10 mistakes that have cost Liverpool

[The Hitman]

Decent article,this. A few things that will irritate some,no doubt,but on the whole I think it's got it pretty much right.

 

This summer's transfer strategy

Rafael Benítez has purposely avoided conflict with Liverpool's owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, this season but there are signs diplomacy over their budget restrictions is beginning to wane as pressure mounts. "We signed three players and we wanted four," he said before Lyon. The fourth, it is safe to assume, was a forward. Not signing quality cover for Fernando Torres, and being so short of strikers that David Ngog started the critical game against the French and Andriy Voronin was reluctantly brought back from loan at Hertha Berlin, is proving catastrophic

 

 

Handling senior players

It is an exaggeration to say Benítez is a completely cold fish with players; sometimes he offers congratulations before pointing out their tactical failings. Even in Istanbul. That detachment is viewed as a positive when results go well, but presented as a weakness when they don't. A request that "senior players take the responsibility and take us forward" after defeat to Aston Villa did not sit well with its intended targets. Outside the dressing room, however, few dispute that Benítez was right

 

 

Trusting the owners

Protracted contract negotiations concluded in March with Benítez in control of transfer policy, the youth set-up and being promised around £20m to spend this summer above whatever he raised through sales. Hicks and Gillett had sold their master tactician a dummy. As summer progressed it materialised that the improved contracts given to Steven Gerrard, Torres, Dirk Kuyt, Daniel Agger, Yossi Benayoun and José Reina were coming out of Benítez's transfer budget. Yet another reason for the Spaniard to rue the day David Moores accepted the Americans' higher bid for his majority shareholding

 

 

Poor signings

While Benítez has been restrained on some transfers – such as when he discovered he had less than £2m for a new central defender late this summer, hence Sotirios Kyrgiakos – he has squandered plenty. Inexpensive errors such as Josemi, Antonio Núñez and Mauricio Pellegrino were excusable as he overhauled the squad and concentrated resources on Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano or Fernando Torres. But to be six seasons into the job and have a squad utterly reliant on two players, one inherited, while £11m Ryan Babel was left on the bench against Lyon is damning

 

 

Control of the youth academy

Martin Kelly was exceptional against Lyon on Tuesday, though not only in the sense of his impressive full debut. It is a rarity to witness a home-grown, local teenager being deemed worthy of consideration under Benítez and the dearth of talent coming through is why the Spaniard copied Arsène Wenger's global recruitment policy. The issue prompted a fallout with Steve Heighway, revered by Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, but many would argue this summer's radical overhaul of the academy system was long overdue

 

 

Distracted by events beyond his control

Gérard Houllier's presence at Anfield on Tuesday served as warning of what can happen to Liverpool managers who lose sight of the bigger picture. Benítez was the refreshing antidote to the stale odour of Houllier's final years when he took charge in 2004. Out went a fixation with statistics or United's greater spending power as a means to defend poor performances and an obsession with ex-Liverpool players turned media pundits. That is creeping back

 

 

Too passive over international call-ups

The Liverpool manager frequently complains about international commitments and their repercussions but rarely prevents his players, even those carrying slight injuries, from joining their national teams. Unlike, for example, Manchester United, Liverpool players do not often develop sudden, mysterious problems ahead of an international week. Torres suffered three injuries with Spain last season that may have cost Liverpool the title. Spain and England had qualified for the World Cup before their recent qualifiers, but Gerrard and Torres travelled with slight injuries and returned far worse

 

 

The 'list of facts' against Ferguson

Few managers would dispute the truth in Benítez's accusations against "the Ayatollah" in January – just not in public – with the list representing years of simmering frustration and arguably extended by events at Old Trafford this season. It was also a deliberate tactical ploy by the Spaniard, designed to heighten pressure on United ahead of their home game with Chelsea and as Liverpool looked to extend their Premier League lead at Stoke. Results that weekend ensured it backfired badly and Benítez has been hostage to the outburst ever since

 

 

Xabi Alonso's transfer

Or, rather, dealing with it. Getting £30m for a player who wanted to join Real Madrid, double what Benítez had been hawking him around Europe for the previous summer following two mediocre campaigns by the Spanish midfielder, was decent business. Replacing him with Alberto Aquilani, an Italy international who may well re-energise Liverpool but has been injured since March, was a risk that has heightened with every defeat. Liverpool could not afford patience this season and Aquilani's absence, coupled with Javier Mascherano's poor form, has brought an overreliance on Lucas Leiva; not the disaster many claim but a squad player all the same

