Rafa Benitez – Saint or Sinner?
Well . . . .Would YOU sack him?
Liverpool FC is and always has been my passion. Liverpool was my home, my family all come from places like Speke, Croxteth, Aintree and Anfield. Liverpool, the city and Liverpool Football club is simply in my blood. It is not a matter of choice, no more so than for a Mancunian, a Geordie or a Cockney.
We are born to support the team that we support. No questions asked.
So, as you can imagine, the current plight of LFC is one that is close to . . . . no, right inside . . my heart.
So many words are being written about Liverpool by journalists. So many words are being spoken by football ‘pundits’. The experts who are trundled out in front of a camera to enlighten us with their wisdom.
And yet, how many of those words are knowledgeable ones? How many are balanced, thoughtful commentaries on what is an emotive subject?
According to The News of The World (and no doubt other publications too) 73% of Liverpool supporters want Benitez gone, with Guus Hiddink or The Special One being listed as the fans favourite to replace ‘Raffa the Gaffer’
Is that really true?
I wonder.
Let me propose some ‘balanced’ views and judgements. Those of a Scouser. Someone who doesn’t just have a vested, financial interest by way of selling more newspapers or attracting more viewers but someone who simply and honestly cares!
My first proposal is that whenever things go wrong, whether in a business or a relationship or indeed, a football club, it is far too simplistic to lay the blame on one person.
This Government is in a mess and we all (understandably) blame Gordon Brown and let’s face it, that’s easy because the man is not an endearing person. He is, generally, not a personality that we warm to or easily like.
But are the faults in our country (and I say this as a lifelong Tory) really all down to one man, or even to one Government?
I don’t think so. We are all to blame. It is OUR country and WE have helped to make a mess of it.
So, does the same apply to LFC?
Rafa has never been likable. He has never had an endearing personality. He comes across as arrogant, aloof, detached, insular and lacking in feeling or genuine human emotion, except those associated with self interest.
And yet, are they reasons to sack him?
Should he be sacked and ridiculed and mocked and pilloried just because we don’t warm to his ‘persona’ ?
His peers all, to a man, claim that he is one of the best coaches in world football.
He has won La Liga, the Uefa cup, the champions league, the FA cup, European super cup, charity shield and been a losing finalist in the league cup and the champions league.
Not a bad record and certainly not one that can be matched by many.
Not Hiddink
Not ‘The Special One’
Not Wenger
Only a handful of managers in world football can claim greater success.
And before you get the impression that I am a fan of Benitez, let me assure you, I am not. But neither am I a knee jerk idiot who seeks the sensationalism that comes with sacking a high profile manager at a high profile, world renowned club.
Consider the facts.
If LFC sack Rafa, who would replace him?
What funds would that person demand?
What would the management fallout costs be of replacing one manager and staff with a whole new entourage?
Tens of Millions.
If Rafa goes, which players would go with him?
Torres? Reina? Gerrard?
Ok, some people (and I have a lot of sympathy with this view) argue that for Torres, Gerrard, Mascherano and Reina, Liverpool could get £120 million.
At an average of £10 million per player, Liverpool could buy a whole team, with a handful of the present squad as reserves / squad players (Carragher, Kuyt, Lucas, Aquilani, Riera, Rodriguez)
Indeed, sell a few of those and the funds available could rise to £150 million plus and with that, a whole new team could be assembled.
So, back to the original question.
Have you watched Liverpool play recently?
Have you seen the apathy of several players? (yes, I know it is the manager’s job to motivate them and perhaps that is the one real weakness of Benitez) and what about their technical skills?
They train and train and train and yet, their first touch and passing ability is so often poor and their decision making and choices on the ball are poor too.
Does Benitez control that? Kuyt hits the post with a poor header with the goal virtually at his mercy. Is that down to Rafa?
I would suggest that Rafa is going through a bad spell but his players (and they are HIS players, remember) are doing even worse, in my humble view.
Just go back and read Rafa’s trophy list and look at his accomplishments and ask yourself “Who is out there that is better than Rafa?”
Perhaps there is better available.
Perhaps that better manager will be able to get more from the present squad than Rafa
Perhaps that better manager will be given £100 million from the magic money tree in Hicks and Gillette’s back gardens
Perhaps that better manager will win us the title that we have coveted so much for 20 years
Aaahhhhh . . .there we have it.
You see, in the past 10 years we have won every trophy that is open to us, except for 2. One is the world club championship, where refereeing errors cost us dearly and the other is the Premier League Title.
Quite rightly, we covet the latter.
No, we don’t have a right to it. But we have an expectation of it. Our expectation is based on where we have come from.
We are not (and forgive me now, please) Bolton, or West ham, or Sunderland or Birmingham or a host of other clubs who have no history or pedigree.
We, like manchester Utd, Arsenal, Leeds (yes, even given where they currently are) or Chelsea (the lottery winning Johnny-come-latelys) are a team who have, in recent times, won the championship.
Won it, in fact, consistently over 4 consecutive decades.
THAT is the problem with Rafa – or at least the problem that he faces.
Expectation.
Not achievement.
His achievements have been fine but he has failed to deliver on an expectation . . a dream . . a legacy.
He follows Shankley, Paisley, Fagan, Moran, Dalglish . . . . . they cannot be followed.
Someday soon, someone is going to have to follow Ferguson and Wenger.
Will they be able to?
Of course not.
Those two are legends.
And so, the replacement managers at manchester Utd and Arsenal will suffer the same fate.
It is not that they will be inadequate failures, any more than Benitez is, it will simply be down to it being impossible to follow legends AND deliver the fan’s dreams and expectations.
What I am sure of, therefore, is that the debate on sacking Rafa is a much more complex one than the pundits are able to grasp.
Pundits lack one vital quality. One key weapon in their armoury.
They are NOT supporters
And those who are, like Ian St John, are ex players from the glory years and so, they are biased in favour of an era and a way of doing things that has simply gone away now.
We have to live in the times we are in and we have to judge ourselves in the times we are in.
It is time now to stop judging against the past.
It is time to stop judging on dreams and expectations.
Judge on reality and on achievement.
Yes, we are sad. We are hurting. We are jealous (yes, jealous of CFC, MUFC, AFC) and that jealousy is killing us.
They have the one that was once ours. The one we love and adore. They are married to the love of our lives and we are eaten up by it. We have hatred in our hearts because of it. We seek revenge and retribution and scapegoats for it.
For we miss she who was closest to our hearts and our souls.
And she is called . . . .
Success.
Amen.
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/football-articles/rafa-benitez-saint-or-sinner-1774998.html
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