Five Players That Got Away From Rafa
Everywhere you look or listen, Rafa Benitez’s ability to manage Liverpool Football Club is being questioned. I’ve not been immune to criticising the Spaniard myself, as followers of the Soccerlens Podcast will testify, but I’m far from alone in highlighting his deficiencies. Even Liverpool’s loyalist fans are split on whether the goatee-ed one is still the man they want to lead them forward.
Rafa Benitez remains one of the wisest tacticians around. Give him a set of players ahead of a big match and he will get them well prepared and set up to beat the opposition. He’s got his faults but he certainly knows how to nullify opposition danger men.
It’s Rafa’s transfer activities that should concern Liverpool fans most. A prolific buyer of players, his percentage rate of successful purchases lies well below 20%. And crucially, his record at selling players isn’t too clever either.
With the whole world still scratching their heads at his decision to flog Xabi Alonso, I thought it would be interesting to highlight five of Rafa’s worst sales since he’s been boss at Liverpool…
Xabi Alonso
It’s the obvious one but there is little you can say in Rafa’s defence here. Xabi Alonso was a vital cog in the Reds machine that performed so well last season and his absence was always going to be critical. You simply can’t take away the oil that made things tick and expect the engine to run as smoothly. Some will argue that Alonso was intent on quitting Anfield but Rafa is culpable in that respect too. The relationship broke down between the pair as a result of flirtations with Gareth Barry and the obvious lack of faith in the man who was manning the ship in his midfield at the time. It’s a sale that could lead to the end of Rafa’s tenure.
Michael Owen
Real Madrid were the beneficiaries of yet another of Rafa’s outcasts in 2004, in the shape of Michael Owen. In fact, one of the Spaniard’s first acts as boss was to offer his leading goalscorer to a major European rival for a mere £8million. Was he doing them a favour? OK, Owen hasn’t been the same player in recent years but ask any Liverpool fan if they’d prefer him to Voronin or Ngog and I know what the answer would be.
Stephen Warnock
Full-backs are clearly not a forte of Senor Benitez. He’s bought and sold more of them in five years than most managers could manage in 20. Given the susceptibility of current incumbents Aurelio, Insua and Dossena, surely his decision to sell local lad Stephen Warnock to Blackburn Rovers for a mere £1.5million should be called into question. He signed Gabriel Palletta for £2million, remember. Now at Aston Villa, the consistently reliable left-back can’t be far away from an England call-up.
Craig Bellamy
Is it just me or did you think Bellamy was doing OK at Anfield? With a respectable goal ratio of one in three and his pace causing havoc every time he pulled on the shirt, he gave Benitez’s side a new dimension. A genuine Liverpool fan, love him or loathe him, Bellers was an asset to that team. Liverpool’s loss was West Ham and now Manchester City’s gain.
Peter Crouch
Given the current shortage of attacking options at Rafa’s disposal surely it was an error to allow Crouchy to leave so soon after settling in on Merseyside? Fair enough, the lanky front man is no Fernando Torres but if I was a Reds fan I’d be delighted to see his name on the team sheet, whether as a starter, or a sub. I don’t buy into the theory that Crouch didn’t suit Liverpool. He can play. And just as importantly, he is a great character in the dressing room too. The team would have been a happier unit with Crouchy, than without him.
What do you guys think? Am I being unfair on Rafa?
Topics: Football Transfers
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Selling Michael Owen financed Xabi Alonso. Palleta was crap but he got shot of him in a trade for Insua. As much as I love Alonso, most Liverpool fans would have happily traded him for Gareth Barry the summer before last, he hadn’t been on his game for 2 seasons. He came good though and fair play to him, such a talented footballer.
November 16th, 2009 @ 18:58Owen demanded a move. He wasn’t sold willingly.
November 16th, 2009 @ 19:09I suppose 1 out of 5 isn’t bad, the only legitimate mistake in your list is Warnock who Rafa sold too early. He should have been kept and would be an integral part of the team today.
