Blaming Rafa?: Here are some very valid points to use.

Forget the red card - RAFA BENITEZ is responsible for the shambolic Portsmouth defeat

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2009

According to Rafa Benitez, Javier Mascherano's red card was the catalyst for Liverpool's ignominious defeat to Portsmouth today. Well of course it was! It's not like Benitez is ever responsible for anything, is it? It's always something/someone else's fault. In reality though, Benitez is - as usual - the person most culpable for the team's capitulation.

After the game, Benitez said: "If you analyse the first half we were doing well, even with their goal but then came the Mascherano incident. We were a good team in the first half and the sending off changed everything. We had some chances, we should have scored, we were controlling the game and everything changed with Mascherano".

In the words of Jules Winnfield: "Allow me to retort" with my reasons why benitez is responsible for the defeat.

Overly defensive line-up

Against the bottom team in the league, Benitez's starting 11 contained 8 defensive-minded players!

Agger
Carragher
Johnson
Insua
Mascherano
Lucas
Dossena
Kuyt

5 of those players are defenders; two play defensive-midfield roles, and one is - for all intents and purposes - a defensive right-midfielder

Playing two holding midfielders

Why did Liverpool need to play with two defensive-mids against the POOREST DEFENCE IN THE LEAGUE? Yet more evidence of Benitez's stultifyingly defensive approach. The team should have been set-up to attack; instead, it was set-up not to lose.

Dropping Benayoun

WHY?! Benitez's treatment of the player is unbelievably frustrating. Benayoun is one of the club's best goal threats; he has 6 goals and 4 assists already this season; his superior ball retention skills and direct play are vital to the team, yet Benitez continually benches/subs him off.

Liverpool needed to win the Portsmouth game, so why not play the most attacking line-up available?! Why play it safe and go defensive against a team that should be brushed aside with ease.

Benitez seemingly has a pathological aversion to playing progressive, attacking football and allowing his players to express themselves.

Bringing Aurelio on when we needed to win

So - we're 1-0 down in a must-win game and crying out for creativity, and what does Benitez do? He ignores dedicated ATTACKING players like N'gog and Babel, and brings on a defender. Once again, this is a CAUTIOUS move. Aurelio may (allegedly) provide an attacking threat but his instincts are those of a defender, and funnily enough, that's because HE'S A DEFENDER!

Benitez has used the same tactic several times this season, but has it ever worked?! Has bringing on Aurelio ever propelled the team to victory? NO. If Benitez really wanted to win the game he would have brought on N'gog and Babel. Instead, he (IMO) played for the draw.

Changing a winning team.

Liverpool played 442 against Wigan and won the game. Why change things against Portsmouth?! Why not just stick with a winning team? For about 5 seconds on Wednesday night, I thought Benitez might finally have seen the light, but inside I knew that he would never stick with 442. After all, there's no point in sticking with a formation and line-up that works, is there?

Persisting with Gerrard behind Torres

This tactic no longer works! Anyone can see that. Forget what's happened in the distant past; look at the present and the recent past; it is clear that Gerrard/Torres is no longer a viable option.

Another reason that partnership should be retired is that it makes the team ultra-reliant on just two players. Usually, Gerrard and Torres don't spark in the formation, the team suffers. In a 442, the responsibility is spread around the team a little more, and Torres has another striker with whom to share the burden.

If we are to play Torres up front alone, then as I've argued for months, Benayoun should play in the hole, and Gerrard should play in central midfield.

Building a team that lacks creativity

It was 70 minutes before Liverpool had a shot on target today. That is simply unacceptable. This is what happens when you prioritise defence over attack, and play a creatively bankrupt midfield of Lucas, Masch, Dossena and Kuyt

Anti-football midfield partnership

How many times does this point need to be made? The Lucas/Mascherano partnership is simply not good enough. Playing two defensive-minded holding midfielders in *every game* is suffocating the team and providing no play-making impact whatsoever.

The team needs a playmaker; someone who can start attacks; spray passes about; link midfield to attack; join attacks and chip in with assists/goals. (Hmmm. Remind you of anyone?)

Lucas and Masch provide none of that. Everyone can see that their partnership is not beneficial to the team but Benitez pigheadedly refuses to change or adapt, which is one of his biggest weaknesses.

As I've argued from the start of the season,  Gerrard - when fit - should be playing in CM alongside either Lucas or Masch, with Yossi playing in the hole. When Liverpool HAVE played this formation, the team has won and scored lots of goals (Hull, for example).

And consider this: Lucas on the bench v Wigan = Liverpool win. Lucas starts v Portsmouth = Liverpool defeat. Coincidence? I think not.

