Moaning Media: Rafa just can’t win!

By Matt Ladson On · 107 Comments · In Opinion

After a season which has been hugely hampered by our leaky defence – conceding well over half as many as we conceded in the whole of last season (27, average of 0.7 goals per game) in just 13 games (20, average of 1.5 goals per game) – you’d expect a clean sheet in a Merseyside derby, and a second inside a week, would be greeted with praise.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

Not by all though, instead the good old media prefer to criticise Rafa Benitez for, as Mark Lawrenson put it on Match of the Day 2, “reverting to type”. Lawrenson moaned we had pretty much 7 defenders in the starting 11 today.

Let’s see, Liverpool have been conceding goals at a faster rate than at any other time under Rafa Benitez. Maybe Rafa’s rationale for deploying a defensive minded team has something to do with that fact? Maybe, just maybe, he is thinking to keep it tight, maybe get a goal at the other end and if not have plenty of creative players on the bench to win the game late on when Everton are tiring (our bench had Benayoun, Riera, Aquilani and El Zhar on it).

There’s a huge reason why Lawrenson and other pundits are exactly that, pundits, and not coaching themselves.

You honestly have to wonder if the likes of Lawrenson ever played the game, never mind played under some of the greatest managers Britain has ever seen.

Stick to the sofa Lawro (and others who will no doubt join you in the morning papers), and ill stick to trusting a manager with more tactical nous than you could ever dream of.

  • About the author

    Matt Ladson

    Matt is the co-editor of This Is Anfield. He grew up on a diet of Roy Evans football and yearns for the glory days to return to Anfield. Follow Matt on Twitter: @mattladson.

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  • KB

    Our injury situation is getting better, but in a high tempo game that has a history of rash tackling and sending offs we picked a team that was most suitable both physically and mentally. The media would be moaning if we picked benny, AA and reira instead of Lucas, Auerilio and Ngog and they all came off in the first half with an injury…
    Rafa got the team right and the subs spot on. The more offensive players when they were tired!!

  • rick

    This article is based on true statistics, although remains incomplete. The statistics quoted about our centre backs Carra & Agger are all true, but when You discuss about performances of our centre backs, You must consider and examine the total system of the team. It’s always important a global vision of the pitch. If you keep & pass the ball well in the middle Centre Backs will play well and They will get in confidence on the pitch. Keeping the possession of ball It’s important to cover the pitch better. I don’t remember great individual mistakes by our centre – backs but only a lack of quality of our team system. If You play football (like me) You will know well that the performances of every centre backs has been always connected to the quality in the middle.
    This is my point of view: the fault of our defence it’s a team problem, and not an individual problem.
    We must grow as a team, instead of blame Carragher or Agger Who certainly are best centre backs in Europe.

  • rick

    This article is based on true statistics, although remains incomplete. The statistics quoted about our centre backs Carra & Agger are all true, but when You discuss about performances of our centre backs, You must consider and examine the total system of the team. It’s always important a global vision of the pitch. If you keep & pass the ball well in the middle Centre Backs will play well and They will get in confidence on the pitch. Keeping the possession of ball It’s important to cover the pitch better. I don’t remember great individual mistakes by our centre – backs but only a lack of quality of our team system. If You play football (like me) You will know well that the performances of every centre backs has been always connected to the quality in the middle.
    This is my point of view: the fault of our defence it’s a team problem, and not an individual problem.
    We must grow as a team, instead of blame Carragher or Agger Who certainly are best centre backs in Europe.

  • sasparelli

    Im just glad we won the derby. Better for LFC to grind out a few wins at the moment, keep a few clean sheets and start building some confidence. Then they can start to win with a bit more style etc. There’s a load of crap written all the time about Liverpool and Rafa but just think about it from this point of view; Liverpool haven’t even got near 100% and we are still within 3 points of 3rd place, ok the title is gone (barring a complete miracle) but we will get Champions League I’m sure we just need to put a run or two of unbeaten games together and a decent cup run would be nice.

  • sasparelli

    Im just glad we won the derby. Better for LFC to grind out a few wins at the moment, keep a few clean sheets and start building some confidence. Then they can start to win with a bit more style etc. There’s a load of crap written all the time about Liverpool and Rafa but just think about it from this point of view; Liverpool haven’t even got near 100% and we are still within 3 points of 3rd place, ok the title is gone (barring a complete miracle) but we will get Champions League I’m sure we just need to put a run or two of unbeaten games together and a decent cup run would be nice.

  • Harry

    I am surprised there are still many who supported Rafa strongly. But frankly, I made up my mind about him as early as his second season in charge. Forget all the debate about gross spending vs net spending, highest number of points achieved, etc. The fact is despite Rafa being a much better manager than Houllier, Roy Evans and Souness, he is no closer to bringing the league title back to Merseyside. And the reason is not coz of the owners or the debt loaded by them on the club. Man U has far greater debt than ours (700m pound debt) but that has not stopped Alex Ferguson from winning trophies. Chelsea might have bought their way to success but you still have to buy right and they bought a lot of goods players under Ranieri. I can think of many clubs which has spent a lot of money or owned by billionaires and yet they are languishing in the lower league! Think of QPR, Leeds, etc. Even Man City are struggling to mount a decent challenge after the heavy spending in the summer.