The rest is nonsense and ill-researched nonsense at that:
Alonso – came off the back of his worst season for LFC when Rafa wanted to bring in Barry for him so it was perfectly reasonable to be trying to make that swap – even more so in light of the impending UEFA ruling on English players in the squad. Alonso then had his best season in a Red shirt and earned us circa £20m profit when he was sold to Real Madrid. After 5yrs at Liverpool it was more than the flirtation with Barry that tempted Alonso away and whilst maybe we’d have liked Rafa to have fought harder to keep him it’s hard to do this when you have no money – compare the attraction of Madrid with Kaka, Benzema, Ronaldo and galatico salaries on about 30% tax and tell me there’s a manager in the world who could have kept Alonso. Best Rafa could do was to maximise the profit.
Owen – he didn’t tout him out at all, Owen had let his contract run down and wanted over £100k p/w to stay at LFC – Rafa didn’t think he was worth £100k and said so to the board. With his contract run down the best we could do was the £8m – poor business but if Owen had been a true red then £90k p/w would have been enough.
Bellamy – I actually agree he’d be a useful squad player to have around at the moment but his behaviour was unacceptable to Rafa and for Liverpool – good riddance.
Crouch – again, agree that he’d be a good squad player to have around but he wanted regular first team football which he wasn’t going to get so he agitated for the move. Good profit made and Crouch still isn’t getting a regular start. Rafa could have kept him by promising him more games etc etc but he doesn’t seem the type to mislead a player so straight up said that he sees him as a squad player – fair enough.
So apart from Warnock, there’s no way you can lay these on Rafa – he did the best possible with the circumstances he was given.
November 16th, 2009 @ 19:13Alonso wanted to go, as did Owen. Warnock is average at best but I totally agree that Crouch and Bellamy would be huge assets right now. Rafa has bought Reina, Alonso,Kuyt, Torres, Aggger, Skrtel, Johnson, Insua and dare I say even Lucas is looking better this season, I also have high hopes for Aquilani. So some good signings, but many more worse ones unfortunately.But what are the realistic options?
November 16th, 2009 @ 19:17Its easy to accuse rafa of letting players go, but if you read what stevie g recently said in an interview xabi was wanting to go back to spain for a new challenge and to bring up his new baby in spain.
November 16th, 2009 @ 19:24Michael owen had made his mind up he was going despite having a new contract on the table waiting for his signature and rafa wanting him to stay.
Peter Crouch also had the offer of a new contract and rafa not wanting him to go either.
So blaming rafa is easy isn’t it!!!!
poor article, when rafa sold owen, he only got 1 year left in his contract, 8m was a sensible price for a player whose contract is expiring. In fact, houllier should be the culprit as he failed to extend owen’s contract. Bellamy was sold to finance torres’s deal. Letting warnock go is not a mistake, but selling riise is. I agree with you on Crouchy and xabi.
November 16th, 2009 @ 19:40wow this is such a terrible article. i can’t be bothered going into detail, but ill just summarise it quickly. alonso was performing very average the 2 seasons before last, hence why rafa wanted to sell him. most liverpool fans at the time were sad that alonso might be leaving, but couldnt argue based on his form. last season alonso was amazing, hence why rafa wanted to keep him, but xabi had his mind made up. as for owen, rafa didnt just give him to madrid, he tried to convince him to stay, as he did with stevie and carra as soon as he came to anfield. owen was just a glory hunter and was intent on leaving to win ‘trophies’. stephen warnock?! are you serious? at the time, it wasn’t a bad sale at all, and he hasn’t done a hell of a lot to prove otherwise. bellamy was a menace to have in a team because he was constantly complaining. crouchy was always gonna be a bench/rotation player with stevie-torres being our best combo up front. this is an unresearched, completely unfounded article. what has ‘journalism’ come to
November 16th, 2009 @ 19:49I thought bellamy was a good buy for liverpool with his blistering pace he tormented any defence, but owen i think had passed his prime when he signed for real madrid, he is still a good player but i think we need more speed and movement in and around the box an owen doesnt give this, i would sooner have him over voronin but ngog is one for the future
November 16th, 2009 @ 19:53whoever in the comments list said that xabi had bad season for liverpool, I will just say one thing, he was injured. Can we say torres had bad season last year when he was clearly injured for much of last season.
When, xabi was out injured in 07-08 season, we were having a very bad run of games. we were loosing. when he retured after the injury, we started playing good and anyone can see how influential xabi was in that run.
So, please stop saying that xabi had bad season. Blame the injury.
