52 games played of a possible 58 in the CL proper

[Rory Fitzgerald]

Since Rafa joined us until the close of the group stages just gone, a team could have played a possible 58 games in the Champions League proper from group stages to final.

 

Rafa has managed a Liverpool side in a staggering 52 games out of a possible 58.

 

Whilst many detractors will say that in 2 of those 5 group stages (4 if you dont include this seasons) we have gone to the last game to secure qualification, it cannot be overlooked that against Olympiacos we needed 3 goals without reply in the 2nd half and pulled through whilst against Marseille away, we were faced up against a side that never got beat home by an English team in European competition and won 4 zip !

 

We also faced humiliation against Milan in the final in 2005 and miraculously pulled through. When the chips have been down, we have pulled through with the exception of Benfica - which also represents his biggest defeat, 2-0 - which says something we you consider the quality we have faced.

 

We beat Juventus - champions of Italy. We saw off the Champions of England in Chelsea. Flash Barcelona got dismissed on their home soil, the then Champions of Europe. Champions of Italy Inter Milan have been waved off. Thebestfootballteamintheworld© were beaten in one of the best CL games ever whilst we beat the 2nd best team in England, again, in the semi final in 2007.

 

Remember the Legend getting sent off in the Stade Veledrome in 2004 when Marseille knocked us out of the UEFA Cup ?

 

Imagine me posting the above back then - you'd have probably banned me

 

 

Thanks for replacing pipe dreams with a sense of almost expectation. Before, the champions league was a dream we could never realistically expect to achieve - not anymore.

[Duncan Disorderly]

4 zip !

[Ed the Wool]

Excellent post. Amen.

[allawee]

Great post.

 

I have said it before, but if you asked all other teams in the CL draw this year after the group stages, who would they want to avoid, I bet they all would have answered Liverpool.

 

Rafa has put us back on the European Power map where we belong, and has established us as the probably the hardest team to beat in Europe and argueably the most tactically astute and aware (which is an achievement considering this is usually not something the British clubs in general are famous for).

 

How some fans on this forum and elsewhere still doubt Rafa's managerial genius and question his position at the helm is beyond me.

 

I still believe that even if we don't win the league under Rafa this year (horrible thought and God Forbid), he is still the right man for the job for years to come as I am in no doubt that under him we will win the PL and even the CL again.

Edited December 23, 2008 by allawee

[Rory Fitzgerald]

Imagine the state of our finances had we not achieved such consistent progress.