Wire_85 wrote:
Just had a read of Fergie's first 6 seasons at OT interesting stuff
That infamous banner in 1989 "Three years of excuses and it's still crap. Ta ra Fergie"
I will admit part of me was like Rob and wanted Rafa to walk as I feel maybes he's lost the players (Main ones from Huyton and Bootle)
Problem for Rafa unlike Fergie is in his first 3 season he set the bar so high.
I agree. I, like most supporters, have never demanded a title. Sure, the club has a massive history full of silverware, but I knew demanding trophies, especially the big two, was unrealistic. However, Rafa did set the standard pretty high for himself, some said we overachieved and we did, to a degree, but in 5 years he turned us to one of Europe's finest, there was pretty much progress every season, the squad was getting stronger. This season we have failed immensely, the decline seems so fast and so big, it's hard to take for most. I feel at times he has lost the dressing room, the stuff they're doing, it isn't just mistakes and it isn't just confidence, it's been like this since day one this season and things are getting worse. There isn't a man I want to see succeed more at Liverpool than Rafa, his dedication and effort need to be rewarded, but this season it feels like we've taken strides backwards. I felt it early on and our form in Europe was most unacceptable, I think other than Fergie and Wenger, most managers would have been sacked by now, I'm really unsure if Rafa's the man to turn things around at this point. He's a man of little emotion and, at the moment, the team are showing little emotion on the pitch, I feel they need somebody they want to play for. Of course, I'm just guessing about this, things may be fine in the dressing room and it's simply footballing reasons, but I feel that's unlikely.
Another problem is Rafa's continued faith in some players, it's like Houllier with Heskey all over again. Dirk Kuyt and Lucas are, for me, two of our worst players, yet they are integral parts of our squad in Rafa's opinion. He has a £17m midfielder sat on the bench, he wrapped him in cotton wool for a month after his debut, he's given him very little playing time, it feels like Rafa's oblivious to Alberto's talents at times, it seems he's oblivious to a lot of player's talents at times (Pacheco, Nemeth, Ayala). He made his debut at the end of October yet it still feels like Rafa won't be starting him until the new year, it's depressing.
A lot of people are blaming the loss of Alonso for our problems but it is much more than that for me. United lost the best player in the world and another fantastic player to go with, they lost £100m+ worth of players in the summer and replaced them with a striker on a free and a decent winger for £17m. Hardly inspirational signings but they're still competing, they're still up there and I honestly can't understand why we aren't, especially after the fantastic platform built last year.
