stressederic

Of course its relevant, you just don't want to answer it. Allow me to do it for you. Rafael Benitez is not bigger then the club. I'll say it again, but in bigger font so you can move past the feeble defence. Rafael Benitez is not bigger then the club. Neither is Cisse. Rafa however picks the team, Rafa buys the players, Rafa chooses the tactics and Rafa manages the team (all facts by the way). Therefore Rafael Benitez is more important then Djibril Cisse. To think otherwise is to ignore these facts. Its the same in every club and team in the world, the manager is more important then individual players. He isn't more important then the team, but he is more important then any one player. lets look at Newcastle as an example. The question, whose more important Alan Shearer or the Manager, presents the answer - Alan Shearer, which is a big reason why Newcastle struggle. When Rafa leaves, the next manager will still be more important then Cisse, and the next, and the next, and the next. Cisse will never be more important then the manager, no player at Liverpool will be. It doesn't mean that they're not important, or that Rafa is Liverpool FC, he isn't. But he's more important then any one player. Now in my household, we believe in standing by the managers decisions, especially when he's winning us football matches and trophies. It appears that in your household, you stand by your favourite players over the well being of your own club. It appears in your household, that any manager who doesn't pick your favourite player is stubborn and unprofessional. I'm happy in my household. Tell me, if Rafa sells Cisse, will you start supporting the team he joins? You don't know what the job Rafa has tasked him with is. I'm thinking its fairly safe to assume that Rafa is pleased with Morientes or he'd be dropped. I'd say it's equally safe to assume that Rafa is not happy with Cisse because he has been dropped. Rafa makes those decisions, not you. Liverpool football club is not a committee, I doubt Rafa particularly cares about your facts, he cares about winning football matches, and he's doing a good job of achieving that. I suspect you're merely positioning yourself for a series of "I told you so" posts any time we lose. I doubt these posts will be so vocal when we win, but you'll bide your time. If at the end of the day you feel vindicated I'll be happy for you, but at the moment I'm more interested in supporting the team and trusting Rafa then in trying to stroke my own ego, and garner attention.

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Odd choice of words, when you happen to think that Cisse should play more then Morientes. Additionally this is an hypothetical issue, we can only deal in opinions. As I've pointed out, and you've ignored, none of us, mainly you, are possessed of Rafa's trust and know what he thinks about every player, what goes on in training, etc. Also football isn't a game of facts, its a game of decisions. If you were to build a team based upon statistics and "facts" you'd have Real Madrid. Should be the best in the world, but really, really isn't. Rafa picks players for reasons that we don't know. To claim superior knowledge and piercing insight, when you frankly have neither is pointless.

You just know, that somewhere horse owners and jockeys have uttered those same immortal words.

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I wonder how many of those fans have won a European Cup recently. Once upon a time nearly 100% of people thought the sun went round the Earth. Just because lots of people think it or believe it, doesn't make it true and doesn't make it right.

I merely wrote it to point out if it was an attempt to wind me up it wasn't going to work. Seeing as you've been dropping the word in more and more with every post, I suspect I'm right. Also it was hardly "all this" in the scheme of how this argument and debate has gone, a few sentences are hardly an earth shattering effort. But as for losing the argument (personally I'm just waiting for the judges to declare you defeated by technical knockout) how about answering my very simple question. Whose more important to Liverpool FC, Rafa or Cisse? Touche sir.

Bloody hell I was right.

Parry's shirt and tie set off the fire alarm

Crouch Reina Kewell

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It was bizarre.

We'd have all done the same.

Bad curry?

It's you versus Rafa Benitez. It's not even a contest or a debate, you can't win that head to head. One is a world class manager with a history of winning trophies, and the other is you.

Additionally, by continuously calling people "son" you're losing any edge the insult and patronizing tone may once have had. I'd save it for special occassions if I were you. Also you can call me "son" all you like, it's merely an insult, and insults are at their most effective when delivered by people you either like and respect, or who hold power over you. Neither of which apply here. I've been insulted by professionals, and you're just looking kind of sad.

And we come on to facts, and your argument finally is dead. You don't know the facts. None of us do. You are not privy to Rafa's ideas and thoughts. You don't see the training during the week, you don't know what Rafa wants his forwards to do. You are possessed entirely of opinions, without facts. My opinion is that Rafa is not a stupid or irrational man. Therefore his decision not to play Cisse must be based upon something logical to him. That is enough for me. Rafa doesn't have to explain his every decision to me, he certainly doesn't have to do it to you. Rafa is the manager, Rafa picks the team, Rafa makes the call. Not you.

I didn't ask which was bigger then the club, I asked who was more important to Liverpool FC. It's an easy one to answer, permit me to demonstrate. Gerrard is more important to Liverpool FC the Barragan and Reina is more important then Carson. Neither of those statements mean that Barragan or Carson are worthless, or that Gerrard and Reina are bigger then the club, simply that they are important figures in our overall success. So which is more important to Liverpool FC, Rafa Benitez or Djibril CIsse? Also I think you'll find that Rafa's objective is to win football matches and to pick up trophies. Josemi, Igor, Diao, Nunez, Mellor, Dudek and Pongolle. Players who all in various ways helped us to win the European Cup last season, all of whom have been either moved on, loaned out or replaced. Rafa does not appear to be possessed with overwhelming compassion in the face of success. If he's decided to play Moro instead of Cisse, its because he believes that will win us football matches and win us trophies. If he decides to replace Moro and Cisse at the end of the season, so be it. I'll be sad to see Morientes go as I'm a fan, and I'll be sad to see Cisse go, because he turned the game around in Monaco in the Super Cup after it looked like I'd driven a long way just to watch us get beat. However I'll know that Rafa's decisions whatever they may be will be for the good of the team. Your not my real dad!!!

Direct question. Whose more important to Liverpool FC, Rafa Benitez or Djibril Cisse?

I'll think you'll find people can choose what to question Rafa over and what not to. I don't choose to question Rafa over not playing Cisse, because I largely agree with his decision. I do however choose to question you over thinking about what exactly is going so catastrophically wrong at our club right now that would cause you to place more importance on a single player then the well being of the team, and to take that extreme of questioning the judgement of the manager! You can't just shrug off achievements and say, "that was last year, what about this year?" Everything is context! Rafa won the European Cup 9 months ago. We're still in it this season, we're in with a shout of taking 2nd place in the league, and we're still in the FA Cup. Quick someone call Inter-f***ing-national Rescue, we're doomed!

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Honestly these nancy foreigners. Stallone played on in Escape to Victory with a cut above his eye, why couldn't Xabi!

Thats it exactly. If on one side of the pitch you have Finnan, and the other you have Riise, I imagine I'd rather attack Riise as well. Thats not because he's a bad player, he's not. I agree he's one of the best left backs in the league. But on the other side of the pitch is Steve Finnan, who is the best right back around. Also with Gerrard playing at Right Wing for a while, I'd have attacked down the side with Kewell and Riise as well, simply because they're not Gerrard or Finnan. It's not a case of teams attacking Riise because of who he is, its a case of them attacking down his side because of who he's not.

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Sod Rooney, Ruud now has 3 trophies to show for his time at United!!!