Rafa - "I'm Bamboozled"

[Rsonist]

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has played down his side's chances of winning the Premier League next season, describing the title as "an option".The Reds finished fourth in the season just ended, 11 points behind champions Manchester United.Their last league title came back in 1990 but Benitez did not sound overly confident of ending that depressing streak in 2008/2009."It is an option, for sure," he told the club's website, www.liverpoolfc.tv."We know our weaknesses and our strengths. We know where we need to improve, so we'll try to build a new team looking at these things."It's more difficult than in Spain because the top sides spend big, big money. We will try to do our best and the key for me is to not talk about the title."The key is to be near the top, to be contenders. If we stay close then I think we are capable of doing it."It's more difficult because after two years of Chelsea winning the league and spending big money, United needed to do the same."They started spending big money and Arsenal were also spending big money on young players. We are trying to do the same but because they (Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal) are continuing to spend big money, it makes it more difficult to catch up."You also see Aston Villa, Newcastle, West Ham and Everton spending money and having strong teams. It's not easy to be in the top four and be contenders but because we have a young squad we can try again."

SMHThose last two paragraphs, like he hasn't spent big money too. Definitely more than all the clubs mentioned except Chelsea and Man U.

[Mr Q]

He knows what hes saying, anyways. Autoplay needs to be taken off

[Flojo]

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has played down his side's chances of winning the Premier League next season, describing the title as "an option".The Reds finished fourth in the season just ended, 11 points behind champions Manchester United.Their last league title came back in 1990 but Benitez did not sound overly confident of ending that depressing streak in 2008/2009."It is an option, for sure," he told the club's website, www.liverpoolfc.tv."We know our weaknesses and our strengths. We know where we need to improve, so we'll try to build a new team looking at these things."It's more difficult than in Spain because the top sides spend big, big money. We will try to do our best and the key for me is to not talk about the title."The key is to be near the top, to be contenders. If we stay close then I think we are capable of doing it."It's more difficult because after two years of Chelsea winning the league and spending big money, United needed to do the same."They started spending big money and Arsenal were also spending big money on young players. We are trying to do the same but because they (Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal) are continuing to spend big money, it makes it more difficult to catch up."You also see Aston Villa, Newcastle, West Ham and Everton spending money and having strong teams. It's not easy to be in the top four and be contenders but because we have a young squad we can try again."

SMHThose last two paragraphs, like he hasn't spent big money too. Definitely more than all the clubs mentioned except Chelsea and Man U.

Reaching to say the least. He's basically saying that the clubs to challenge the top four have been strengthening and will continue to do so and I know exactly why he's saying it. I would actually say that Newcastle have spent more during the time Rafa's been there, Newcastle don't recoup sh*t pure big money outgoings and free transfers at the end of it.

[Lot To Learn]

[TF S4DK]

I was wondering who was gonna start this topic, I was tempted due to...

"They started spending big money and Arsenal were also spending big money on young players. We are trying to do the same but because they (Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal) are continuing to spend big money, it makes it more difficult to catch up.

SMH.

[I.B.Blackman]

Deep

[LS]

He will spend 70 mil this year.

[Mr Q]

Heard its gonna be closer to 110 Million this year.

[BATTY BOY BUM BANDIT]

lmaoRafa please allow it.Allow trying to make it sound like you havent got mnuch of a chance so when you fail again you can say that is what you expected.Pool fans must be pissed

[Davicious X]

If every team takes a step forward then everyteam is basically in the same spot.Chelsea and Man U spent nuff as did Liverpool but they were both ahead of us to begin with. Basically since all teams spent nothing has changed.SMH @ ppl missin what he was saying

[TF S4DK]

But why did he bring Arsenal into it? Thats when his point goes horribly wrong.He spent more on youngers than us. He spends more in general than us.and for the last two years they finished above us and been crowned European Champions a year prior to that, yet still finished behind us this year...

[Ironman]

LMAO,can't take nothing this guy says seriously,please God someone take forth spot from these cunts this year.

[Kaiser]

But why did he bring Arsenal into it? Thats when his point goes horribly wrong.He spent more on youngers than us. He spends more in general than us.and for the last two years they finished above us and been crowned European Champions a year prior to that, yet still finished behind us this year...

His English lets him down at timesHe never makes any errors when interviewed in spanish

[MEIRELES.]

His English is sh*t. If he said that in Spanish it would sound betterPS: Thread title come like Stephen McPhail in the playoff final.Tryna recuperate from the slewage spurs fans got a few weeks back PMSL

[Lenny]

"They started spending big money and Arsenal were also spending big money on young players. We are trying to do the same but because they (Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal) are continuing to spend big money, it makes it more difficult to catch up."You also see Aston Villa, Newcastle, West Ham and Everton spending money and having strong teams. It's not easy to be in the top four and be contenders but because we have a young squad we can try again."PMSL

[Kaiser]

i f*ck*ng HATE this argument. we are not chelsea or manchester united, we work within a very stringent budget and we have to get the best for the money available. Rafa isnt stupid, he knows that these arent the best players in the world but they were better than what we had. you replace what you have with better players, the more money you have to spend, the better the replacement, and its an ever continuting process. thats how football works, its called progression. at no point did rafa think that bolo zenden would be the long term solution to our left mid options, but he cost us nothing, and given that kewell was a perma-crock, was better than what they had.dont for one minute think that benitez sits down every summer and thinks 'hhmmm....eto'o or bellamy...which one should we sign?' it doesnt work like that, he's not an idiot. he gets the best players he can within a budget, simple as that. and given that budget, signing players like bellamy for 6m and offloading him for 10m a year later is good business. why? because it gives us an extra 4m to progress further, to sign better players.we sign players like gonzalez not because we think he's as good as ronaldo, but because we work to a budget, and cant write a blank cheque like some of the others. the criticism that Rafa wants to sign these type of players is completely unfoundedco-sign this guyNAIL ON HEAD

