Rafael Benitez: Is He Liverpool's Mr. Right?

Chris Leiper — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:02:38 -0500

The question many are asking is, "Will we ever win the Premier League?"

My answer is of course we will, and we've got the right man for the job too.

Hundreds of fans disagree with Rafael's rotation policy whilst forgetting about his great achievements and the experience he has under his belt. Benitez is the right man for the job, because he has got everything we need.

As we know, Benitez wants to sign a new contract as soon as he possibly can, which just shows he is determined to stay at Liverpool and develop them into a successful club again. Obviously we've reached many finals under the management of Benitez, but what every Liverpool supporter wants most—myself included—is to win the big one, the Premier League.

Liverpool's best ever start to a Premier League season means we are currently 2nd behind leaders Chelsea on goal difference. This has fans finally asking if this will be our year.

We have everything we need: The strikers, midfielders, defenders, goalkeepers, the youth players, and the staff. That is all because of one man and, whether you love him or hate him, that man is Rafael Benitez.

If you look at the list of trophies we have won over his four years in charge, you would be surprised. I watched the 2005 Champions League Final—just like every other Liverpool supporter—and I have to be honest and say we were lucky.

Without a true hearted captain like Steven Gerrard and a bit of luck to pull back three goals within six minutes, we would of been finished early on in the match. The same can be said about the FA Cup Final against West Ham a year later. But despite that luck we still managed to win those games.

But now we have a better team than we ever have done under Rafa. We have players like Torres, Keane, Mascherano, Babel, Riera, and Skrtel. All of these worldclass players didn't even appear in those finals.

We have had poor starts to previous seasons and still ended up third, so with our best ever start, who is to say we cant finish first?

I seriously believe that some supporters should give Rafa Benitez a break because every manager makes mistakes. Despite those mistakes, the Liverpool manager has made a tremendous impact on the players, the fans, and the club.

Liverpool supporters need to stick by his decisions and let his choice of players do the talking—win as one, lose as one.

They don't call him Mr. Tactician for nothing.

Xabi Alonso, A-No-Go

Chris Leiper — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 06:55:03 -0400

Why are we talking about the future of one of the best Liverpool midfielders in Liverpool history? Why are we trying to get Garath Barry, just to replace Xabi?

Gareth will end up replacing Xabi in the central midfield position, even though he's not in the first team all the time. We've also got other world class midfielders such as Mascherano, Lucas and Gerrard.

The thing that's confusing me is why are we trying to get a central midfielder to replace another world class midfielder who is younger and, in my opinion, better at being an all-round midfielder for around £18million? Is he really worth that much?

We all know that Kuyt is being played as a right-midfield player know and that means we're one striker shorter than we were. We struggled finding the net with four strikers and its going to be harder with only three.

One player I feel would be great with Torres is Kun Aguero (Athletico Madrid). Liverpool still need to boost up their strike force and personally, I don't feel buying Garath Barry is the answer.

Alonso has already said he doesn't want to leave the club but wants more first team action. With Garry, he'll get less first team action and us Liverpool fans have already expressed that we do NOT want the 2005 Champions League finalist and 2006 FA Cup winner to leave Anfield.

Spend the money on the part of the team which we are weakest at and make it stronger. That's why Man Utd and Chelsea are currently so strong.

Fingers crossed Xabi Stays, Gareth stays and Rafa stays... Come on lads, get the Premier League.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Chris Leiper

Rafael Benitez: Is He Liverpool's Mr. Right?

Xabi Alonso, A-No-Go