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A few difficult years passed before Rafa got his big break at Valencia and from that point onwards the Spaniard never looked back with his team implementing an exciting style of attacking football that would lead Valencia to their first title in 31 years, not bad for his debut season.
The following season saw form slip and a disappointing 5th place finish attracted some pressure before another title win the season after certainly made up for it. An internal bust-up with the director of football saw Rafa resign in June, joining Liverpool just 2 weeks later to replace Gerard Houllier. Rafa kicked off his time at Liverpool by convincing club hero and captain Steven Gerrard not to join Chelsea, though he couldn’t convince striker Michael Owen to reject a move to Madrid. The additions of his countrymen Alonso and Garcia strengthened the decent squad that he had already inherited from his predecessor but eleven away losses in his debut season left Liverpool with a 5th place finish, behind Everton of all teams. 
It was in Europe where Liverpool had looked their best under Rafa during this debut season though with a loss to Chelsea in the League Cup final showing some signs of progress under the Spaniard before Liverpool’s infamous Champions League win over AC Milan sealed Rafa into Liverpool folklore, less than a year after he joined the club. To this day those games at Anfield during the journal to that final are still talked about with their atmospheres being amongst the best in the modern era. The immediate signing of Pepe Reina showed that Rafa wasn’t content with 2 finals in his first season and the later additions of Sissoko, Crouch and Agger only proved that with further with Pepe Reina being a major reason why Liverpool beat West Ham in the 2006 FA Cup final. Poor league form the following seasons saw some pressure grow but Liverpool’s consistently good form in the cup competitions did buy Rafa more time to deliver that elusive league title, though the arrival of Hicks and Gillet spelled the start if the end for Rafa at Liverpool with the Spaniard officially departing the club on June 3rd 2010. The reasons for Rafa’s departure aren’t fully known but it is through that the owners’ interference in transfer business as well as consistently allowing key players to leave did play a major part. Since leaving Merseyside the Spaniard enjoyed success at Inter Milan, Chelsea and Napoli, as well an ill-fated stint at Real Madrid, before taking the Newcastle job, where he has turned Newcastle into a mid-table Premier League side whilst working on a shoestring budget. A major supporter of the ‘Justice for the 96 movement’, Rafa has his roots firmly in Liverpool with his family still Living here and whilst he may be managing one of Liverpool’s league rivals, Rafa is adored by the Anfield supporters and his contributions to the club and the city as a whole will never be forgotten. Article by James McHale @jamesmchale2607 