Persisting with Dirk Kuyt

What did Kuyt contribute to the performance in an attacking sense? Next to nothing. As usual. Still, he continues to start and finish every game while players who contribute (I.e. Yossi), are regularly benched.

Building an unbelievably slow team

Torres aside, is there a slower first XI in the entire league? Watching Liverpool's players struggle to run is really quite painful. And forget about counter-attacks; what is the point when our players are too slow to take advantage?

Spending 17m on a defensively-suspect right back

Once again, Glen Johnson gifted a goal to the opposition. His 'defensive' header in the box went straight to a Belhadj, who hammered in the opening goal. Against Arsenal last week, he was responsible for both goals conceded; the own goal, and then allowing Andrei Arshavin the space to fire off a shot.

Johnson has been excellent at times going forward but there is no denying that fact that he is defensively suspect and prone lapses in concentration/awareness.

It is no coincidence that since Johnson arrived, Liverpool's defensive solidity has plummeted. Yes, there are other reasons for our poor defensive performance, but Johnson's attacking ability should not mask the reality that he is (arguably) not a long-term solution to Liverpool's right back problem.

Benitez inexplicably chose to spend 17m on a defender when there were other areas of the team that needed strengthening more urgently. Did we really *need* Johnson? I would argue no. Liverpool could've bought a good right back for 6-8m, and put the rest towards a back-up striker/left-right attacking midfielder.

Spending 18m on Aquilani

The Aquilani farce continues. He is now injured again (quelle surprise); that is not the problem though; we should expect Aquilani to pick up little knocks here and there. The problem is that Benitez chose to buy a player with a horrendous injury history. This issue has been discussed to death but it was a negligent, indefensible decision. The team has suffered as a result of not having a top-quality FIT player making a contribution from the start of the season.

To add insult to injury, Benitez's handling of Aquilani has been a joke, with player clearly frustrated and (probably) demotivated after only 4 months at Anfield. If Benitez stays at Anfield, Aquilani will not last 5 years. He will be gone/dumped, just like Robbie Keane.

Staggering inability to motivate players/inspire confidence

Benitez is not and never has been a motivator. In my view, he does not inspire confidence in his players and he does not have the ability to get the best out his team. We have seen examples of this before, but this season is s sustained exampled of his inability to properly motivate players.

Do I need to remind anyone that Liverpool were playing the league's WORST TEAM?! If Benitez cannot motivate his players to do the business against Portsmouth (!) then there really is a fundamental problem somewhere.

The red card was inconvenient, but there was still enough quality on the pitch to get something out of the game. If we had a manager who was capable of motivating players, perhaps the game might not have been lost.

This season has been a ceaseless merry-go round of misery; even in our darkes days under Graeme Souness, it was never this bad, and whilst Benitez is at the club it is never going to change. He has been making the same mistakes over and over for the last 5 years, but the CL/FA Cup win, and the latter part of last season papered over the cracks.

Basically, 5 years of overly defensive line-ups; dodgy substitutions; poor transfer performance, and man-management catastrophes have come home to roost, and Liverpool have suffered big time.

I really hate to say this, but I told you so.

I have been arguing for the last 4 years (and more) that Benitez is not right man for the job. I have been highlighting the same mistakes over and over again, trying to illustrate exactly *why* he's not the man for the job. I've been shouted down endlessly by the pro-Benitez brigade, but maybe now people will finally WAKE UP to the fact that he is NOT the right man to lead Liverpool.


http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2009/12/forget-red-card-rafa-benitez-is.html?

This article does raise some valid points!

Has the Master Tactician taken us as far as he can? I have always been an avid believer of the way Liverpool FC managers in the past were given enough time to perform. From the Shankly era to the Kenny Dalglish era, the managers were able to express themselves and work with the winning formula.

Much as I want Rafa here for the next 10 years, this article does raise some VALID points that the Manager should look into.

Rafa himself needs to carry out a self-assessment.

If it ain't broke, dont try to fix itl But if it is, please fix it RAFA!!!!!!!!!

I agree with all of that and I would add (as i have said b4)  Rafa worrying about the opposition too much instead of getting us to impose
ourselves on the oppisition

I agree with all of that and I would add (as I have said b4)  Rafa worrying about the opposition too much instead of getting us to impose
ourselves on the oppisition

TRUE: you focus too much on how to stop the attack of the opposition, you will get caught. Focus on how to rip their defense apart

Another big reason is the players. Players are not all the time 100% ready to the game. You have to see the players at the training. Why don't put Pacheco in instead of Dossena, Why don't put Babel instead of off-form Kuyt, why don't take out Insua and stick in to Aurelio's attacking mind when we are playing againgst the worst defence in the league. The article above clearly SAYS IT ALL

Can't be arsed reading what is obviously a hugely negative post however what did catch my eye was bringing on Aurelio.

