Anfield Red

Talk about the build up, the match itself and the aftermath here!

The main focus of the night is going to be on Rafa Benitez, and the march beforehand, but Liverpool still need to win tonights game.

Talk about tonights game in the comments section below.

I'm setting off for the game soon, so will post about the result when i get home tonight.

COME ON REDMEN!

After the recent bust up between Rafa and Hicks/Gillett, has the result become insignificant as the fans are going to show their support for Rafa?

Before i start, i know of course that the fans are going to watch the game aswell, but the whole night is going to revolve about showing Benitez that us fans want to keep him at Anfield, and to give the American owners a message that Rafa is the man to take us to the top.

Liverpool still need a result against Porto to push for qualification from the group stages, otherwise they face a UEFA Cup run, but, after the demolition of Besiktas, everything looked great until something went wrong between Rafa and the owners.

Rafa gave a press conference giving the same answer over and over, Hicks responded by telling him to 'quit talking', then Rafa came back stating they (Hicks and Gillett) do not understand the transfer market, and rumours have been circulated that Rafa is to be sacked.

Fans have been told to take banners, flags, scarves, and the famous Rafatollah is making an appearance at the Porto, and the 90 minutes of shouting Rafa's name has also been planned.

Wednesday is no longer about the result of the match, it is the result of the show of support and the aftermath of the war of words between the manager and the financial backers.

There is a show of support for Rafael Benitez at the Porto game on Wednesday, starting at the Sandon at 7pm.

Originally an idea from someone on redandwhitekop.com , the idea is to get the message to as many people as possible who are going the game on Wednesday to show our support for Rafa after all the recent crap regarding Benitez, Gillett and Hicks.

Meet at the Sandon pub at 7pm, or if you cant be at the pub in time, make your voice heard in or outside Anfield!

Please remember to pass the message on, on any other LFC site you go on too.

Fernando Torres starts upfront alongside Dirk Kuyt, and Harry Kewell returns to the starting line up against Newcastle.The team is as follows :

Reina, Finnan, Arbeloa, Carragher, Hyypia, Gerrard, Kewell, Sissoko, Lucas, Kuyt, Torres. Subs: Itandje, Riise, Crouch, Babel, Mascherano

Gerrard looks to be starting on the right of midfield, with Sissoko and Lucas in the middle and Kewell on the left, as Rafa looks to keep the likes of Mascherano and Crouch for the game against Porto on wednesday.

Tom Hicks has responded to Rafa's press conference by telling him to stop talking about new players, and concentrate on the ones he has at his disposal.

Benitez clearly isnt happy with Hicks and Gillett, and it seems Hicks is not happy with Benitez either. “After the Champions League final in Athens, Rafa made certain demands of us and we responded to those demands in the summer.” Said Hicks.

“We brought in some good players and spent more money than has ever been spent before at this club. We now have some crucial games coming up in the Premier League and the Champions League and we want to see if we can win these games with the players we have.”

“This was the message we gave to Rafa recently and I think during the international break he must have grown a bit frustrated about this. We told him to concentrate on the games coming up and nothing else and I guess he didn’t like that.”

“But, for the time being, we just need to be focused on what happens on the pitch. George and I will be over in mid-December and that is the time to talk about other issues. It is really time for Rafa to quit talking about new players and to coach the players we have.”

Pepe Reina has dismissed talk of a transfer to Atletico Madrid by stating he is happy at Liverpool.

Reina has been linked with a return to Spain, with Atletico Madrid rumoured to be after his signature, however Liverpool's shotstopper had this to say about a transfer : “I am flattered, But at this moment it would not be good for me to move as my family is comfortable.

"I am feeling happy and valued. I have no reason to move."

Atletico Madrid already have Argentina international Leo Franco as number 1 keeper so a move for Reina is unlikely anyway.

Liverpool's American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks have released the following statement .

Possibly in response to the Rafa Benitez press conference where he gave the same answer over and over, the American owners said : "We made a significant investment in the playing squad during the summer and desperately want this team to succeed.

"There are some very important games coming up in the next couple of weeks and all of us need to focus on winning those games and getting the best out of the players we already have at the club.

"We will leave any talk of buying or selling players until we come across to Liverpool in December and sit down with the Manager then."

Rafael Benitez has not ruled himself out of contention for the vacant England manager's job, after a confusing press conference.

