The Benitez Thread

[Pacquiao 1,834]

The first day of the rafa reign and there are dark, rainy clouds over London at the moment...

Like something out of a film, pretty much sums it up

isn't it always like that anyway.

[KonohasOrangeFlash 2,607]

I think he can sort out our defense. I hope he drops Luiz. If we stop leaking goals we can be formidable again.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Rumors that Zenden will be Benitez's assistant. That's came completely out of the blue..

[Jase 43,479]

Graham Hunter ‏@BumperGraham

#Chelsea #Zenden will assist #Benitez

[Pacquiao 1,834]

Zenden new assistant manager!!!

[KonohasOrangeFlash 2,607]

isn't it always like that anyway.

Yep. Good ol' Grey as shit London (and England in General)

[Slam Dunk 1,442]

I think he can sort out our defense.

Should be top priority.

[Superblue 6,370]

Yep. Good ol' Grey as shit London (and England in General)

Londoners should be lucky - we've had floods in the south west and i had to take a de-tour this morning to work which took an extra half hour listening to that prick ronnie irani on talksport - fucking english weather!!!

[KonohasOrangeFlash 2,607]

So just to summarise, Benitez will

•Use a 4-2-3-1 system.

•Perhaps use Oscar in the pivot to emulate what he had at Livershite (Alonso) and in general emphasise this area's importance and need for ball players

•Get us playing more structured football (perhaps switching to counter attacking football) and thus detract from our new possession style.

•Use wingers who bring natural width but also defensive abilities, putting Hazard/Mata's position in danger

•Use Torres non-stop

So our team could look like:

---------------------Cech-------------------

--Azpilicueta--Ivanovic--Cahill--Cole--

---------Mikel/Romeu----Oscar-----------

-Moses-----------Mata----------Hazard---

--------------------Torres---------------------

Perhaps he may even use Bertrand or Ramires (it is looking likely) on the wing again like RDM did. Marin will get more looks in now.

[magicrico 175]

Benitez "We don't need to give away stupid platic flags to our fans to wave. Chelsea fans lack passion"

"Chelsea is a big club but I would never take that job, in respect for my former team Liverpool. No matter what"

Money Talks, Torres Talks. Shambles.

[Jase 43,479]

One thing I would say Benitez has over RDM is tactically, he is better than the latter. Hope we can profit from that in our games. We need it. Other than that, plenty of question marks hang over the head of Benitez.

[Beepu 1,714]

So just to summarise, Benitez will

•Use a 4-2-3-1 system.

•Perhaps use Oscar in the pivot to emulate what he had at Livershite (Alonso) and in general emphasise this area's importance and need for ball players

•Get us playing more structured football (perhaps switching to counter attacking football) and thus detract from our new possession style.

•Use wingers who bring natural width but also defensive abilities, putting Hazard/Mata's position in danger

•Use Torres non-stop

So our team could look like:

---------------------Cech-------------------

--Azpilicueta--Ivanovic--Cahill--Cole--

---------Mikel/Romeu----Oscar-----------

-Moses-----------Mata----------Hazard---

--------------------Torres---------------------

Perhaps he may even use Bertrand or Ramires (it is looking likely) on the wing again like RDM did. Marin will get more looks in now.

):

Boy would ya?

[BlueSanti 290]

qucik quiz

What was the first thing Benitez did as Chelsea caretaker?

Signed a liverpool kit.

And yet you still want to support this cunt?

[Holymoly 1]

This is reminiscent of Sven taking over at England. A pet player who can do no wrong and ultimately no real connection with players as a team and no inbred desire to see them do well other than to ensure his own pockets are loaded.

[Reddish-Blue 2,345]

qucik quiz

What was the first thing Benitez did as Chelsea caretaker?

Signed a liverpool kit.

And yet you still want to support this cunt?

I bet if Guardiola ever became Chelsea manager...and he was given a Barcelona kit, he'd sign it.

In the same way, Rafa signed the Liverpool kit.

[zolayes 14,489]

I bet if Guardiola ever became Chelsea manager...and he was given a Barcelona kit, he'd sign it.

In the same way, Rafa signed the Liverpool kit.

admire your staunch defence of Benitez BUT you are so out of touch with what most of our fans feel.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Hi guys.

I've always put off posting because, well there wasn't a reason. But the last couple of days have been eventful and I need to vent.

I was devastated and I hated the idea of Rafa being manager. It was a weird night's sleep, but I've come to the conclusion that I'll survive. This club is still the club I grew up going to see with my dad. The guys supporting the team on Sunday will still be (largely speaking) the same guys I was hugging and crying with six months ago. The manager has changed, but the King of Stamford Bridge is still Ossie and I will still get stupidly excited and giddy like a school girl when I bump into Chopper Harris or Franco Zola on the street.

I hated Rafa as much as anyone. Two days ago he was the fat Spanish waiter (and that was being polite). Now he's Chelsea manager. I'm not going to boo him but I'm not going to sing his name. I will be singing Robbie's name though.

But let's be honest. Roman never wanted Robbie and he's targeted Guardiola for about a year now. That's who he wants and that is who the club is set up for. Just look at our transfer strategy from the first-team right down to the academy.

Benitez is a serviceable manager who should get us Champions League football. I don't expect anymore, and quite frankly I don't want anymore from him. Let's just get through this year and look forward to the future because it is a bright future.

[The only place to be 11,313]

And I wanted to add one more thing. The appointment of Zenden is a bit weird (felt sorry for Mario Stanic missing out on that one - must've had his phone on silent).

He's an intelligent guy with a good footballing pedigree, but I'm going to post one picture that probably comes under the heading 'conspiracy theories'