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Money shouldn’t be an excuse anymore because Wenger’s current squad is not even worth half of all the money Rafa has spent.

Then it comes down back to the question. How long had Wenger been in the job and building his squad till it is the one today? When did Wenger captured all this young things? Why and how did he manage to do that? Wenger has been rebuilding Arsenal from bottom up. He overhauled their entire scouting system and brought in players from Africa at a tender young age. He grabbed young talents at a young age, at a cheap price and that is WHY it is cheaper than Rafa’s squad. Now, Rafa is doing the exact same thing as Wenger. He is building on the foundations(Academy, Scouting Network, Young players from overseas) that have been created and altering it to maximise their potential.

It is unfair to say that $$$$ shoudn’t be an excuse. It is not an excuse, it is a fact. LFC IS PLAYING CATCHUP.. There are no doubts about it. We are fighting against 2 managers (exclude Chelsea bcos they are flooded with cash) who have been in their respective clubs for many years. Alex Ferguson needed seven seasons to finally win the league & neither him or Wenger have been sacked when they’ve gone four or five years without winning one of the ‘big two’ trophies. That’s why their clubs are dominant, because they reward patience and stability - they’re not pressuring the manager when they have a barren few seasons.

The fact remains that our rivals are signing WORLD-CLASS players when they don’t need to close a gap, while we are grinning ourselves silly because we’ve finally secured the signing of ONE. Fernando Torres. Who has made the question of whether you need to spend big money to compete obsolete. You DO need to spend and you need to spend consistently.

We bought one world-class player in Torres to complement Gerard
Man U went out to buy Tevez to complement Ronaldo, Ronney

If we don’t compete at the top end of the transfer market this month and again in the summer then I’m afraid that next season will just be exactly the same. Other sides just do not fear us anymore. We fail consistently to break stubborn sides down. This isn’t because of tactics, it’s because of quality. Rafa can only do so much with what he has.

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He does not “rough them up” enough. They doesn’t question their will to win for LFC. Basically, he doesn’t kick the boot up their bums. Yes, he has showed that he can be ruthless in dropping players when they don’t perform, but that won’t win you the title. You need to make sure the whole team gets it, even if 1 or 2 fails to perform. You need to brainwash them into thinking they PLAY EVERY GAME TO WIN and nothing else. They need to know that they play for LIVERPOOL badge and that means you demolish your opponents, whoever they are. They might not win all their games for sure, but for those they lost or drew, the opponents must feel they have gone through hell and
survived.
And the fact that Ferguson and Wenger are well known blowdryers mean their players are constantly on their toes. How many time have we seen them blasting their players in public? And more often than not, their players responded in the next game.

I feel that the view is too simplistic. If roughing them up is the answer to our problems, we should get Souness back. He is great at roughing players up. See how well Newcastle did when he was there.. Oh wait..
The “SELF-BELIEF” comes from the players themselves. Rafa can rant, throw boots but if the players don’t have the own self-belief, what can Rafa do? Maybe he should just put them at Guantanamo Bay and let the CIA help us with it. Heh heh..

I think the problem is that we don’t have enough winners in our team.

Just look at Man U, they have Rooney, Tevez, Ronaldo, Nani, Giggs
We have Torres, Gerard and maybe Benayoun

How do we resolve that? It has to be a 2-pronged approach.
1) Trim the squad and bring in better quality players which is why Rafa has been banging his table and chairs.
2) Keep challenging for the title. No doubt this season challenge is not as good as we expected BUT it has been improving every single year. This season, we are only 12 pts away and that irks the players as much as us. Even Finnan came out and say that the players shot themselves in the foot.

It is not coincidental that our players are LIONS during the CL campaign bcos they won it before and therefore, nothing fazes them. And that is why it is vital that Rafa stays and continue his work bcos stability is the key to success.

When did Liverpool’s decline begin? When was the chain of stability was broken? Which sides have dominated for the past 17 years?

We know the answer. One defeat or a draw and people give in. All of a sudden we get to hear everything that is wrong with the club, manager, board, players and God knows what. Half the season to go and we’re 12 points behind Arsenal - it’s over. We might not win the title but at least, we will give our opponents something to think about. Fans are so frustrated that we haven’t won the league in years. They’re easily swayed by the media who fail to acknowledge that long-term league success has always been built on stability of the club. Absolutely mind-blogging.

Blaming the current manager for 17 years without a title, thnking that chopping and changing is the way to go - thinking that the next high profile appointment will magically bring glory.

We will only be on the path to be the next Newcastle or Spurs while Arsenal & Man U will be staring down at us for years to come.

Rafa is the man for us. He’s very systematic in his approach and he’s class. 2 CL Finals in three years is not a fluke. It’s as good a sign as you can get that we have a class manager AND a good side.

This is a crossroads for LFC fans.

Are we going to let Liverpool Football Club to be built on impatience and knee-jerk reactions?