Zen-like Rafa.. He ain't heavy, he's my Buddha

[Benitez]

what a cheesy headline

 

 

ere

 

ZEN-LIKE RAFA.. HE AIN'T HEAVY, HE'S MY BUDDHA

Brian Reade 05/05/2007

More Brian Reade

ON WEDNESDAY in Milan they were calling the Athens showdown "the final the heavens desire."

 

The inference being that in the home of the ancient Gods, divine retribution will be sought for Liverpool's Satanic sorcery in Istanbul.

 

Meanwhile, a night earlier at Anfield, amid the hell unleashed by an emphatic penalty shootout win, a cross-legged Rafa Benitez sat on the touchline meditating with a Zen-like calmness about his latest tactical liquidation of Jose Mourinho.

 

And every Kopite worth his scarf must have thought "Who needs the Gods when you've got Buddha? Who needs the Special One when you've got The Enlightened One? Who needs The Mouther when you've got The Thinker?"

 

Not that everyone sees Benitez in a flattering light. In fact in the three years he's been working in England, he's been lectured, kicked and ridiculed more often than Joey Barton.

 

In the past six months alone, ex-Liverpool director Noel White savaged his buying and playing policies, ex-goalie Bruce Grobbelaar labelled his tactics "a disgrace", soon-to-be ex-goalie Jerzy Dudek likened him to a slave-master and now ex-Anfield academy director Steve Heighway brands his handling of young players "crazy".

 

Ex-managerial genius Mourinho claimed if he'd replicated his track record at Chelsea he'd have been sacked. Excretia, sorry ex-Football Taskforce supremo MP David Mellor, labelled him "The Premiership's biggest managerial flop of the season", respected commentators still call his Champions League victory in Istanbul "a fluke" and I've lost count of the talk radio stations which have run phone-ins demanding his head.

 

I had a pop at him too, over tossing away the FA Cup and Carling Cups too cheaply to Arsenal. But who's been proven right? How long ago after those January victories did Arsene Wenger's season last? How nearer is Mourinho to the sack due to his latest inability to outwit a manager operating with a fraction of his buying power.

 

The latest on his case is Gennaro Gattuso, claiming Benitez's side can only play a long-ball game. Proving Milan's linchpin clearly didn't watch them beat Europe's best attacking side, Barcelona, on the floor, in the Nou Camp. Or the clinical, freeflowing 3-0 destruction in Eindhoven.

 

As Milan found out to their cost in Istanbul, Benitez always has a Plan B. If only Fergie and Mourinho had had one this week, they might both be in the final.

 

Gattuso is right when he says Manchester United possess more talented individuals than Liverpool. But this summer, if Benitez is finally allowed to sign players costing more than £10million, that will change.

 

Ah, say the critics holding up a photo of Josemi, but is he astute enough to bring in the world's best players? Two words answer that one. Javier Mascherano. Plucked in January from under the nose of Sir Alex Ferguson, who was crying out for his specific talent, and now a pivotal force at Anfield.

 

If Fergie doesn't realise the difference Mascherano could have made in Milan, he will if he watches the final in Athens. That's where Benitez now heads hoping to emulate Bob Paisley and Brian Clough by winning the European Cup more than once. And that with a "small club", as Mourinho would say. Hopefully now, if English football can't give Benitez the respect he's due, it will at least realise why the biggest club in the world, Real

 

Madrid, are begging him to lead them back to glory.

 

Maybe those who sing about him being "just a fat Spanish waiter", can understand why a Kopite would reply "he ain't heavy, he's our Buddha". The one who leads them to Nirvana.

 

That, in Buddhist terminology, means the state of purest happiness, and in Scouse means a dingy, two-star B&B in Piraeus. Which in a few weeks time will become for them, one and the same place.

 

And they know who to thank.

[ricflairandy]

w*****. I dont know of any phone ins calling for his head.

 

 

And he forgets to mention that rafa was quick to get rid of josemi, and morientes and nunez, his only 3 flops.

[Benitez]

how exactly where Nunez and Josemi flops?

 

Brian Reade is a drama queen

[Stevie H]

As Milan found out to their cost in Istanbul, Benitez always has a Plan B. If only Fergie and Mourinho had had one this week, they might both be in the final.

that's a great line. rafa changes and influences games at halftime more than any manager i've ever seen.

[Guest Banjo]

Not that everyone sees Benitez in a flattering light. In fact in the three years he's been working in England, he's been lectured, kicked and ridiculed more often than Joey Barton.

 

What utter crap.

[Clay Davis]

that's a great line. rafa changes and influences games at halftime more than any manager i've ever seen.

mourinho just starts with a s***ter team then brings on robben at half time and starts playing 4-3-3 and then they start playing better.

they call him a genius

why not just f***ing start with it then you gimp

[Woodsyla]

What utter crap.

