Arsenal striker Andrey Arshavin rarely speaks about Arsenal in public as he is wary of being deliberately misquoted, or having his words 'taken out of context'. Rafa Benitez also suffered exaggeration and misquoting at the hands of the British press, and in a rare recent interview, Arshavin expressed some sympathy for Liverpool's former manager.
Arshavin, who was once on Liverpool's wanted list, observed:
"If the English press want to ‘kill’ someone they do it. I remember that Rafa Benitez could do nothing right for Liverpool in their eyes.
“Everything he's done or said was made look to bad in the newspapers. I don't understand English very well, but even I could see it."
It could be argued that Benitez was the author of his own destruction on many occasions by regularly adding fuel to the media fire; however, the constant barracking about non-issues like zonal marking got extremely tiresome after a while.
It would've been amazing to have Arshavin at Liverpool; He's a real Liverpool-type player, and I'm sure he would've done well; and his performance in the 4-4 thriller at the tail-end of the 2008-9 season has to go down as one of the all-time great performances at Anfield by an opposition player.
Jaimie Kanwar
Arshavin, who was once on Liverpool's wanted list, observed:
"If the English press want to ‘kill’ someone they do it. I remember that Rafa Benitez could do nothing right for Liverpool in their eyes.
“Everything he's done or said was made look to bad in the newspapers. I don't understand English very well, but even I could see it."
It could be argued that Benitez was the author of his own destruction on many occasions by regularly adding fuel to the media fire; however, the constant barracking about non-issues like zonal marking got extremely tiresome after a while.
It would've been amazing to have Arshavin at Liverpool; He's a real Liverpool-type player, and I'm sure he would've done well; and his performance in the 4-4 thriller at the tail-end of the 2008-9 season has to go down as one of the all-time great performances at Anfield by an opposition player.
Jaimie Kanwar
Doesn't seem to be going too well for him now though, don't understand why cos he's quality.
ReplyDeleteNot I'm not defending Rafa but I agree with Arshavin because this much was already exposed. The Times ran a story revealing that Hicks & Gillet paid a PR firm to spin everything away from the ownership issues at LFC and transfer it on Rafa. None of the other media houses denied it and the Times never got sued. That's pretty much a straight case for Arshavin's argument on Rafa. Whether or not Rafa's disposition doesn't help is a soft moot point - when a PR team is there to spin a story, they'll spin you a story no matter what.
ReplyDeleteabsolutely right, rafa was assinated by british tabloids and unfortunately some of the more stupid mark lawrenson loving liverpool fans ate it up and allowed for rafas removal.
ReplyDeleteIt sound completely plausible mate. When you read the paper and you see how people can change somebody's quote around and make it look completely different with full stops in different places and a few choice words without quotation marks in there and maybe a 'close friends' or 'insiders' quotes, absolutely anyone can be made or broke by the media.
ReplyDeleteArshavin did have four great shots on goal, unbelievable as a matter of fact, and as I remember, those were the only shots on goal they had
ReplyDeleteFor me one of the most unwarranted was the circus over the apparent hand gesture when Torres scored against Blackburn, That was fuelled by Fergie and Allardyce but also rippled into the press...
ReplyDeleteArshavin has a point but I admit on occasion Rafa sometimes didnt help his cause at times for example wearing a tracksuit and his comments at Newcastle away after his job was offered to Klinsman and he was told to concentrate on team matters, it was an open message to the footballing world that all was not harmonious behind closed doors between owners and the manager ... I respect his personal decision to do that but it was not right for the club and our image.
Maybe his personality is not one that generates positive press - Mourinho was controversial, animated, and loved interviews / the camera and the press thrived on him - Rafa was reserved and staunch in front of the media - he hardly ever celebrated us scoring - as soon as we used to score he would probably call Xabi or other players to the touchline and either criticise the shape or provide instructions and never get lost in the emotion of the moment - I think this robotic demeanour played a massive part in the press not taking a liking to him -
For me his demeanour whilst not great for player morale and coming across as a control freak did not help his image, but it was reassuring knowing he was always calm and thinking when emotions where running high.
