Now,
It's clear to all unblinkered people that it's time for Benitez to go. He's simply not up to the task at hand. He's been living off a fluke CL win for 5 years now and as we stand in mid/late October we have no chance of winning the league(finishing in the top 4 would be huge achievement at this point) and are for all intends and purposes, barring a miracle, out of the CL.
Rafa's tactically inept and the most predictable manager in the league. Nobody needs to watch match footage of Liverpool, they just know how we play. High tempo from the start, try to grab an early goal. and if we do, sit back and defend and try to use Gerrard and Torres to snatch a second goal on the break. Rafa will never make a change in the first half or at half time unless theres an injury and every one knows that between the 60th and 65th minute he will make a change.
His team selection baffles and his substitutions often border on the ridiculous. Countless times whilst chasing games Rafa has replaced an attacking player with a fullback.
His record in the transfer market is awful. And his performance in the last transfer window was the worst since the days of Souness. He spent 17million on a right back we didn't need whilst we were crying out for a top class centreback. The rightback has shown to be awful defensively and his arrival has coincided with our defense falling apart, hardly a coincidence. He dragged the Alonso deal out all summer, got a terrible deal and at the same time alienated all of Alonso's friends. He left it so we had no time to scout and sign the right player. Then he panicked and signed a player who has never proved he's worth anything of the sort, for 20million. This player was not only carrying an existing injury but was known as one of the most injury prone players in Europe. Rafa assured he'd be back in 6-8 weeks. That was 10 weeks ago and he's still a couple of weeks away from starting for the first team at which point it will be a month or so before he even starts to feel comfortable. He also managed to fall out with Mascherano during this summer.
Rafa has spent a huge amount of money building this team, and HIS team have won NOTHING.
He does nothing but complain and place the blame on everyone else, never accepting that the buck stops with him. It's his fault. No matter what happens, as manager(and having grabbed every bit of power he could) it's his fault. Players are out of form, his fault. He picks the team. Aquilani not played yet, his fault. He bought him knowing he was hurt. No squad depth, his fault. He makes all transfer decision and he's the one that's wasted the clubs funds.
Last season was Rafa's only chance to win the league and Chelski were in a mess and United stumbled through the season and he failed. When he couldn't win it last season it was time to start looking for a new manager. SIX defeats so far this season. Simply not good enough.
He's lost the players support, he's losing the fans as was evidenced by the mass boos and jeers after Lyon match.
The pro-Rafa brigade have no response except for "it will cost too much to get rid of him" and "who is there to replace him".
In the world of football there are many managers who are more than good enough to replace him and do a far better job. Perhaps an experienced coach, like Del Bosque after the World Cup. Maybe even Capello. Perhaps a Mourinho. Or give youth a chance and go with someone like Laudrup. Get rid of Rafa now and put Sammy Lee and Kenny Dalglish in charge with a two pronged mission, for Sammy, take charge of the team and get them winning again with Kenny acting as mentor/advisor and for Kenny, start compiling a list of possible new managers and get the scouting network watching them instead of wasting their time looking for the next Ngog. By March we can have a shortlist in place and whittle that down until we can approach the chosen one and make them an offer. Be it a non-National team coach we can have them in place by June 1st and they can have the whole summer to start getting things sorted, or if it's a Del Bosque/Capello type, then have the agreement in place and make the announcement the day after their country gets knocked out.
Getting rid of Rafa will also help in attracting new owners. It's a lot harder to sell a club with a manager who's known to be difficult and who the new owners would have to pay off than it is to tell the new owners that they can pick their own man but that the hunt is already on and that they don't need to worry about severance for the outgoing manager, its all taken care of. With new owners in place, the clubs finances would hopefully be sorted, thus making the club more attractive for a top manager. So really, getting rid of Rafa will work in both cases.
It's time to say thanks for Istanbul Rafa but you're no longer needed here.
RAFA OUT!!