November 16th, 2009 @ 19:56Alonso wanted to leave for his own reasons and we made a huge profit on him.
Owen wanted out- Benitez tried to convince him to stay but Owen only wanted to line his own pockets. Houllier had already signed Cisse as his replacement.
Warnock was stuck behind the (at the time) excellent Riise, and wanted first team football.
Crouch wasn’t prepared to spend time on the bench and was (rightly) behind Torres in the pecking order. Rafa wanted to play with one up front. And again he made a profit on a player he took a great deal of stick for signing in the first place and turned him into an england regular.
Bellamy’s behavior off the pitch (and probably his injury record) cost him his place. I mean attacking another team mate with a golf club is not great for team moral/ Again, sold on at a profit to fund Torres.
November 16th, 2009 @ 20:04Alonso hadn’t been playing at the top of his game for give or take two seasons and Rafa wanted to replace him with Barry, who had been really good for Villa for several seasons. A really sensible choice at the time. It turned out that Barry was overpriced and Alonso stayed at the club and played the best football of his life last season and since he wanted to leave Rafa got £30M which is an OK figure, although it could have been a bit higher. Owen had been plagued by injuries for a couple of seasons and we already had a couple of strikers at the club, maybe could have brought him in as a cover for Torres this season but now I doubt anyone want Owen at Anfield ever again. Warnock was an average player and Aurelio is better when fit and we have Insua who’s rising to be a world-class defender. Bellamy was said to have a problem with his attitude and temper and we got a decent amount for him when he left for West Ham. Rafa wanted to keep Crouch, who decided to leave for playing regulary.
November 16th, 2009 @ 20:07wow…what a bunch of excuses.
Owen – wasn’t convinced by Rafa’s European credentials (ironic). Was available upon return to England but had a wages issue (well, RM did pay him over the odds wages).
Was available – AGAIN – after being released by Newcastle this summer – and was signed up on reasonable wages.
So, Rafa had 3 chances to keep him. The first two, I get it, Rafa was smart to ignore, but the third time? Stupid.
Warnock and Crouch – two players that Rafa could have given more time on the pitch. Having said that, Crouch isnt that hot to begin with (but he’d be better than Ngog…)
Bellamy’s success at City proves that he can a) survive in a highly disciplined environment and b) can perform at the top level.
Bellamy shouldn’t have been allowed to go.
Crouch and Warnock – can’t fault Rafa but other clubs have held on to good squad players so Rafa’s rotations could have been better.
Owen – Rafa had a chance to sign him, should have, didn’t.
Alonso – yea, but you get a player who doesn’t replace him but does a half-way job between Alonso and Gerrard – thus upsetting the balance of the team.
Or you could ignore everything and just try to save Rafa…
November 16th, 2009 @ 20:14He is great but should go to another team, enough from Rafa at Liverpool…
November 16th, 2009 @ 22:29The only player we’re missing is Alonso – and Benitez got 30 million for him. As for Owen, you are misstating the facts – the guy was on the last year of his contract and put the gun on LFC to let him go.
November 16th, 2009 @ 23:08Warnock was picking up injury after injury at the time so jog on there, Bellamy saw himself as the lovechild of Tiger Woods and Dirty Sanchez and goals per game, Robbie Fowler had the best goalscoring ratio of Liverpool’s strikers in 2007, pre El Nino, Alonso and Owen are a pair of money grabbing Judases and Crouchy (who let’s not forget also engineered a move away from Anfield) has Gerrard to thank for being sold. If Captain Fantastic hadn’t insisted on throwing his rattle out of the pram whenever he didn’t get to play as ‘second striker’, who knows how it would have / could have turned out for Crouchy and for us?
November 16th, 2009 @ 23:20Rafa’s just clueless with transfers. His success rate in transfers must be 1 from 50 or something like that. He’s a good tactican and on occations a good motivator, but that’s about it. He’d be fired if he wasn’t at a club constantly living off past success.
November 16th, 2009 @ 23:29give rafa 50M every summer then he would not make these “bad” transfer decisions.. ngog is ok and he is getting better. 1,5m wasnt that bad for him. have rafa bought any bad 20m players? you can allways say Keane but he isn´t a bad player just didnt fit in for some reason and if i remember right he wasnt even rafas choice cuz he wanted barry.
