Fair.. but SAF almost landed united in the second division in his early years. You may be too young to know or remember that, but it did happened.
Rafa is good, Keene was not his invention (the Americans are not Rafa's fault). I bet that for every lousy purchase you state I bet I can come up with a good one (all of our discussions in good spirit though as fellow supporters) that we sometimes forget because of the gloom that you read.
> Agger, Insua, Johnson, Torres, Reina, Benanyoun (sorry about the spelling), Kuyt, Mascherano
These were Rafas picks, and purchases. Keene was not (18 mil could have been used for buying a midfielder that Rafa wanted, and pain for this year would have been avoided). Getting the German boy in would be a disaster. Stick with them.. support them when they need it most....
-- Marios
i think i m 18yo.
most believed that his bum was saved by a certain mark robins who scored a late winning goal in one of the FA Cup run.
from then on, SAF began a reign of terror.
take note that...
during the rise of manCircle Utd under SAF, LFC is slowly undergoing a drastic change. the gooners were the '1-0 to the gunners', always scrapping by with narrow wins and not good enuff to challenge.
leeds utd were up and coming.
King Kenny wishwash attitude and topped with the fact that a certain graeme souness was hired to take over the helm.
the rise of manCircle utd is linked heavily to the decline of LFC and the inadequacy of other challenging teams, that allowed them to flow into power and eventually, created a dynasty.
fast forward to today, the game has changed tremendously.
teams with $$ call the shots. SAF has many lousy signings, yes, but these were negligible as back then, they were one of the few with the $$ to splurge and get away with lousy signings.
now, LFC is not rich and due to this fact, our gaffer has to be even more astute in the market. but has he?
save for alonso, mascherano and torres, most others have been only moderate success.
i don't rate dirty kite. he is a lousy player.
today's game does not allow a single mistake, on the pitch or in the transfer market.
sadly, raf999 failed in both aspect.
raf999 is good. i never denied that.
but it is clear to me that he has taken us as far as he possibly could.
he deserves a good final season in Anfield. i can't wait for the new season, one without raf999 in charge.