It's clear to all unblinkered people that it's time for Benitez to go. He's simply not up to the task at hand. He's been living off a fluke CL win for 5 years now and as we stand in mid/late October we have no chance of winning the league(finishing in the top 4 would be huge achievement at this point) and are for all intends and purposes, barring a miracle, out of the CL.
Rafa's tactically inept and the most predictable manager in the league. Nobody needs to watch match footage of Liverpool, they just know how we play. High tempo from the start, try to grab an early goal. and if we do, sit back and defend and try to use Gerrard and Torres to snatch a second goal on the break. Rafa will never make a change in the first half or at half time unless theres an injury and every one knows that between the 60th and 65th minute he will make a change.
His team selection baffles and his substitutions often border on the ridiculous. Countless times whilst chasing games Rafa has replaced an attacking player with a fullback.
His record in the transfer market is awful. And his performance in the last transfer window was the worst since the days of Souness. He spent 17million on a right back we didn't need whilst we were crying out for a top class centreback. The rightback has shown to be awful defensively and his arrival has coincided with our defense falling apart, hardly a coincidence. He dragged the Alonso deal out all summer, got a terrible deal and at the same time alienated all of Alonso's friends. He left it so we had no time to scout and sign the right player. Then he panicked and signed a player who has never proved he's worth anything of the sort, for 20million. This player was not only carrying an existing injury but was known as one of the most injury prone players in Europe. Rafa assured he'd be back in 6-8 weeks. That was 10 weeks ago and he's still a couple of weeks away from starting for the first team at which point it will be a month or so before he even starts to feel comfortable. He also managed to fall out with Mascherano during this summer.
Rafa has spent a huge amount of money building this team, and HIS team have won NOTHING.
He does nothing but complain and place the blame on everyone else, never accepting that the buck stops with him. It's his fault. No matter what happens, as manager(and having grabbed every bit of power he could) it's his fault. Players are out of form, his fault. He picks the team. Aquilani not played yet, his fault. He bought him knowing he was hurt. No squad depth, his fault. He makes all transfer decision and he's the one that's wasted the clubs funds.
Last season was Rafa's only chance to win the league and Chelski were in a mess and United stumbled through the season and he failed. When he couldn't win it last season it was time to start looking for a new manager. SIX defeats so far this season. Simply not good enough.
He's lost the players support, he's losing the fans as was evidenced by the mass boos and jeers after Lyon match.
The pro-Rafa brigade have no response except for "it will cost too much to get rid of him" and "who is there to replace him".
In the world of football there are many managers who are more than good enough to replace him and do a far better job. Perhaps an experienced coach, like Del Bosque after the World Cup. Maybe even Capello. Perhaps a Mourinho. Or give youth a chance and go with someone like Laudrup. Get rid of Rafa now and put Sammy Lee and Kenny Dalglish in charge with a two pronged mission, for Sammy, take charge of the team and get them winning again with Kenny acting as mentor/advisor and for Kenny, start compiling a list of possible new managers and get the scouting network watching them instead of wasting their time looking for the next Ngog. By March we can have a shortlist in place and whittle that down until we can approach the chosen one and make them an offer. Be it a non-National team coach we can have them in place by June 1st and they can have the whole summer to start getting things sorted, or if it's a Del Bosque/Capello type, then have the agreement in place and make the announcement the day after their country gets knocked out.
Getting rid of Rafa will also help in attracting new owners. It's a lot harder to sell a club with a manager who's known to be difficult and who the new owners would have to pay off than it is to tell the new owners that they can pick their own man but that the hunt is already on and that they don't need to worry about severance for the outgoing manager, its all taken care of. With new owners in place, the clubs finances would hopefully be sorted, thus making the club more attractive for a top manager. So really, getting rid of Rafa will work in both cases.
It's time to say thanks for Istanbul Rafa but you're no longer needed here.
RAFA OUT!!
