20 Jan 2012

HAMANN: "People think Rafa Benitez broke my heart, but he was a GENIUS..."

Dietmar Hamann was a fantastic player for Liverpool, and he will always be remembered for his European Cup-winning impact against AC Milan in Istanbul. The Kaiser left Anfield just two years into Rafa Benitez's reign, and in his new book 'The Didi Man: My Love Affair with Liverpool', he reveals some interesting insights into Benitez's managerial style.

It is well established that Benitez is not the warmest of managers, and Hamann acknowledges this in his book, but insists that it wasn't something that particularly bothered him:

"Rafael Benitez isn’t big on relationships, but in my mind he is pure managerial genius.

"Rafa’s lack of emotion contrasted with Stevie, whose view was ‘he never praises you’, and he thought it would help some of the other players if they got some positive strokes.

"People may think Rafa broke my heart, because he was in charge when I left, but I could have stayed. He just told me the situation as it was: had I stayed I would have been a bit part player.

"I couldn’t allow my Anfield career to end with a whimper, it meant far too much to me. But it wasn’t that Rafa broke my heart, it was I wanted to leave in a dignified manner.

"Even if Rafa had forcibly removed me from Anfield, he’d still be near the top of my managerial list".


According to Hamann, talking to Benitez was not the easiest thing in the world, but the Spaniard always managed to get his message across:

"Talking to Benitez was like when your car windscreen’s iced up on a winter’s morning. You can’t see anything, but when you switch on the de-icer gradually you start to see through the impenetrable barrier of ice, a hazy picture emerges and within two minutes you have a full Technicolor image.

"Rafa had the ability to achieve this rapid transformation from total blankness to incredible insight in just two minutes. He was incisive. He had the mind of a prosecution barrister and the words of a Spanish troubadour".


Jaimie Kanwar


78 comments:

  1. Just think what Rafa could have achieved in better circumstances. I hope that a top player's words will silence the divs who write blogs and post on forums unfairly criticising this great man.

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  2. Let Bring him back

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  3. I am by no means a Rafa lover or hater. But only a fool would suggest that he was a rubbish manager, I'm sorry but you do not win the Champions League through luck. I just think he might have done a better job spending this 100mil than Kenny has done and putting it to work with a bit more ease.

    I know we all say give Carroll time and guidance but as Liverpool FC I think one for the future shouldn't have been bought on the last minute in the January transfer window for an obsure amount of money. We should have potentially waited and bought him in the summer and bought a complete striker in that January transfer window. Kenny has done well in solidifying our defence, everyone can see that, but he has been caught with his pants down during the summer transfer window.

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  4. in RB we Trust,,,,,i always like him,,,,,i always know he is Genius,,,,The Great LFC manager...youre Welcome RB.....sooner is better.....

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  5. Maybe maybe not.I think we all want Carroll to and Downing to start to fire hopefully kennys faith will be re-paid sooner than later.

    Didi a true professional great player/servant.Just shows that not everyone hated Benitez and he was highly respected by some of the playing staff.

    Cant wait to read the book either.

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  6. Who could you possibly mean....

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  7. Fair play for Didi saying that but i think its time to let Rafa go, he had his time, had his chances, yes his situation was not the best. Kenny has brought stability but i dont think, long term he is the right guy. We need to stop looking back and start looking forward. Rafa will always be close to my heart after Istanbull, but i prefer to look back at that with a warm sense of pride rather than wishing he was back in the hot seat.

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  8. Sounds like from Didi's comments that Rafa is someone who you would respect highly for their absolute knowledge of the game. Who in their right minds gets an arm put around them in a working enviornment, they're grown men for gods sake, suck it up and get on with the job, too many whingers, that's the problem. The guy was a fountain of knowledge and got the best out of what are now considered to be some of the best players in the world. If only he had the funds to compete like Kenny does now; on a shoestring he got two CL finals and a title bid up until the last week. Rafa is and always will be a legend, and I would love to see how the tactical genius that he is would take on this modern day Barca side, because I am sure he would a hell of a better job than Mourinho is doing at Real at the moment.

