Rafa launches Fergie attack

I'm sure most people have watched the press conference.

As an example you now know that the following newspapers bullshit...

The Independent - 'Rafa Rage' and Benitez unleashes angry attack

The Irish News - Benitez sees red

The Times - Benitez rant

The Times - Angry Benitez

The Daily Mail - Benitez savages

CNN - Benitez fires off a scathing diatribe and Emotional Benitez

All complete bullshit.  No wonder I don't bother parting with any hard earned any more to buy a copy of these rags anymore.

Id put me house on it that who ever wrote those headlines for them papaers are pro utd. Sky sports and Setanta were making it out that Rafa lost the head as well. The man could not have been any calmer. I believe Rafa gas rattled a few cages here so good on ye boss

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fOaZYhTd2BU

Amazing stuff.

^^ Top of 2nd page.

Well said Rafa!

Well done Rafa, put that red nosed b***ard in his place.


While we're on the subject of that pr**k SAF .....I'm sure Ronaldo still hasn't served his one match ban for when he got the two yellows.....the second for putting up his hands to "stop" the ball hitting his face, can't remember what game it was Maybe Alex is hand picking the game he misses.

Correct me if I'm wrong anyone and I will retract that statement. 

Id put me house on it that who ever wrote those headlines for them papaers are pro utd. Sky sports and Setanta were making it out that Rafa lost the head as well. The man could not have been any calmer. I believe Rafa gas rattled a few cages here so good on ye boss

the media and the establishment in general are pro united and everything points to it from giving the foul mouthed Ferguson a knighthood to arranging their fixture list to enable them to "compete" in the obscure world club fiasco. These two examples qualify the reason for the treatment they receive - somebody is making one hell of a lot of dosh on their backs.
                                                                                                 Even when we were winning everything in sight the media reluctantly acknowledged the fact but the headline news was always united,every major rag in the country claims manure are the most successful English club side ,on what is that claim based certainly not fact as whiskey nose himself would tell you,after he told you to "F**k off" of course.The media will have a field day with Rafa's statement or rant as they would have it and we've just got to keep doing what we're doing and force their heads even further up their arses. :

While we're on the subject of that pr**k SAF .....I'm sure Ronaldo still hasn't served his one match ban for when he got the two yellows.....the second for putting up his hands to "stop" the ball hitting his face, can't remember what game it was Maybe Alex is hand picking the game he misses.

Correct me if I'm wrong anyone and I will retract that statement. 

he missed the blackburn game, when tevez scored 4 goals.

well done rafa lad, its getting so much publicity its making the FA sound biasit (as they are) an maybe they will have to start punishing fergie.

give rafa a cigar,no other manager had the balls to tell it as it is.
to long have the f.a and the media been brown nosing that red nose c**t and he has got away with it far to long.

now rafa has turned the tables on fergie,the media have got to look closer at the mancs and how they conduct themselves.
bring on the all trafford clash.

ynwa............in rafa we trust.

Former Premier League referee Graham Poll agrees that Sir Alex Ferguson receives lenient treatment from the Football Association.

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez launched an astonishing attack on his Manchester United counterpart on Friday.

Benitez claimed Ferguson does not get punished sufficiently for his sometimes outspoken criticism of match officials.

Poll enjoyed a good relationship with Ferguson during his time as a referee but believes the Scot does get preferential treatment from FA disciplinary chiefs.

"Rafa Benitez has articulated what referees have been thinking for years - that Sir Alex Ferguson can say what he wants about them and the FA will allow him to get away with it," Poll told the Daily Mail.

"The authorities could point to Ferguson's two-match ban imposed earlier this season as proof that he is not out of reach of their disciplinary department, but that was for marching onto the field after the 4-3 win over Hull and for comments made directly to the referee, Mike Dean, who in reporting the misconduct forced the FA's hand."

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_4773786,00.html



Good to see some support from someone other than fans.  Any other managers got the balls to stand with him?

Will be very interesting wont it. Because it's definately not just Rafa that has these opinions about the tw*t.

