Chelsea FC

(21-11-2012 15:09 )Phoenix Wrote:  Just please not Benitez, Roman

Absolutely gutted. Replace a club legend with a Spanish waiter, crazy

(21-11-2012 15:09 )Phoenix Wrote:  Just please not Benitez, Roman

He's a good manager, we were often the better side in the big games under him, we just didn't have the players like you have.


I can see this being Rafa's team with maybe Mata right & Oscar centre. Mata has some of the Gerrard qualities playing just off Torres & Lampard would play a similar role to Xabi Alonso.

It's a shrude piece of business by Rafa, he knows Abramovic wants Pep Guardiola just like City do, Rafa will do well at Chelsea maybe even win the league, he knows he's putting himself in the frame for whichever job Pep doesn't get.

I think you'll beat City on Sunday now & Torres will be on the score sheet.

(23-11-2012 20:55 )mitchell Wrote:  He's a good manager, we were often the better side in the big games under him, we just didn't have the players like you have...

Not saying he isn’t a good coach, in fact (despite our squad responding better to man-managers rather than tacticians) I think we’ll look a lot more solid and organised under Benitez. It’s more the way he conducts himself (was cringing throughout his entire press conference) compared to Robbie who was nothing but class. His comments about us in the past. The fact –no pun intended- that he’s adored by your mob. He wrecked an Inter team who were European Champs. And of course that he’s replaced a guy who in a coupla months won the same two trophies that Rafa won in 6 years at Liverpool . And also that the only reason Benitez is at our club is not really because he’s a good manager but because the owner has a strange man-crush on Torres and is too stubborn to admit he’s been wrong twice (Shevchenko being the first, although to be fair he was nowhere near as bad as Nando).

Not going to the Bridge till Fulham on Wednesday, and I’ve never booed our manager in my life and I’m not gonna start now, but I’ll certainly show my support for Di Matteo. Then reluctantly get behind Rafa for the rest season, but I can’t ever see myself warming to the bloke, even if he wins trophies.

Hopefully he doesn’t change the team at all, our first XI picks itself, which was part of the problem as they were having to play every match, and a benefit of Benitez coming in is he likes to rotate the squad, so we should be fresher generally.

(23-11-2012 20:55 )mitchell Wrote:  ...I think you'll beat City on Sunday now & Torres will be on the score sheet.

I fancy us to beat City too, but Torres to score?! No chance! I’ll have a friendly bet with you that if Torres scores on Sunday I’ll change my avatar to nice big picture of Rafa!


I was wondering though Mitchell, how do Liverpool fans feel about Rafa now? You had people burning Torres #9 shirts within seconds of him putting in a transfer request, do you feel the same towards Rafa now?

Benitez holding up a Chelsea shirt yesterday looked and felt wrong. He's let a lot of reds down. It's all about the dough in his pocket. I agreed with what Fergie said about Benitez earlier. He knows he's inheriting a squad packed with world class talent, the European champions. But like purple nose said, he'll take all the credit if they win the world club cup and he'll be the best thing since sliced bread again.

Steven Gerrard won us the European cup in Istanbul and the FA cup on his own in 06. The years Rafa was a success at Liverpool, Stevie was in his prime, carrying him and the team on his back. Benitez is one of the most unapproachable characters in football. Every squad responds better to a man manager, so for me your bang in trouble. He never gives praise to his players a "well done" or a "well played". He fell out with Xabi Alonso and tried to sell the lad and replace him with Gareth Barry. Xabi fuckin Alonso!!! No wonder he left.

Not every reds fan adores Benitez. That's a myth. I respect him for what he's put in place at the academy (His real legacy for me) and his £96,000 donation to the HFSG. Would say half our support loved him and half were always a bit more reserved. I sang his name til my throat bled and backed him to the hilt until he left but he was always too negative and stubborn for me.

A former reds manager taking charge of one of our rivals is new ground. So when you see it, it hurts a bit. Rafa knows how many reds loved him. His face flies on the Kop every home game, now he's holding up a blue jersey and is manager of Chelsea... Hope he fails miserably lad!

i bet that was an hard post 4 u G N P agreeing with fergie lol! hes spot on though!