Arshavin is correct!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'll give my left leg, to have Rafa back as head coach. I'll give my right leg for money back guarantee for Carroll, Henderson, Downing and Adams.
ReplyDeleteOnly after the artist is dead we value his masterpiece, only after the head coach is gone, we value his contributions.
Arshavin is a 'real Liverpool type player'? In what way?
ReplyDeleteSome of the 'other' stuff was overplayed by the media, but that's a given with most foreign manager's in the Premiership.
ReplyDeleteThe most important fact for me was that the team didn't look like it was going to win the league under Benitez and for that reason I wanted to move on, not because of any portrayal of the man by the media
you do know that it's not actually your money right?? :-/
ReplyDeleteBy that I mean he's a skilful flair player, the likes of which Liverpool used to produce/buy regularly (i.e. the likes of Heighway, Keegan, Dalglish, Barnes, Beardsley, McManaman etc) Under Houllier and Benitez, these type of players were signed/produced less and less.
ReplyDeleteThis is what annoys me,some of our so called fantastic fans sided with the Sun newspaper and sky and bullied rafa out of his job.Well I hope you sort of people can live with yourselves because i sure as hell couldnt.I hope your happy a once great club has been ruined by the sun newspaper and a lot of the so called fans who sided with the sun, and it will never be the same supporting Liverpool ever,not unless Rafa comes backto his rightful home.Zonal marking every day even though Rafa had best defence record,rotation every day even though Rafa had to to preserve the players because they were fighting on all fronts,top scorers but play boring football every day,alienates players even though you can only play eleven players.The muppets who supported the sun and sky and Plum nose and his muppets should do one and never come near this once great club who used to have fans who were above all the media lies.
ReplyDeleteThx for such a brilliant insight JayOne, for a moment there I thought...
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe some so-called LFC fans sided with the sun newspaper and plum nose in wanting Rafa out.I really feeel sorry for your type as you have no point of view,you have no intelligebce ,you cannot make your own mind up about anything,you just side with whatever you are told.A once great club is now in decline because of your ignorance.I always thought Liverpool had special fans who were above media lies,I always thought Liverpool fans appreciated people fighting for the fans for the club and for the players,I always thought Liverpool fans would always back a manager who fought unscrupulous owners when other managers and gerrard and carragher wouldnt dare say anything.Rafa has all thwe qualities i wanted in a manger of Liverpool,now we are lost.
ReplyDeleteWas it the fans that wanted Rafa out or did he just fall on his own sword because he could see he was never going to win against the dirty tricks being used by the cowboys and just have his name in football dragged through the mud.
ReplyDeleteSome fans wanted Rafa out
ReplyDeleteIs it any good having at manager who is at war with the board for what ever reason he was never going to beat business men and unfortunatly the results started to go from bad to worse then there was talk of players being unhappy one thing led to another and Rafa had to save himself in the end before they destroyed him as a coach as well.
ReplyDeleteArshavin is not doing well because he is on much less wages than he expected, don't think he was advised of the tax rate when he signed on
ReplyDeleteHe'll be off to Samuel Eto'o's club soon
He is a class act when properly motivated, his run for the 4th v Liverpool was truly breathtaking, like a track and field sprinter's technique. Head down, pure pace and power in 88th minute or something. What a goal!!
It was rumoured that Liverpool tried to sign himat the time, hence the big delay in Arsenal deal completing
As regards zonal marking, here is vintage Benitez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7rFjPohp-g
I think English media lacked the intelligence or else banked on it's target audience lacking the intelligence to notice how sharp Rafa really was
Jose Mourinho was held up as the special one, while Rafa was savaged. Shameful reflection on English society in general I'd say
What other team's fans would have swallowed their disappointment and applauded Swansea off the field the other day
ReplyDeleteThat shows class
Bigger stadiums = Bigger numbers of day trippers (like me, although I understand football a little I'd like to think)
If we want to keep the soul of the club in place we have to remain at Anfield and fill any extra areas added with people from season ticket waiting lists
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ReplyDeleteJamie, are you serious? Arshavin is well past his days. He is a liability. Besides, he's a lazy bastard with poor attitude to trainings, and that shows on the pitch too. Way too often he looks like he can't be arsed to make a run for a ball, and bottles chances. Yes, he is skillful and shows glimpses of brilliance at times. But in no way he is a Liverpool type.