Thats what it comes down to for me as well having the bollox to get in there and have a good crack,even if we fail at the end which i,m quite sure we wont, if wev,e given our all (fans as well)you cant ask no more ,as i have said in the past you can only do youre best,so well done Rafa to many managers in the last ten years have been afraid of the time keeping, gum chewing tw*t,Rafa proved with Muareen he is not afraid to mix it at last we have someone with the bottle,i think he would have done it earlier if he had had a team to compete with them ,so its quite obvious that he now thinks he has .

Thing is though lads, the belief from the players and a lot of our fans hasn't been all there when it's come to competing with the mancs, for a long time. Anyone can look back to the reactions even last season to when we seemed to be missing only the belief to compete and win - not just on the field but off it.

I'm really confident that those times are a thing of the past. The edge for them isn't there anymore in my mind. And it's not because we beat them at Anfield this season. It's because we've shown a brutal determination to be top of the league for the vast majority of this season - without playing as good as we can do.

We can only get stronger. And Rafa knows this. I'm confident he wouldn't have said these things yesterday if he didn't.

F**k what the media and anyone else reacts to this. It's water off a ducks back anyway.

It's time to get back to business and let people worry about us. We've got to be confident and let it rub off on our players.

If it comes back to bite us on the arse, then so be it. But I'm sick and tired of not having a proper go!!!!!!!!!!!!

he missed the blackburn game, when tevez scored 4 goals.

thanks mate...I retract my statement but I still hate the c*nt.

shame graham poll wont be officiating our match @ old trafford with the mancs.

Agree 100% with what Rafa said, I just hope we do not fu%k up this weekend now, other wise he/we will look stupid. Fuc%erson has not replied either, he is taking the "high" ground or he knows Rafa is right, (which he is). Still awaiting on the FA to reply...will Rafa being called in to explain the accusations of favoritism, if not, then do they accept his call?

Fantastic interview very shocked very unlike Rafa!!! haha did make me laugh though QUALITY

Anyone watching Soccer Saturday at the minute?  That c**t Paul Merson suggesting that Rafa didn't even compile the notes and that he just read out what someone else wrote.    I don't know why even watch it with him on it because he makes my blood boil with his anti-Liverpool comments every week.

On a side it note, it is funny to watch him struggle to put a sentence together.  And it looks like the biased b***ard's been tangoed 

There's always one isn't there.

Anyone watching Soccer Saturday at the minute?  That c**t Paul Merson suggesting that Rafa didn't even compile the notes and that he just read out what someone else wrote.    I don't know why even watch it with him on it because he makes my blood boil with his anti-Liverpool comments every week.

On a side it note, it is funny to watch him struggle to put a sentence together.  And it looks like the biased b***ard's been tangoed 

Cant stand the man, drunken tw*t !!  Kettle calling the pot comes to mind. 

I like Soccer Saturday, but when he's on it he really spoils it for me 

From Guillem Balague's website:

I’ve read and heard a few commentators refer to Rafa Benitez’ comments about Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday as the Liverpool manager’s ‘Keegan moment.’ Nothing could be further from the truth.

Back in the 1995/96 season, Keegan's side looked set to finally land the title after opening up a 12-point gap at the top of the table, and the Newcastle coach famously lost control of his emotions.

Rafa Benitez is a coach who is methodical in his approach to the game, and yesterday was no different. He walked in to that press conference fully prepared for what he was about to say. He produced a sheet of paper from which he read a series of longstanding complaints about Ferguson and, in particular, his attitude to referees and gripes about the fixture list; he was calm and assured in his delivery.

Some have said that Benitez should not have let Ferguson get under his skin, yet this was not a man flailing wildly at his adversary, but a man in control who had prepared the terrain upon which he was about to do battle: so typically Rafa.

So why did he do it?

Well, Sir Alex Ferguson had openly criticised the Liverpool players in midweek. With Liverpool seven points in front of third-placed United, who have two games in hand,  Ferguson stated that Liverpool’s inexperience will cost them.  “There's no doubt in the second half of the season they will get nervous,” said the United manager.

Sir Alex was inferring that he and his players were more experienced and mentally tougher than the Liverpool players. From Rafa’s point of view, no manager has the right to insult his player’s capabilities and he was right to come out and defend them. For the sake of the dressing room, it was important that he is seen to be standing up for his team.