 

 

Taking on too many internal battles

It is over five years now of being frustrated with Liverpool's transfer dealings, waiting for new investment, being caught in the middle of a divided regime when it finally came, seeing his job offered to Jürgen Klinsmann, falling out with trusted lieutenant Pako Ayesterán, involved in an internal power struggle with former chief executive Rick Parry and all the while seeing United, Chelsea and now Manchester City improve relentlessly. Many scraps were unavoidable, many were self-inflicted, and it is not alarmist to suggest that Benítez is looking battle-weary

[£440,000]

Thought it was terrible myself. Might be some truth in there but the whole 10 mistakes thing is poor journalism.

[The Hitman]

I think there's a degree of truth in most of what is said,of course it's simplified in order to round up to "10 mistakes".

Would certainly agree with the point about international callups,I'm not sure what we can do on that front,but our players are forever getting injured-even back to the Evans days,and we don't seem to be able to do what United do and get players to withdraw.

[David Hodgson]

Thought it was terrible myself. Might be some truth in there but the whole 10 mistakes thing is poor journalism.

 

It's a pointless piece, and doesn't mean anything. The majority of those 'mistakes' occured in a season which in league terms was the club's most successful in 18 year.

[john_lfc]

I think hes got it almost spot on

 

As much as i like Rafa he is very stubborn and has got alot of things wrong

 

This season will hopefully turn round on Sunday though

[anny road]

I think hes got it almost spot on

 

As much as i like Rafa he is very stubborn and has got alot of things wrong

 

This season will hopefully turn round on Sunday though

 

 

its f***ing apalling journalism

[kop205]

its f***ing apalling journalism

 

Yep.

 

And as I and others have repeatedly tried to plead, now is not the time for 'I like Rafa but...' posts/attitude.

 

It is f***ing open season on the man - we're at war, so people need to pick their side.

[drdooom]

Even the article itself says some of those 'mistakes' weren't mistakes.

[The Hitman]

If you notice though,what the article does (and very few have done so) is point out that,whilst Rafa has made some mistakes,the majority of these have been working in a position that has at times been untenable.

 

It does see the bigger picture,something that hasn't been afforded to Rafa in the press.

 

First point - combines with point three about the lack of funds,and downright lies,from the owners.

 

Second point - highlights more how this is portrayed within the media,rather than it actually being a "mistake".

 

The rest speak for themselves. It's a decent,well-balanced piece.You lot are losing your grip if you think it's part of an attack on Rafa.It so obviously isn't.

[Mike]

its not appalling.

[JRC]

"It is f***ing open season on the man - we're at war, so people need to pick their side"

 

I agree with you on this - it's time to go to the mattresses; but it is inevitable that the papers will have Rafa features. OK, '10 mistakes..' is a cliched format, but for me, this article presented most of the arguments that those of us who support Rafa would use, and didn't wheel out most of those tedious, ill-informed usual suspect one - no Zonal, no rotation. In most cases it points the finger at the owners and their calumnies; ffs, it even offers some support for Lucas. If anything, it was one of the most Rafa-supportive pieces I've read, to my surprise.

[Jarg Armani]

don't think it's too bad myself. sensational headline and sub-headings apart.

[kop205]

its not appalling.

 

Not in the sense that I disagree with every single point. Some valid points are made.

 

It is more just the whole idea of such a contrived 'List of 10' and the fact that it seemingly puts all 10 on an equal footing.

 

It isn't a sinister attack on Rafa it is just a pretty poor article for a professional journalist to produce. Plenty of people on here post things that are much more knowledgebale and well put together.

[Jacks Jackie Jackson]

Yep.

 

And as I and others have repeatedly tried to plead, now is not the time for 'I like Rafa but...' posts/attitude.

 

It is f***ing open season on the man - we're at war, so people need to pick their side.

 

I've stayed quiet on this "debate" but I can't agree that people have to "pick their side". The default position should always be to back our club through thick and thin, more so through the thin. The only people who have to "pick sides" are those who choose to turn their backs and deny the club their support. f*** 'em; it's not worth having. It's been an unfortunate run of results but there's no need for the premature ejaculators to be out in force. I firmly believe we'll turn Utd over on Sunday and kick on from there.

