Benitez to be Newcastle Manager..
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The he said it again:
Houllier hits out at Benitez tenure
442 Staff - Tuesday 20 July 2010, 17:22
Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has criticised his successor at Anfield, claiming it was he and not Rafael Benitez who turned the club around and built the squad which memorably won the 2005 Champions League final.
Speaking to the London Evening Standard, the 63-year old Frenchman has welcomed the appointment of his close friend Roy Hodgson, believing the former Fulham manager will restore the values and traditions of the Anfield club.
Houllier said: “After Rafa Benitez left this summer, one of the players sent me a message.
“He said, 'Boss, he hasn’t beaten you'.”
Houllier goes on to say that Benitez was lucky to inherit a club that was in such good health when he was sacked in 2004.
“One, the pattern of getting a foreign coach was already accepted. Two, he had a Champions League winning team. Three, the team were already in the Champions League. Four, we had built new facilities. And five, it was a different training routine, different attitude and mentality," he said.
“I claim that we – Phil Thompson, Sammy Lee and the staff – definitely turned it round. The chairman, when I left, said 'You put the club into the 21st Century.””
Houllier also believes Liverpool’s Champions League success was due to a squad he constructed and that Benitez has failed to build on it.
“Twelve out of 14 in Istanbul were players I had signed or developed. I left Liverpool with a team and in the Champions League. But when you finish seventh with Torres and Gerrard…
“When I came into the changing room in Istanbul some of the players said: 'Boss, it’s your team'.”
Despite a humiliating summer, which saw Houllier oversee France’s disastrous World Cup campaign as the French Federation’s Technical Director, he is keen to return to club management, with England his ideal destination.
“I would love to manage the right club. There’s one I thought I would go to but Newcastle took Kevin Keegan.”
By Jamie Bowman
Is this fake too? I'm asking...
Houllier hits out at Benitez tenure
442 Staff - Tuesday 20 July 2010, 17:22
Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has criticised his successor at Anfield, claiming it was he and not Rafael Benitez who turned the club around and built the squad which memorably won the 2005 Champions League final.
Speaking to the London Evening Standard, the 63-year old Frenchman has welcomed the appointment of his close friend Roy Hodgson, believing the former Fulham manager will restore the values and traditions of the Anfield club.
Houllier said: “After Rafa Benitez left this summer, one of the players sent me a message.
“He said, 'Boss, he hasn’t beaten you'.”
Houllier goes on to say that Benitez was lucky to inherit a club that was in such good health when he was sacked in 2004.
“One, the pattern of getting a foreign coach was already accepted. Two, he had a Champions League winning team. Three, the team were already in the Champions League. Four, we had built new facilities. And five, it was a different training routine, different attitude and mentality," he said.
“I claim that we – Phil Thompson, Sammy Lee and the staff – definitely turned it round. The chairman, when I left, said 'You put the club into the 21st Century.””
Houllier also believes Liverpool’s Champions League success was due to a squad he constructed and that Benitez has failed to build on it.
“Twelve out of 14 in Istanbul were players I had signed or developed. I left Liverpool with a team and in the Champions League. But when you finish seventh with Torres and Gerrard…
“When I came into the changing room in Istanbul some of the players said: 'Boss, it’s your team'.”
Despite a humiliating summer, which saw Houllier oversee France’s disastrous World Cup campaign as the French Federation’s Technical Director, he is keen to return to club management, with England his ideal destination.
“I would love to manage the right club. There’s one I thought I would go to but Newcastle took Kevin Keegan.”
By Jamie Bowman
Is this fake too? I'm asking...
So GH was happy we appointed Hodgson. I see.
Well, I don't think we can debate the fact that he brought us into the 21st Century. Just like Tom Watson brought us into the 20th Century.
Well we won the league cup under Roy Evans when we were "exciting" and won a treble under Houllier when we were "boring" so I know which I prefer.
Plus looking at the treble winning season...
- I was bored shitless when we won 5-4 with a golden OG in ET.
- I was bored shitless when we beat Everton 3-2 at Goodison with a last minute 44 yarder from Gary Mac
- I was bored shitless when we beat Arsenal 2-1 with two goals in the last 7 mins to win the game
- I was bored shitless when we beat Charlton 4-0 to get into the CL
- I was bored shitless sitting at the Nou Camp when we drew nil nil
- I was bored shitless watching us beat the Mancs home and away
etc etc
Only one of the above was true....but it was in fact, a means to an end.
Don't let people rewrite history Modo. Houllier made us tatically sounder and also made us difficult to beat with the purchases of Hyppia, Henchoz and Babbel for the combined price of £6m!! He also got us Gary Mac, nurtured Gerrard and Carragher etc.
I'd take all of that over the previous teams no shows, every time!
Ia actally believe that! Maybe only Houllier could take a team to Barca for the first time in 25 years and make you want to go to sleep.
I remember those games too, of course, but those are the highlights from a what? 5-6 year stint?
Sure we made it harder for opposing teams to beat us, but we did that by sitting back and counter attacking.
I don't' think I'm imagining that we were boring to watch.
Here's whaht Ian St John had to say about it:
"For years Liverpool fans have been proud of their teams, who played attacking football with fire and aggression," he said.
"But fans now don't get turned on by his team. Instead they sit there like zombies and boo them off at the end. The fans are so disgusted and I think if there were a change tomorrow they'd be happy.
"Five years is long enough for everyone, especially when you have a so-called five-year plan.
Here's more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2002/sep/10/newsstory.sport11
Sure we made it harder for opposing teams to beat us, but we did that by sitting back and counter attacking.
