Bruce blasts Liverpool Rotation Policy! Inter Milan, Arsenal, Barnsley, Fulham, Man Utd
February 20th, 2008 | 
Author: Former Liverpool great Bruce Grobbelaar has lashed out at Rafa Benitez’s much-maligned rotation policy, saying many retired players agree that it must stop.Benitez’s future looked bleak after he was heavily criticised for resting key players in Saturday’s humiliating FA Cup defeat against Barnsley, and league games against Fulham and West Ham
But he received some respite on Tuesday when they beat Inter Milan 2-0 in the Champions League.
Nevertheless Grobbelaar, who won 13 medals in 13 seasons at Liverpool, said a lot of former players were concerned at The Reds’ slide this season.
They are 19 points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal & 14 behind our rivals Man Utd and we are out of the FA Cup and Carling Cup.
“The ex-players are all hurt — Ian Rush, Sammy Lee, Gary Gillespie, John Aldridge, Alan Kennedy, David Johnson. When we are together, that’s what we talk about,” he told the Straits Times newspaper.
“The rotation policy simply has to stop.
“Bob Paisley once said ‘football is a simple game made complicated by players and coaches’. It’s all about picking the best team and letting them get on with it in the park.”
Grobbelaar, in Singapore as a pundit for ESPN Star Sports, added that American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett were right to make an approach to Jurgen Klinsmann earlier this season.
“In business, if the manager is doing badly, the big bosses have every right to interview potential candidates to take over,” he said.
“Why can’t football be the same? Liverpool are not getting results. It’s right for the Americans to talk to Klinsmann.”
Following victory over Inter Milan, Benitez was quick to seize on the chance to defend his rotation policy.
“I rotate because I want to win. I have explained several times that you need to change players if you want to keep them all fresh,” he said.
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I agree with a lot of the above comments …… we do need to be clear
1. Rafa has had approx. £140m over 4 seasons (this being his fourth season) yet he has only bought £6m average premier players, it seems to me that he has focused too much on buying lots of players so he can rotate, but he is rotating our best with avaerage players and that means average games …. our position proves that! If he had bought 7x £20m players, we would have a team to equal all!!!
The old expression is right here (Less is More) or (quailty is better then quantity).
2. On the flip side to that lets look at how many quality outfield players we have in the team and an approx. value;
£30m Torres
£30m Gerrard
£18m Mascha
£15m Alonso (was £20m a couple of years ago)
£12m Crouch
£10m Kuyt
Lucas (value will go up towards 20m)
Agger (value will go towards 10m – £15m)
babel (value will go up over/around £20m)
carra (no value needed)
Riise (was a 10m player a couple of years ago)
I have only mentioned a few but for me we have a group of players able to compete with the best, its clear the excessive rotation policy in place is dictating the type of players rafa buys ….. if you build a quality team with 11 regulars and 5/6 fringe players (youngsters hungry for success) then you have a team able to win trophies. If you are buying to build a team of 11, then you can buy 2x £20m players each year, in 4 years you have bought 8x quality players valued at or above £20m add those to the present quality (torres, gerrard, babel, masha, alonso, lucas, carra, agger) .. that makes 16 quality players …..
So my point is buying average players to ensure we have lots of players to cope with an aggressive rotation policy doesn’t work and unless your chelsea I dont see man u or arsenal spending silly money each season … the difference is not so much money but what you do with the money …. man u and arsenal approach this differently but achieve the same … a quality team with quality players! The players in now are rafa’s buys and if they are not doing the business, then rafa needs to make changes to his approach …… Man U and arsenal have bought wisely, invested heavily in youth and look at them ….. often they only buy 1 or 2 a year but they buy quality … not average premier players …..
If Rafa sells several players he can raise approx. £35m … add the same from the club and he has £70m to spend …. I would expect to see 3x £20m buys and a £10 kid (a babel type quality) …… and i would expect to see the same team each week (same 14 or 15 players) …. will rafa sell more to have less numbers but better quality … not sure but i do feel thats the way forward couple that with the fans getting back to supporting our team and less paper talk, we’ll be fine … I BELIEVE ! ! !