That's exactly what I'm saying. The inconsistent playing time can result in a player who is hot and suddenly benched losing his form, as well as keep the players who aren't playing up to snuff at that level. The most important thing for an athlete in any sport is playing time. That's how you get better. That's how you recover form.
From the outside looking in, it's odd that Rafa gets so much slack with the Liverpool faithful, and Houllier seemed to get so little. Really the two have done about the same at Anfield. Houllier was really brought down by an out of form Owen, and his inability to get him off the freaking pitch. That most certainly won't be Rafa's downfall, being that his selection changes every match....... But why all the love for Rafa, and so little for his predessor? Are they really so different?
I know what you mean and I don't like that very much. I believe many were dissapointed with what Houllier did after the cup treble. There were certainly people who expected more success afterwards but things were never quite the same. On the other hand, you can't really argue with a CL trophy....thats the biggest thing we've won since the league title back in the pre cambrian era.
Houllier got more than his fair share of pardons. More so than Rafa has had. Expecially considering the team is twice as good under Rafa.
I've read a few articles of his down the line of time and I have to say he's a fantastic writer, some of your fans should take note of his sheer realism and ability to see the bigger picture.
I think I heard the name of the said director, once or twice today, and his name ain't Morgan. I reckon he'll be outed pretty soon.
I doubt it's White. He's old school. In actual fact, I doubt any of the Directors said the things printed in the Mirror yesterday. The whole story has the mark of someone blowing random throwaway quotes up into a story worth splashing on the back page. David Maddock didn't get the byline on the story, but I doubt he was far removed from the scheme.
Houllier got inordinate amounts of "slack" - it wasn't until the last 18 months of his six-year tenure that the groundswell of opinion really went against him. Benitez gets the credit he deserves. We've won it five times, after all. He's also treated with appropriate reservation, in terms of his league form. First season - crap. Second season good. Third season, to date, crap. Houllier was much admired and given a lot of time to get things right. He eventually fell out of favour because he was dogmatic to an extreme that his record no longer supported ... and he had a number of personal tendencies in his public utterances that did people's head in. The endless stats, the "ah, but we won 12 corners" quotes after another dull home defeat. He spent his credibility chips and didn't win the trophies required to replenish his account. The same may yet happen to Benitez, but as things stand he deserves only our total support and commitment.
I think you've already been answered but I'll add my tupence worth, as always. For me, Houlier had taken Liverpool as far as he could, which was very far indeed everything considered. Also at the end there, Houlier was desperately let down by his big money signings, a frustrating inability to admit the errors thereof and a seeming lack an alternative plan. In your opinion Owen becomes a convenient scapegoat but in fact Houlier had heavily spent on Heskey, Diouf and Cheyrou and off-loaded Fowler and let Anelka go. Big, brave decisions but when they don't come off you have to be judged on them. Benitez has also made some transfer boobs but hasn't hesitated to admit them, directly or otherwise, and off-load those who failed to make the grade. There is a feeling, mostly in the press and media, that Benitez has not yet sussed out the Premiership. I feel that he already has but will need some patience, which as Matt said he has bout himself with the Champions League. And Liverpool, the club and the fans, always collectively gives people time. Still, what will eventually bring down Benitez, as with Houlier, will be a lack of silverware. On the rotation note in the press, it will probably suffer a deserved, natural death if we keep winning and rotating.
On the subject of who the big mouth was, local gossip now affirms that it was Morgan, in cahoots with Maddock - the "unnamed director" thing is just a smoke-screen for this most obvious of sources for such unrest. Maddock made his career as a journalist ouf of close access to the lads, not least Robbie Fowler, during the 1990's and had that sort of access withdrawn from him by Houllier - he's had an axe to grind ever since. Especially since Fowler was ejected in the manner that he was back in 2002. Morgan's motive is even more clear-cut. And the "unnamed director" bit never rang true - why break with a strong tradition of discretion and dealing with things in-house, which has endured through far more testing times than these, just because the team have had an indifferent start to the season. If you look at the list of Directors, none of them are likely to rock the boat in this manner, they've got nothing to gain from suddenly thrusting themselves forward like this and causing this sort of friction. The only person who benefits from that is Morgan ... and he's too much of a coward to come out say these things in an open and attributable manner these days, because he knows most Liverpool fans wouldn't give him the time of day.
Ferguson Is Behind Liverpool Rift Rumors? ANd found this .. Benitez Rotation: Revolutionary Or Ranieri?
Well I've consistently labeled Morgan as the "source". It is completely in character with his previous performances.
Re: Rotation or consistancy??? I think the linup is great. An Rafa should stick with them and replace them only if there's a need to...
Re: Rotation or consistancy??? I think he only replaces them when, in his view, there's a need. Before the year's out the proverbial drunks who use these rotation statistic as support will have wokem up with that dreadful headache. By the way, in reaction to the perrenial "Gerrard off" rumours, here's a quote from Gerrard himself, :-