Have to admit I'm pretty torn on the Rafa situation now. Yes he has been f*cked by the owners and the lack of any decent money to spend but what money he has spent, has been spent badly, really badly.
It's didn't take much skill to spend big cash on Torres and Masch - they were fairly safe buys. Yip, Masch from the West Ham reserves... That was safe. Masch wouldn't be as well known and respected like he is if Rafa hadn't taken him (played behind no other than Reo-Coker!) from West Ham. As for Torres... Well, Atleti fans knew how could he could be, but nobody was expecting him to be what he is. In fact, I seem to recall a few people saying he was too light for the Prem...The other 'big' money spent recently - Johnson (why not keep Aberloa who was a decent right back and spend �18 on some sort of striker that we desperately need? Because Arbeloa wanted to return to Spain? He did well to get another season out of the guy because he wanted to go home the season before.) and Aquilani (jury still out here - but rafa, at least play the midfielder supposedly capable of making an attacking pass rather than playing 6 defenders and 2 defensive midfielders like yesterday)
But the real problem with rafa's signings are all the other dross (mentioned a few posts ago). Where are the 1 or 2 signings that have really represented good value (or even a 'great' buy Benayoun? Agger? Reina?)? There are none. No one you would look at and go, this guy is good, and if he keeps on improving like this, he may be world class..........the type of players that should wear the red shirt.
And where are the youth? 5 years in and not 1 decent youth team player breaking through Perhaps because it takes a while? Have you followed the reserves at all? Well, I have? And there are some f**king good players. Pacheco makes the bench, Insua the first team, Dalla Valle is looking class for the Academy. Eccleston? San Jose is off in Spain playing for Bilbao. Rafa has transformed the youth and scouting system? Or is it that Rafa just won't give them a chance? Well, imagine if he did and we lost. The pressure is f**k loads. A bit of both I would imagine. N'gog is crap. Utter crap. Too lightweight for the premier league. 2nd touch is a tackle. Doesn't work hard enough for me. Meh, I think Ngog has done alright. Obviously it would be nice if we had somebody slightly better wiating in the wings, but I've been impressed enough with him this season (he was poor yesterday, to be fair)Why not give Pacheco a go? Ah, fair enough. A good call. But why rush him in like we did with Owen and ruin him too early? Confidence, particularly with youngsters, is a touchy subject. Kyrgiakos? He's pretty old? He was superb yesterday, but it was his kind of game. (anyone else have to google that before typing?) From what I've seen, why not play Ayala? Again, confidence. You can kill a player by playing him and then him being exposed (Leto anyone?) Lucas? Plays loads. Decent enough player too. Plessis? (He played a blinder against L'Arse at the new library a couple of seasons back). Yeah. But he has been poor since. More one-footed than me! Is rafa just too stubborn to try some of these?
I don't think Rafa will go as it will cost the club too much. But we're edging closer and closer to not qualifying to the CL, Torres/Gerrard/Masch/Reina looking around and going we want CL football Do you know them? Perhaps Masch will want to move, but he was angling for a move before this season started anyhow. And I'd say he would be the only one to leave this summer by choice., less revenue generated through not qualifying, even less money to spend, less attractive to quality players to come to, top stars leave, even less attractive for other players to come to, another season not qualifying for the CL, less revenue generated...........and then mid table mediocrity. We may even (with the current injuries and non-performance of the rest of the squad) already be too far down that road for it to be reversed....
And the owners............. %*$S �$%&*� *%&� *%$&$$� Is right!
Hope as always.........but it's not looking good from a red perspective.
It's didn't take much skill to spend big cash on Torres and Masch - they were fairly safe buys. Yip, Masch from the West Ham reserves... That was safe. Masch wouldn't be as well known and respected like he is if Rafa hadn't taken him (played behind no other than Reo-Coker!) from West Ham. As for Torres... Well, Atleti fans knew how could he could be, but nobody was expecting him to be what he is. In fact, I seem to recall a few people saying he was too light for the Prem...The other 'big' money spent recently - Johnson (why not keep Aberloa who was a decent right back and spend �18 on some sort of striker that we desperately need? Because Arbeloa wanted to return to Spain? He did well to get another season out of the guy because he wanted to go home the season before.) and Aquilani (jury still out here - but rafa, at least play the midfielder supposedly capable of making an attacking pass rather than playing 6 defenders and 2 defensive midfielders like yesterday)
But the real problem with rafa's signings are all the other dross (mentioned a few posts ago). Where are the 1 or 2 signings that have really represented good value (or even a 'great' buy Benayoun? Agger? Reina?)? There are none. No one you would look at and go, this guy is good, and if he keeps on improving like this, he may be world class..........the type of players that should wear the red shirt.
And where are the youth? 5 years in and not 1 decent youth team player breaking through Perhaps because it takes a while? Have you followed the reserves at all? Well, I have? And there are some f**king good players. Pacheco makes the bench, Insua the first team, Dalla Valle is looking class for the Academy. Eccleston? San Jose is off in Spain playing for Bilbao. Rafa has transformed the youth and scouting system? Or is it that Rafa just won't give them a chance? Well, imagine if he did and we lost. The pressure is f**k loads. A bit of both I would imagine. N'gog is crap. Utter crap. Too lightweight for the premier league. 2nd touch is a tackle. Doesn't work hard enough for me. Meh, I think Ngog has done alright. Obviously it would be nice if we had somebody slightly better wiating in the wings, but I've been impressed enough with him this season (he was poor yesterday, to be fair)Why not give Pacheco a go? Ah, fair enough. A good call. But why rush him in like we did with Owen and ruin him too early? Confidence, particularly with youngsters, is a touchy subject. Kyrgiakos? He's pretty old? He was superb yesterday, but it was his kind of game. (anyone else have to google that before typing?) From what I've seen, why not play Ayala? Again, confidence. You can kill a player by playing him and then him being exposed (Leto anyone?) Lucas? Plays loads. Decent enough player too. Plessis? (He played a blinder against L'Arse at the new library a couple of seasons back). Yeah. But he has been poor since. More one-footed than me! Is rafa just too stubborn to try some of these?
I don't think Rafa will go as it will cost the club too much. But we're edging closer and closer to not qualifying to the CL, Torres/Gerrard/Masch/Reina looking around and going we want CL football Do you know them? Perhaps Masch will want to move, but he was angling for a move before this season started anyhow. And I'd say he would be the only one to leave this summer by choice., less revenue generated through not qualifying, even less money to spend, less attractive to quality players to come to, top stars leave, even less attractive for other players to come to, another season not qualifying for the CL, less revenue generated...........and then mid table mediocrity. We may even (with the current injuries and non-performance of the rest of the squad) already be too far down that road for it to be reversed....
And the owners............. %*$S �$%&*� *%&� *%$&$$� Is right!
Hope as always.........but it's not looking good from a red perspective.
Woah, woah, woah. Where to start? Okay, from the beginning. Not having a go or anything lad, just putting in a bit of perspective and some (positive!) counter arguments. A few quick points...