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  9. I think that was result of Kenny's desperate attempt to keep the job permanently which he managed without Carroll's contribution. For Kenny, he had only half of a season to prove himself so why would he think future at the time.

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  10. I know people will and wont agree with me I love liverpool Rafa with these owner would off done much better and with the 100Mil.
    Look at us we for once are not talking about owners .
    At this stage off how we have to move foward giving kenny more money is a mistake.I would rather give Jose and Rafa money not kenny and his english policy yes we are better football club wise but 100% have to spend much more on first grade the stadium and tighten belts like arsenal did.

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  11. As a manager he may not have been the warmest, but anyone who saw him at the last Hillsborough memorial at Anfield would tell you that as a man he is a very warm hearted person!

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  12. he's been paid to say all that.

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  13. He gave us 6th spot with trash players. Imagine giving him 50m now. I remembered players we are linked with (before they are famous) like Mata, Llorente, Alves, Silva, etc. Now these guys are a success. Yes he made some mistakes but I always see some magic in the team while he was the manager.

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  14. jamie, are you feeling well ? have you had a scrooge moment ? praise for rafa, i dont believe it.

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  15. Aye, he barely had any money spend.....

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  16. He was misunderstood and hounded because his commuincation was poor which made him an easier target. He used ideas that worked and some that didnt but overall they did work. Prima Facie alot of knee jerk fans will hammer him but those that look deeper and anaylse his time at the club tend to find out why he did things in certain ways and begin to appreciate what he did for the club. I am almost certain JK is beggining to understand even though it will be hard for him to admit it!!

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  17. I couldn't possibly comment...

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  18. Beginning to understand what? My view of Benitez is the same as it's always been: A manager of undoubted ability, particularly in Europe (tactical;preparation;detail), with counter-productive man-management skills. I have always praised Benitez for his talents, and I have always been critical of his managerial faults.

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  19. Rafa is a great manager. He and his family have their roots in and love Liverpool. But, I must say some of his selections and transfers I still find hard to understand - just as I did Kenny's set-up against Stoke!

    Strange Rafa's: Selection for CC against Burnley; another which I can see  our players falling apart in a domestic game (old codger) but can't name; finally my TOTAL surprise with his starting selection in CLF which we eventually won due to injury and half-time substitution. Others include his withdrawal of Torres where Gerrard wags his head in disbelief; his zonal defending for corners; the signing of the long term injured Aquilani but worst of all was his transfer of Alonso to Real Madrid.

    You would say the above mentioned criticism makes it incompatible with my statement "Rafa is a great manager" but I firmly believe he was and in general his results prove that this man under tight financial and managerial rein was just that.

    Good luck to you and your wife and family Rafa. YWNWA!
     

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  20. Davph you give Rafa praise but then your criticisms are quite unfounded, one being a complaint of a team selection in a CC game against Burnley, at that time Rafa was not concentrating on the CC, and was focusing on continual qualification for the CL, so a CC game against Burnley meant damn all, and yes his starting selection against Milan was in hindsight not great, but hindsight is easy to critcise, what he did do was have the balls and tactical nous to change it though as you say at half time, and without those changes or the starting line up being wrong you wouldn't of witnessed the greatest CL victory of all time.

    And then you mention the withdrawl of Torres ( I believe was against Birmingham) which received many quotes from pundits alike stating he was mad, yet Rafa's decision in that game was based on seeing Torres tire, and he removed him for fear of injury, which was proven later to be the correct decision as only a few games later Torres injured himself (hamstring I think), showing Rafa was right to make that decision, only as per normal the media never picked up on this when it happened.

    Finally zonal marking at corners, the media beauty....which is right or wrong, well when Rafa had a settled back four which included Arbeloa, Hyppia, Carragher and Auerilo, Liverpool went over a season and a half without conceeding from a set piece(not just corner kicks), and Rafa made a great point to journalists who questioned would he man mark Tim Cahill in a merseyside derby or would he mark zonally by responding with the question of when Cahill scored last from a corner was he man marked or zonal marked, the answer of course being man marked, both systems have there flaws just the media like to propogate one...the man marking as it's English style....just like they called Ranieri the tinker man, and cricitised rafa for changing team selections too often, yet now when Fergie does it, he's resting players.