 

 

What the f*** are you talking about. Rafa has got more stick in the press than any successful manager I know. He's been savaged for his misuse of Gerrard, his persistence with rotation and his poor transfer policy. There were g*******s on phone ins calling for his head after the defeat at Burnely saying he didn't respect the FA Cup. There were also a few who came out in January saying the same.

 

That article is bang on. The author starts off by admitting he was wrong in January and finishes off by saying Rafa has more tactical nouse than Mourinho or Ferguson and that he will prove it in Athens.

 

It's a great article

[psl]

So we don't even like complimentary articles anymore?

[Benitez]

So we don't even like complimentary articles anymore?

 

 

 

narrr, what fun is there in that!

[Rich Gobey]

What the f*** are you talking about. Rafa has got more stick in the press than any successful manager I know. He's been savaged for his misuse of Gerrard, his persistence with rotation and his poor transfer policy. There were g*******s on phone ins calling for his head after the defeat at Burnely saying he didn't respect the FA Cup. There were also a few who came out in January saying the same.

 

That article is bang on. The author starts off by admitting he was wrong in January and finishes off by saying Rafa has more tactical nouse than Mourinho or Ferguson and that he will prove it in Athens.

 

It's a great article

 

spot on.

[£440,000]

The David Mellor dig is great.

[Frosty Jack]

mourinho just starts with a s***ter team then brings on robben at half time and starts playing 4-3-3

 

you forget his tactical masterstroke, the introduction of Robert Huth up front.

[Maldini]

w*****. I dont know of any phone ins calling for his head.

 

I rarely ever listen to them and I've heard people calling for him head on 5live and You're On Sky Sports.

[psl]

I rarely ever listen to them and I've heard people calling for him head on 5live and You're On Sky Sports.

 

Agreed. People on here have done so too.

[Guest kring]

It?s a really positive article about Rafa! Some great comments in there!! He first couple of lads responding must be so use to critical articles that they forgot to read any of it?

[Earl Hafler]

that's a great line. rafa changes and influences games at halftime more than any manager i've ever seen.

 

Not just at half-time, during the match. He knows football is a living thing and handles it accordingly. During the game against Chelsea, Tiddlesley talked about the different approaches of the managers - Rafa in his technical area orchestrating his troops, Mourinho sat pouting.

 

Tiddlesley even made the incredibly foolish comment that Mourinho could " do nothing now " as if to say managers can't change games during a match, only at halftime.

 

Then again, maybe he's right about Mourinho.

[johngibo YPC]

the lack of respect Rafa gets from no marks like Charlie Nicholas is astounding

[Earl Hafler]

I rarely ever listen to them and I've heard people calling for him head on 5live and You're On Sky Sports.

 

You can't beat Charlie Nicholas for a bit of bulls***. I still laugh when i think about his prematch comments about the Everton game. " Liverpool only have one gear, not sure what Rafa is doing, can't play football, Everton will be up for this. Man To Watch - Richard Wright as he'll be under immense pressure "

[stressederic]

So we don't even like complimentary articles anymore?

 

It's all part of the london media bias.

[Guest Mohjo]

What the f*** are you talking about. Rafa has got more stick in the press than any successful manager I know. He's been savaged for his misuse of Gerrard, his persistence with rotation and his poor transfer policy. There were g*******s on phone ins calling for his head after the defeat at Burnely saying he didn't respect the FA Cup. There were also a few who came out in January saying the same.

 

That article is bang on. The author starts off by admitting he was wrong in January and finishes off by saying Rafa has more tactical nouse than Mourinho or Ferguson and that he will prove it in Athens.

 

It's a great article

 

Zonal Marking is w***.

[surf]

The David Mellor dig is great.

 

 

feckin' hate the clueless gimp. he really is one of the most odious little men that have a 'respectable' position in society

 

 

[pt101]

 

feckin' hate the clueless gimp. he really is one of the most odious little men that have a 'respectable' position in society

 

Here here - up there (or should that be 'down there') with Boris Johnston IMHO.

 

On another point that Brian Reade makes - about Mascherano - how do you see his part in the final? Alongside Gerrard or Alonso?

[Benitez]

Here here - up there (or should that be 'down there') with Boris Johnston IMHO.

 

On another point that Brian Reade makes - about Mascherano - how do you see his part in the final? Alongside Gerrard or Alonso?

 

 

Alonso. I reckon Rafa will want to have Alonso, Gerrard and Mascher in the team, and as well as Pennant has been playing recently, I just can't see him starting against Milan.

[surf]

If Kewell is fit i could see a 4-2-3-1, with Alonso and Mascherano as the two, Kewell, Gerrard and Pennant as the three and Kuyt/Crouch up front.

 

It's a good way to stop Milan and especially Kaka playing, but there might not be enough goals in that.

[Benitez]

Kewell isn't going to be fully fit by then. He's not played a game since the summer, he isn't miraculously going to get fit in the next 2 games. It'd be madness to start changing things and messing with formations to accomodate him, and to even consider starting him.