"A rough estimate of the staggering
number of former Liverpool players in gainful
employment of the media is put at a minimum of 20 - ranging from Tommy Smith to
Stan Collymore. The majority of them can't manage a grocery list, never mind
football clubs..." wrote a local journalist who is also a Liverpool fan.
"A good segment of this harmful group
hawk their personal agendas, eager to be onside with the club, and never railed
against Hicks and Gillet as they drove the Reds into the ground. Do they really
have the interest of the club and supporters (in their hearts)?"
Among this harmful group I would add Mark
Lawrenson.
Agree that Mark Lawrenson was one of the best
defenders of all times, whom I used to love. But Mark Lawrenson talks a good
game? I am afraid not. He is just as biased as anyone else. In fact, he can be
a disgrace. He seems to think football fans are not so smart, and could
easily buy into his perverted views.
Here is an example:
"...Houllier was also happy to take the
credit for the 2005 Champions League success....Houllier deserves the credit
too. The majority of the players were signed by him..."
Has anyone, who has some knowledge about
football, ever heard of a more glaringly ludicrous pronouncement?
Tell me, at the early stages of the
competition in 2005, did Lawrenson, or anybody else even honestly dare to believe and
predict that that "Houllier's team" would win the 5th European
Cup for Liverpool ?
Why should Houllier deserve the credit for an
average team which he himself could never manage to take pass even the
quarterfinals stage of the Champion League in all his years at Liverpool ?
Someone else came along, took his half-decent
team and transformed them into the title winning team in his very first year,
and then credit should be given to Houllier? What cheeks!
By the way, what was a Houllier Team without Michael Owen, whose goals Liverpool largely depended on? Where did Michael Owen feature in the Rafa Benitez team? At the Real Madrid bench!
By the way, what was a Houllier Team without Michael Owen, whose goals Liverpool largely depended on? Where did Michael Owen feature in the Rafa Benitez team? At the Real Madrid bench!
If anything, it just showed what a great
manager Benitez was who turned a bunch of average players used to be coached by a
decently good manager into a team of winners!
(Come to think of it, did Houllier ever manage
to take Lyon , a much stronger team than the
one he left for Rafa Benitez, closer to even the semi-finals of the Champions
League during his time there? In contrast, Benitez did take the Reds to the
finals twice, winning once in three seasons)
Credit should be given where credit is
rightfully due. Trying to claim it for oneself is a lack of humility. It is
shameful! An supposedly intelligent Mark Lawrenson should understand that.
If that was bad, the following statement show
just how perverted Lawrenson's mind work when it comes to Rafa Benitez:
".....and Houllier’s best team would have
beaten the team Rafa Benitez created and left behind."
What an idiotic statement coming from a
professional? Did he even aware how amateurish it sounded?
Whether or not Houllier's best team would have
beaten the team Rafa Benitez left behind is a matter of opinion that can never
be proven. If I said otherwise, can you prove me wrong?
Besides, the team created and left behind by
Benitez has a different manager called Roy Hodgson. Thus, I might agree with
you, the Houllier's best team would have won, given the evidence so far. Heck,
even Northampton , Blackpool and Wolverhampton had beaten the Reds at Anfield no less!
But here is the point Lawrenson lazily glossed
over: Why compare Houllier's best team with the team Benitez left behind?
Why not Houllier's best team against Benitez's
best team? Indeed, why not the team Houllier left behind with the team Benitez
left behind?
Lawrenson's comparison not only proved his
contempts for Rafa Benitez, it also unconsciously betrayed that deep in his
heart he knew Benitez is a better manager. Why then would you take his perceived
worst against the best?
The fact of the matter is that, beside taking
Liverpool to No. 1 ranking in Europe ,
Benitez's average Premier League point is better than Houllier. Even his last
season of 63 points is better than Houllier's last season of 60 points.
If Mark Lawrenson didn't know that, then he is
less an expert than I am and shouldn't be paid for his amateur punditry.