    Rafa was and still is way ahead of his time. Pity a lot of people can't see that.

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  21. how has kenny brought stability? i think the owners have brought stability and any manager under them would be seen as in a stable situation. all kenny has done is wasted a lot of money and shown he has little tactical expertise compared to benitez. and so much for the attacking philosophy because we scored a lot more under rafa and had a lot of high scoring victories. all i see under kenny is disappointing home draws. hiring kenny on legendary status alone was stupid as he was out of the game for so long as a manager. time to correct that mistake imo. personally id love rafa back as there arent many better plus hes AVAILABLE!

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  22. Good point Red..never thought of it like.

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  23. Jaimie you're analysis of  Rafa is correct.

    I honestly think now that WHEN he comes back to manage Liverpool he will have a better appreciation of man management.

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  24. coliemac I gave your reply the thumb up and would have given it the thumbs up had you dealt with the signing of Aqilani and the transfer of the great Alonso.

    The object of my post was to show that no matter how many flaws one perceived the manager to have during his time in charge we generally still regard him with great affection. I liked his style and his incomprehensible signals to the team during games but most of all the way he, his wife and  family identified with the City and the success he had with his team.

    Thanks for a very full response.

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  25. I honestly think that Rafael Benetiz will Manage Liverpool FC again.
    I also think it will be a lot quicker than many of you think.
    I think his achievements and success on budget each year of 20 million pounds are outstanding.Bought ..Mascherano...Arbeloa...Torres...Alonso... all for a lot less that he sold them for.Albert Reira in a red shirt makes Downing look like a Sunday League player.His weakness ?...man management NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.He allowed his pride to let Alonso go rather than his tactical brilliance.I trust that when he comes back to Manage Liverpool that he will have learnt about man management.Tactically, only Guardiola and Mourhino match him.It's a question of when he comes back to manage not IF.

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  26. SRKD your correct but wait until the end of the season.
    Save your energy for that battle when we will not finish in the TOP 4 and the KING KENNY FANCLUB will be in full cry.
    They will come on here and other boards and blame ANYONE but Kenny.
    They'll blame the transfers on COMOLLI when its  a fact that Kenny Dalglish has final say on all transfers ..comolli said.
    Keep your powder dry but be ready cus they will try like mad to keep him.
    I just hope FENWAY understand that we are losing another year and it will cost them more money to catch up

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  27. Rafa's record for Liverpool in Europe is fantastic but at home he is struggling to get the EPL title.

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  28. Davph, cheers for the thumbs up, I would have gone into further detail but didn't want to turn it into a complete essay, and I certainly wasn't havin a go.

    In terms of the Acquilani transfer, as Rafa stated he was bought for the long haul and not just for the one season, the issue with that transfer again lay with the f***ers, the Yanks, who after Rafa had organised transfers was told the money he was given was a net figure for transfers(not sure what they do it, whether it includes wages or not, but this season was the first time this was ever done, and he was made aware of this late in the day), he had planned to get in Stefan Jovetic from Fiorentina in the meantime also who could play as was uninjured while Acquilani recovered, this proved to be impossible though as he was to find out the Transfer funds he had were a lot less than what he originally anticipated. This again was down to the Yanks and people in the boardroom trying to undermine him at the time.

    Now the Alonso situation, yes this situation was handled badly, but Xabi has remained blameless throughout all of this and he certainly has a lot to answer for, his first season at Liverpool was an out and out success as he showed the class he had, but the following two seasons he definitely struggled to hit those heights again, he showed them in fits and bursts, but that isn't and wasn't good enough, hence the reason Rafa had decided to look elsewhere, (now at this point I would like to think that if we had the current owners in place at the time, Rafa might of been looking to add Barry while keeping Xabi, but as we all know he was in a situation of having to sell before buying), of course the Barry deal fell through, Xabi got the hump that he was looking to be replaced(when in fact he should of been looking at the reason why, and could only then accept it) and his final season showed what he could do, but that was only when he felt he was playing for a transfer.....he coasted for two seasons in a Liverpool jersey which isn't good enough, Rafa knew his ability and knew he wasn't playing to his potential and on that basis I believe and was proven right by Xabi playing his socks off in his final season, so had every right to look for a replacement. But as stated I believe he would of loved the option of being able to have Barry and Xabi.

