How much of Shanks is in Rafa?

I've seen many, many people make the comparison between Rafa and Shanks but how similar are they. I'm talking about them as people and their managerial style.

They both had/have a quick witted response to the press and both instantly attached themselves with the fans. Although neither are Scousers by birth, they have Liverpool at heart with the "Scouse" mentality.

As for managerial style, well I think they both tried to be innovative. Shanks scrapped the old system and gave us the first flat back four in English football, while Rafa gave us the zonal marking. Both built from the back and made sure we were difficult to beat. Both made Anfield into a fortress.

Does Rafa have the mentality Shanks did?

 I have great faith in RAFA as i did with Bill Shankly but to put things in true perspective I recall Shanks when he arrived at L.F.C. commenting on a sleeping giant about to wake up.When RAFA arrived the club did not need to be awakened.I do believe that RAFA will eventually go down in history in the same way Shanks as with L.F.C.

If Rafa is able to last as long as fergie, he will easily be as successful. If you compare Fergie's first 5 years to Rafas, Rafa has achieved more

If Rafa is able to last as long as fergie, he will easily be as successful. If you compare Fergie's first 5 years to Rafas, Rafa has achieved more

Not sure what that has to do with the comparison between Rafa and Bill Shankly?

Anyway, whilst both men were not Liverpool-born, they both immediately understood how special the city is and how important the fans are. Each of them stubborn in their own way with their own ideals, it is easy to see why comparisons are sometimes made.

Rafa's dismissal of the press, his frequent side-stepping of questions he does not want to answer, or occasional comical (and I think deliberate) misunderstandings of English when it suits him do bring to mind the innumerable quotes from the great Shanks. I also think that Rafa's upmost respect of the tragedies in the club's history, as well as they boycott of a certain newspaper, show that he holds our traditions dear to his heart.

Only time will tell if Benitez is remembered as fondly as Shankly (a diffcult task!), but I feel he has started and continued in the right way. Hopefully Bill can rest easier knowing the club is in good hands.

Shanks was before my time but on what i have seen of the man i can say I think Rafa understands the game in a similar way to what shanks did, how to get the best from individuals, how to change a game with substitutions and his tactics are sound.

RAFA SET TO OVERTAKE SHANKS
Jimmy Rice 25 November 2008

Rafa Benitez will tomorrow overtake the legendary Bill Shankly by leading Liverpool into a record 66th European game.
Benitez goes into the Group D clash against Marseille level with Shanks on 65 continental games as Anfield manager.

The pair are four ahead of three-times European Cup winner Bob Paisley on 61, with Gerard Houllier fourth on the list with 52.

Benitez has won 38, drawn 14 and lost 13 of his European games since taking charge in July 2004.

His win ratio is 58.5 per cent - bettered only by Paisley (63.9) and Joe Fagan (73.7).

After winning the Champions League in his first season, Benitez led the Reds to the 2007 final and 2008 semi-finals.


Our managers in Europe:

Rafa Benitez - 65 games (win ratio 58.5 per cent)

Bill Shankly - 65 games (52.3)

Bob Paisley - 61 games (63.9)

Gerard Houllier - 52 games (50)

Joe Fagan - 19 games (73.7)

Roy Evans - 16 games (50)

Graeme Souness - 12 games (50)

As Rafa is already braking records like this then i think it is only a matter of time before he is considered on par with the great Bill Shankly.

Rafa cannot compare to our uncle Willie. Shanks came in 1959 to a team selected by old men and hangers on. They didn't even have running water to the toilets, which incidentally, comprised of a trough to piss in. i do not recall there being more than a hand full of proper toilets. The ones in Walton Breck, built into the brick wall where Shanklys statue stands would be condemned nowadays. Cholera alert! Melwood comprised of a wooden hut on bricks and was surrounded by three wire strands that ran through concrete posts. You could just walk in and watch the players train. There was a single punchball hanging from the ceiling and rows of coat hangars. Shanks built what we have now, and helped by all the backroom staff, players and fans, set the foundations for the biggest club in the world, to entertain us lucky Scousers. He is still idolised here by those who were lucky enough to have been born in those magical Shankly times. My own father died two years before Uncle Willie and I am ashamed to admit that I miss them both equally for they both contributed, massively, to my life. It is very difficult to explain to a non-footballing person and would be impossible to explain to my mother. Such was his influence on the lucky ones. STILL IS.

Anyway, whilst both men were not Liverpool-born, they both immediately understood how special the city is and how important the fans are. Each of them stubborn in their own way with their own ideals, it is easy to see why comparisons are sometimes made.

Rafa's dismissal of the press, his frequent side-stepping of questions he does not want to answer, or occasional comical (and I think deliberate) misunderstandings of English when it suits him do bring to mind the innumerable quotes from the great Shanks. I also think that Rafa's upmost respect of the tragedies in the club's history, as well as they boycott of a certain newspaper, show that he holds our traditions dear to his heart.

Only time will tell if Benitez is remembered as fondly as Shankly (a diffcult task!), but I feel he has started and continued in the right way. Hopefully Bill can rest easier knowing the club is in good hands.

