18 March 2009

About time

Rafa Benitez has signed a contract extension with Liverpool FC, keeping him at the club until 2014.

This has been a pretty decent eight days, no?

Chances are, seeing as I'm posting at least five hours after the fact, this isn't breaking news for anyone who reads this. But I had to acknowledge it. It truly is about time.

In lieu of reiterating past arguments, in case anyone's wondering why I'm so fervently behind Benitez, the 18 (now 19!) posts under the tag with his name explain more than enough.

All the focus finally on Villa, on Sunday.

7 comments :

Abhiram said...

Well put! This is the kind of boost we need to see us through till May. We can now expect positive results.

I don't know how much of a transfer kitty Rafa will get in his first year of full control but if its substantial, i am quite sure, we'll be better than what we are this year.

I still feel Barry would have been a good choice for us. He is really good in set pieces. I can't remember how many times we have cribbed about us not taking set pieces well. If he was in the team, you could add, say, 10 goals extra to the tally and very few drawn games.

I am saying this in comparison to Keane transfer. I am in no way suggesting he should have been a replacement for Alonso. I don't know how we would be able to include Alonso, Mascher and Barry in the same team.

Abhiram said...

http://www.setanta.com//uk/Articles/Football/2009/03/18/Opta-Is-the-Lucas-criticism-justified/gnid-44880/

Very good article

Marlon said...

It's weird to see the players analyzed that, and I'd say I'm not sure I agree with the assessment that Lucas' strong point is his defense. I'd say he wins more balls than the other plays because he plays further up the pitch and attacks the ball more, where as Xabi and Mascherano usually play very good positional defense. That said I do hope Lucas becomes a good player at Liverpool, but I also hope we don't lose Alonso this summer.

nate said...

Ah... lies, damned lies, and statistics. Two points:

1) I agree with Marlon. Lucas wins more balls because he's pressing further up the field.

2) Those passing statistics don't tell the whole story. They only measure "key passes": a hollywood ball over the top, a cutting throughball, etc. Lucas' game focuses on pass and move: short balls played to Alonso/Masch/Gerrard and then moving into space for the return pass. Those type of passes are much harder to quantify. And it's this reason I've got so much time for Lucas. Pass and move is what Liverpool football was built upon.

BackBergtt said...

Easy way to fit in Gerrard, Alonso, Barry, and Masche

Masche
Gerrard - Alonso - Barry - Riera
Torres

Abhiram said...

Almost everybody in many forums see Silva as a very good prospect for us. I have a slightly different opinion on him. He's costly (around 20 mil). He's a bit light weight. Lets get realistic here. Not everyone can adapt to EPL conditions as well as Torres. If he takes 8 months to adjust, it will surely not justify the price tag.

BackBergtt said...

He's still very young though. For a wide player I'm not too worried about the height, but he could stand to beef up.

Still rather have Jesus Navas if he could get over his crippling homesickness.