On the Tevez issue i think its more the speed at which the deal was put through once the handbags between Kia and West Ham had ended that caught Rafa’s attention. My point was that the premier league quickly rubber stamped the deal and there was no mention of waiting whilst they checked no rules were being broken like they did with Liverpool.

Tevez issue – Please refer to my comment #9. In fact, the Tevez deal actually took unbelievably long).

Imho, Rafa made a mistake with these statements. He was one up on United for unsettling one of their key players and he screwed it up by ‘getting the media to focus on him’.

To start off with the tapping up comments by Man U – I can’t see how anyone would not be annoyed at being accused of tapping up a player, fact is that Man U have no proof of this otherwise they would go public with it. If the situation was reversed then i’m sure Ferguson would act in a similar way. Personally i think the whole issue of tapping up is stupid, it seems to happen throughout the football world and no one seems to be able to stop it, i can’t see why they try to enforce a rule that to be honest is unenforceable.

Regarding the Tevez issue Rafa does actually have a point here, the fact is that the premier league took quite some time to approve the deal between Liverpool and player to ensure there was no breach of the regulations like the deal with West Ham. However, Man U’s deal get pushed through as soon as West Ham and Kia finish having handbags over the players registration, add this to the fact that Anderson gets a work premit even though he doesn’t meet the criteria for it does come across as somewhat suspicious.

In fairness i have to admit that Rafa’s comments about the fixtures are pointless, i remember having a laugh at Mourinho complaining last year on the very same subject!

Finally i can’t understand why you bothered to bring up the comments on weaker teams being played for the end of last season as everyone knew it was mathmatically impossible for Liverpool to finish higher than 3rd and they still had the champions league to play for, i can’t see any other manager acting in a different way to Rafa. In fact other managers go so far as to concentrate on the league to try and ensure survival at the start of the season for their teams and disregard the cup competitions and i don’t see any comments against this practice!

Their first such match against the other Big 3 was with Chelsea at home, second is against Arsenal on October 28,2007 again at home.

So don’t complain Rafael Benitez. For if you can not beat lesser teams regardless of the venue, then you are not good enough to win the premier league. So you have already started harping on an excuse saying you can’t win the league.

Benitez makes me sick with his whining. First it was the squad depth now that he has spent obscene amounts on transfers, it is the fixtures are loaded against Liverpool.

Get up and look around, Reading and Portsmouth have more genuine reason to complain as they started most of their matches against far bigger clubs.

And whats with this line “It’s going to be very difficult for us to win the Premier League because the other teams are so strong but I want our supporters to know that despite the disadvantages we have, we will fight all the way.”
You made all the headlines with the big name transfers this season so don’t talk of fighting instead come up with results and statements like “We will win the league”. At least exude that confidence.

Thats why Rafa freaked out when the Premier League doesnt help him this time.

Poor Rafa, he thought that those helping hands will be there forever.