November 17th, 2009 @ 00:49Rafa’s rotation policy causes the issues. Good players need minutes and Rafa was stingy with providing those minutes outside of his favorite few. This results in players who want to move, which in turn drives a certain amount of risk via transfer market uncertainties.
November 17th, 2009 @ 01:31A little bit of research wouldn’t hurt, Adrian.
1. Xabi’s 5th year with Liverpool was great, but the decision to sell him and get Gareth Barry was made after two poor seasons due to form or injury, plus defensive lapses in key games (AC Milan 07, Barnsley (FA Cup), etc.) You’re using hindsight. Rafa has to use foresight. Anyway, Barry’s doing very well at Man City indeed and rarely gets injured. And plus, this is the big plus, Alonso wanted to raise his kid in Spain, play for RM with higher pay and lower taxes, play with Kaka, Ronaldo, et al, etc. Rafa tried to keep him, brought him along for the tour and I’d say he almost succeeded. In the end, Xabi sent in his request so bye bye. What’s a manager to do but to maximise profit?
2. Michael Owen. Ran down his contract and did not want to sign the contract that Liverpool offered. Went to RM to ‘win the Champions League’ ala McManaman. Hardly Rafa’s fault that he had to sell at only 8m or risk losing him for nothing. Not even Houllier’s fault. 2nd chance, Owen chose to go to Newcastle. Again Liverpool made an offer, but surely you don’t expect Liverpool to sell at 8m and then buy back at 16m a year later, and for a crock that Newcastle discovered after he joined them. Not exactly scoring loads of goals at Man U is he? Ngog has a much higher strike rate (at 1 every 47minutes!!!!) in the premier league. Ahmed Bilal if you’re reading this, that’s a strike rate better than Berbatov, Owen and Macheda combined!!!
3. Steven Warnock. Leftback. Who’s in his position now? Let’s see. 1. Aurelio – International for Brazil. 2. Insua – International for Argentina. 3. Dossena – International for Italy. Care to do a tiny wee bit of research first????
4. Craig Bellamy. Hit Riise with Golf Club. I repeat. Hit Riise with Golf Club. Haven’t register yet? Hit Riise with golf club. He had to go! His departure financed Torres’ purchase.
5. Peter Crouch. Rafa offered him a new and improved contract but he wanted to play regularly (We have Torres so he’s only ever going to be a sub) with the World Cup in mind so he left for Portsmouth (old pal Harry). Now, not even a regular starter at Spurs (even with old pal Harry) and in his premier league appearances he has hardly scored. Again, Ngog (1.5 MILLION POUNDS) has a much higher strike rate (at 1 every 47minutes!!!!) in the premier league. Once again, Ahmed Bilal if you’re reading this, that’s a strike rate better than Berbatov (OVER THIRTY MILLION POUNDS!!!), Owen and Macheda combined!!!
November 17th, 2009 @ 05:31Robbie Keane?
November 17th, 2009 @ 05:43without rafa we have to wait 19 years again,just give him full back and he will bring to us silvercup.
November 17th, 2009 @ 07:00Ahmed Bilal is an idiot! How is Owen doing at Man U? Only fit enough to come on as an impact sub, and then not scoring much either. And why did Rafa not rush out to buy him again after his latest return from injury having played a grand total of 2 games for the barcodes ever? Exactly. The main thing to remember about Rafa, is that he has a list of targets. When he tries to get the players on that list, he is then told he can’t afford that, so he has to go further down his list. If he feels he absolutely has to get that player, he has to sell first. This does not make for squad strength, but he is still expected to compete for the top. He was promised that he would be backed in the transfer market, he hasn’t been.
November 17th, 2009 @ 08:25What Vincent said.
That is all.
And I’m not even a Liverpool Fan.
Talk about shoddy journalism…
November 17th, 2009 @ 08:43You smoking crack or somethin or just another bs writing wannabee bored journalist???
November 17th, 2009 @ 09:17Xabi – huge profit made the season before his last he was bad as hell.
Owen – wanted to leave mercenary comes to mind he was in any case past his sell by date good ridance
Warnock – belongs at blackburn nor liverpool
Crouch and Bellamy – Jeez they are second rate at best squad players. If Man City or Spurs win the league with them in their teams I’ll eat my own shite.
please dont mention “owen” and “players-who-got-away” in any liverpool article, the thought that a guy who has the blood of The Kop flowing through his veins who then chose a man united transfusion is beyound me…
November 17th, 2009 @ 11:08Ha ha. Warnock close to an england call up is like saying Jay Spearing is close to breaking into the LFC first team to be realistic.