Hm... Since when my comments need approval to be posted on here?
ReplyDeleteThat was a product of the owners having Rafa sell more than spend from Jan 2009 (the first transfer window after the financial crisis) onwards. Even Dalglish would have been strained under those circumstances.
ReplyDeleteYour comments don't need approval, it's just your last one was caught by the swear-word filter.
ReplyDeleteJust like some fans want Kenny out at this point of time and many of them just like you are still apologising for the spaniard?
ReplyDeleteWhat is sickening is the way Rafa gets hailed still to this day and the way his supporters were crying crocodile tears and claimed that Liverpool died the day Rafa was given his marching orders.
Rafa ended up being his own worst enemy. If he was not giving the media reasons to rip him apart then he was taking a stab at other managers and 90% of the time he found himself with a broom shoved up his bum. Yet he would still persist and kept on seeing his bum. Clearly somewhere along the line you need to realise that keeping your mouth shut is sometimes the better option? Instead of focusing 100% on footballing matters he continuously got involved with club politics and eventually lost that battle too. Clearly Rafa is not cut out for the English game. Then he went to Italy and six months into his job filled with yet more involvement of club politics at Inter and yet again he dug his own grave. The media in Italy were also not to lenient on Rafa either. They had him by the balls but why? BECAUSE RAFA GAVE THEM REASONS TO DO SO. Walk into a job at a club being Italian and European champions and start looking for trouble with the owners? What does he expect the media should do? If the media knows that the toilet has not been flushed then they are going to show and tell everyone how dirty it is. We are talking about the media aren't we?
Benitez became a cheque book manager just like Mourinho. Both forgot that they won the Champions League on a shoestring budget.
ReplyDeleteMourinho was the media darling because he was frank in his answers during press conferences and interviews. Press love that. Whereas, Benitez never gave a straight answer. To be manager of a top club you have to be media savy. Afterall it is the media who prints the stories.
At the moment the media darling is Dalglish, I've noticed Fergie is less favourable with the press since Dalglish arrived.
Fergie screwed Rafa the same way he is now trying to screw Suarez, through the media and his fellow cronies. Harry Redknapp, Gary Megson and Sam Allardyce spoke up at every opportunity about Benitez after Rafa gave his views on Fergie. Ferguson is the golden boy of Enlgish football and used his media and football links to put 'that foreigner' (my words but really his words) back in his place. In fact any overseas manager who goes head to head with Fergie tends to get harsh treatment from the media just as Wenger did in years gone by.
ReplyDeleteMourinho was the media darling and it is because the media never got the better of him while he was in England. If a journalist approached him in a negative way he would laugh it off and make the journo look like an idiot.
ReplyDeleteDalglish is very much the same and when something negative gets said about the club Kenny will have none of it. Nothing wrong with that. You would rather have the press on your side than against you but in order to have them on your side you need to let them know that it is either my way or the highway, something Benitez just could not get to grips with.
Strange, my last comment also needed approval and it has not appeared but knowhere did I use any swear words that post?
ReplyDeleteRafa was class and got us back into the big time. People need to remember that. He fought on our side against g&h. And as for saying Arshavin's performance at Anfield was 'one of the all time great performances by an opposition player' in the 4-4 draw, did you watch the same game as everyone else? he only had 4 touches that night, it was hardly an all time great performance.
ReplyDeleteArshavin is a class player but in his own words,
ReplyDelete"I
wanted to get the feeling whether I can play in England or not.
Sometimes
I feel that I can but other times I don't. It's probably
because I play as a left
midfielder.
"I still can't get used to
the idea that I'm capable of playing on the left of
midfield - and
frankly having to do it keeps me baffled.
"I don't understand if it's only because God is taking care of me, or [if] I
really can play so well as a left-winger."