Remember, this was not an instant reaction to Ferguson’s comments. Benitez had bided his time and spoken with his dressing room. He had ensured that his players were totally unfazed by what the United boss had said about them, fully assessed the situation – as he always does – and concluded that to have not reacted would have been seen as a loss of authority.

And because of that, what Benitez cannot afford to do is be seen to agree with Ferguson – as Wenger did recently over the football calendar – because the United boss will be seen as leading the agenda, as the man in control who can say what he wants - when he wants; with his contemporaries following his lead. Rather than agreeing with Ferguson, Benitez the United coach sound like a whinger: Rafa said “Then he (Ferguson) was talking about the fixtures. Two years ago we were playing a lot of early kick-offs away on Saturdays when United were playing on Sundays. And we didn't say anything.

"Now he is complaining about everything, that everybody is against United. But the second half of the season will see them playing at home against all the teams at the top of the table, it is a fantastic advantage.

"But at Christmas, United played on the 29th and the rest of the teams played on the 28th. We were away against Newcastle two days after playing Bolton. They were playing about 40 hours later, they were not complaining then.”

And when it came down to United’s treatment of referees, Benitez was letting it be known that not only do other managers share his opinions, but that this is a matter he has been prepared to tackle head on with the FA ; as he did at the meeting in Manchester  which he referred to yesterday. Benitez said “You can see every single week how they put (referees) under pressure, we know this. We have seen it before. We have seen players sent off at Old Trafford and we do not see our opponents sent off. It is part of the game. But to complain and to always have an advantage is not fair.”

"We had a meeting in Manchester with managers and FA about the Respect campaign. And I was very clear, forget the campaign because Mr Ferguson was killing the referees, killing Mr Atkinson, killing Mr Hackett.”

Ferguson had not got under his skin; Rafa was sending a message to the most important people of all – his players in the dressing room -  that he is there to stand up for them and will put himself in the firing line if need be;  which leads on to the final reason why he did it.

He has deflected the attention from his players and turned it upon himself. The focus now is not on the Liverpool dressing room and Ferguson’s opinion of it; it is now all about what Rafa Benitez thinks of Alex Ferguson.

Kenny Dalglish urged Liverpool “to forget about these mind games and concentrate solely on what's going on around their own club.” But, in stepping in to the firing line, Benitez had ensured that if Liverpool slip up at Stoke in the wake of Ferguson’s comments, it will be all about Benitez and less about his players. And if they win? Well then Rafa got it spot on, and the message to Ferguson is unequivocal: 'say what you like about us, we know what we’re doing.'

I have also read that this was most out of character for Rafa Benitez. Not so.
Because, aside from this being so ‘very Rafa’ to have delivered his comments armed with his meticulously researched arguments laid out in bullet points on an A4 sheet of paper, the Liverpool coach has done this before.

Following a successful title winning season at Valencia, his players felt the full force of his wrath in a disappointing second season at the club. And when Valencia lifted the La Liga title the following year, Benítez confronted Jesus Garcia Pitarch, the club's director of sport, over control of new signings and the club's failure to reinforce the squad with the players he wanted – and Benitez told the world, in no uncertain terms, what he thought of the men in suits at the Mestalla.

In England too, Benitez has previous form. Remember when he stood up to Mourinho? After their first group match ended in another goalless draw in September 2005, the Liverpool manager said the following month: "To me, Arsenal played much better football two or three years ago. They won matches and were exciting to watch. Barcelona and Milan too. They create excitement so how can you say Chelsea are the best in the world?" He did not shy away from telling Mourinho that his success was down to Abramovich’s millions either.

The point is, unlike Keegan before him, Rafa Benitez is not some novice manager confronted with a situation like this for the first time in his career. When Ferguson tries to attack someone for their inexperience, he would do well to remember that there is a world outside the Premier League and I would wager that two Spanish league titles and a Champions League trophy have taught Benitez a thing or two about coping with pressure.
 
 Ferguson has found himself a new adversary: he knows he is in a fight for the title race now, and I fully expect the United coach to react; while Benitez, who has seen off the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona in the past, will put his piece of paper back in his pocket, and smile whenever the word ‘Fergie’ gets a mention over the next few weeks.

I wonder which one of them is really under the skin of the other...

Link

Anoter from the world of football (albeit a Liverpool fan) comes out in support of Rafa.