Great post Ayrton.I'm sure that when Rafa came to the club he made the effort to learn our history and to understand the legend that was and is Bill Shankly. Shankly was a proud and sometimes stubborn Scotsman,Rafa is a proud and sometimes stubborn Spaniard, they both loved and respected the football club and its passionate fans.So as time goes on I think Rafa will be seen by many as being a "mark 2 Shanks". I idolised Shanks and still do, but there's no getting away from the fact, that Rafa is the correct fit for this great club.

I cannot say whether there is a resemblance or not as i was not around to see Shankly manage our great side but i know about Benitez he is stubborn and from what i have heard so was Shanks and both of them wouldn't take any nonsense from anyone Rafa showed this by taking a stance and telling everyone the truth about Fergie. Shankly was a successful manager winning many trophies with the club and layed foundations on the club which is what Benitez is doing with his new revolution which is near completion.Rafa althogh beeing Spanish has respected Liverpool like it was his home town always talking about the tradition of the club and the city like Shanks also. I think if Rafa wins us the premier league and stays for a couple of more years maybe he could be thought of in the same way as Shankly .

rafa's more like paisley, nothing like shankly imo.

Not being old enough to know anything but what i have read and seen about Shanks, i can't draw a conclusion as good as some of our older members maybe can, but on some facts i believe there are plenty of similarities between the two men.
The situations although different when each arrived, are also similar in ways. When Shanks arrived in '59, Liverpool was a struggling team, both in the football department being a lowly Second Div team, and then also in infrastructure as well with the state of Anfield and Melwood at the time. Through brilliant tactics on the field and man management he turned the team around, thus creating the Juggernaut we became. His aim was to knock Everton, fierce territorial rivals, off there perch. He did this in 64/65, starting it all right then and there.
Now, obviously when Rafa arrived in '04, the club as far as its facilities go wasn't in that bad shape, and we weren't languishing in the Championship either. But, we are suffering a similar kind of drought as we were when Shanks arrived. And, in this day and age being that with the money thrown at the top clubs like Chelsea, manure etc, the task in bringing us to the top is almost as tough as what Shanks had to do with us back almost 50 years ago. And without having the resources that our rivals do, Rafa has gotten us one step away from that elusive number 19..
I know this has nothing much to do with what they are as people, but i thought it was interesting to draw the parallels in the respective situations.
But as people have already noted, the similarities in personality are there to. Shanks was renowned for his quotes and cheek, and allround undying love for Liverpool, and this showed to the fans and helped him become one of us. I feel Rafa has done the same, you can tell he has done his research and if he could fake a scouse accent you would think he had been born there His 'rant' last season to me was a sign of how much he loves us, as no manage-for-wage manager gets that fired up about a rival. And i believe Shanks would have been looking down on Rafa that day saying "Get stuck in son"

Great post bigvYNWA !

Great post bigvYNWA !

Cheers, vT. It was actually quite a good moral boost to think about the parallels between the two, and think that this just does seem like fate.. I can almost see it in May '10, the drought breaks

Well i still believe in Rafa. IRWT And thanks for the nickname vT .

To me to be honest, i cant see anything that makes me think that. To be a great manager you dont have to have certain traits of a great manager. They are from two different eras that are a million miles apart for a start , Shanks would start with the same 11 if at all possible. There are just too many differences to say they can be alike one another. But one thing they DO have in common is THEY BOTH LOVE LIVERPOOL F.C.

To me to be honest, I cant see anything that makes me think that. To be a great manager you dont have to have certain traits of a great manager. They are from two different eras that are a million miles apart for a start , Shanks would start with the same 11 if at all possible. There are just too many differences to say they can be alike one another. But one thing they DO have in common is THEY BOTH LOVE LIVERPOOL F.C.

No ones saying they are the same nor that we should compare Rafa to Shanks. We are just seeing the similarities, which IMO there are some. They are both very different yes, but there are similarities in situation and personality as far as the fight and passion to see LFC at the top are concerned.

I believe that just as some players have one Club in their lifetime that brings the best out of them, I think Rafa and Shankly are the same.  They were born to be at Liverpool.

As Shankly was a "Canny Scot" he knew before he came to Liverpool that it was where He wanted to be and where He felt He could do the best job and I feel the same about Rafa. 

I don't think it's a coincidence that Rafa understands our Traditions and History I truly believe he made sure he knew them years before he ever came here, as he saw himself being Liverpools Manager right from the start of his Coaching/Managerial Career.

Rafa knows what he wants and he knows what he needs to do to achieve it.

I think Rafa does share a very similar mindset to Shanks in that he seems to be very intent on making Liverpool the very best team we can be.

Everything he does is done with the good of Liverpool FC in mind and he's 10000000% committed to us and i think it's this approach that will make him be remembered in the same way as Shanks is now.

What a pity Joe fagan didnt carry on for a few more seasons and we remained in Europe we could have had 8 or 9 by now.Joe rarely get a mention either.