Rafa answered every question the same, but when asked about the England role, he replied :
“In the future, you never know what might happen, If I improve my English, maybe.”

“You never know what will happen in the future. The future is the future. Now, as always I am focused on training and coaching my team, so I cannot say anything else. Just to keep preparing for the next game.

”That next game is at Newcastle United tomorrow "

When asked if he was being serious about the England job, he said he was, so something has gone wrong at Liverpool.

Something has gone wrong somewhere at Anfield, after Rafa Benitez gave an odd press conference where he gave the same answer on numerous occasions to every question fired at him.

Benitez turned up to a press conference 35 minutes late, and refused to answer with anything other than "“I am focused on training and coaching my team.”.

Here is the transcript in full (taken from icliverpool.co.uk)

PRESS: Do you know how much you will have to spend from the American owners in January?
RB: As always I am focused on training and coaching my team.
Have you had any assurances you’ll have what you want?
RB: As always I am focused on training and coaching my team.
What about your long-term plan?
RB: My plan is training and coaching the team.
Is there anything upsetting you?
RB: As always I am focused on training and coaching my team.
Do you have anything to say?
RB: As always I am focused on training and coaching my team.
It’s clear something is up…
RB: You have my answer.
You’re very different from normal…
RB: You have my answer.
It’s clear that something is up, though. How can you focus on your training and coaching?
RB: I was preparing the training session before this Press conference. So I am always focused on training and coaching.
It’s not always possible, though…
RB: Yes, it is for me.
You said after the story linking you with Bayern Munich you were happy to stay here for a long time, is that still the case?
RB: As always I am focused on training and coaching my team.
We’re not going to tease it out of you, are we? You’re not normally late for a Press conference. You were obviously preoccupied by something…
RB: Because as always I was focusing on the training session.
Is there anything you would like to say?
RB: As always I am focused on training and coaching my team.
You always say you are focused on training and coaching, but you usually give answers to our enquiries, so how come it’s changed suddenly?
RB: Nothing. I’m just focused on training and coaching as always.
You did kind of suggest to the TV people that you were open to possibility of the England job. Is that something we should treat seriously?
RB: It’s your decision. You never know what will happen in the future.
Were you serious when you answered it?
RB: I was serious.
It would be dereliction of our duty not to point out that one day you say you are looking to stay here a long time, then the next day you are saying who knows about England for the future. Isn’t there a contradiction between the two?
RB: The future is the future. Now, as always I am focused on training and coaching my team, so I cannot say anything else. Just to keep preparing for the next game.
You’ve always said you wanted to stay here for years and years and talked about the future here?
RB: That is true.
So, what you’re saying suggests that perhaps the future here is in question?
RB: I am focused on training and coaching my team.
So who knows?
RB: As always I am focused on training and coaching my team.
Are you being allowed to do that as you wish?
RB: I am focused on training and coaching my team.
Does everyone associated with the club share that opinion?
RB: As always I am focused on training and coaching my team.

Clearly something got to Benitez, and he isnt happy, speculation suggests a rift between himself and the owners Hicks and Gillett, but only time will tell.

This might sound a bit more positive than it should be, but bear with me on the facts we have, and we'll see where we can go on from there on.
Liverpool Football Club have been tipped for greatness once the two American businessmen Mr. Gillett and Mr. Hicks bought the club's shares and made a statement on helping Rafael Benitez build his squad the way he wants it and support him with his plans on the field, by injecting his transfer kitty with the cash needed, as well as off the pitch with the new Stadium and more power to the Academy role in the Liverpool FC system.
Since then, the expectations from supporters and the media have been hyped, with "The Sky's the Limit" everyone is expecting this club to win each and every single game, convincingly like a 4-0, 5-0 demolition of sides around, as if no one is close to us… then if we don't do that, we're not a great side… not jus that actually, we are "surprisingly" out of the title run, and out of Europe (actually we are facing trouble there, but the exaggeration levels of some folks are insanely ludicrous for a side that went level with the mighty AC Milan in a final with a far weaker side than this), so the whole expectation level of the club is strangely handled, especially by the press, and then followed by a section of the supporters who are lost in the transaction of the club's fortunes.