I can understand that substitution completely - we've all seen what kind of delivery the lad can do.

This is a very negative anti-Rafa post spattered with opinion rather than reasoned argument.  I don't agree with Rafa all the time but he is a tactician and most of the time it works.  However not today.  Think the post on Gerrard/Torres is fair as maybe teams have worked out how to stop interrupt the potency of the partnership and their fitness is suspect.

The post is by one of the anti-Rafa brigade - they'll all come out after a defeat against bloody Pompey.

Aurelio does offer goals from set pieces/freekicks though!   

If we dont finish in the top 4 this season which looks unlikely and with no trophys then its time for benitez to go, defensive teams don't win the league, and thats what we are now a defensive team.

F**k off Soledee and the author of that article you had no complaints last year about our "negative" tactics and formation enabking us to finish second with the most goals scored.

The link to the article is broken and does not work, hmmmmmmmmmmmm

F**k off Soledee and the author of that article you had no complaints last year about our "negative" tactics and formation enabking us to finish second with the most goals scored.

I would argue that last year the inclusion of Riera balanced out the team between defence and attack while Alonso had the season of his life. This is why we did so well. Last year at this stage Riera had played in all games bar 4. He only scored twice, not sure on the assists stat but his appearances on the wing allowed us to break faster and to get more balls into the box.

Ohh how easy the article writer makes it seem to be manager of one of the biggest clubs in the world.  He says he's been arguing for the past 4 years and more that Rafa isn't the right man...bet he wasn't last season when Rafa took the title race down to the wire and our best season in a long time.

Some valid points are made but most of it stems from a selective memory of games under Rafa Benitez. I don't recall many fans calling Rafa ultra defensive when we were top scorers in the league last season and playing some of the best football in the league.

I'm just as pissed off any Liverpool fan with the start we've made to this season and admit that things need to change and although I don't think Rafa being sacked is the right thing to do, I won't cry into my morning cereal if he was. To be honest, I blame the players ten times more than Rafa because most of them are the same players that took us to a whisker of the title last season.

This seems to be a time for the anti-Rafa brigade to come together and force him out rather than getting behind him and the team to lift us out of this slump. Whether or not valid points are made in favour of Rafa staying or going, we're all fans of the greatest football team in the world and thus should take the bad with the good and support the team through thick and thin. Rafa gets a raw deal from fans and the media when results don't go our way but when they do he gets very little praise and that is just not fair.

I could tear the whole article to pieces if I really wanted to, but its not worthy of even wiping my arse on, so I'll desist from doing so.

I've left a comment, so I'll just repost that here:

"You're being harsh on Benitez.  
 
Your critizing him about him being too defensive, but isn't this the same manager who led us to our highest points tally ever in the PL last season (we also got the most goals)?  
 
Fair enough, Lucas and Masch in the middle together are useless against the smaller teams, but they work wonders against the likes of United/Chelsea/Arsenal, but what other choice did he have? Aquilani was out with a calf injury and he had nobody else.  
 
Benayoun is a regular starter, so your wrong about that. I'll agree with you about Glen though, bad move. I would have kept Arbeloa for the season then let his contract run out.  
 
Kuyt and Johnson are not defensive type players, so make that 6.  
 
Yes, playing a 442 would of been better, but you know he is sucsessful with the 4-2-3-1, so he reverted to that understandably.  
 
Aurelio can whip a good ball in, I dont see your problem.  
 
And finally, your forgetting this is the same team that smashed the mancs 4-1 at OT and Madrid 4-0. With the exception of Alonso, Arebloa and Hyypia (who didn't play anyway). He had no trouble motivating the players last season, so why is it so bad this season? It's because of the hard time he is getting from the media and the owners. It's having a bad effect on him, which then puts a bad effect on the players.  
 
It's a sad day for Liverpool FC when the greatest fans in the world, can not give Rafael Benitez the opportunity to turn things around, a right he has clearly earned and deserves."

That last bit was taken from RedLFCBlood, so credit to him.

Rafa has to and does shoulder most of the blame for the way things are going ,and as manager rightly so , but he doesn't pull the boots on and play the games ..we have international capped players to do that ! surely the players on the pitch must stand up and be counted ? the team we have is very close to the team of last season  ( as has previously been said ) so losing one player is no excuse whatsoever for playing poorly and losing the plot ,maybe a change of coaching and/or tactics is all we need ? maybe i'm naive but i still back Rafa

I've left a comment, so I'll just repost that here:

I left

RedLFCBlood replies:
Today, 20:41:54
“Come on F**k pigs call yourself Liverpool supporters ? 
 
