Re: Liverpool Thread
But that's exactly the problem! The player's see themselves as inferior to Gerrard and Torres and that's largely because of Benitez and Gerrard's constant quotes in the media about needing new players if they are to be succesful. This shows a total lack of faith in the squad and puts Gerrard on a pedestal above the rest of the players which is all wrong in terms of team spirit.
On paper you've got perfectly good players, Benayoun, Aquilani, Kuyt, Babel, Mascherano, Lucas, most of the defence etc etc who could all play a part in a big club but the 'culture' at the club over the last few years has always been excuses and blame and that's from the manager, down to the fans and to the players.
Rafa should be coming out in the press saying he has confidence and faith in his squad and doing all he can to unite the players and build a strong bond, instilling confidence and team spirit. Instead he says "we can't compete because we don't have as much money as the other clubs", "the owners are making it difficult" etc etc, it's just weak and piss poor squad management.
Regardless, he's had money, he's just not spent it very well. I know his net spend over the last 2 years is not much but he's still spent nearly £100m on players in the past couple of seasons. Mascherano, Keane, Aquilani, Johnson, Riera, Dossena, Cavalieri, Kyrgiakos, N'Gog. 2 of those have already left, one is on his way out, one never plays and 2 others have spent a lot of time injured (that's not entirely Rafa's fault). For that amount of money he should really have done better and it's a bit rich complaining he's not had funds to buy players with, tell that to Roy Hodgson,
