Here if part of Rafa’s press conference ahead of the Lyon game. I’d put his mood somewhere between the last Lyon game and the Utd game. Strangely optimistic but also brutally realistic. Not sure about the You’ll Never Walk Alone quoting. I mean props to him for it, many lesser managers wouldn’t give a monkeys toss about a clubs tradition but has that air of desperation about it. Also, twelve players out and almost all of them first teamers. No wonder the press have backed off a bit in recent days…
Still here is Rafa in his bearded glory. If I find a full version of this press conference, I will add it into the post.
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I don’t know how many mirrors Rafa has broken in recent weeks, or indeed whether he broke them while walking in front of a group of stray black cats but you get the impression that luck is not something that is in large supply at the moment down on Merseyside.
In recent weeks, it would seem as if the whole world is against Liverpool and Rafa in particular with such managerial geniuses as Ronnie Whelan and Stan Collymore (presumably taking some time off working for National Car Parks, obviously) have been quick to dismiss Rafa and his chances of winning any trophy at all this season. In fact, the hysteria that has been written in some of the national papers in recent weeks has been nothing short of retarted genius. Particularly from Mr. Collymore. I would provide links to his recent comments but that just give The Mirror the idea that any genuinely thinks he has something interesting to say, when we know full well that he hasn’t.
Another great week of updates I think you’ll agree….
Long week at work and some RL things that needed sorting this week, added to the general feeling of smug satisfaction after the Utd game meant that the blogging for this week was low down the list of things to get done. Things with the site are moving along slowly but surely and I think over the next 2-3 days you’ll some new content up around here.
So, with that in mind and in an effort to keep my eye in around here I present some lovingly embedded Youtube clips of Rafa’s pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend’s game at Craven Cottage. As is seemingly the way with almost every press conference Rafa does these days, the first matter of course is the state of Steven Gerrard’s groin and the latest injury news.
Five years ago, Gerard Houlliers reign at Anfield was slowly falling apart around him. The man simply wasn’t the same after his heart attack; the passion was gone, the squad had started to ignore him and his tactics and we were regularly losing games against teams that we should have been dispatching with relative ease such as Sunderland and Aston Villa.
And perhaps more crucially, Houllier had focused so much of his team around two players that he couldn’t see past them and if they weren’t in the team, then they simply fell apart. Those two players were Michael Owen & Steven Gerrard, our World Class forward and equally World Class midfielder. It’s now five and a half years since Houllier moved onto pastures new and in many ways the club, seemingly, hasn’t gone anywhere fast. Or so it seems.
Every week I bookmark Rafa’s pre match press conference on the sites Delicious page, yet I never actually seem to post it here and comment on it. Well, that changes today as we have clips from said press conference. The Liverpool Echo usually post the whole thing online but ITN news usually edits it down to the salient points in handy minute sized chunks.
Surprisingly, there were no bits of paper and no statements of fact this time, so instead we were left with a boring Q&A session. Though I will say one thing, Rafa clearly looks far happier during this conference than he did on Tuesday night. And given that this is probably the most important press conference he’s had to do in months, if not years, then it’s even more remarkable.
Here is from earlier in the week….
Calm, measured, relaxed. But no bits of paper and certainly no facts this time.
It would seem that if three words were to sum up both the efforts of Liverpool FC and this blog over the last three weeks, then the three up above would probably be as good as any.
There are lots of reasons for the poor run of form and I’ve got quite a few ideas as to why that is, some of which I will try and get out of my system over today and tomorrow. Though hopefully more the former than the latter.
I should probably offer some explanation as to why I suddenly disappear. Partly it’s to do with laziness and partly it’s to do with my gaming addiction. Alright, addiction is perhaps stretching it but I can get into a good game in the same way that someone gets into a good book. And having a panchant for open-world RPGs (in particular Fallout 3) doesn’t really help that. So, there we are. If you wonder why I suddenly disappear for a while, there’s your answer.
Was very tired yesterday evening and also had some kind of virus too, so both of those added together made me feel less than brilliant. Anyway, enough about me. Yesterday was hardly a busy newsday LFC-wise either, so things kind of worked out OK in the end.
Today is, of course, the biggest game of the season and for a start lets hear what Rafa had to say in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
If you believe some parts of the press coverage, then our bid for the league ends today, if we lose. So it’s nice to see Rafa telling everyone to calm down. I could repeat the statistic of what happened last season but I think that is becoming increasingly irrelevant, if it was even relevant in the first place.
Nothing from me today, suffering from usual weekend illness of Lazyarsecantbearseditis, something that afflicts me on almost every Saturday. I’m genuinely feeling a bit under the weather having had a busy few days, so I will catch-up with news and such tomorrow before the game. Straight after I catch up on sleep.
So that’s it. A busy day tomorrow for me, which includes a game I’m feeling strangely confident about.
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Aaah, I love the feeling of a Friday. That realisation that a footballing weekend is ahead of you and the joy, hope and promise that it brings. And it’s fair to say that this weekend is something a tiny bit special.
It’s been two and a half years since Rafa and Carlo last met and that time, there was more than a hint of revenge in the air. I don’t think any self respecting fan needs to be reminded of the events that led up to the events in Athens three summers ago, so the chance for the two managers to do battle in the confines of a league game is mouthwatering in the least. Though of course, Milan shouldn’t technically have been in the Champions League that season having been caught up in the Moggigate scandal that swept across Italian football the previous summer. They were initially denied a place in the Champions League after being deducted points; that was reduced on appeal which meant that they technically finished fourth and, well, the rest is history….
If there is one picture that clearly sums up Tuesday nights performance and all the talk of Rafa clearly losing his rag, then I think the one to the left is pretty much it.
I don’t think we needed Fabio Aurelio telling us that Rafa lost his temper, I think that was clear from his expression at the end of the game. Though it was partly Rafa’s fault for playing Aurelio in central midfield. It seemed odd, though I suppose the alternative (of playing Jay Spearing) alongside Lucas was hardly ideal either.
It does show though just how important Javier is to the system that we employ and that has been so successful in the last six months. Still, I do think Spearing would have fared better than Aurelio did.
Though personally speaking, the most disappointing aspect of the result on Tuesday is that it gave the press the oportunity to essentially rehash a lot of the old bollocks from earlier in the season.
Bad Karma
I don’t know how many mirrors Rafa has broken in recent weeks, or indeed whether he broke them while walking in front of a group of stray black cats but you get the impression that luck is not something that is in large supply at the moment down on Merseyside.
In recent weeks, it would seem as if the whole world is against Liverpool and Rafa in particular with such managerial geniuses as Ronnie Whelan and Stan Collymore (presumably taking some time off working for National Car Parks, obviously) have been quick to dismiss Rafa and his chances of winning any trophy at all this season. In fact, the hysteria that has been written in some of the national papers in recent weeks has been nothing short of retarted genius. Particularly from Mr. Collymore. I would provide links to his recent comments but that just give The Mirror the idea that any genuinely thinks he has something interesting to say, when we know full well that he hasn’t.
No one can denying he's dogging the issue