Well in Guillem 

Must admit I was a bit suprised when I saw this item had made the top story on Sky Sports News (during the transfer window) the other day but after digesting all the details I can honestly say that Rafa is totally right to stand up and speak his mind about Ferguson.

That watch tapping, foul mouthed tw*t is so up his own arse it is ridiculous. He and Manure are not the centre of the universe and Rafa has had the balls to point this out, with facts. That whiskey swiggin', red nosed c**t has got away with it for too long so maybe Rafa's rant may bring it to light and put it into perspective. His outburst has uncanny timing just before the Chelsea match, it'll be interesting to see how that one pans out.

I, like others, have reservations about this kind of statement (not the contents). The example that sticks in my mind is the comments he made about Drogba before the CL semi at Anfield in 2008. Drogba stayed on his feet and put in a decent show which ultimately contributed to Chelsea progressing to the final. A big statement can work both ways and we still have Utd away. I hope we are still cranking out the perfomances and picking up the points with a decent advantage by then.

Rafa's the Gaffer is not walking alone, we're right behind him. 

I love him. I expected something to come up about Fergie's comments but not exactly like this. The way he presented himself, delivered the message and hit Fergie with stone cold facts.

Thanks Smiggs for the link to Sky, its Mancs vs the world there

In conclusion, i love Rafa.

http://timesonline.typepad.com/fanzine_fanzone/2009/01/arise-sir-rafae.html

Arise Sir Rafael Benitez

Was that the funniest press conference you're ever likely to see?

To all those media hacks trying to compare it with Keegan's rant at Ferguson and accusing Rafa of taking the bait; step back and think about it for a change. It is nothing like the rant of a broken man like Keegan, who had seen his side squander a healthy lead at the top of the table, reacting to the provocation and mind games from the purple nosed one. It is not taking any bait from Ferguson and signs of losing the plot, as Ferguson hasn't said anything for Rafa to react to. How can he take the bait if there isn't any there? He knew exactly what he was saying. A man losing the plot and reacting does not have a sheet full of notes to hand! He's casting the bait for Mr.Ferguson to bite on.

Rafael Benitez has spoken out this afternoon and said the things that everyone else has been too scared to say before. Everyone thinks it, but nobody has the balls to stand up and say it; until now. Well done Rafael Benitez. Alex Ferguson has been intimidating referees and the authorities for too long with nobody daring to stand up to him, and we now have a manager prepared to do just that. We've waited long enough!

It does hurt and scare them down the east lancs that we sit top of the table, and could be 10 points clear of them by Saturday night. It scares them to see a Liverpool side that sit clear at the top and can only become stronger with the return of Fernando Torres. It scares them that come May we could be sat back on the perch Ferguson always wanted to knock us off. They're scared, make no mistake about it.

And on that note, it's about time we stopped worrying about the fall from grace and being overtaken at the top. What about belief and desire, something Benitez has shown in abundance this afternoon. He's been very, very clever with his words today, putting pressure on the referee before the game with Chelsea on Sunday, and game in hand with Wigan coming up in a very astute manner. Something Ferguson and Mourinho have been masters at for the past few years. It's refreshing to see our manager ruffling a few feathers. The season starts here.

We're in there fighting and that press conference this afternoon is the music to my ears as we enter the ring. This is where it all begins.

He's timed it to perfection. A calculated swipe on the eve of what could be the defining weekend of the season. We've just got to go out an beat Stoke now to see whether today's press conference has any affect on the Sunday.

And the greatest thing about the interview? The simple slip of the tongue that highlights the humour and mindset of Rafael Benitez? Referring to him as Mr.Ferguson instead of Sir. The work of a genius. Simple yet blunt. Dismissing the stature of the man with the exchange of one word. Brilliant.

Our manager has started playing games this afternoon that may or may not have an affect on games, and ultimately the destination of the league title, but he's brought a smile to my face anyway. Thank you Rafa.

Take the pressure off Gerrard. Take the pressure off Keane. Take the pressure off the side and putting it all upon himself and the referee before Sunday.

I doff my cap sir.
________________________ ________________________ ____________________

Good article. From someone who understands the plot! (Rafa has lost it MY NUT SAC!!!)