I don't' think I'm imagining that we were boring to watch.
Here's whaht Ian St John had to say about it:
"For years Liverpool fans have been proud of their teams, who played attacking football with fire and aggression," he said.
"But fans now don't get turned on by his team. Instead they sit there like zombies and boo them off at the end. The fans are so disgusted and I think if there were a change tomorrow they'd be happy.
"Five years is long enough for everyone, especially when you have a so-called five-year plan.
Here's more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2002/sep/10/newsstory.sport11
Like Benitez done at Juve and Stamford Bridge?
That Juve game?
Wasn't Gerrard suspended? Alonso just returned from injury? Barely had any strikers.
Needed to at least get a point.
Team:
Wasn't Gerrard suspended? Alonso just returned from injury? Barely had any strikers.
Needed to at least get a point.
Team:
- 1 Jerzy Dudek
- 3 Steve Finnan
- 4 Sami Hyypiä
- 5 Milan Baroš
- 6 John Arne Riise
- 10 Luis García
- 14 Xabi Alonso
- 18 Antonio Núñez
- 21 Djimi Traoré
- 23 Jamie Carragher
- 25 Igor Bišcan
- 1 Gianluigi Buffon
- 4 Paolo Montero
- 8 Emerson
- 9 Zlatan Ibrahimović
- 10 Alessandro Del Piero
- 11 Pavel Nedvěd
- 16 Mauro Camoranesi
- 19 Gianluca Zambrotta
- 21 Lilian Thuram
- 24 Ruben Olivera
- 28 Fabio Cannavaro
Even the great managers played that way away from home in Europe.
I'd take organization and a victory over 2 legs rather than going out 5-6.
You're right though it is a pussies way of playing but ultimately it worked most often than not.
Oh great ... WOOOO HOOOO ... a proper Rafa thread in the making. Everyone knows where everyone stands.
Can't we just talk about bitey racist cunts? or maybe racism?
Can't we just talk about bitey racist cunts? or maybe racism?
That's where I was praising both Ged and Rafa.
Fuck playing fancy football as we won both trophies at the end of both competitions riding our luck and with excellent tactical nous.
Guardiola,Cocu,Petit,Rivaldo,Reizinger,F de Boer,Overmars,Kluivert,Luis Enrique.
Wasn't half bad either.
Well of course.
Wouldn't be much point using defeats to the likes of Bolton, Villa, Portsmouth, Wigan and Fulham, or goalless draws with teams like Stoke, Wolves, Hull, Birmingham, Middlesbrough and Blackburn as evidence of an exciting attacking team would it?
Oh go on then.
Houllier didn't always have the benefit of four Champions League places to play for. He won the cup treble, he finished second (something you put a huge amount of credit in) and he also won the Super Cup, a second league cup and is responsible for some epic European results. Benitez won Big Ears, the Super Cup and the FA Cup, finished second and got to a couple of finals which we lost. The only difference really is that Benitez had the benefit of CL football in his first season and won it brilliantly. The rest is fairly much of a muchness. There's little to choose between them in every other respect. They both deserve to be on there because they contributed to putting us back on the map after a decade of indifference - they won all important silverware.
As for spending, I think Houllier's pot pales into insignificance to what Rafa had to spend (regardless of his ability to cash in on his own shit signings).
You've also got a short memory when it comes to unwatchable football, under both managers when at our best we were scintillating, unfortunately those moments were too fleeting, while dull, incoherent performances were just as much the norm.
I don't know why you always how to play down Houllier's achievements as a means to big up Rafa. Rafa was as capable of serving up dishwater as anyone.
He'd also got rid of a few players at that point too. Owen, Henchoz and Murphy would have made that first XI stronger, he also had Cisse on the bench.
Have a look at the XI for the final a few years later and the players he criminally left on the bench because he was a stubborn point-proving cunt.
We didn't have a shot on target the whole game if I remember correctly.
It was a solid away performance with some terrific defensive organization even with Traore playing which makes it all the more heroic.
But we had zero attacking threat that night.
I think it was probably a mistake getting rid of Murphy at that price, but still a marginal one. You can't have Owen without subtracting Alonso, so that's another marginal one. Cisse was shit. I wouldn't mention him if you want to defend Houllier.
The final? The CL final? Which players are you talking about?
On paper they were good, but they were playing really badly as a team. They had a similar problem to Liverpool in later years, whereas Rivaldo (like Gerrard) was carrying them at times. The Dutch players in particular seemed to have really lost the plot (maybe due to Van Gaal leaving or creating a division in the team by shipping out some of their best players to replace them with Dutch players).
Although I don't think Reizinger was ever good
Damn phone, errr the one a few years later.
I'm not defending Houllier with Cisse, but he did have a few other players who were capable and whom contributed to us getting to the final, Pongolle, Le Tallec and Mellor also contributed. In fairness, Houllier didn't inherit a great squad either, and the one that Rafa left was on the slide and with players whom were already starting to look elsewhere.
Regarding achievements, there's no reason why Houllier shouldn't be on there.
This is true, but Juv offered almost no threat either.
Interesting match commentary from the Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2005/apr/13/newsstory.sport8
Liverpool? In the semi-final? No disrespect to the Harry Kewell- Igor Biscan- and Djimi Traore-carrying Scouse outfit, but if that doesn't devalue the whole competition I don't know what does. How has a team this poor and injury-ravaged got this far? And more to the point - can they do a Porto and go all the way?
Tbh I think Benitez's presence there is very debatable itself, Houllier's would be even more so.
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