    Hope that helps clear up your queries.

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  29. That was due to squad strength, his 1-11 matched any team in the world, but you need more than 11 players to win Championships and he was never afforded the sort of funds you now require to seek out the quality and quantity of players required for such a task.

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  30. Mascherrano said Rafa tought him everything,Hamann says Rafa is a genius,Reina is still heartbroken by Rafas exit.Torres said Rafa is the best.Rafa put his trust in Lucas and Kuyt when everyone else didnt.All the great professionals know Rafa.Of course you get the odd player who starts running to the media when they cant get in Rafas team,then the media make out Rafa is not liked.I always maintain the country is made up of over 50% of gullible people who go along with some sensational headline as they cannot think for themselves.Dalglish to my eyes should have done what Wenger did,not pay ridiculous amounts for players which just are not worth it,difference being Wenger has treated Arsenal fc with respect and not tried to gamble the clubs future on overnight success.Wenger buys the players with potential for peanuts,Dalglish buys players with so called potential with £130m,open your eyes everyone.Iv maintained all along Rafa should never have got the sack just to feed Purslows ego,and when he realised hed made a mistake he soon legged it.

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  31. Coliemac, the first reply I go with but not the second. Aquilani should never have been bought for something in the region of £22m when he was so far away from fitness to play especially when money was tight. I would have been much more in favour of Fulham's Dempsey to do the job - and still would.

    I'm sure you'll remember well the tackle that caused Xabi's injury and his period in the wilderness - Frank Lampard was the villian at Anfield - a red card if ever I saw one! Rafa's weak suite - man management - was the reason he was ostracised and led to his eventual departure. It became impossible for him to remain. Don't understand how Rafa could ever have thought Barry could have filled his boots? (presume you missed out a 'not'  when referring to Xabi remaining blameless)

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  32. Davph,

    I think we all know that Rafa like Kenny is stubborn and rather than speak with Alonso he was trying to make a point to all players by saying effectively ' I'm the manager if you cross me I'll replace you'.
    As you and many others have stated man management was his downfall and partly explains his departure from Inter Milan as well.

    The question is a simple one ...HAS RAFA LEARNT TO MAN MANAGE PLAYERS?

    If he has then would make Liverpool an excellent manager again.

    I keep stating the 3 best tactical football managers in the world Guardiola Mourhino & Benetiz.
    You don't get to 2 Champions league finals...You don't win la liga twice with team not beginning with bar or real.

    I suspect Rafa has had plenty of offers for jobs and declined them.
    He's waiting and watching  

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  33. I am always suprised when Rafa gets the stick for Alonso.
    Alonso wanted to leave because another player was going to be brought in to challenge him? Like Xabi doesn't know that this happens at every major club all the time!?!
    He went for money to Madrid leaving us in the lurch. At least Rafa held out for triple his cost.
    He's not perfect but solid owners would have made such a difference.

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  34. he is rubbish, and only a fool would think otherwise. touche.

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  35. Also rafa demanded loyalty from his players,in one away european game against dortmund Alonso was umming and eyeing wether he would be available as it could coincide with the birth of his baby,Rafa had to name a squad and Alonso was keeping Rafa dangling,in the end alonso chose not to go.Rafa actually missed his fathers funeral to prepare us for an important match,like i say Rafa demanded loyalty,Alonso was a selfish money grabber who went to Spain to avoid the new tax changes on footballers which came in after his contract,in other words hes exempt from the new higher tax rate.

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  36. I am a Rafa fan as well as King Kenny fan.We have given Carrol,Downing and Hendersen much time.21 matches are not just five matches to test their worth.Its time we bench them to tell them our frustration.
    King Kenny has tried his best to play them to prove that he did some good signings.But yet these lads have disappointed him.
    We should NOT blame Kenny please.All he has to do is to bench them and field Maxi,Kuyt,Bellamy etc.
    If King Kenny keep on fielding these lads from the first minutes,then we have to ask his ambition.

