Bellamy Knew He Wouldn’t Last with Rafa, and Other Tuesday Notes

By: Noel | November 21st, 2011

Craig Bellamy Hated Rafa Beitez! Lucas Leiva Makes Alex Song Look Terrible! Tony Pulis is Probably a Human Being! Other Inflammatory Headlines…!

* Craig Bellamy’s feisty, roaming performance on the weekend played a key role in Liverpool’s success, even if the more senior player inevitably tired after a frantic first half that saw Liverpool fly at their opponents. And while Bellamy’s fiery attitude means at times he might not get along too well with referees, opposing players, or even every now and then his own teammates, it seems clear he has so far enjoyed his Liverpool return. The first time around, however, wasn’t everything he had hoped it would be:

Sometimes it’s not quite as romantic as we all like to make it out to be. I was in the office speaking to Rafa, speaking about certain things and it didn’t feel right. If it was not Liverpool FC, I wouldn’t have signed. I didn’t feel right about the positions I was going to be used in and thought I was being signed because I was the right price at the right time.

I do go on instinct and my gut feeling, and that was a time when I went against it. I ended up signing just for one reason, because it was Liverpool. I just thought we were on different wavelengths to what I felt I was as a player and how I would be involved at Liverpool. We were two different people on the way Liverpool should go about their business.

At the core of his difference of opinion with Liverpool’s former manager was the role he saw himself best suited for and the one Benitez hoped to deploy him in. Benitez of course converted Dirk Kuyt from a striker to a man who, despite that some would still object to his change of position, is top of the teamsheet at left or right attacking midfield for van Marwijk’s Netherlands squad. At one point, he attempted to bring a similar transformation to Robbie Keane’s game, one that would allow Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard to remain in their most effective positions when fit while Keane would have to track back and offer support on the left—something that continually-rumoured Liverpool target David Villa had to do when he moved from being star of the show at Valencia to one of the supporting cast at Barcelona. In short, Benitez had a vision for the squad he wanted to build, and it was the job of the players to largely allow themselves to be moulded to fit this vision.

As for Bellamy, he was never the sort to acquiesce to a role he didn’t believe in for himself. Yet when he moved to Liverpool it was with the understanding that he would largely be denied the kind of freer role he had often enjoyed earlier in his career, dropping to link play, and would instead be asked to push up and play off the shoulder of defenders more than he felt he would be comfortable doing. Bellamy wasn’t a fan of the idea, but his heart said Liverpool—and in the end, it seems, he sees that incompatible beginning as the first step towards what soon became an early and inevitable exit.

* Late yesterday, the FA came out with a ruling against a participant in a recent Liverpool match. And somehow, that ruling didn’t manage to leave anybody from Liverpool in trouble. Instead it’s Tony Pulis, everybody’s favourite elderly uncle/snot-nosed pre-teen in a ballcap, who finds himself down ten grand for railing against the officiating in last month’s League Cup draw. So maybe that means the FA doesn’t hate Liverpool. Unless they do hate Liverpool but also hate people who say mean things about them. Or maybe it means they’re trying to deflect Liverpool criticism ahead of next week’s League Cup match that was scheduled an absurd 48 hours after the weekend’s league fixture against Manchester City, and after Tony Pulis hands the FA a cheque for £10k his good friend Mister Ferguson will discreetly slip an envelope stuffed with cash into his tracksuit. Or something.

* We’re rather fond of Lucas around here, which at times makes it seem a bit redundant to get into talking about how Lucas is all kinds of awesome for the umpteenth time. Thankfully, then, this week Anfield Index has done the job for us, looking to compare the Brazilian to the seven other Premier League players who are used in a roughly comparable holding role. John Obi Mikel of Liverpool’s weekend opponent therefore comes in for closer examination alongside Arsenal’s Alex Song, United’s Michael Carrick, City’s de Jong, Tottenham’s Scott Parker, Newcastle’s Chuck Tiote, and Wolves’ Karl Henry.