So, to set the record straight, and make a statement of enlightening to everybody who's connected to the club; the process of signing important players and/or keeping the key ones held at the club is now DONE, nothing left needed, and the ones needed would not be called Important Signings… the next stage is to get the results, which pretty much what we have been doing to some extent by not play that good or give our best effort yet still get a result from under the noses of the opposition, simply look back this season to performances against Tottenham Hotspur at home, or the Derby (where we could have conceded a penalty late on)or the Villa opening game, or even Fulham. Certainly sometimes we didn't do well, like the ones against Birmingham City or Blackburn Rovers (which all pundits would bring to you as an example) but the picture is getting more brighter now. Last season we were facing so much trouble in that regard, not Grinding out results from no where, the certain matter that Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal were capable of doing. But now, we have the ability to do it, and guess what, the more we do something like this, the more confidence it would send through out to the squad, and fills them with the belief that even if they didn't play well, they can get something… some might argue that this would make the players lacking effort, or desire to win those games, but the thing is… it takes off the pressure in the back of their minds, and fills them with confidence in those games, and doesn't push them into making unnecessary moves, tackles, passes, etc. (don't believe it, watch a sad highlight of our home game against the scums back from last season)

The new Era of Liverpool FC now is about improvement on the pitch rather than off it, and getting results if we played good or bad. I certainly feel the frustration from Rafa Benitez from the fact that we played AC Milan out of the park and still lost. The memory of Athens puts Rafa in a different state of mind, and keeps him filled with desire to correct the mistakes and never let that happen again in the foreseeable future, and make sure we always come on top, no matter how, who we're playing, and no matter what competition it is. A significant sign of a winner, which many of the so-called "Media Pundits" know nothing about, claiming Benitez is just tinkering for the sake of it, and that he won't keep a side twice a week and keep the so-called
team rhythm synchronizing together to get the results he's looking for! (They now KNOW what the manager of Liverpool FC wants and desires). Seriously, a whole lot of shit from jerks like that makes many supporters lose faith and call for the best man to take this job's head, cause in today's football and today's game, keeping the same XI week in week out hardly exists… for a very simple reason that no one apparently wants to listen to, particularly when it comes to Liverpool (I don't know why, but they don't like it for a reason). SQUADS are made of more than 22 PLAYERS FOR EACH TEAM. How come teams like Chelsea, Arsenal and Man United have more than 20 star players, and keep all of them Happy ?!!! How come the question only arises when it is Liverpool, and never when Mourinho (before the sack), Ferguson or Wenger do the same exact thing to even bigger extents and not even get mentioned? Many said it's the titles that talk for you. Well, Mourinho never won the UEFA Champions League for Chelsea and was sacked for that "obviously" yet was never called for such a matter? The scale people use in assigning who's good and always gets their support, and who's bad and should always be a villain even if he won all 4 trophies have been blatantly disgusting, and brings us back to who to follow, and the best answer I could have mustered was: if you support a club, support it as it stands with each and every personnel involved in it, basically because that's the job of a supporter, rather than criticise by phone-ins asking for Rafa's head after a tricky tie to Istanbul!

The fact that this club have developed so rapidly is a f*cking BIG STATEMENT to be reckoned with. If someone came to me in 2004 and told me that this Liverpool side would win the Champions League final in the most remarkable manner against the best club in Europe back at that time I would have thought he was mocking us and would have tried to revert his mockery to someone else! Liverpool have appeared in 2 Finals in the space of 3 years (an improvement even REAL MADRID are dreaming about) improved well enough in the cups, and the only matter that stood for them was the League, which admittedly from everyone involved is the biggest priority this season and obviously is taken care off much better than before.
The club is going places you don't have to worry about that, the Media is just trying to sell more stories to this section of supporters (Liverpool's) in any kind of way, coming up with shit like "The Co-owners at rift" or "Rafa tinkering again" if we ever lose a couple of points, or the stupid shit ever "It's the zonal marking that have caused the Reds dear" whenever we concede the sick rare goal from a set piece once every 6 months!! All of which prompts me more to have my own opinion and my own stand against the hypocritical media that hardly shows the big and TRUTHFUL picture of what's happening at the club, and I hope the rest can take this approach, although I know many would choose the easiest of roads by following the obvious leads from pundits, editors and Muppets speaking (and I won't blame them if they can't follow the club like we do) but I don't want to be lacking effort in giving a statement and helping others notice the difference from watching the game from one corner to another, at least give the assist needed to open a better book and look for better details.
In the mean time, try your best to enjoy a fateful week with the Internationals, as England are keeping their hopes hanged by a thread.

Written by user Base21