A Season on the Brink: Rafael Benítez, Liverpool and the Path to European Glory

by Guillem Balagué

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.

Genres: Football, Soccer, Sports, Nonfiction, Biography

236 pages, Paperback

First published November 10, 2005

Reviews

[this is not here · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written account of Liverpool's over achievement in the 2005 Champions League final and how they got there under the new leadership of Rafa. The first time I've read any account of the final, since being in Istanbul to watch it first hand. It brought back some great memories and provided titbits I wasn't aware of.

[Mike McLean · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a die hard, born and bred Liverpool Fc fan, I enjoyed this book. Some great insight into the people, relationships and thinking during the course of this epic season. There is no doubt in my mind that Rafa is an excellent football manager and he did great things for LFC and by winning the Champions League he restored a lot of pride to this great club. However, I must admit that I found the book a bit tedious and the author was not very objective when it came to Rafa's overall performance. Everything good was attributed to Rafa and his team and everything bad to the players or something else. He could definitively improve on his player management skills and this is needed to get the very best of out the team (just look at Klopp for comparison). We almost lost Gerrard because of his poor relationship with Rafa and that would have been a disaster. I also felt that Rafa's transfers could have been a lot better.

[John Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

“A season on the brink” by Guillem Balague is a book about Rafa Benitez and his impressive champions league win with the Liverpool team with Steven Gerard. It goes into a lot of little details about Rafa Benitez and his Amazing team. It gave a lot of backstory of how the team felt before the champions league final. It went into detail about problems that the team and Rafa Benitez were facing. It talks about Steven Gerard and how Rafa Benitez turned a dismal team into the best in the world. It also talks about the things that Liverpool supporters and players were thinking during the match in Istanbul. It also informs us about how much Rafa Benitez cares about the squad he is managing. No matter what team it is, he is super involved. He can turn a Mediocre team like Liverpool and turn them into a squad that went 3-0 to the best team in the world and still won. It talks about Rafa Benitez’s half time team talk and other Liverpool/ AC Milan players reactions at halftime and full time. Many AC Milan players celebrated too early (literally at half time when they were 3-0 up) and that caused a lot of controversy in the football/soccer world. In conclusion, I loved reading this book. It doesn’t go too far into the past or too far into the future too early. It’s perfect for any soccer fan no matter if they like Liverpool Football Club or not.
(This is a Book report btw)

[Ian Curragh · Rating 3 out of 5]

But disjointed

A fascinating insight into the first year of Rafa Benitez reign at Liverpool. The book focused on the unforgettable triumph in the champions league. However the book speaks of the final and moves away and looks at events of the season which makes it a bit disjointed. A decent read though.

[Alistair Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an account of Liverpool`s Champions League victory some 20 years ago. The focus is totally on the final with the rest of the season told in passing and in retrospect. The authors approach is somewhat disjointed and it is all somewhat underwhelming.
There are plenty of photos included.
Not recommended

[David Lai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very readable account of Rafa Benitez' first season in charge of Liverpool FC, culminating in the Miracle of Istanbul. Analysis of phases of that match alternates with a more general account of Benitez' settling in to the club.

Really well researched and really well written.

[Anirban · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look, if you are a Liverpool FC fan and you did watch that 2005 final, please read this book. Nuf said.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful and frank; /
Great behind-closed-doors access: /
A gripping account.

[Jake Holmes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Using a single game to tell a multi year story is an interesting but effective method. With each section of game linking back to how the team made it into this position, and how Rafa’s presence and management all lead up to this moment.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful into the world behind the scenes that we as fans don't see. Balague spoke with very key members of this Cup winning squad and his writing and the stories he retells make for an entertaining read. The structure is my only complaint, a minor one though. It's a bit herky-jerky going back and forth and back again as it makes its way through the actual Cup final throughout the entire book.

[Kahn]

He may have got the subs bench wrong for the CL final, but it's still an engaging insight into the first two years of Rafa's reign at the helm of England's most decorated club.

[Conrad Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating inside story on the background to an historical, unforgettable night in Istanbul...