Source: Team_Talk
Barnes: Rafa can lead Reds recovery
Former Liverpool midfielder John Barnes has backed manager Rafael Benitez to bring success back to the club after a season of underachievement.[LNB] The Reds finished seventh, their worst Premier League position for 11 years, and suffered early exits from the Champions League and FA Cup.[LNB]There has been widespread speculation about Benitez's future but Barnes said it would make no sense in changing the manager at this point.[LNB]"I'm a Rafa supporter and believe he is the right man to be at Liverpool," said the ex-England winger, who won two league championships and two FA Cups during his 10-year spell at Anfield.[LNB]"Liverpool is a club now without any money. Why change the manager?[LNB]"What's a new manager going to do without any money? If a new manager comes in to work with the same players is that the way to improve?"[LNB]Barnes, who scored 108 goals in 407 appearances for Liverpool, said things had to be put in perspective and this season should be viewed as a blip rather than a sign of terminal decline - a defence put forward by Benitez himself.[LNB]"We underachieved in terms of finishing seventh this season," Barnes told the Liverpool Echo.[LNB]"We overachieved by coming second the year before. But if there's no investment I can't see the point in changing the manager at all.[LNB]"Rafa is a good coach. He's a good manager. He's proven it in the past and I believe he will do so in the future.[LNB]"Hopefully he will be able to bring some new players in this summer. We need more players, we need more quality."