That de Jong and Carrick have hardly gotten a game limits things somewhat, but there are still some statistics that really stand out. Perhaps both most and least surprising is Lucas having twice as many tackles as Alex Song, the number two man on the list—most surprising because it speaks to just how heavily Lucas is relied upon by Liverpool to screen the backline, but also somewhat expected as the player topped both attempted tackles and successful tackles across Europe’s top five leagues last season. High ground and aerial challenge numbers again speak to how reliant the club is on Lucas, and though quite where he stands isn’t as clear cut when it comes to passing and chance creation, it’s safe to say that at the least he brings as much to the squad in that respect as any of the players he’s being compared to. In any case, the whole piece is worth a look for those wondering just where Lucas stands this season amongst holding midfielders, though fair warning that the choice of charts can make the visuals a little counter-intuitive.

In other news, the Liverpool Offside has been given the chance to interview former Liverpool and England defenders Rob Jones or Mark Wright, which seems pretty cool until you remember that we have absolutely no idea what we’re doing and would probably make a right mess of it if left to our own devices. We are, however, just about smart enough to recognise we have an excess of knowledgeable and passionate (and handsome and beautiful, too, of course) Liverpool fans who read the site, and that that means we should probably ask if you guys have any questions you’d like us to pass along. If you do have something you just need to know, tell us in the comments or fire it off to liverpool[at]theoffside[dot]com and we’ll see what we can do.

As always, we’ll be back later on with any breaking news, but in the meantime you can always rock out like it’s 1995 and Liverpool have just won the League Cup…

Some Related Liverpool Posts:

Category: League Cup, Miscellaneous, Premier League, Team News

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adam el tani

funny pic
nate

Boy that Bellamy sure didn't like mean ol' Rafa:

"I have gone on record recently and I will say it again now that I have
learnt more from Rafael Benitez than any other coach I have worked
with".

"I am a much better player for the time I've spent
working with him and if I do go on to manage at some point in the future
he's the model I'll use in my career. I can't make my respect for him
any clearer than that".

Granted, I'm taking those two quotes from Benitez's website but you can find them sourced elsewhere.

http://www.rafabenitez.com/web...
Noel

Thought the only place I played the mean old Rafa card was in the intro, and that there I was pretty clearly taking a poke at it. The intended feel for the actual segment was always meant to be more resigned than bitter to match what I took as the tone of Bellamy's comments, but I might have got the balance wrong and actually decided against mentioning our fondness for Rafa towards the end as that might make it look like I was going after Bellamy.

As for the older quotes, either his feelings on the situation have changed as he's gotten more perspective, or he was being diplomatic. Or that he's enjoying things more with Dalglish has made him remember things differently. Or he's just reaching for a point of comparison to say nice things about his current situation and it results in a more negative look back at his last go than might be fair under other circumstances. Or something. But just going by his current quotes, he does seem to think moving to the club the first time wasn't the right move for him though he doesn't hold any particular ill will towards Rafa over it.
nate

oh I know you were being sarcastic in the intro; I phrased the way I did because that's inevitably how it'll play out in the media. Bellamy's above quotes do ring true, but didn't want the ones I posted forgotten. Context and whatnot. He seemed to truly respect Benitez, no matter whether he liked Rafa personally or was happy with how he was used.

Also, Bellamy left because Liverpool signed Torres. That's pretty much the alpha and omega of it.
Ed

Dunno if that interview with LFCtv is available anywhere, but the whole thing (including what you guys are talking about) is really interesting. Comes across very genuine and un-edited, which is pretty refreshing.
jpr

I love that picture of Bellamy and Lampard. That was right after Bellers challenge on ladies man Cole that put Ms. Cole on the turf crying, holding his foot or ankle. Twas a rough one and fair enough in my eyes but Ms. Coles tears swayed the ref to blow his whistle and Lamps to fight for the honor of his lady. I also liked how Bellers got in Lampards face to argue the fairness of that tackle. FFF's neck out scrunchy face says it all for him. My money was/is always on Bellers. If the fight doesn't quite work out he'll be back in a minute with the 9 Iron.

