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Please note that Rafa's 'tantrum' has consisted of largely cryptic, vague comments given at a press conference.
Whilst "maybe I would take the England job someday, who knows? I'm serious" can certainly be justifiably seen as a veiled attack, it is hardly the same as 'washing dirty linen in public'.
Mourinho made FAR more baltant comments regarding his lack of transfer backing. Comments that were, although justified, somewhat less so than what Rafa SEEMS to be saying, on the grounds that Rafa isn't asking for players to be brought in to cover positions where he's forced world class players out of the club via a refusal to play them in their preferred position, ever, after having made blatant attacks on them in public, IE Gallas.
Similarly, whilst I agree taht even these veiled attacks are somewhat wrong, I would also like to point out that:
a) Rafa did not personally make not just assurances but PROMISES that he would be handed a very competitive budget, both before and after the take over.
b) Neither has Rafa EVER publicly criticised ANY member of the clubs heirarchy by name, unlike the Liverpool director who was forced to resign due to public criticism of Rafa.
c) No manager since the Boot Room days has achieved Rafa's level of success, whilst (regardless of what people may say about our spending under him) keeping the books pretty balanced, whilst leaving the club in a state where, even if he were sacked or resigned we are in a much stronger a position on the pitch than we were after his predecessor left.
Houllier, Evans, Souness Dalglish, of those the only one who could lay any claim to having left any foundations was Souness - a man who spent close to a british record fee on Paul Stewart, one of the lest talented players to have ever played for us, in my view.
@Eccles.
There you have a much more valid point. Check my profile, I even wrote and article a while back on the idea that while our flexibility is a strength, especially in Europe, our lack of an overall, definite plan A may be costing us in the Premiership.
That said, Rafa had a 'plan A' at Valencia.
a plan so effective that it utterly destroyed one of the most effective defensive units in World Football - one that had snuffed out teams like Barcelona and Man Utd on their own pitches - to such an extent that the fans of the beaten team applauded Valencia off the pitch.
That team was Houllier's Liverpool, playing at around their peak.
I would say that we have been getting closer to Valencia each season.
Rafa has had to take a team built on counter attack and (I admit now) quite a lot of long balls, and a defense so deep it made deep blue look shallow and turquoise, into one that plays technical football based on possession football and zonal marking.
This season he finally has the players to get close to that game plan, and we play like that when we have our better players fit...EG Besiktas.
Even in the Arsenal game I would argue that for all their passing, they did not actually start regularly hurting us till Alonso went off.
Starting Torres was a mistake, but for that 15 minute spell where Crouch and Alonso were both on we looked at least Arsenal's equals, and I doubt we'd have drawn if Alonso had not been injured, he was simply majestic in that spell, and Fabregas was snuffed out utterly by Masher, who also picked up a knock in that game.
Similarly we have beaten tems like Barca, Chelsea and Juventus, even your own United in the FA cup semi as much through possession and skill as through obstinate defence.
I firmly belive that Rafa's ethos is this:
"Football is an extremely random sport. However, the more you control possession, the more you reduce the randomness. The way to dominate possession is to have a dominant defence and especially, central midfield. Once youhave that, and dominate possession, you muct then add those players who can add the random to your team."
He has had to try and get those players on the cheap. Problem is, Wenger is seen as a genius entirely due to getting those types of pleyers on the cheap. Others have to buy 'em or wait for them to appear.
Rafa is trying to make 'em, but that takes time. This season, the one player he has ever bought who can fairly be described as being in that 'batteries included, ready out of the box, world class flair player' category is Torres.
The same Torres who even no LFC fans agree is easily the best striker we have had since Fowler/Rush.
I would argue that he already has a superior all-round game to either of them, even more to his game than the legendary Dalglish, and hence he has the potential to be our best ever.
He came because of Rafa. So did Alonso, so did Mash. No sane owner backs himself ahead of his owner in the face of such praise from the players.
That's the Abramovich way, not the building a great club for more than a season way - esactly why I worry about Capello in particular. A phenomenal coach, but one who epitomises the 'buying success, one season at a time, using players picked by the owners' approach.