Are you people seriously trying to tell me, do people honestly believe, that these are all far more important than insignificant piffle like most of our best players all injured at the same time ? Like no money spent on the team other than what Rafa has earned himself in the CL over the years, and pretty much none at all for the last couple of seasons, certainly this one - when we all thought we were so very close? Even Xabi might have stayed if we could have just counted piles of £10,000 down in front of him until he signed, like Utd and Chelsea do with their oh so 'comitted' stars, like John Terry and Rio Ferdinand who unashamedly used the media and threatened to leave/made a big public stink until they were made among the most highly paid players in the world, especially for their positions? Same goes for the likes of Arbeloa. 
 
Are people really saying that the boardroom/ownership situation has no relevance or bearing with anything that happens on the pitch, even though we've all seen clubs like Chelsea, Newcastle, Spurs collapse big time when the relationship between board and manager has broken down? When even Arsenal a couple of seasons suffered a sudden dip in form, coinciding exactly with some take-over stuff and a board member quitting with some strong words to say etc, a situation which led to St. Wenger publicly threatening to quit unless things were sorted again? 
 
I'm not saying Rafa is beyond criticism and given Normal circumstances and a fully fit squad It would be fair to say Rafa would be out on his arse by now and rightly so given our predicament, but given the exceptional circumstances he is working under, I don't know about you mate but I for one am understanding of that and will merit Rafa with the time he has earned and deserves to pull things around. 
 
I.R.W.T     Y.N.W.A

Read more: http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2009/12/forget-red-card-rafa-benitez-is.html#ixzz0aAZMhUKn

Ok, so what were the exceptional circumstances that caused us to lose today then for example?

I wouldn't compare our situation to Newcastle or Spurs' dips in form. The boardroom wranglings happen at nearly every club so I don't think anyone can point to that as an excuse.

Am I the only person on here that thinks the team we currently have is more than capable of winning the league if we are talking about the talent they possess between them?

Think the post has a lot of valid points Raffas time is ebbing away

I quickly followed up my reply with.

RedLFCBlood replies:
Today, 20:54:39
“Don't know why you lot take Jaimie Kanwar so seriously, he's a c**t of the highest order and talks out of his arse so much, its often rumoured he's asked to bend over so people can hear him clearly.
   

Read more: http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2009/12/forget-red-card-rafa-benitez-is.html#ixzz0aAcKdjO3

Ok, so what were the exceptional circumstances that caused us to lose today then for example?

I wouldn't compare our situation to Newcastle or Spurs' dips in form. The boardroom wranglings happen at nearly every club so I don't think anyone can point to that as an excuse.

Am I the only person on here that thinks the team we currently have is more than capable of winning the league if we are talking about the talent they possess between them?

Exceptional circumstances today, players recently returning from injury, not being fit enough to start games I.e Dossena in place of Benayoun, Aquilani not being able to start, players out of form and confidence as there season has been blighted by injuries etc etc.

Yes on talent we have a squad capable of winning/challenging for the league but the disruption we've had since pre-season has been a massive factor in our current predicament.

As you'll see from this thread http://www.lfcreds.com/reds/index.php?topic=26076.0, I try to look at things as a whole and put them into perspective and not make knee jerk reactions and try and lay all the blame at Rafa's door, which is a hell of a lot more than a sh*t house like Jamie Kanwar does.

I quickly followed up my reply with.

@ The spineless anonymous user who negged me for that post giving this reason, "Idiotic insults to anyone with a different opinion."

Well blow me, I can honestly I've researched our current dilemma and looked at all the contributing factors and looked at Rafa's transfers in and outs and worked out his net spend etc etc, so please forgive me for not jumping on the knee jerking bandwagon and having an opinion I've made myself through looking at all the facts surrounding the club and our current dillema.

Not basing my opinion on what Sly Sports and thats not a spelling error, The Media, ex players and sh*t houses like Kanwar have to say. Oh Diddums I've got a brain and I know how to use it.

Could tell that was by Kanwar by the end of the first paragraph, once I realised it was that c**t I couldn't be bothered reading the rest.

Sooo many knee-jerkers it's ridiculous tonight.  I'm as depressed as any liverpool fan right now but sacking Rafa would be suicide! unless we had a clear plan an better replacement !!!!??

RedLFCBlood, I admire your arguments and how you have put them together.

How many people want Rafa sacked? I think a lot of people are just coming around to the fact that he might need to shoulder some of the blame and begin to look at himself to get this season turned around sooner rather than later.

I avoid reading football media and never watch Sky Sports. I see what I see on the pitch and the patterns that develop in management. I'm not advocating a sacking but I do want the man in control of our team to take more responsibility for what happens every weekend.