With the news today that Rafael "Rafa" Benitez Maudes has been offered a rumoured £3m to leave his post as manager of Liverpool "immediately", which sounds more like a sacking to me, it is an appropriate time to look back on his successes and failings in his 5 years in charge.
Let's start with the obvious one - winning the Champions League in dramatic fashion in 2005. Actually that amazing victory (cough, splutter - that hurt) WAS down to one man, but it sure wasn't Snr B. A certain Steven Gerrard turned the game almost single-handedly in the second half, in what can now be regarded as the high point in his career. In that night in Istanbul he showed he was truly world class. Shame he's never done it for England though, but I hope he proves me wrong in a few weeks time! Some credit Benitez for his half time talk and his tactics and that may have played a part, I'll admit, but it would be one of the few times in his tenure when his tactics made sense, even to Kopites.
One could also argue that he did it with the previous manager's team, but hey, let's not be nit-picking, eh?
Aside from that trophy the only other major triumph came in 2006 with the FA Cup. Oh, and they finished second in the Premier League in 2008/09, what can now be described with hindsight as a massive over achievement. A lot of pundits have large amounts of egg on their faces after predicting Liverpool would win the league in 2009/10 - Hansen & McNulty being two.
A manger needs 4 major attributes to be successful, regardless of the transfer kitty available to him:
Tactics
Benitez has, particularly in his latter years at the helm, displayed some baffling and bizarre tactical choices such as regularly substituting Torres, and even the talisman Gerrard at crucial points in games. You could easily read into the expressions on the faces of Torres and Gerrard when being inexplicably substituted something along the lines of "this man does not know what he's doing". It tells me that he lost the dressing room, which should not surprise anyone.
Another baffler is constantly playing defensively against what Liverpool fans may consider to be lesser teams, resulting in games being drawn and sometimes lost, when they should have been won. His continued reliance on the continental zonal marking system regardless of who they were playing bemused fans & pundits alike.
Transfer market
This was probably his biggest failing. It soon became plainly obvious that he knew next to nothing about the English leagues and English players, as by the time of his (yet to be confirmed) departure his squad was stuffed to the gills with journeyman Spaniards and sundry other overseas players who, while maybe displaying capabilities in their home leagues simply could not cope with the faster and more physical Premier League. Last season he replaced the sublime Xabi Alonso with a glass-shinned Italian who arrived on a stretcher - genius!
The 4 class players he bought in his time at Anfield, Torres, Alonso, Mascherano, and Reina were all proven quality players that any casual football fan could have spotted. Can you honestly think of any one player that has improved as a result of being bought by and playing under Benitez?
The one I feel really sorry for is Ryan Babel, a young player with a great future, who as a result of constant bench warming has turned into a player with zero confidence. Just you watch the new manager turn him back into the world beater he should be.
Benitez apologists will tell you that he was restricted by the financial constraints placed upon him by Waldorf and Statler - don't make me laugh. In his time in charge if you compare what he spent with the budget of the best pound for pound manager in the Premier League (yes I know I'm biased, but it's difficult to argue with this), a certain David Moyes, we are talking 2 1/2 times the amount. In terms of net spend it's nearly 5 times the amount. Benitez has only been out-spent by Chelsea & Man City in his time in charge.
OK, so Everton never won anything in that time, but Liverpool only won one FA Cup with what could even remotely be described as Benitez' team, in his second year in charge. Had Everton had £25 million or whatever it was to spend on a Torres things would have been very different. You're talking Goldman Sachs vs The Renfrewshire Building Society. That's why Moyes is a far better player in the transfer market than Benitez ever was. In fact I can't think of a worse manger when it comes to transfer dealings!
What makes neutrals, and I'm sure the more level headed Liverpool fans laugh is Benitez' stating at the end of last season that he needed 4 or 5 quality players (his words) in order to challenge, after having spent £250 million or thereabouts in his time in charge, and having seen 80-odd players break the revolving door at Anfield's training ground. There have been more comings and goings at Anfield in the last five years than at Spanky Madam, the most popular whorehouse in Bangkok!
He is also always moaning about not having any money to spend - the sheer gall of it is astounding!
Man management
The way he treats his players is bloody awful. If he worked in any other industry he would have so many black marks on his HR record nobody else would employ him. I've already mentioned Ryan Babel.
Then there's Robbie Keane. Regardless of whether or not you believe that buying him was not Benitez' idea, and I can't for a moment entertain the thought that he had nowt to do with it, once on board he should have treated him with a little respect. Here's a player who gets what he thought was a dream move to the club he supported as a lad, only to spend most of his time as an unused sub, this being Benitez' way of giving the board the finger. How demoralising is that?
Another one treated shabbily (sic - heheh) was Xabi Alonso, who was playing for a whole season knowing that his manager was actively seeking to replace him with Gareth Barry. It's no coincidence that his game suffered, and when the Barry move fell through, the following season he plays out of his skin playing a major part in the second place finish, before going back to Spain. He's telling Benitez "this is what you'll miss", and good on him.
Then there was the full back (can't recall his name - yet another Spaniard) who let it be known that playing for Benitez was a nightmare.
Respect of your peers
No apparent sense of humour, constant displays of petulance, blaming everyone and everything but himself when results didn't go his way, a complete lack of respect and class when discussing his nearest rivals, geographically (Everton) and in football terms (Man Utd) won him no fans. Love or hate the likes of Ferguson & Mourinho, they get respect simply because of the success they've had, something Benitez can only dream about.
In conclusion, I can only say that sensible Kopites, and there are a few, must be punching the air in delight, while the rest of us will sorely miss him, as with him in charge Liverpool were becoming a joke and a pale shadow of their former selves. His comedy value will be irreplaceable!
Inter must be mad if they replace the mighty Mourinho with the clown that is Benitez. Please Liverpool, don't get rid of him, sign him for a lifetime - SAVE RAFA!!!!
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