(24-11-2012 00:24 )groundnpound Wrote:  Benitez holding up a Chelsea shirt yesterday looked and felt wrong. He's let a lot of reds down. It's all about the dough in his pocket. I agreed with what Fergie said about Benitez earlier. He knows he's inheriting a squad packet with world class talent, the European champions. But like purple nose said, he'll take all the credit if they win the world club cup and he'll be the best thing since sliced bread again.

Agree completely, especially the highlighted bit!

(24-11-2012 00:24 )groundnpound Wrote:  Not every reds fan adores Benitez. That's a myth. I respect him for what he's put in place at the academy. Adore, no. FACT.

I must've got the wrong impression then, but I still hear many LFC fans talk him up to be a blend of Clough, Mourinho and Fergie (I'm paraphrasing ). Heard a lot of people mention his work for your academy, but that's kind of irrelevant for us as he's (hopefully) not gonna be here long.

(24-11-2012 00:24 )groundnpound Wrote:  He fell out with Xabi Alonso and tried to sell the lad and replace him with Gareth Barry. Xabi fuckin Alonso!!! No wonder he left.

Oh God I had completely forgotten about that! He's gonna sell Mata in January and replace him with Jordan Henderson!

(23-11-2012 23:23 )Phoenix Wrote:  I fancy us to beat City too, but Torres to score?! No chance! I’ll have a friendly bet with you that if Torres scores on Sunday I’ll change my avatar to nice big picture of Rafa!


I was wondering though Mitchell, how do Liverpool fans feel about Rafa now? You had people burning Torres #9 shirts within seconds of him putting in a transfer request, do you feel the same towards Rafa now?

I'll hold you to that, but it has to be this one.



I hope Torres fails to score for the rest of the season, the way he left us was cheap, the twat!!!

Unlike some I wasn't botherd how Rafa didn't publicly or even privately praise his players, unless your a young player coming into the team you shouldn't need it, if your in the team every week then you know what the manager thinks of you, your payed shit loads to perform & if you do that then you've done your job praise or no praise.

A player wins 3 trophies in a season he's happy, a player wins 3 trophies in a season but doesn't get a pat on the back from his manager.... He's still happy.

I'm sure all fans are the same but to see a club legend (2005) manage a team like Chelsea who at this stage are ahead of us is a bit shitty, but I'm glad he's back in a job as I think he's a good manager.
Premier League wise I'd rather he'd gone to Tottenham or Arsenal though.

This should probably be in our thread.

It somewhat annoys me when people come out with the, Oh Gerrard won the European Cup on his own. Dudek's save from Shevchenko, & penalies, Traoré I think pulled one off the line. The whole team in Turin & Igor 'Biscanbul' Bišćan away at Deportivo & then that game against Olympiacos, where Rafa Benítez brought on Florent Sinama Pongolle at halftime only for him to make it 1-1 50 seconds later, "Managers change games" ~ Andy Gray, Benitez then followed that up by bringing on Neil Mellor who moments later saw a Sinima Pongolle cross met by Antonio Núñez who's header rebounded to Mellor 2-1.

No one ever seems to gives Benítez, Sinima Pongolle or Mellor any credit for that game. It was Neil Mellor's "Lovely cushioned header for Gerraaaard" that made that strike possible.

If Rafael Benítez wants to take a little bit of credit for that game he's well within his rights to do so..... Yes he should also give public praise to Florent Sinama Pongolle & Neil Mellor also.

I don't just think you'll beat City I think you're in a very good position to be league champions aswell given the squad you've got.

What you gonna do if he gets Falcao in January & keeps a possibly goal scoring Torres, yeah it's Romans money but so is the players from Di Matteo's 'Team'.

It doesn't matter who's manager some will always say Chelsea unless all the Mourinho players are gone is made up of Roman's money & Mourinho's mentality.

(24-11-2012 13:44 )mitchell Wrote:  I'll hold you to that, but it has to be this one.

Easy tiger!

But OK, deal, but only if you agree to have this as your avatar for a coupla weeks if Torres doesn’t score on Sunday!:

(24-11-2012 13:44 )mitchell Wrote:  Unlike some I wasn't botherd how Rafa didn't publicly or even privately praise his players, unless your a young player coming into the team you shouldn't need it, if your in the team every week then you know what the manager thinks of you, your payed shit loads to perform & if you do that then you've done your job praise or no praise.

A player wins 3 trophies in a season he's happy, a player wins 3 trophies in a season but doesn't get a pat on the back from his manager.... He's still happy.