If Arshavin played off the main striker he'd be immense. I have no idea what Wenger is thinking playing him on the left wing either.
If thats true then thats a great post. Bang out of order.
ReplyDeleterafa is a legend and that's why his name lives on whilst Woy is no where to be seen...Rafa will be back one day. Great manager for a great club
ReplyDeleteExactly what I thought all these years, saves me from typing!
ReplyDeleteThere are fans who either purely love or hate Rafa. No one is perfect and neither is Rafa, I appreciate his effort to fight for the club but he's a man with huge ego, he'll win the fight by hook or by crook, which may not be good for the club at times.
like it or not ...RAFA is legend and great manager more than KK....
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't Rafa sign Ashavin together with Martin Skrtel both from Zenit St.Petersburg of Ukraine club. Both were club mates and knew each other's game. Instead he brought in Lucas whom to my mind is a handicap.
ReplyDeletehere is someone who think big and like me.
ReplyDeleteWhen will people come to know fergie control the epl, when he said liverpool had his best position when we finished 2nd and we wont even be in big four next season you got to shake your brain. You wont know how much zombie this fergie have in the epl and poor rafa thought he went 1:1 against fergie who have got zombie army. With so many managers in his favour he can pretty control the epl.
ReplyDeleteRed4life - Yes Rafa is gone and we should not look back but you have to accept some people think it may have been a mistake.
ReplyDeleteThe reason he gets hailed to this day is simply the same reason any ex Liverpool manager who brought success to the club would, but there is an exception. For me he provided the correct sense of success for a club of our stature that we could not boast since the early to mid 80s - playing amongst and rivalling Europe's elite. We had won the FA cup (souness), League Cup (Evans) and a memorable treble (Houllier) but there was a difference in 2005 - we claimed the scalps of Europes tops clubs that year (Juventus, Chelsea, Milan) and then repeated the run two years later (Barcelona, Chelsea) but lost in the final.
Yes Rafa is gone and we should not look back, we give KD full support in what will be a long term project to get us back there, but you have to understand that in 20 years since the mid 80s we had not enjoyed the feeling of playing Italian, Spanish or English Champions like Milan, Inter, Juventus, R. Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea and Man Utd and being better then them on the day - this is the only reason I guess some fans look back and hail the man that made that possible as we dont look like that anymore - it will take time and for me a lot of investment.
Madness
ReplyDeleteThanks for trying to convince me otherwise but it did not work.
comebackrafa has even stated before that the effect Benitez had on LFC was bigger than what Shankly could manage.
I am sorry Madness, but when rubbish like that comes out of a mouth of a supporter who eats, craps and sleeps Rafael Benitez then I do not have any time for it.
Compare Rafa to Houllier which I think Jaimie has done before and there will be a slight difference if any. Rafa did spend alot more than Houllier though. Houllier won more trophies and his team also finished 2nd with our most points total back then...
So why has Houllier not been getting the same treament as the spaniard?
I agree with you the Shankly comparison is absurd and far fetched - and you do have a point about Houillier - But that is what I am saying as well - any Ex LFC manager or player that provided success should be be hailed and held in high regard, be it Rafa or Houllier.
ReplyDeleteFor the record I am a big Rafa fan as for me he is a very good tactical coach - one of the best around but now with a bad reputation - his time has gone now and just as there was a new project that started in 2005 there is now a new one in 2011 that will take time.... It may be a reality check for fans but success is not going to hit us overnight, it may take a few years to get back to where we should be and I think a lot of fans will continue to reference recent success and Rafa untill it does. I do not condone that but understand it...
"Jaimie Kanwar could do nothing right for Liverpool..."
ReplyDelete...by pulling a press headline stunt in the exact manner Arshavin is criticising the press of.