 

Lastly, I'd like to say that a fan behind me on Tuesday (a guy who moaned ceaselessly about Benitez at 0-0 and 1-1 but strangely was singing his name at 1-0, and so had no reason to say otherwise) pointed out that Benayoun had asked to be replaced at least twice in the ten minutes before he was subbed. I have to say I didn't see it as the two in front of me were taller than I was even with the drop so they blocked my view.

[kop205]

"It is f***ing open season on the man - we're at war, so people need to pick their side"

 

I agree with you on this - it's time to go to the mattresses; but it is inevitable that the papers will have Rafa features. OK, '10 mistakes..' is a cliched format, but for me, this article presented most of the arguments that those of us who support Rafa would use, and didn't wheel out most of those tedious, ill-informed usual suspect one - no Zonal, no rotation. In most cases it points the finger at the owners and their calumnies; ffs, it even offers some support for Lucas. If anything, it was one of the most Rafa-supportive pieces I've read, to my surprise.

 

As you say, it is more the cliched style of it that pisses me off than the actual content, other than the failure to distinguish between the big mistakes (ever trusting the owners) and the relatively smaller ones (bad buys).

 

As I went on to say though, it is more the inevitable 'I like Rafa but...' posts that stuff like that stirs up that I have no time for at the moment.

 

It is taking the bait.

[Stevie H]

andy hunter isn't it? he's a decent guy and it's just a puff piece ahead of sunday. the ferguson facts thing in hindsight probably was a mistake but i'm still glad someone had the balls to say it.

[The Hitman]

Sorry,did I post this on the NUJ website?

 

If we spend ages analysing pieces for journalistic quality,we'll be here for ages,especially as the jocks are the worst of the lot.

The point is,that I think a few have got,is that it highlights well the bigger picture here.

[kop205]

I've stayed quiet on this "debate" but I can't agree that people have to "pick their side". The default position should always be to back our club through thick and thin, more so through the thin. The only people who have to "pick sides" are those who choose to turn their backs and deny the club their support. f*** 'em; it's not worth having. It's been an unfortunate run of results but there's no need for the premature ejaculators to be out in force. I firmly believe we'll turn Utd over on Sunday and kick on from there.

 

Buy my point is that anyone who has a pop at Rafa at the monent is just feeding the sharks who are circling him and whether they intend to or not are undermining and harming the club as a result, because whatever mistakes he may have made, and even if someone happened to think he was utterly f***ing useless, he is still not the real problem at the club at the moment because he would still be more fit for his role than those two c**** are for theirs.

 

If we we're in a 'normal' atmopshere then it would be right and healthy for people to cquestion the manager. We aren't though, and there comes a time where we all just need to say 'f*** you' to those having a go at him, rally around, fight our way through this - and then have the debate about Rafa and his abilities.

[kop205]

Sorry,did I post this on the NUJ website?

 

If we spend ages analysing pieces for journalistic quality,we'll be here for ages,especially as the jocks are the worst of the lot.

The point is,that I think a few have got,is that it highlights well the bigger picture here.

 

Fair enough.

 

It is better than lots of what has been written, I'll grant that, but it still all just adds to the feeding frenzy - I'm just ultra defensive of Benitez right now and make no apology for that because I've explained atgreat length why I feel that is what is needed.

[Bailo]

andy hunter isn't it? he's a decent guy and it's just a puff piece ahead of sunday. the ferguson facts thing in hindsight probably was a mistake but i'm still glad someone had the balls to say it.

It's only a mistake in the context of thick idiots seemingly placing the Stoke result down to it and judging it by the one result immediately afterwards, rather than in the context of the whole season and this season. I'd like to think people are standing up to Ferguson a lot more, hence his throwing around more and more s*** to disguise his own failings.

 

This isn't directed at you BTW.

[Mr. Biscan]

I think thats a good article.

[Bailo]

I think thats a good article.

Go and read Paul Tompkins blog, y'know - someone who has actually met with Rafa instead of sitting in a Fleet Street office filling space on their website with forced lists.

[Snookie]

The headline etc are s**** and it reads like it was knocked off in 20 mins but most of the points he makes are valid.

[anny road]

I think thats a good article.

 

 

I am sure you do

 

Do you agree with the more positive points?

[doug_mac]

who gives a f@ck what the guardian writes anyway?

 

a rag for middle class w@nkers