but has been brilliant for the money. 15 goals last season from wide and vital to the way we play. Ultimate pro. Great signing.
    <span>£200,000 - Nabil El Zhar</span>: Few cameos last season and improving. Injured now. Promising still. Peanuts.
    <span>£750,000 - Astrit Ajdarevic</span>: No idea who he is, and released on a free to Leicester.
    <span>Loan - Daniele Padelli</span>: Reserve keeper, made one appearance and never seen again.
    <span>Undisclosed - Jordy Brouwer</span>: Young reserve.
    <span>£2.5m - Alvaro Arbeloa</span>: Bargain signing, great service for a few years and sold for £3.5m when running his contract down.
    <span>Loan - Javier Mascherano</span>: Rescued from West Ham, now one of the best defensive midfielders in the world and will probably be sold to Barca this summer for a massive profit. Paid £18.6m for him a year later at end of loan deal.

    <span>Total bought: £27.15m</span>

    <span>£200,000 - Zak Whitbread</span>: Youngster
    <span>Undisclosed - Bruno Cheyrou</span>: Houllier flopped, sold for a reported £1.5m.
    <span>£3m - Fernando Morientes</span>: Didn't work out. Cut his losses.
    <span>Free - Didi Hamann</span>: Great servant, released at the end of his career
    <span>£675,000 - Antonio Barragan</span>: Paid £240,000 for him.
    <span>£2m - Djimi Traore</span>: Houllier signing and daylight robbery getting £2m for him
    <span>£500,000 - Neil Mellor</span>: Signed as a kid and did a job for a while. Not good enough and released.
    <span>£1.75m - Jan Kromkamp</span>: Nunez bought for £2m, swapped for him, who then sold for £1.75m. Stop gaps at minimal expense.
    <span>£525,000 - Darren Potter</span>: Acadamy lad, not good enough and robbery getting that much for him.
    <span>£1.5m - Steven Warnock</span>: Probably sold to cheap and looks a mistake with hindsight. Good squad player.
    <span>Free - Salif Diao</span>: The clearout of Houllier's flops continues.

    <span>Total sold: £10.15m</span>

    <span>2006/07 net spend: £17m</span>

    ReplyDelete
  75. <span><span>PART 4</span></span>
    <span><span>2007/08</span></span>


    <span>£5m - Lucas Leiva</span>: Brazilian player of the year when signed. Could still go either way but a lot to prove.
    <span>Undisclosed - Krisztian Nemeth</span>: Promising youngster currently out on loan in Athens.
    <span>£270,000 - Mikel San Jose Dominguez</span>: Youngester plays in the reserves.
    <span>£1.8m - Sebastian Leto</span>: Left winger signing but refused a work permit. Sold for £3m.
    <span>£20.2m - Fernando Torres</span>: Bargain of the century
    <span>Free - Andriy Voronin</span>: Free transfer to strengthen the squad. Plays well in Germany, garbage over here.
    <span>£5m - Yossi Benayoun</span>: Took a while to settle but now a key player. Superb signing and an absolute bargain.
    <span>£11.5m - Ryan Babel</span>: Highly rated dutch international. Absolute waste of space. Bad signing on reflection, but nobody knew how he'd turn out. Still got potential but he can't be arsed.
    <span>Undisclosed - Charles Itandje</span>: Back up keeper signed for peanuts. Now released.
    <span>£1.3m - Emiliano Insua</span>: Youngster who is now a full Argentinian international and massive potential. Bargain.
    <span>£6.5m - Martin Skrtel</span>: Been off form this season so far, but brilliant last year and a good signing for the money.
    <span>£18.6m - Javier Mascherano</span>: Completion of loan deal

    <span>Total bought: £70.7m</span>

    <span>£2.7m – Florent Simana-Pongolle</span>: Houllier youngster sold wanting first team football.
    <span>£100,000 – Daniel O’Donnell</span>: Kid sold
    <span>Free – Jerzy Dudek</span>: Released at end of contract
    <span>Free - Zenden</span>: Released at end of contract
    <span>Free – Robbie Fowler</span>: Released at end of contract
    <span>£4m – Luis Garcia</span>: Wanted to return to Spain. Great service.
    <span>£6m – Djibril Cisse</span>: Houllier signing sold to part fund Torres deal.
    <span>£7.5m – Craig Bellamy</span>: Sold at profit to part fund Torres deal
    <span>£3.5m – Mark Gonzales</span>: Signed for £1.5m and sold when didn’t work out.
    <span>£1.2m – Gabriel Palletta</span>: Bought for £2m but never worked out. Young defender.
    <span>£3.5m – Chris Kirkland</span>: Houllier signing. Injury prone and wanted first team football.
    <span>£8.2m – Momo Sissoko</span>: Great signing, good service, sold when lost his form at a profit.