    The reason for 19 years of underachievement is due to poor vision and management by the David Moores and Rick Parry who constantly appoint the wrong managers for the club (including Rafa). But they are left the club and so, it is now to Rafa to bring the success we all craved. No, I am fan of the Yanks but I think the buck stops with the manager. He is responsible for the on-field success of the team.

    Despite his credentials, I dun think Rafa is the right one to lead us to our dreams. He might have won the Spanish League and Champion League but the EPL is different kettle of fish all together. Frankly, I have always felt that the Champion League success has a lot to do with the strength of our EPL as much as the tactical abilities of Rafa. Look at how Man U, Chelsea and even Arsenal dominate at the champion league for the last 4 or 5 seasons and you get what I mean. We won the Champion League coz EPL is stronger than most other leagues and we were out of running for the title as early as January, which means, unlike Man U and Chelsea, Rafa and the players could concentrate on the CL only. With a bit of luck on our side (think of Luis Garcia’s goal agst Chelsea and Shevchenko’s incredible miss in the final), we somehow managed to clinch the amazing victory. I am not devaluing our players’ efforts and the fans’ strong support coupled with Rafa’s spot-on tactics to bring on Dietmar Hamann. But I think fans who are objective enough can only agree with me.

    I know it hurts to admit it. But we are simply not good enough under Rafa to win the league. I am sure with most other managers in charge, we would have won the league last season. We dun really need a top-class manager to replace Rafa, just someone who allows more freedom to the players and understand our league better than Rafa. Managers like Harry Rednapp, Martin O Neil, C Ranieri and even Klinsmann or Zola. I seriously rate Rafa higher than any of those I mentioned, but I think we will stand a better chance of winnning the elusive 19th if we can get any one of them in!

    My point is Rafa has his qualities (like hunger, desire, intelligence, knowledge of game, etc) but unfortunately, he lacks the risk-taking attributes which are so impt in EPL. At the end of the day, it is not about who is a better manager but who is more suitable!

  • Harry

    I am surprised there are still many who supported Rafa strongly. But frankly, I made up my mind about him as early as his second season in charge. Forget all the debate about gross spending vs net spending, highest number of points achieved, etc. The fact is despite Rafa being a much better manager than Houllier, Roy Evans and Souness, he is no closer to bringing the league title back to Merseyside. And the reason is not coz of the owners or the debt loaded by them on the club. Man U has far greater debt than ours (700m pound debt) but that has not stopped Alex Ferguson from winning trophies. Chelsea might have bought their way to success but you still have to buy right and they bought a lot of goods players under Ranieri. I can think of many clubs which has spent a lot of money or owned by billionaires and yet they are languishing in the lower league! Think of QPR, Leeds, etc. Even Man City are struggling to mount a decent challenge after the heavy spending in the summer.

    The reason for 19 years of underachievement is due to poor vision and management by the David Moores and Rick Parry who constantly appoint the wrong managers for the club (including Rafa). But they are left the club and so, it is now to Rafa to bring the success we all craved. No, I am fan of the Yanks but I think the buck stops with the manager. He is responsible for the on-field success of the team.

    Despite his credentials, I dun think Rafa is the right one to lead us to our dreams. He might have won the Spanish League and Champion League but the EPL is different kettle of fish all together. Frankly, I have always felt that the Champion League success has a lot to do with the strength of our EPL as much as the tactical abilities of Rafa. Look at how Man U, Chelsea and even Arsenal dominate at the champion league for the last 4 or 5 seasons and you get what I mean. We won the Champion League coz EPL is stronger than most other leagues and we were out of running for the title as early as January, which means, unlike Man U and Chelsea, Rafa and the players could concentrate on the CL only. With a bit of luck on our side (think of Luis Garcia’s goal agst Chelsea and Shevchenko’s incredible miss in the final), we somehow managed to clinch the amazing victory. I am not devaluing our players’ efforts and the fans’ strong support coupled with Rafa’s spot-on tactics to bring on Dietmar Hamann. But I think fans who are objective enough can only agree with me.

    I know it hurts to admit it. But we are simply not good enough under Rafa to win the league. I am sure with most other managers in charge, we would have won the league last season. We dun really need a top-class manager to replace Rafa, just someone who allows more freedom to the players and understand our league better than Rafa. Managers like Harry Rednapp, Martin O Neil, C Ranieri and even Klinsmann or Zola. I seriously rate Rafa higher than any of those I mentioned, but I think we will stand a better chance of winnning the elusive 19th if we can get any one of them in!

    My point is Rafa has his qualities (like hunger, desire, intelligence, knowledge of game, etc) but unfortunately, he lacks the risk-taking attributes which are so impt in EPL. At the end of the day, it is not about who is a better manager but who is more suitable!

  • Bluenose

    Come on Reds, fill us in on what happened to the socks taunt and your ‘one city one club’ banner.

  • Bluenose

    Come on Reds, fill us in on what happened to the socks taunt and your ‘one city one club’ banner.

