Rafa has a furniture-household fixings fixation. I'd love to see his living room, it's probably got a Gary Macallister sofa, a Robbie Fowler coffee table and Antonio Nunes sideboard(!!) maybe that should be an Emile Heskey sideboard. er.....
RAFA: WE MUST MAKE THE RIGHT DECISIONS Paul Eaton 20 December 2005
Rafael Benitez is looking forward to strengthening his squad when the transfer window reopens next month - but he admits he's under pressure to make the right decisions and sign the right players. A central defender and right sided midfielder remain Benitez's top targets and the Spaniard admits he mustn't make mistakes in the market if his side are to maintain their excellent form over the first half of the campaign.
NormaI don't think it's a particularly "meaningful" competition, yet... I imagine that it's importance will increase over the years, especially if a European team manages to win it...
OT: Open letter to MourinhoAlex interesting, according to Balagues book "a season on the brink" LFC lost interest in Mourhino after he ran down the OT touchline celebrating...
He said: "It is very difficult and very rare that you can have 100 per cent success in the transfer market. We need to get it right in the next few months but, if I have got it right a lot of times in my career, then I have also made mistakes.
"What is important is that you must give the players confidence in their new team-mates. They must trust the new signings. It makes it much easier to build things.
"It is difficult to sign in January because the best players are playing in good teams, which makes it harder. But then after the World Cup, prices go up if they have had a good tournament.
"It isn't only about money either. I always say it's like having a table with three legs and you need to get the other one to fit properly.
"You want a certain size and people may be saying 'have this one, it's cheaper and it's better' but you have to make sure you get the right one. It is the same in football - if you want to build a team, you have to get the one that fits in.
"In this case we have done it with four players (in the summer), but we want to get more. We want to grow and we want to be positive.
"I have got it right a lot of times over my career, but also made a lot of mistakes. You could be the best journalist in Tokyo, say, but go to London and have problems with the food, or maybe your wife doesn't like the weather. It's the same with the players.
"It depends on the scouting department as well. You can have information about players but might need to talk to the scouts to find out that little bit more. You may know someone is a good player, but need to find out about them as a person and a professional as well."
-- "i'm just a soul whose intentions are good, Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood"