Whilst "maybe I would take the England job someday, who knows? I'm serious" can certainly be justifiably seen as a veiled attack, it is hardly the same as 'washing dirty linen in public'.
Mourinho made FAR more baltant comments regarding his lack of transfer backing. Comments that were, although justified, somewhat less so than what Rafa SEEMS to be saying, on the grounds that Rafa isn't asking for players to be brought in to cover positions where he's forced world class players out of the club via a refusal to play them in their preferred position, ever, after having made blatant attacks on them in public, IE Gallas.
Similarly, whilst I agree taht even these veiled attacks are somewhat wrong, I would also like to point out that:
a) Rafa did not personally make not just assurances but PROMISES that he would be handed a very competitive budget, both before and after the take over.
b) Neither has Rafa EVER publicly criticised ANY member of the clubs heirarchy by name, unlike the Liverpool director who was forced to resign due to public criticism of Rafa.
c) No manager since the Boot Room days has achieved Rafa's level of success, whilst (regardless of what people may say about our spending under him) keeping the books pretty balanced, whilst leaving the club in a state where, even if he were sacked or resigned we are in a much stronger a position on the pitch than we were after his predecessor left.
Houllier, Evans, Souness Dalglish, of those the only one who could lay any claim to having left any foundations was Souness - a man who spent close to a british record fee on Paul Stewart, one of the lest talented players to have ever played for us, in my view.
@Eccles.
There you have a much more valid point. Check my profile, I even wrote and article a while back on the idea that while our flexibility is a strength, especially in Europe, our lack of an overall, definite plan A may be costing us in the Premiership.
That said, Rafa had a 'plan A' at Valencia.
a plan so effective that it utterly destroyed one of the most effective defensive units in World Football - one that had snuffed out teams like Barcelona and Man Utd on their own pitches - to such an extent that the fans of the beaten team applauded Valencia off the pitch.
That team was Houllier's Liverpool, playing at around their peak.
I would say that we have been getting closer to Valencia each season.
Rafa has had to take a team built on counter attack and (I admit now) quite a lot of long balls, and a defense so deep it made deep blue look shallow and turquoise, into one that plays technical football based on possession football and zonal marking.
This season he finally has the players to get close to that game plan, and we play like that when we have our better players fit...EG Besiktas.
Even in the Arsenal game I would argue that for all their passing, they did not actually start regularly hurting us till Alonso went off.
Starting Torres was a mistake, but for that 15 minute spell where Crouch and Alonso were both on we looked at least Arsenal's equals, and I doubt we'd have drawn if Alonso had not been injured, he was simply majestic in that spell, and Fabregas was snuffed out utterly by Masher, who also picked up a knock in that game.
Similarly we have beaten tems like Barca, Chelsea and Juventus, even your own United in the FA cup semi as much through possession and skill as through obstinate defence.
I firmly belive that Rafa's ethos is this:
"Football is an extremely random sport. However, the more you control possession, the more you reduce the randomness. The way to dominate possession is to have a dominant defence and especially, central midfield. Once youhave that, and dominate possession, you muct then add those players who can add the random to your team."
He has had to try and get those players on the cheap. Problem is, Wenger is seen as a genius entirely due to getting those types of pleyers on the cheap. Others have to buy 'em or wait for them to appear.
Rafa is trying to make 'em, but that takes time. This season, the one player he has ever bought who can fairly be described as being in that 'batteries included, ready out of the box, world class flair player' category is Torres.
The same Torres who even no LFC fans agree is easily the best striker we have had since Fowler/Rush.
I would argue that he already has a superior all-round game to either of them, even more to his game than the legendary Dalglish, and hence he has the potential to be our best ever.
He came because of Rafa. So did Alonso, so did Mash. No sane owner backs himself ahead of his owner in the face of such praise from the players.
That's the Abramovich way, not the building a great club for more than a season way - esactly why I worry about Capello in particular. A phenomenal coach, but one who epitomises the 'buying success, one season at a time, using players picked by the owners' approach.
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