  • Aquilani4

    He is a pundit and a critic also. Even if we record a winning streak and still leak goals,he’ll still have things to talk about instead of appreciating the fact that 3 points matter the most!!!! Aquilani should be given runs like 15 minutes and he’ll become a starter eventually. Lucas has improved but offers nothing attacking wise even Masch is better than him offensively because he ain’t afraid to shoot.

  • Aquilani4

    He is a pundit and a critic also. Even if we record a winning streak and still leak goals,he’ll still have things to talk about instead of appreciating the fact that 3 points matter the most!!!! Aquilani should be given runs like 15 minutes and he’ll become a starter eventually. Lucas has improved but offers nothing attacking wise even Masch is better than him offensively because he ain’t afraid to shoot.

  • Jonathan ‘The Bounce’ McCririe

    Well said mate…the only way the moaning will stop is if we win the treble 3 seasons in a row….

  • Jonathan ‘The Bounce’ McCririe

    Well said mate…the only way the moaning will stop is if we win the treble 3 seasons in a row….

  • jimmyw

    what kind of dream world are you in Matt? Sorry mate but for me the main point is that they aren’t capable of producing really good performances. We were bundled out of the CL because we just aren’t good enough. We want to see good/great/exciting football not the rubbish that is served up week after week; we have a very defensive side that are actually very poor indeed at defending, we have a number of players who just aren’t good enough and a stubborn manager who has made a lot of bad decisions in his years at the club.
    Oh & BTW, Lawro seems to call it as he sees it–good for him.

  • jimmyw

    what kind of dream world are you in Matt? Sorry mate but for me the main point is that they aren’t capable of producing really good performances. We were bundled out of the CL because we just aren’t good enough. We want to see good/great/exciting football not the rubbish that is served up week after week; we have a very defensive side that are actually very poor indeed at defending, we have a number of players who just aren’t good enough and a stubborn manager who has made a lot of bad decisions in his years at the club.
    Oh & BTW, Lawro seems to call it as he sees it–good for him.

  • Q

    @ Harry, in your opinion, who is a suitable manager to bring the cup to anfield, bearing in mind the lack of funds and extreme pressure any liverpoolfc manager would be under?
    @Mahesh, if u can come up with about 20million pounds I am sure rafa would get a world class striker to compliment torres.
    @t.somethang, shut up,get accurate facts then you can write stuff on here.
    We played badly but i will take the 3 points seeing that the players were very low on confidence. a blind person could see that we started passing more freely after the second goal. more wins and we might see a very different LFC. YNWA

  • Q

    @ Harry, in your opinion, who is a suitable manager to bring the cup to anfield, bearing in mind the lack of funds and extreme pressure any liverpoolfc manager would be under?
    @Mahesh, if u can come up with about 20million pounds I am sure rafa would get a world class striker to compliment torres.
    @t.somethang, shut up,get accurate facts then you can write stuff on here.
    We played badly but i will take the 3 points seeing that the players were very low on confidence. a blind person could see that we started passing more freely after the second goal. more wins and we might see a very different LFC. YNWA

  • rick

    I respond You immediately: Martin O’Neill.
    He wins Trophies with small club as Leicester and top club as Celtic, He works very well with youngsters, He’s a superb talent scout for young talent (Ashley Young, Gabi Agbonlahor).
    In addition, He always make good signs because He knows the football and the good players.
    Look at Stylian Petrov: 7 million of pounds from Celtic, and He looks good enough to replace Lucas Leiva in our team.
    LFC don’t have much money, so We need a tipycal great manager, as Martin O’neill.
    Also Kevin Keegan whould be a great option for the job.
    Simply question, simply response.

  • rick

    I respond You immediately: Martin O’Neill.
    He wins Trophies with small club as Leicester and top club as Celtic, He works very well with youngsters, He’s a superb talent scout for young talent (Ashley Young, Gabi Agbonlahor).
    In addition, He always make good signs because He knows the football and the good players.
    Look at Stylian Petrov: 7 million of pounds from Celtic, and He looks good enough to replace Lucas Leiva in our team.
    LFC don’t have much money, so We need a tipycal great manager, as Martin O’neill.
    Also Kevin Keegan whould be a great option for the job.
    Simply question, simply response.

  • Michael

    I think we as fans and supporters need to look at what Rafa and the players have achieved since he took over as Gaffer. Our expectations need to be realistic and whith what we had last year in terms of injuries and where we finished was fantastic. That does not automatically mean that we will finish 1st this season. It would be fantastic but it is a road that needs to be buitl and travelled.
    We have exceptional quality players and the likes of Mr Gerrard and Mr Torres are the start of these players but not the end. Rafa knows what is expected and the players seem confident with him so lets keep quite and let him do his job. Mr Torres flourished under his guidance as to has Mr Gerrard and those are only two, you have Mr Macherano , Mr Kuyt, Mr Agger, Mr Skirtel the list goes on to all of them putting their bodies and more importantly their hearts on the line week in and week out. I thank you the team for what you give me when I watch you guys out there fighting to the last second.
    Thank you!

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