F**k me sideways again, it's like a F***ing handbag fight in here. I've read every post in this topic so far and one thing has stood out more than anything.
Want to know what it is?.
I'll tell you then. Not one poster has thanked or credited José Segura and Rodolfo Borrell for the most important input into the youth system. As pointed out in the OP, the men that brought through players like Messi and Fabregas through the ranks at Barcelona. Well done to Rafa for securing their services, it was a masterstroke but it seems that almost everyone wants to credit Rafa for everything. Take a look at yourselves, this whole 'Rafa is God' bullshit is consuming the forum, so blind in belief that people forget the people behind the scenes who do all the ground work.
I've pretty much had a gutsful of the constant 'Rafa' inferrals in almost every thread recently. This won't stop me posting, even though i know that many don't want to read an unbiased viewpoint on the manager they held in such high esteem. I'll await the the usual 'pack' that will now try and shoot me down because i don't follow the majority. The same majority that paper over the cracks that appeared so glaringly during Rafa's last season in charge. We all know the truth behind Rafa's dismissal, he couldn't conquer the Premier League, some say that the Istanbul victory was an insurance policy, i'd go with that to be honest.
May i reiterate, i am not a 'Rafa hater', though many here will tar me with that brush and that is their prerogative. I saw a manager that was so obsessed with his philosophy that his failure to adapt or break from it ultimately led to his downfall. I am grateful for the Champions League and FA Cup, as grateful as i am to Dudek and Gerrard. I can look at Rafa objectively, that doesn't mean that i hate him.
Different people look at Rafa in different ways. Huyton Red has stated that Rafa gave him the greatest night of his life in Istanbul. Fair play, that was one hell of a night. I'm different, my greatest moment as a Liverpool fan was given by Kenny Dalglish. I was at Stamford Bridge the day we won our last league title in 1990, that was my greatest moment. So we have different views, no problem with that, it's the way it is.
I'll always judge a manager on the League, Rafa was a master in Europe but he never quite understood the League, his underestimation of 'supposedly' weaker opponents proved to be his achilles heel. As a fan myself i prioritise the League over anything else, it doesn't mean that i think any less of the other competitions as i want us to win every game we play. The Liverpool i was brought up on won League titles for fun. Ask any manager and they will always say that the League is always their number one priority. I think Rafa prioritised Europe before the League, that is just my opinion.
The real point of this post is that people have to try and understand why many fans have a gripe with Rafa. It doesn't mean they hate him and it doesn't warrant fellow fans trying to belittle other fans either. Just look at what Kenny is building here, he has brought everyone together as a unit. Every other word is 'we' or 'us'. We are a collective again, a family, a bastion, an institution.
Rafa did many great things during his tenure, but don't forget José Segura and Rodolfo Borrell, they deserve just as much praise as Rafa does.
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