Misleading people to read your blog through implying Arshavin holds a contrary view (many people will be too annoyed to read the article and simply alter their view of Arshavin) may make you proud in manipulating people's expectations and getting cheap 'hits' on your blog in your usual way, but it doesn't impress me and it doesn't 't help Liverpool. YOU ARE the media Jaimie.
i didnt say Rafa had a bigger effect on LFC than Shankly,I said only Shankly made a bigger impact on LFC than Rafa so get your facts right or you come across as being desperate by making comments up
ReplyDeletei didnt say Rafa had a bigger effect on LFC than Shankly,i said only Shankly made a bigger impact on LFC than Rafa so hes being desperate by saying i said things i havent said to back up his pathetic arguments.
ReplyDeleteUEFA got us back into the big time with their restructure of the "Champions League". Remember that
ReplyDeleteoh ok, I thought you might still have that image in your head but that is by no means a Liverpool type player anymore.
ReplyDeleteLiverpool haven't encouraged flair for a long time. Work rate and attitude is the priority and Arshavin doesn't have those traits so he would've been a bench player at Liverpool for a few years before fading away...
(fwiw, even as a flair player I've never bought into the Arshavin hype as most others seem to)
Yes, I think you're right; stamina and work rate became the benchmark under Houllier and Benitez, but there was a golden period in the 70s and 80s where Liverpool consistently had the best flair players going.
ReplyDeleteI think you're definitely right about Arshavin being a bench player - that would've definitely been the case under Benitez.
You are correct, you had Rafa second to Shankly, I was waiting to get a reply from you :)
ReplyDeletePaisley, Fagan, Dalglish? Are you serious? You are suggesting that Rafa had a greater impact on the club then the three legends which followed Shankly?
Rafas impact was unbelievable,first year domestic final then won greatest ever european cup final ever when we had been in the wilderness for years,surely you cannot get much more of a bigger impact then wins fa cup then another european final,along the way bringing alonso,Mascherrano,Reina,Torres to the club true world class players
ReplyDeleteRafa second only to Shankly. HA HA HA HA, let us all laugh at your comment. HA HA HA HA
ReplyDeletecomebackrafa, clearly you are lost.
ReplyDeleteIn the space of 15 years after Shankly this club won 21 major trophies between Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish.
Rafa falls way short!!! WAY SHORT!!! of that impact.
What about the players who won those 21 tropies back then? What did Torres and Mascherano win the LFC? Infact, how many of Rafa's signing won a trophy with LFC?
You are clearly forgetting the 2008-09 season when we only lost 2 games all season, scored more goals than anyone in the country and most of it was done without Gerrard and Torres who were injured for big parts of the season. You obviously have a select memory
ReplyDeleteOk, so what was Garcia? If he wasn't a skillful flair player, I don't know who was. Rafa bought his share of flair players when he could, but flair players are unfortunately the most expensive players and the budget Rafa was afforded couldn't buy these types of players regularly. Did you know Rafa was only a couple of million pounds from signing Dani Alves from Sevilla and C.Ronaldo from Lisbon? The owners wouldn't provide the extra couple of million to complete these purchases. This shows that Rafa indeed like the flair players. He also brought Dani Pacheco, Jonjo Shelvey, Raheem Sterling, Suso, Gerardo Bruna to the club as well. All who are flair players. Bruna was a product of the Real Madrid youth set-up and was nicknamed the "Messi of Madrid".
ReplyDeleteyoure so wrong me old son...look at your history.
ReplyDeleteThe best 2 teams put together in Liverpool history are the 1978 team put together by Bob Paisley and the 1988 put together by Kenny.
Kenny's record is far superior to Rafa's and so is his win percentage.
jees, Arshavin's english is awful, for him to interpret that and see what was going on is saying something about the totally crap sports media in the UK.
ReplyDeleteRafa's dismissal was an expensive mistake, but Purslow was a media brown nose, and awful for the club, creating another expensive mistake in Hodgson which was predictable - though I thought it would be pretty ordinary rather than a total disaster.
And there's no doubt some seriously good players would have arrived with Rafa. But he fell down on building a whole squad for which he must take part responsibility, and he didn't win anything after the FA cup which he must take some responsibility too.
Now, fighting for the league and Europe makes the 2 domestic cups hard work so there is some reason for it, but he's way more impressive than Mancini who simply doesn't have to be concerned about anything.
His record will be unmatched by most.