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  37. Child's birth > football

    Father's funeral > football

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  38. I CAN THAT DIV WHO WROTE THIS ARTICLE.

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  39. Oh great, yet more pro-Rafa waffle for the Rafa was a messiah brigade.

    Nothing like two managers (RH and KK) who are doing worse to make Rafa look better than he was. His legacy still lingers on and its partially his fault as well as these two managers for the mediocre position we are in. But no, Rafa is God, KK is a fallen God and RH was a clown....oh dear

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  40. seems everones a manager lol
    benitez made some shocking buys and had some shocking results and sold some quality players! (FACT) but all managers do? even wenger and old whiskey nose himself. Lets not forget it was almost a houllier team that one the CL... Kenny has nothing to prove he will make some bad buys, some good. Given time though (which is what he will get with our top owners) we will become a major force again... back on benitez though i would like to see him in our youth ranks, that would be interesting...

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  41. Why would you want a fat old bastard playing in the youth ranks?

    'old whiskey nose' - wonder what the mancs call KK in return, as he is hardly the most coherent nor the most sane-looking guy on telly!

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  42. Alonsos baby wasnt even due when LFC were due to play so he was messing everyone around,and Rafa said he would rather grieve in peace when we had played the world club final hed got us to. 

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  43. Agree with Gazaandems that the best of managers inevitably make the odd horlicks when bringing in and selling players. As someone said above I feel Albert Riera is another who was let go much too quickly. It is a pity two of our most successful managers in a very long time cannot be shackled in tandem to bring the EPL championship back to it's rightful home.

    The emphasis on recruiting youth is completely unsatisfactory to many of us old codgers who have long since stopped buying green bananas

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  44. Jaimie Kanwar - consistently the best Liverpool football journalist. I love the way you find the angles and back it up with original journalism. Get the quotes and points of view first hand from valid sources not just re-gurgitate lies or spout your own opinion. Keep it up fella!

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  45. and you sound like a bigger clown.....oh yes

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  46. id agree. wouldnt want an arguement with this man lol

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  47. anyone saying that man-management are not important... I beg to differ... Would you produce more at work when your employer/manager gives you praise or when he doesnt... its very basic you can do alot of research about it, effectively praising your employees and being open with them and talking to them is the way you get the best out of your employees... just do the research... As an HR, employee appraisals and man-management (what we call as Emotional Intelligence and Leadership) is very important... I am not saying he is not a tactical genius, but this is football, you are working with people, if players cant talk to their managers, if they cant enjoy their game while playing the tactics... I dont know I am big on man management... I think rafa should watch and learn... I am sure Kenny has it, but he needs the players to unlock their potential and he needs to find the key as he said...
    Some players are tough and emotionally grounded... like didi, and dont need praise, others thrive on it as we have seen under kenny... the majority of people want to be praised when we do something wrong and only a few are emotionally grounded they dont need it...

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  48. wow, what a great riposte(!)

    Yawn, you little sheep

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  49. Excuses, excuses and spin, spin

    Either way, some things are bigger than football. Football is a poxy sport that turns human beings (fan) into tribal neanderthals.

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  50. Good point, and exactly why I hold the belief that Rafa should never have fallen out with Pako Ayestrayan - it was a winning partnership that worked in Spain and whilst they were together at Liverpool - Pako was the link to the players and provided what Rafa lacked.

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  51. Great riposte(!)

    Yawn, sheep

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  52. Oh wowee, great riposte(!)

    yawn

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  53. oh come on, surely you can come up with better riposte than that as that was utter poop

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  54. And the reason you are commenting.....??? Excuses, excuses and spin spin...is that not acting like a tribal neanderthal....you chose your side.

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  55. No, not really, it doesn't. 

    But it would have to be a tribal neanderthal to view in such a simple manner like you have. 