[BATTY BOY BUM BANDIT]

we sign players like gonzalez not because we think he's as good as ronaldo, but because we work to a budget, and cant write a blank cheque like some of the others. the criticism that Rafa wants to sign these type of players is completely unfounded

Difference being that Rafa spends 12 mil on Penant and Crouch, And united spend the same amount on Ronaldo who is umpteen times as good as those two put together.

[TF S4DK]

i f*ck*ng HATE this argument. we are not chelsea or manchester united, we work within a very stringent budget and we have to get the best for the money available. Rafa isnt stupid, he knows that these arent the best players in the world but they were better than what we had. you replace what you have with better players, the more money you have to spend, the better the replacement, and its an ever continuting process. thats how football works, its called progression. at no point did rafa think that bolo zenden would be the long term solution to our left mid options, but he cost us nothing, and given that kewell was a perma-crock, was better than what they had.dont for one minute think that benitez sits down every summer and thinks 'hhmmm....eto'o or bellamy...which one should we sign?' it doesnt work like that, he's not an idiot. he gets the best players he can within a budget, simple as that. and given that budget, signing players like bellamy for 6m and offloading him for 10m a year later is good business. why? because it gives us an extra 4m to progress further, to sign better players.we sign players like gonzalez not because we think he's as good as ronaldo, but because we work to a budget, and cant write a blank cheque like some of the others. the criticism that Rafa wants to sign these type of players is completely unfoundedco-sign this guyNAIL ON HEAD

AND THIS IS WHERE RAFA GOES SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WRONG...The 4m you make on Bellamy you lose probably half on his year long wages. Football teams need consistency and the feeling of moving in the same direction.Basically if Rafa has this policy again this summer, he aint winning sh*t. He needs to add quality to match his Torres signing. Whether that comes at a big cost or not is for Rafa to decide.But short-term in football doesnt work IMO.

[Kaiser]

we sign players like gonzalez not because we think he's as good as ronaldo, but because we work to a budget, and cant write a blank cheque like some of the others. the criticism that Rafa wants to sign these type of players is completely unfounded

Difference being that Rafa spends 12 mil on Penant and Crouch, And united spend the same amount on Ronaldo who is umpteen times as good as those two put together.

Obviously you idiotYou can only sign gambles like Ronaldo once you have built a strong side the Utd side of 2004 was a strong sideRafa has made gambles like Mark Gonzalez and Bellamy who could have turnt into world class players or failedthey both did and he made his money back quickpeople need to understand this

[Rsonist]

LMFAO @ the pitiful excuses for Rafa shooting himself in the foot again."His english is bad""You dont understand what he is saying""He didnt mean what he said"PLEASE!

[Trim]

we sign players like gonzalez not because we think he's as good as ronaldo, but because we work to a budget, and cant write a blank cheque like some of the others. the criticism that Rafa wants to sign these type of players is completely unfounded

Difference being that Rafa spends 12 mil on Penant and Crouch, And united spend the same amount on Ronaldo who is umpteen times as good as those two put together.

you could say that about so many players though. what kinda criticism is that, bringing ronaldo into it wtf. swear SWP was like 20 odd million he aint half the player ronaldo is, and like we didnt go for ronaldo anyway. people love to give praise to chelsea aswell and they just fling money at clubs, that their transfer policy, see someone they want and offer more than the clubs even demanding. try getting a £20 million player for £10 million it aint f*ck*ng happening. people say we need to buy world class players rather than this 'quality not quantity' but i guarantee hardly anyone has looked into how much money rafa has got in each individual transfer window. people love to jump on the criticism bandwagon and come up with some bullshit to add when they havent looked into it properly. man u started with a better side when rafa came and added to it each season with more players spending more money each time and your expecting him to be at the same level or better spending less money each window, doesnt happen. If you cant land your top targets because your moneys restricted then you buy your alternative to make progress. people love to criticise, fair enough if you know what your talking about and you have looked into the facts and your team is doing better than ours but if not, you cant really say sh*t. Man u won the double this year fair enough they were sick this season. Other teams in the top 4 bar man u, u won f*ck all aswell going on like we are the only team of the top 4 not to win anything. we didnt land players like simao and alves for want of what £2-5 million, if it was man u or chelsea they would have just gave the manager the money to get them but we arent man u or chelsea. i guarantee people will be saying we should be challenging next season even when theres rumours rafa will get £20 million to spend this summer.

[Mr Q]

LOL @ arguing.

[Flojo]

LOL @ arguing.

I actually started writing a reply to what Alex said then stopped, no matter how thorough your points people will still be hyping 2 days later in a next topic saying the same things when certain topics are discussed.

[Guest Tronics]

Talks alot and always ends up doing the opposite.He just needs to concentrate of getting his team to the required standard.

[Kaiser]

LMFAO @ the pitiful excuses for Rafa shooting himself in the foot again."His english is bad""You dont understand what he is saying""He didnt mean what he said"PLEASE!

Ahh shut upNO wonder you have so many enemies on this forum clocked how much of a twat you are recently