Actually Jay has a better chance of breaking in. Even if Warnock got called up (and im not saying he’s a bad player) but do you think he’ll knock Ashley Cole off? Do you think he’d be picked ahead of Wayne Bridge?
Regardless of merit, if either of those players were available and he was picked ahead of them, the press would crucify Capello.
Bellamy is the surest (with crouch 2nd) of your arguements there. Should have held him. Your arguements are poor. If you look at the success of Rafa in buying players when backed with serious money you have a list like this – For 10m plus we’ve gotten, Alonso, Mascherano, Keane, Torres, Aquilani, Johnson.
So, you have a player that is doing very well at running Real’s midfield right now and who was sold for nearly 3 times what he was bought for. You have the argentine captain. You have a player who is proven class but seemed to be forced onto rafa and into a system he wasn’t made for – he was moved on. You then have one of the top 3 strikers in the world. Aquilani is unproven but looks to be good and finally you have england’s right back.
November 17th, 2009 @ 13:33Not bad purchases when he’s had the backing. The problem is that too often he’s had 20m to spend and 2-3 positions to fill. THAT is where his transfer problems have been.
@Damo: Actually Owen has started 6 games for United this season and appeared in 16 altogether. With 4 goals his contribution is as good as Tevez. You need to check your facts before going-off on one.
@erwf: Like a beligerent dog in the corner who’s fed once a day and still has to snap in anger at everything…. but you just don’t have the heart to put it down! All creatures great and small….and all that!
November 17th, 2009 @ 13:58Alonso wanted to go despite Rafa stating that he wanted him to stay. Okay he did not want to sell Alonso last season but saw Barry as a more flexible player. Alonso as much as I liked him saw Real Madrid and would have gone anyway.
Michael Owen when Rafa arrived kept on saying that he was on the verge of signing a new contract months after dithering and keeping all Liverpool fans waiting. Then his agent gets a call from Real Madrid and guess what?
Stephen Warnock – Probably the only acceptable argument, but was he consistent enough? Never heard many Liverpool fans state their anger at Warnock being sold?
Craig Bellamy – Well he didn’t cause any bad stories whilst he was at Liverpool did he? Good player but Rafa wanted a strong team spirit with no flying golf clubs.
Peter Crouch – Another player that Rafa did not want to go and stated this. But Peter Crouch wanted first team guarantee instead of sitting on the bench and Rafa could not do this.
Please don’t blame Rafa Benitez for things that are beyond his control.
November 17th, 2009 @ 14:36I think your being very unfair if you want your article to suggest Rafa is to blame for those players leaving.
He could have handled the Alonso situation better and should never have attempted to sell him a year before he eventually left..but maybe Rafa new Xabi was planning on leaving way before we did and in the end we got a very good price for a player who wanted to leave.
Michael Owen and Peter Crouch could both have stayed yet they chose to leave, Owen fancied Spain and his career has been in freefall pretty much since he left.
Crouch didn’t fancy being a squad player at liverpool, which is fair enough, however he’s now ended up being a squad player at Spurs..I wonder how often he regrets leaving.
As for Warnock and Bellamy neither are top class although they are both decent players. The loss of both has really had no significance of liverpool football club and is never likely too.
November 17th, 2009 @ 17:13@ john
greAt comments regarding what players rafa has bought in over £10m
i think everyone else have already covered the reasons for why this is a poor article!
November 17th, 2009 @ 17:15This article os crap from start to finish.
1. Xabi Alonso – the majority of Liverpool fans would admit that he was well below par for the two seasons before last and it was n wonder Rafa wanted to bring in Barry. He then ahd one of his best ever seasons and we made a £20m profit on a player who wanted to leave.
2. Michael Owen left cause he refused to sign a new contract and Benitez sold him to avoid another McMananam incident. £8m was certainly ebtter than nothing in the circumstances. The price was nothing to do with his quality and everything to do with the 12 months left on his contract.