    The logic you have thrown at it, you might as well levy that remark at any old comment, which is clearly not what i meant by my remark.

    Nice try but certainly no cigar, chum.

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  56. That wasn't a very good comeback at all from u, coliemac.

    Even I know what he meant by how football fans turn into looneys over the team and manager for no good reason. 

    Your response doesn't really make good use of remark at all, in terms of using it back on him.

    Sorry buddy

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  57. Davph, Acquilani was due back in Sept....on his comeback he injured himself again this was completely unforseeable, not only that when he did come into the side in the new year he clearly showed his ability and ended up as second most assists that season. And as for the money, the Yanks changed the money situation late in the window when as stated he was lining up Jovetic only to find out that they had changed the amount of money he was being given....!!! And I would definitely have Jovetic over Dempsey.

    And yes I remember Fat Franks tackle on Xabi, but I certainly don't accept two poor seasons being put down to one tackle. And his man management was not the reason for his departure, the reason for his departure was due to being unable to work alongside those in the boardroom and Hicks and Gillett, this is the same board and owners whom appointed Roy Hodgson to Liverpool, a decision worse than any player brought in by Rafa. Barry was seen as someone who could work in tandem clearly with Stevie as the two at the time were setting the world alight playing together for England. That's why...not to replace Xabi, but the fact is they work well together, and are also best mates.

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  58. Nothing to do with the fact that Hicks and Gillett failed to invest any money in transfers for Rafa's final two seasons....he had to sell to buy....!!! While other teams were out spending millions....nothing to do with that whatsoever....!!!

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  59. I think you will find the fact he is throwing around comments like excuses excuses and spin spin, shows clearly the tribal effect is not lost on him. If Paddy wanted to make his point there would of been no need whatsoever trying to undermine other peoples views. So I think you are missing the point Floflo.

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  60. How about not trying to undermine peoples views Paddy, then claiming that you aren't breing tribal...!!! If you weren't being tribal you certainly could of been a lot more diplomatic about it, so what is definitely good for the goose, is most certainly good for the gander.

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  61. Rafa did well in the transfer market and he bought two players, Torres and Alonso who made a profit of about 50 million for the club. Mascherano would have as well, if the player had not made it clear that he was desperate to leave. The club reached heights that it has never looked like reaching since, while he was manager. It all fell apart when the money ran out, though. I reckon we were only one player short of winning the league when we finished 2nd that season. But there were some diabolical matches too and I reckon some of our bigger, English stars had lost faith in him. As for him coming back, I would be reluctant to go back, he's been out of management for a while and I wonder whether things haven't already moved on too much for him to resume at Anfield. The club, the premier league, would he be as up to date on the best signings for the team? It's too early to write Dalglish off, but the team definitely needs better tactics in the opposition's half.

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  62. Why wouldn't you also give Kenny a benefit of doubt the same way you're giving Rafa. Rafa spent almost six years in reign but he did not have a starting line you heard what Haman said even if you were fantastic he would not tell it to you that is where he gets his problem in wasting good players.

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  63. Fair enough but he spent plenty and bought in plenty prior to that. He wasted a lot of money/players, as well as some on good ones. Keane, Aquilani and Johnson (Sorry, but £18m for a right back who can't even bloody defend most of the time, fuck that). Tragic waste of money from him and the club. 

    Jeez, you make him out to be a pauper but he spent plenty.  

    His player turnover per season (ins and outs) was ridiculous. He bought too much shit. 

    Even FSG were horrified at the state of the bloated but useless squad players left by Rafa but oh no, lets blame G&H and Parry, never Messiah Rafa. Fuckin hell

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  64. coliemac 

    Not sure what your one but I think your just reacted out of petty anger and want to incorrectly belittle his point by throwing at back him. Not working I'm afraid, old chum. 

    I don't see how he is undermining there points as he maybe simply calling it how he sees it. A guy with the name 'comebackRafa' is as bias as they come, when it comes to Rafa, with his all his comments on this site. So taking that into consideration, we should just automatically ignore the amusing lengths that comebackRafa goes to every single time to view anything remotely related to Rafa in a very pro-Rafa way? Now that would be incredibly stupid. Hence, why Paddy's remark is a short, simple and correct one to make as its nauseating watching the lengths that some fans go to protect their football idols.

