Last weekend’s 2-1 victory over Blackburn was a good, sentimental feeling. Victory at home, more than a goal, and Gerrard & Torres both finding their names on the scoresheet. But one thing stuck out more positively to me than even the necessary three points. It was yet another Rafael Benitez press-conference masterpiece that stole my show. With Rafa, you tend to get one of two things: a) “quality,” “chances,” “working hard,” and “we are looking only to the next game,” or b) Barcelona are trying to copy Blackburn, FACTS (the notorious Man U rant), or even “If Chelsea are naive and pure, than I’m Little Red Riding Hood.”
Rafa and Big Sam have a rivalry like none other in the Premiership… and it gets personal, too!
Rafa is indeed a quote legend, even if he does not do this often enough… and I believe this latest tirade on Sam Allardyce’s hack&slash Blackburn was perhaps his finest moment at the microphone. Watching Big Sam squirm and get nervous in his retort was pure magic, and is exactly the reason I even bother to read/watch the news in the first place. Without moments like this, we are stuck with moments of cliche and obvious comments that leave us with fewer brain cells than we had before. In American sports, we are often reduced to meaningless trite (110% out on the field, we were focused, we wanted it more, we did it for the fans, blah blah blah) and cliche to the point where I haven’t even heard a press conference in probably a decade. In England, though, we have Arsene Wenger and Rafael Benitez. They give us reason to listen because we may get something that shows human quality instead of robotic crap… yet oddly enough they get punished for that and the likes of Steve Bruce and Sam Allardyce are almost rewarded for being cliched complainers. But enough of that. Let’s move onto the quote that is driving this story.
If you have not yet received the lovely blessing of Rafa’s post-match comments… ones which transcend the usual dull, life-sapping blabber… then you are at the right place. Keep in mind… Blackburn commited 25 fouls, received five yellows, and probably should have had a few reds…
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“It is really important (the way to play) but sometimes we cannot play football.”
“If they (Blackburn) are pleased with the way they play under this manager, it is their decision.
“We won so they have to be thinking about whether the style is good or not.
“I think it is a model for all the managers around the world, their style of football, his (Allardyce’s) behaviour.
“It is the perfect model for all the kids and I’m sure all parents will enjoy this model and encourage their kids to be the same.
“The style of football I think Barcelona are thinking of copying.”
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Everything about this quote makes me happy. EVERYTHING. Never have I heard a more spot-on, accurate analysis of Allardyce football. Much like his FACTS rant, Rafa is totally willing to say exactly what everyone is ACTUALLY feeling, not what they are capable of saying due to PR restrictions. Rafa skips the PR nonsense and goes straight for the jugular. Sam Allardyce implements- with success, mind you- a route-one, physical, scrappy style that is meant to get under the skin of his opponents. In doing so, headcases such as Diouf can flourish because there is a very direct and easy-to-understand system that allows for time for the manager to spend hours “getting to know his players.” Other managers, like Benitez, Wenger, Zola, Moyes, McLeish, Hodgson, McCarthy, Brown, Ancelloti, Mancini, Redknapp, O’Neill, Pulis, Grant, Martinez, Ferguson, Laws, Bruce (though I can’t stand him either) and Coyle, are more busy spending time with tactics and skill… not just holding a freaking tea party with their “poor little starlets who didn’t get listened to, (a reference to Diouf not making it at LFC but being such a “huge” success with him)” as a result of not needing to spend any time with tactics. Harsh? Probably. True? Most definitely. Everyone in the world knows that Big Sam does what he does well, and that’s borderline football. It is just on the line between sportsmanlike and thuggery, and also just on the line of effective and transparent.
What makes me the most pleased, though, is that the pettiness of Allardyce is brought out to the public for being what it is… completely and utterly ridiculous. And I’m glad Big Sam is willing to say these things to the media and I hope he does not stop. Because it is entertaining! His voice, like Rafa’s, is often heard and is quite divisive. This is good for the game. And to see him suffer in his “retort” conference was simply classic. He had his big foot stuck right up his choppers, and that’s something you don’t see too often. Usually managers don’t get under eachother’s skin quite like that. Even when Mourinho and Rafa used to go at it, there was always a sense that it was the value of entertainment rather than a personal attack. In this case, it was quite personal… and about as funny as one could hope for. Barcelona, being the ultimate example of winning football matches with style AND substance, was probably the best and most fitting comparison to Blackburn you could hope for. BRILLIANT.
Rafa… you are a legend.
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