NGONGE Posted September 21, 2011 ^^ Did you see his website? http://www.rafabenitez.com/ p.s. Rafa's tactics were always great (even when we finished seventh). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N.O.R.F Posted September 21, 2011 No. Not in the 09/10 season. Where is his website? ps are you a member of LFC forum? There are Rafa loyalists there. I'm sure you're in there somewhere Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N.O.R.F Posted October 13, 2011 Rafa HAD to go, the wheels had come off - Reina Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina has offered an explosive insight into the disastrous season that cost Rafa Benitez his job. He admits it was time for the Spanish boss he admires so much to leave Anfield, because things had got so bad he feared the team would be relegated. In his sensational new book, which lifts the lid on Anfield’s innermost secrets, Reina offers a brutally truthful behind-the-scenes account of why Benitez was axed, his row with Rafa over a beer, the beach ball goal that haunts him - and a mighty bust-up with Jamie Carragher... "When Rafa left Liverpool at the end of the 2009-10 season, I knew that it was the right time for him to go. "It hurts me to say that, but the wheels had come off by then and there was no guarantee that he was going to be able to put them back on. "I know that I will be for ever in his debt for what he has done for my football career, and it is never nice when a manager leaves or loses his job, but there are times when, for whatever reason, the methods that have been bringing a manager so much success just stop working. "When this happens, the club has to make a decision about whether you will be able to get back to winning ways again, or if it is time to look for a new manager who might be able to freshen things up, just by having a different approach. "Liverpool wanted to go down the latter route and it was probably the right decision. "I was upset, obviously, because it is always sad when a manager loses his job, but even more so when he has been as important to your career as Rafa has been to mine. "But I also thought half of the dressing room was not happy and so, probably, for the club if not for me personally, it was the best outcome for everyone. "I first began to realise we were in trouble when we played against Espanyol in a pre-season friendly at the start of August 2009. "They beat us 3-0 and could have scored more. When I came off the pitch there was a part of me that thought, 'If we carry on like this, we are going to get relegated.' "It was as if someone had flicked a switch at the end of the previous season and we had gone from being a really strong team to a really weak one. "It was clear that we were nowhere near the level that we wanted to be at. When there are problems at a big club and the atmosphere turns, one of the first comments to be made is always that the manager has lost the dressing room. "In this case there were still players who supported the manager, but obviously there were others who were not too happy with him for different reasons. "My own opinion was clear - I liked Rafa and continued to support him - but I cannot speak for everyone. "Sadly for Rafa, we went from second place in the Premier League one season to seventh place the next and that was always going to result in him coming under pressure. "One of the problems we had was that we had lost some good players - Xabi Alonso, Peter Crouch and Jermaine Pennant - but never really replaced them. "Signings were made with the idea of making improvements to the team, but the reality was that the ones who came in were not of the same standard as the ones who had left. "You can look at the players who came in and ask why they didn't deliver, because no footballer can ever be free of responsibility. "But, in football, the buck always stops with the manager. If he makes signings that don't work out then it won't be long before the people who run the club are going to ask questions. "Had someone said to me at the end of the 2008-09 season, when we came so close to winning the league, that just 12 months later the manager would be gone, I wouldn't have believed them," he added. "But that is football. It is not about what you might have done in the past, it is about what you are doing in the here and now and what you are going to do in the future. "None of us can live on past glories. "The moment any of us think that we can is the moment that decisions about our future are taken out of our hands - if I have a really poor season in goal, the chances are that Liverpool will start looking at the possibility of replacing me." Read more: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news...#ixzz1aSZS9sLC Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NGONGE Posted September 10, 2012 I was looking forward to the Somali elections until I discovered that Rafa had written a book about his time in LFC. Now I'm frantically googling to see if I can find any extracts. Priorities, huh? (No, Ayoub, don't say it). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AYOUB Posted September 10, 2012 I'm speechless sxb. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N.O.R.F Posted September 11, 2012 He releases his book on the same day the Hillsborough disaster cover up documents are due to be released. Another cock-up Rafa Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AYOUB Posted December 3, 2012 Well, how was the book NGONGE? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NGONGE Posted December 3, 2012 ^^ I didn't get to read it. Just as well, as the man is now Chelsea manager (though he'll soon get the sack and be back to his first love). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