3. Stephen Warnock is not good enough for Liverpool and wouldn’t get in ahead of Aurelio and Insua who have both been called up to their national squads on the back of their performances at Anfield. I reckon Warnock is behind Cole, Bridge and LEscott when it coems to Englands left back slot.
4. Craig Bellamy filled a void for a year and we made a profit on him. He was a stop gap until Torres came along and a bit of a trouble maker to boot, so I don;t think he was ever pencilled in for a long stay on Merseyside.
5. Peter Crouch. this is the one that confirms to me you know sod all about Liverpool. Crouch wanted to stay at Liverpool and Rafa wanted him to stay, even suggesting a new contract. But he could not guarantee Crouch the regular first team football he craved hence he left for Portsmouth. Nothing to do with Rafa making a mistake by selling him as he didn’t want him to go in the first place.
Maybe a tad more research before the next article eh?
November 17th, 2009 @ 19:25Deleted my response did you? -Can’t take your excuse for ‘research’ being rightly torn to pieces can you? Well, as I said RESEARCH your subject properly – Half of what you put was uninformed rubbish and the other half so badly researched that my 6 month old little boy could have done MUCH better.
As I said before – look at the likes of Vidic, Silva, Villa, Tevez, Simao and Barry. THEY are players that got away from Rafa’ NOT ones that left him through mainly their own choice.
As to your own list;
Alonso left as he WANTED To – Couldn’t stop him and it had NOTHING to do with Barry who would have played on our left as Rafa’ HIMSELF confirmed today and anyone with an ounce of football knowledge could have guessed.
Owen again WANTED to go and planned it long before Rafa’ was on the scene then he repeated his snubbing of Rafa’ for the Newcastle circus in 2005. WHY should Rafa’go to him after that? Especially now his stars dimmed so much he spends most of his time on the Man U bench AND he’s being comfortably outscored by our reserve N’gog in the league at present? Never mind the master Torres who is compared to Owen what Owen is football wise compared to a normal person – i.e. in a different galaxy.
Warnock WAS given a chance by Rafa’ for TWO seasons but had so many injuries (including THREE broken legs) AND refused to play second fiddle to Aurelio once he was brought in that he had to go in Rafa’s eyes especially as first Aurelio and now Insua who replaced him are now far superior ‘on the ball’ players and I don’t think he’s missed.
Bellamy HAD to go as his behaviour was unacceptable and it would have SEVERELY undermined Rafa’ to keep him (unless he was Cantona or the FAR superior Dalglish he COULDN’T have stayed and he’s not a patch on either so out he went). He DIDN’T score at a rate of 1 in 3 though – don’t know where you got THAT stat from – There was almost 5 and a half months of his ONE season with us when he DIDN’T score – he didn’t score UNTIL October 2006 and DIDN’T score AFTER March 2007 either – funnily enough that last goal was in the Nou Camp game where the ‘golfing’ incident occurred so at least he’ll have that to remember his time at the most decorated club in England by if nothing else but he HAD to go.
Crouch – Like Owen and Xabi; Crouchy WANTED to go, couldn’t be stopped. Anyway, WAS he Liverpool quality? In his first season he spent what 5 months before scoring at all in December and he missed some AWFUL sitters (remember when we beat Chelsea 2 – 0 in January 2007 and Riise hit the bar? Well the ball bounced to him and he nodded it tamely into Cech’s hands, he allowed Van Der Sar to save his admittedly powerful shot when we lost 0 – 1 to the O’Shea robbery in March 2007 and worst of all was the dismal Blackburn defeat on Boxing Day 2006 where he missed at least FOUR clear chances including the chance of three easy headers – In the end he wasn’t clinical enough and he’s not a patch on his replacement Torres – even Ngog’s got a better scoring rate at present so I don’t think he’s missed.
What have all the players mentioned DONE since leaving us exactly anyway – Haven’t exactly lit up the world or pulled up trees have they? And I include Alonso in that. I think this list was VERY badly put together and the research was even worse – I’ve suggested above who I REALLY think got away from Rafa’ (and he DID try and get them all) and it’s NOT this lot – they are players who ‘went away’ from Rafa’ after he had them for a while (except in Owen’s case which WASN’T his fault) and NOT players who he wanted who got away – I suggest someone learn the difference next time as it’s a big one.
November 18th, 2009 @ 13:38