    <span>Total sold: £36.7m</span>

    <span>2007/08 net spend: £34m</span>

    ReplyDelete
  76. <span><span>PART 5</span></span>
    <span><span>2008/09</span></span>

    <span>Free – Philip Degen</span>: Garbage, but free.
    <span>£7m - Andrea Dossena</span>: Italian international left back. Hasn’t settled. Bad signing.
    <span>£3.5m – Diego Cavalieri</span>: Reserve keeper. Only played league cup games so far.
    <span>£1.5m – David N’gog</span>: Young French striker. Promising.
    <span>£19m – Robbie Keane</span>: Everyone made up when we signed him. Didn’t work out and sold back to Spurs for £16m.
    <span>£8m - Albert Riera</span>: Spanish international. Started well but jury still out.

    <span>Total bought: £39m</span>

    <span>£4m – John Arne Riise</span>: Good servant but form tailed off. Snapped their hands off at £4m.
    <span>Free – Harry Kewell</span>: Harry who?
    <span>Undisclosed – Anthony Le Tallec</span>: Houllier youngster finally released. Fee not known.
    <span>£11m – Peter Crouch</span>: Laughing stock bought for £7m. Great signing. Wanted first team football.
    <span>£2.25m – Danny Guthrie</span>: Youngster from Acadamy thought not good enough.
    <span>£3.25m – Scott Carson</span>: Injury prone and Reina now first choice. Sold at profit.
    <span>Undisclosed – Steve Finnan</span>: Sold for a fee believed to be £1m
    <span>£16m – Robbie Keane</span>: Didn’t work out.
    <span>Undisclosed – Jack Hobbs</span>: Young defender that didn’t progress. Sold for believed to £1.5m.

    <span>Total sold: £36.5m</span>

    <span>2008/09 net spend: £2.5m</span>

    ReplyDelete
  77. <span><span>PART 6</span></span>
    <span><span>2009/10</span></span>

    <span>£17.5m – Glen Johnson</span>: Big fee, but has been brilliant so far.
    <span>£17.1m - Alberto Aquilani</span>: Injured so far but meant to be a class act. Highly rated in Italy.
    <span>£2m – Sotirios Kyrgiakos</span>: Last minute signing to fill Hyypia’s shoes. Only money we had to spend.
    <span>£160,000 – Daniel Ayala</span>: Young defender, played a few times this season and looked promising.

    <span>Total bought: £36.76m</span>

    <span>£250,000 – Paul Anderson</span>: Youngster that didn’t progess.
    <span>Free – Jermaine Pennant</span>: Out of contract. Poor signing.
    <span>Free – Miki Roque</span>: No idea who he is. Bought for peanuts.
    <span>£3m – Sebastian Leto</span>: Signed for £1.8m but didn’t get a work permit. Had to sell.
    <span>£3.5m – Alvaro Arbeloa</span>: Wanted to leave and out of contract in the summer.
    <span>£30m – Xabi Alonso</span>: Wanted to leave. Bought for £10.7m. Great signing.

    <span>Total sold: £36.75m</span>

    <span>2009/10 net spend: £10,000</span>


    <span>Total Players Bought: £228,976,000</span>
    <span>Total Players Sold: £145,100,000</span>

