Contributed by Tan Pei Ru
http://humbuggersland.blogspot.com/

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Rafa, Rafael!

A couple of things I have in mind right now.

Liverpool rose to the occasion once more and bagged ourselves a victory against Debreceni. It was not enough. Lyon failed to level the score line against Fiorentina and we are now thrust into a whole new arena called the Europa League. Well, it isn’t exactly new- just polished, shined and smacked on with a better name.

If you thrive on what the media has to say about the fans’ reaction in general, you would think that each and everyone of us are pissed, disappointed and most probably going to have a terrible day at work tomorrow. I beg to differ.

Let me remind you this. Every single opinion of every single Liverpool fan on Earth counts. I won’t deny that I have friends who are upset out there, but to hell with it. Give me a couple of minutes to compose myself and I would rather take the more optimistic route, support the club and see where that goes instead. Why pile on more unnecessary pressure? We are SUPPORTers, right?

Some prefer to support the club and only the club itself. I assume they mean the well-being of the club. If the owners or the manager isn’t doing a good job- they have got to go. I don’t actually have a very big issue with this but what ticked me off were the things they laid out against a pretty decent manager who is supposedly failing (can’t believe I am using this word-the season hasn’t even ended) this badly, for the FIRST time in five bloody seasons. Furthermore, they just assumed that he has reached his peak. What proof do you have of that? There are always ups and downs to the footballing world.

Forgive me for I am all but a newbie supporter *roll eyes* but clearly, it doesn’t take years of fan-ship to see that it isn’t the Liverpool way. I am not saying that they are wrong. It’s just that I feel that Rafa’s been done in. In my eyes, calling for the manager’s head just because we find the club spiraling downwards reminded me of the primitive and sad practice of abandoning a wife just because she suffered a miscarriage.

Would you still call for his head if a fortune-teller told you that Rafa will make us the first ever winners of the Europa League?

Rafa has a lot to show and he has won the trust of many supporters. He deserves to be given time. The owners? They have shown us too little to win over the hearts of millions. I believe that Rafa is currently the only man brave enough to hold this club together. Everything is falling apart so I don’t think it is good idea to ram down this sole remaining pillar of support. Even if he has been left with no choice but to head for the door, he will no doubt have my backing until the very end.

It is really not that bad a season, folks. Smacked right in front of us is a chance to create a new slice of history. There is nothing wrong with holding out with Rafa for another seven months or so. The best have to fall sometimes. What we need to do is to swallow that bitter pill, pull ourselves together and keep marching forward.