Errr...I am not sure if I confuse or...
Rafa joined Liverpool on 16 June 2004, and Owen left Liverpool
in 14 August 2004...Euro2004 started on 12 June 2004 and finished
in 4 July 2004. After that the players were given time off...he
must be super brilliant to know Rafa management style within such a
short period of time. If he didn't like Rafa's management style, he
wouldn't want to come back to Liverpool not once, but twice. So
Rafa management style is not the issue.
Rafa first task as Liverpool manager was to convince both
Gerrard and Owen to stay...but luckily Gerrard did stay and LUCKILY
Owen left too! At the end of the day,it benefit both Liverpool and
Owen hence his departure is not a bad thing at all for
Liverpool.
"A friend in need is a friend indeed." Well, I would say
nowadays there are not many such people out there...but I am one of
those loyal one i would say, not to all friends but to my best
friend, to the people who close to me.
Errr... Since you bring up the Euros, then i
supposed you also more or less knew when England was eliminated
from it right? So his break, together with the rest of
the squad would probably start from that period onwards
and not after the finals on July 4... That's for Portugal and
Greece players...
The whole England squad who got eliminated early, would probably
be back home or somewhere across the world having started on
their early holidays by the time the final even
started... Therefore, you would expect that even if
given a 3 weeks or lets make it one full month of holiday,
which is already a lot... He would still be back at Anfield
way before Aug, let alone Aug 14 true?
So, two, three weeks training under him is more than
sufficient to form an idea to the different working conditions
and environment to what he was used to under Houllier
wouldn't you agree?
Actually I would say even one week is more than enough to know
if you will like or dislike the person, his style, character and
all those things... Moreover, I have said earlier its more than
just Rafa, It was also Real Madrid calling, Zidane, Figo, Becks,
Carlos and all those, not to mention an increase salary too...
And you are correct, one of Rafa's first task was indeed to
persuade him to stay back but he fail... Gerrard stayed back for
his own reasons too and not because he was very loyal... Pool
lost Owen and they couldn't allow Gerrard to go as well therefore
he got his increment and stayed back... Pool fans sing about
Gerrard's loyalty but who was the one who handed in a transfer
request? Gerrard or Owen?
And if any Pool fan is really honest, its the reason he joint
United rather than anything else that trouble them more than
anything... But have they all forgotten he gave them 10 of his best
years too?
And honestly, I never once thought Alan Shearer was a good
pundit or manager... lol
And I think the reason you gaves for Rafa not going
for Owen is kind of weak cos Rafa just paid $20 million pounds
to sign probably an even more injury prone player in Alberto
Aquilani whose last 2 years record is worse than Owen's... and
has not even played 1 league match so far when the season is
already 1/4 over. And Owen was a free player somemore and his
salary was not even going to cost Liverpool much...
And on Owen Hargreaves, let me just say this... He is not a
flop, cos his free-kick goal against Arsenal probably won them
the title the year before... I can still recall very clearly in
that season, in mid April, last 5 matches left, United were
under a lot of pressure from Chelsea, he scored what no one
expected against a strong Arsenal side... So when the last match of
the season came, United were still on level points with
Chelsea... had he not made that, United would probably be 2 points
behind rather than level. Moreover, its not as though he is Robbie
Keane, came and went within six months so the judgement of his
$20m moved is more or less settled... Hargreaves is
about to return next month... So there is still a lot for him to
play.
So on Owen again, like I said... It's his personal choice, like
it or not, every player makes them for their own benefits...
So Pool begged him as you put it. But he left for his own good, so
he is disloyal?
I asked earlier, A once great Liverpool hero is
recently declared a bankrupt (John Barnes)... He gave the club
10 of his best years... They won lots of trophies while
he was there, from League titles to FA cups to Carling cup and
even the Shield. But now he is in trouble, so should he go and
beg the club to help him? And do you honestly think Liverpool will
help clear his debts and support Barnes for the rest of his
life? So the question becomes, Can we now say... Is Liverpool
football club disloyal to John Barnes?
On your last statement, "A friend in need is a friend
indeed." I don't doubt your sincerity towards your friends...
I think it's a great virtue for one to have... And you
are correct that there are not many such people out there
these days... Nevertheless, there are still some genuine
ones...
This is just a forum where we put across our different
opinions... Other then that, its nothing more... No resentment or
any grudge towards you... and I hope you feel the same way too...
lol