    <span>Total Net Spend: £83,876,000</span>

    ReplyDelete
  78. Have to agree with mikemaniac on this one. Liverpool now are like Leeds were then:they need the CL money to compete as they still haven't moved to a new stadium and the owners took on monster debt at an (unknown to them) unopportune time. Liverpool always come good in the latter half of the season to make the CL places but this also co-incides with their normally good runs in the knockout stages of the same competition. Since they've been taken part in the CL, Liverpool always seem to struggle in the group phase against"lesser" opposition and in the knockout phase they're always the team that no-one wants to draw as they are extremely diffcult to beat over 2 legs. I believe that both Benitez and the owners have this in mind that if Liverpool don't qualify for the knock-out rounds, then they'll have a huge problem in trying to motivate the team for the league run-in. This may sound like lunacy but only when Liverpool pulled out the thrashing of Real Madrid last year, did the belief that they would push United all the way begin to grow, and not just at Anfield. Did anyone else feel the enormous tsunami of relief that washed through Old Trafford when Federico Macheda scored an undeserved winner for United vs Villa?
    My point is, that Liverpool need these big games to (mad as it may sound) steel their confidence in the run-in and while it's a highly unstable formula, so far it has actually worked which is why I believe the focus was put on the Lyon game.
    My big worry for Liverpool is that they looked totally clueless in the second half when they did have the ball and Fulham began to believe they could get something out of the game once Torres went off. Liverpool need players who play for the shirt and know what it means to play for the shirt. That is what was not in evidence on Saturday and that is a huge worry for them. The "We are Liverpool and we let others worry about us" mentality seems to have evaporated somewhat to be replaced by a fear of losing and the backlash that comes with it. This is where a manager comes in. The question is:is the manager good/strong enough to buck this trend?

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  79. benitez management style applies logic to given situations, if tores, benny and kyte picked up injuries in the last 10 minutes of the game, and with the injuries we all ready have, it would be a complete disaster. Its only 3 points dropped manu dropped 3 points against us and their season is not over. This season prem is going to be won with less points  than in previous years. no one team will run away from the pack. don't see why you people who just hate benitez admit it. he is not a bad manager he is doing the best with what he has got. 

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  80. jaimie kanwar has never been to anfield9:41 pm, November 02, 2009

    You are a bad bellend and I hope you get the bad aids.

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  81. Your figures are inaccurate and incomplete.  I love how you inflate certain fees, i.e. Crouch 11m. His actually fee was 9m rising to 11m based on certain appearance levels.  Keane: 12m, rising potentially to 16m.  At present, it is only 12m.

    Lucas was 6m, not 5m; Torres was 26.5m (22m + Luis Garcia's valuation of 4m. This was the way the deal went down according to the Liverpool Echo at the time).

    Gabriel Palletta left on a free.  Your total net spend figure is also very wide of the mark.

    On wednesday, I will be publishing the the most comprehensive examination yet of Liverpool FC's transfer dealings under Benitez.

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  82. O dear Jaimie. Deleting threads and comments because they show up your reporting for what it really is. I'm sure there was a part 7 by BHB and that appears to have gone missing.

    Like I said. You are not a Liverpool fan and you are part of the agenda to distort the truth. Two can play at that game but deleting coments because you cannot argue them just highlights what you actually are.

    Good morning.

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  83. this site is funny. everything i read here could be written by a manc or an evertonian. are you 12?

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  84. Part 1.

    I'll try again, maybe it won't be deleted this time!

    Just wondering if any of those 'fans' screaming for Benitez's head have ever coached or taken part in competitive sport? No? Shock!

    Have you ever had to manage the needs of individual players bodies and your own desperate need for victory? No? Shock!

    Your almost total silence after last weeks complete schooling of Manchester United speaks volumes. You are nothing but the cancerous voice of spite. When we win, you rarely (if ever) mention Benitez. When we lose you do nothing but contribute bile. Thank heavens you weren't around during Bob Paisley's 5 match losing run, Kenny’s, or Shank's poor runs.

    Once again you should refer to a BORN and BRED Red, Paul Tomkins:

    http://tomkinstimes.com/2009/10/time-for-understanding/

    But of course you will spit back at me, how dare you bring up the 'I go the match', 'I'm from Liverpool' argument. Why not? I, as a season ticket holder and speaking as someone who attended the Fulham match (and saw us dominate until a lucky goal and two sendings off), I believe I speak with far more credibility than you. I have been watching Liverpool for 25 years, my family for over 60. And I don't mean on Sky Sports or via the web. I mean watching. Being there.  Seeing the tiredness in the players who eventually get subbed. Seeing the kicks that Fernando Torres receives OFF THE BALL and OFF CAMERA. Seeing the effect a heavy and hard pitch can have on players. Seeing how utterly SHATTERED Dirk Kuyt was for the final 30 mins (of the last two games). But you didn't see any of this did you? You only see what TV provides you with.

    >>>>>>

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  85. Gee after todays press statement regarding Torres Hernia, maybe Rafa was right... My aplogies there.

    But what is unacceptable is withdrawing Benayoun. What for Rafa/.

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