Craig is never going to get along well with a manager who has a personality type like a Rafa Benitez or a Graeme Souness. He is too much of a free spirit for those management styles to ever sit well with him. Dalglish is another matter entirely. I would think that if KK asked Bellers to run through a brick wall, he would make that his mission.
Luis Suarez Dentist

The problems I think with Bellamy under Rafa were the following.1. He was brought as a 2nd/3rd choice as once again the old board failed to back Rafa properly in the market.2. He was played as a striker. Bellamy has never been a consistent goalscorer in his whole career.3. He wasn't good enough. Harsh? Perhaps. But the team that Rafa was slowly building Xabi and Masc in midfield, Gerrard at his peak Carra at his peak, T##### up front. Kuyt bombing up and down all day, Big Sami and Dagger at the back. Pepe in goal (I really miss this team!) I just don't think Bellamy was good enough to be part of the team Rafa was starting to build and at the time I don't think he would be happy to be a squad player.Still, as shown on Sunday Bellamy can 'do a job' for us now (If only to keep Downing no goals-no assists out of the team)!
Geoff Twentyman

You've got to say that the syle of his play largley makes him a prime candidate to pair with a 'finisher' - its the same with Suarez. I'm of the belief that Carroll is supposed to be said finisher who for a few reasonsn is not quite there yet; but am thinking that either one of them should be paired with Dirk who should be deployed as the poacher he once was.
Luis Suarez dentist

Yeah I agree. Would like to see Kuyt up front with Suarez, Maxi and maybe Bellamy buzzing around him.
Latortillablanca

thats kinda wat we did at the weekend, kuyt and bellers were interchangin quite a lot. really a shame bout the fiery welshman's knees cuz he's matured into a really intelligent player...
Latortillablanca

"Benitez had a vision for the squad he wanted to build, and it was the job of the players to largely allow themselves to be moulded to fit this vision."

its an interesting point, because i'm not totally sure if dalglish is a 'fit my scheme' or a 'fit my players' type of manager... id like to say its the latter just cuz i think players prefer it, but if you take only this season, the coaches have repeatedly foresaken different options that potentially fit the players better in favor of this 4222 that teeters either on the brink of greatness or the brink of catastrophe depending on who we're playing...

its hard to argue that rafa wasn't successful with his methods, but i can definitely empathize with bellers on this one. plus, reading between the lines he's sayin that he is on the same wavelength as the coaches now, and is being played in his strongest positions, and does have a good gut feeling this time around - if he's drinkin the same kool-aid as the rest of the squad then long may the supply of that purple stuff continue... Oh yeeeeeeaaaauuuhhhh!!!!!!
Geoff Twentyman

I kinda disagree - "mate I want to play you as a centre back"... "but I'm a striker, but ok vcause its my boyhood club"

Didn't work for Keane nor Bellers at the time.

Agree with him that this time it feels right, because the system suits.
Latortillablanca

you mean disagree with the empathy?
Geoff Twentyman

Yes - if he didn't feel that the coach was playing a system that he was going to enjoy - why sign?

Of course he did it cause it was his boyhood club, which is significantly better than doing it for the $$$$$$$$$$$$$
Latortillablanca

i just mean i empathize that in retrospect he feels disappointed with his last spell at the club. quite a lot of rafa's signings came in because 'it was liverpool', then got frozen out and left with a bad taste in their mouths.

i agree its his own fault, he's owning up to it even. but at the same time, its not like rafa told everyone he signed 'oh by the way, everything i told you to get you to sign here on the cheap (cuz i have no cash) is basically up in the air depending on how my tactics shake out with this team. at best you can hope to be played regularly but out of position. and im an asshole who you will learn to hate during your time here, even though you will be forced to publicly 'respect' me due to my successes at this club.'