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  65. This has been a very full response to a section of Dietmar Hamann's book presented by JK. But in conclusion I think it demonstrates one thing about us all - if we like a manager negative criticisms will not dilute our positive memories. Like Kenny (before and after him) Rafa was overwhelmingly taken to hearts and that will rightly remain there. What the future holds - who knows!

    I thought when Caroll was bought he would be a tremendous player but it hasn't happened yet. Charlie Adam I remembered as a Rangers player with a tremendous left foot who could hopefully do a job and I think (excepting the penalty miss) he has. Downing was a player I hoped would  stay at Villa because every strike went over the bar. Still does! Henderson to me was an unknown quantity and remains that way. Enrique was a solid left back for Newcastle and has turned out to be a tremendous aquisition in defence and on the left wing. Finally, Suarez!! Since his goal against Man Utd he has been the one we all want to see even though his finishing has sometimes let him down. Fergie and co are doing their best to have him transferred to Spain - mainly because they suffer from green eyes having missed the opportunity to bring him to OT.

    Clearly Kenny needs a striker to finish at the moment and I believe he could benefit the Reds by loaning out a couple of our tremendous young defenders (either Robinson, Kelly or Flanagan) to Villa or Fulham to give them first team play time in return for loan or purchase of Bent or Dempsey. Kenny has to horse trade - and quickly.

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  66. richard branson???

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  67. Kenny Dalglish has been out of Management for 10 years and you think the fact that Rafa has been out for 1 year is out of touch?....LOL 

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  68. My best player ever is Stevie G but if there is 1 thing a hated about him it was when he claim he was glad rafa was sacked and hodgson was appoint must be eating his words nw

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  69. Davph,

    I'm convinced that FSG have made it clear that they are not going to give Kenny any money this window.
    Originally, Kenny said he has money to spend ..Then he changed that to he thinks it will be a quiet window.
    Something is definitely going on with FSG 

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  70. For me Rafa never had the correct backing.. he is often blamed for spending loads of money..but this wasn't true..according to the official accounts he NET spent about 10-15 million a season...a decent amount..but not that much, not when you consider the dross he took over from and had to rebuild the entire team.

    He won trophies, and came runner up in ALL competitions, when the competing teams were of a higher standard than any other league...the best arsenal team of all time under there greatest manager...the best chelsea team of all time under there greatest manager and unlimited resources..the greatest united team of all time with there greatest manager, a very good spurs side and the best everton side since the 80's.
    In arsenal and united case they were also well established teams, they needed no reienforcements, they already were winning trophies when rafa came.

    So with a lump sum of say 100million..just like moureen..and now dalglish..let alone manchini...how good would we have been then??

    I suport dalglish, i believe we will come good, but some of the signings have been shocking..and not in a good way.

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  71. get youre knob out of his backside you blinkered idiot. 

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  72. You seem to think you know everything.. Do you have Rafas phone number or something... You're clearly a know it all... Ive checked out alot of your facts and they're bull. Its your opinion m8, that's all . You obviously are blinded when it comes to Rafa... "Hope that helps clear up your queries"...haha so arrogant.. you clearly think you're the gospel on this.. so self righteous ... so wrong

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  73. if you cannot admit rafa was wrong on Aquilani and Alonso then you are clearly blinkered.... you seem to think he was never wrong..... wake up fool

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  74. what a stupid comment... he wanted to leave coz the club wanted to replace him... duh think about it... 

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  75. how is that acting tribal... do you even know what he meant.... seriously stupid point there... worst i have read yet

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  76. Ok...commenting on a story that is a week old when everyone is finished with it, is a bit mental....but in answer to your question, I know exactly what he meant...but with his meaning and what he was trying to say, there was no need for him to try and slag and undermine another persons opinion. That in turn made him a hypocrite, which also meant he picked a side in the argument which also meant he too was acting tribal....!!! Or do you not get that. !!! So stupid point or are you just the stupid one !!!

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