This should be true but isn’t, footballers are babies and most need to be told how good they are. Saw Stephane Henchoz say this morning how he didn’t like Rafa but, as you say, this doesn’t really matter when you're winning, it’s when you hit a bad patch that this can become a problem (e.g. AVB last season)

(24-11-2012 13:44 )mitchell Wrote:  What you gonna do if he gets Falcao in January & keeps a possibly goal scoring Torres, yeah it's Romans money but so is the players from Di Matteo's 'Team'.

I don’t think we’ll get Falcao anymore, as I said before Roman’s desperate for Torres to succeed and I can’t see him spending £45m on someone who would clearly get in the team ahead of Nando. To be honest with the creative players we have I don’t think we even need Falcao, although I wouldn’t say no to him of course, we just need a half decent, available, experienced, striker who knows where the net is (Huntelaar for example)

(24-11-2012 21:46 )Phoenix Wrote:  

(24-11-2012 13:44 )mitchell Wrote:  I'll hold you to that, but it has to be this one.

Easy tiger!

But OK, deal, but only if you agree to have this as your avatar for a coupla weeks if Torres doesn’t score on Sunday!:

(24-11-2012 13:44 )mitchell Wrote:  Unlike some I wasn't botherd how Rafa didn't publicly or even privately praise his players, unless your a young player coming into the team you shouldn't need it, if your in the team every week then you know what the manager thinks of you, your payed shit loads to perform & if you do that then you've done your job praise or no praise.

A player wins 3 trophies in a season he's happy, a player wins 3 trophies in a season but doesn't get a pat on the back from his manager.... He's still happy.

This should be true but isn’t, footballers are babies and most need to be told how good they are. Saw Stephane Henchoz say this morning how he didn’t like Rafa but, as you say, this doesn’t really matter when you're winning, it’s when you hit a bad patch that this can become a problem (e.g. AVB last season)

(24-11-2012 13:44 )mitchell Wrote:  What you gonna do if he gets Falcao in January & keeps a possibly goal scoring Torres, yeah it's Romans money but so is the players from Di Matteo's 'Team'.

I don’t think we’ll get Falcao anymore, as I said before Roman’s desperate for Torres to succeed and I can’t see him spending £45m on someone who would clearly get in the team ahead of Nando. To be honest with the creative players we have I don’t think we even need Falcao, although I wouldn’t say no to him of course, we just need a half decent, available, experienced, striker who knows where the net is (Huntelaar for example)

Why doesn't Rafa try to prise David Villa away ffrom Barca (or is it Real?), using Torres? (I get the feeling Torres must be getting homesick and probably a move back home would benefit him better).
I think he is just as good as Huntelaar (who i thought had a decent Euro 2012), but I also think he has never properly shaken off any long standing injury worries. I think he definitely does seem to lack a little confidence.

(24-11-2012 01:45 )Phoenix Wrote:  

(24-11-2012 00:24 )groundnpound Wrote:  Benitez holding up a Chelsea shirt yesterday looked and felt wrong. He's let a lot of reds down. It's all about the dough in his pocket. I agreed with what Fergie said about Benitez earlier. He knows he's inheriting a squad packet with world class talent, the European champions. But like purple nose said, he'll take all the credit if they win the world club cup and he'll be the best thing since sliced bread again.

Agree completely, especially the highlighted bit!

(24-11-2012 00:24 )groundnpound Wrote:  Not every reds fan adores Benitez. That's a myth. I respect him for what he's put in place at the academy. Adore, no. FACT.

I must've got the wrong impression then, but I still hear many LFC fans talk him up to be a blend of Clough, Mourinho and Fergie (I'm paraphrasing ). Heard a lot of people mention his work for your academy, but that's kind of irrelevant for us as he's (hopefully) not gonna be here long.

(24-11-2012 00:24 )groundnpound Wrote:  He fell out with Xabi Alonso and tried to sell the lad and replace him with Gareth Barry. Xabi fuckin Alonso!!! No wonder he left.

Oh God I had completely forgotten about that! He's gonna sell Mata in January and replace him with Jordan Henderson!

or would he sell Mata to get Beckham? Maybe Beckham's presenc woul probaby kickstart the whole season and having him around would probably be a boost too for the whole squad seeing as he finished his MLS stint a winner and victoria lookin for a home in London? Hmmmm....