A Season on the Brink: Rafael Benitez, Liverpool and the Path to European Glory (Guillem Balague's Books) - Softcover

Balague, Guillem

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0752879367 ISBN 13: 9780752879369

Publisher: Orion (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2006

Synopsis

Biographical Portrait of Liverpool's Spanish football manager Rafael Benitez and an extraordinary season for the club.

When Rafael Benitez was appointed manager of under-achieving Liverpool at the start of the 2004-2005 season, the reaction of many fans was 'Who the **** is Rafael Benitez?'. The Liverpool fans had grown used to French manager Gerard Houllier but he had been a fan of the club himself since his days as a teacher on Merseyside. A Spaniard with admittedly a wonderful record at Valencia was going to take over management of Liverpool's famous Boot Room and try and win over a disillusioned Kop.

But in one season, Benitez's importation of Spanish players, coaching methods and diet has led to a revolution, even usurping Jose Mourinho's Chelsea, whereby the team has ended the season winning the ultimate trophy for any European club - the European Champions League. No fan will ever forget the comeback from a 3-0 deficit to a 3-3 scoreline, then dramatic success in the penalty shoot-out.

This is the story of Rafa's remarkable success.

About this title

About the Author

Guillem Balagué is an award-winning author, football journalist and presenter who works for BBC TV, BBC Radio 5 Live, ITV, LaLiga TV and the American network CBS.

His books include A Season on the Brink; Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning; Messi; Cristiano Ronaldo; Brave New World: Inside Pochettino's Spurs; Maradona: The Boy, The Rebel, The God; Rise of the Villans: Inside Unai Emery's Aston Villa Revolution and Barēa Captains: The Leaders That Built the World's Greatest Football Club. Several of Guillem's books have been Sunday Times bestsellers in the UK, and shortlisted for various book awards.

He is also chairman of Biggleswade United.

Edition details

• Publisher: Orion (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0752879367
• ISBN 13: 9780752879369
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256