The Benitez Thread

[Muzchap 8,966]

If we cannot get Jose or Pep, then employing Rafa full time is the best option we have.

There you go, ive said it.

Good lad

I'm going tomorrow and will only be cheering we best fkin win though - my last game was CL Final, this is Villa - but still cannot wait, like a little kid can't sleep!

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

If we cannot get Jose or Pep, then employing Rafa full time is the best option we have.

There you go, ive said it.

I'll give you this for protection:

[LDN Blue 7,903]

If we cannot get Jose or Pep, then employing Rafa full time is the best option we have.

There you go, ive said it.

I don't agree. Though I admire Benitez as a tactician, I believe the club should be looking at more long-term minded visions. By long-term I don't mean longevity in terms of how long they'd stick around but who they could take a risk on and get a good return on. Benitez is a safeguard.

[mediator 2,026]

If we cannot get Jose or Pep, then employing Rafa full time is the best option we have.

There you go, ive said it.

Let's sign A. Wenger in that case...

A very clever post about that from an arsenal fan: http://arsenalarsenal.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/wenger-to-chelsea/

[Corner 456]

What I don't understand is this: in almost every press conference Benitez did for the first few weeks in charge, he mentioned how the squad was unfit because of lack of rotation. What does he do? Plays Mata, Hazard, Moses and Torres in every single game.

[Blue Armour 4,448]

What I don't understand is this: in almost every press conference Benitez did for the first few weeks in charge, he mentioned how the squad was unfit because of lack of rotation. What does he do? Plays Mata, Hazard, Moses and Torres in every single game.

You can't change the entire starting eleven every time without affecting the team chemistry..

Moses is currently the best wide player we have, so he's almost certain to start...From our no.10 players, Hazard seems to have the most stamina, and Torres is the only available striker. And Mata of course, is crucial to our build-up play.

[Rupert 130]

I don't agree. Though I admire Benitez as a tactician, I believe the club should be looking at more long-term minded visions. By long-term I don't mean longevity in terms of how long they'd stick around but who they could take a risk on and get a good return on. Benitez is a safeguard.

There is a misconception in the UK media about Rafa - that he is defensive and dull. Jamie Redknapp greeted his appointment at Chelsea by saying he was amazed they would hire such a negative manager. Idiot!

Raf's Valencia was amazing. It swept Real Madrid and Barcelona out of the way when he won the Liga and the King's Cup and the European Cup - and the reasons LFC turned down Mourinho and chose Rafa to be their manager was because of the exciting way Valencia demolished LFC and other teams in the Champions League. At LFC, Rafa's best teams broke all scoring records and points total for a season. At LFC he had very little cash and a lot of interference. Chelsea is witnessing what he can do with superior players and some cash. If Rafa had a longer contract at Chelsea he would also produce a stream of young players like he has done everywhere else he has been. He was in charge of youth at Real Madrid when he was a young coach.

[Corner 456]

You can't change the entire starting eleven every time without affecting the team chemistry..

Moses is currently the best wide player we have, so he's almost certain to start...From our no.10 players, Hazard seems to have the most stamina, and Torres is the only available striker. And Mata of course, is crucial to our build-up play.

I agree with that, but there have been games where one of them could have been rested. Or making some substitutions late on when he could have taken a player who needed a rest off earlier. I don't mind so much with Hazard and Moses, but Mata's stamina isn't the best. He's not as naturally fit as Hazard, Oscar or Moses.

But, after today's win I don't want to complain. He made the substitutions early when the game was already put to bed.

[Jase 43,479]

One thing that is pissing me off slightly right now is just because we thrashed Villa 8-0 today, Benitez's worshippers(Liverpool fans especially) are out in force saying that we are idiots to go against him!

[super_frank8 186]

I admittedly & begrudgingly give credit to Rafa today for selecting the best team (besides Moses where Oscar should have been) - but in reality the rest was down to the players putting in an all-round exceptional performance against inferior opposition. & as spectacular as this win was & as happy & blissfully positive as I ever could be about anything; nevertheless, I want him out by 2013...but at least there is some hope that we won't be dropping too many points til then if he has learnt from past mistakes & decided to go with his best team as often as possible.

Unfortunately though, despite getting it right today - the fact remains that he's still a fat spanish cunt. I hope that none of you forget that amidst the ecstasy & joy of this glorious victory.

[Hutcho 8,443]

I admittedly & begrudgingly give credit to Rafa today for selecting the best team (besides Moses where Oscar should have been) - but in reality the rest was down to the players putting in an all-round exceptional performance against inferior opposition. & as spectacular as this win was & as happy & blissfully positive as I ever could be about anything; nevertheless, I want him out by 2013...but at least there is some hope that we won't be dropping too many points til then if he has learnt from past mistakes & decided to go with his best team as often as possible.

Unfortunately though, despite getting it right today - the fact remains that he's still a fat spanish cunt. I hope that none of you forget that amidst the ecstasy & joy of this glorious victory.

Yeah before the game started i said that i liked the lineup and seeing david luiz in the midfield is something that many people have wanted to see for a long time which he has started to implement.

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

Why are people still criticizing/hating Rafa? Hes done what the recent managers we've had haven't even though of doing, put Luiz in midfield and hes also got Torres scoring goals again. Roman will be delighted with the Torres thing especially. Things are looking up, the team is much more balanced, we can defend and attack with ease now unlike under Robbie we were very open. Reinforcements in January and well you never know, we could push for the title, just depends on the personnel we get in.

[Beirut_Blues 306]

Hate his guts but he's not Chelsea manager for us to like him. He's here to deliver, and so far so good in terms of picking us out of the trash.

This result should take the morale up high and stay up there gliding until May.

Still can't rely only on Torres though. We need a striker this Jan.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Why are people still criticizing/hating Rafa? Hes done what the recent managers we've had haven't even though of doing, put Luiz in midfield and hes also got Torres scoring goals again. Roman will be delighted with the Torres thing especially. Things are looking up, the team is much more balanced, we can defend and attack with ease now unlike under Robbie we were very open. Reinforcements in January and well you never know, we could push for the title, just depends on the personnel we get in.

I think a few fans are just trying too hard.

Today felt like one of those Ancelotti games in 2010 where we'd just stuff teams. The atmosphere was great, going in there was a real Christmas spirit which helps and I heard only sporadic anti-Benitez chanting. I enjoy games where the crowd is positive, getting behind the team and even the opposition get ribbed lightly.

Like I've said elsewhere Villa were poor but Benitez got the tactics and the team spot on, and it was nice to see Piazon get some game time. Hard to judge against such poor opposition but that was one of the most complete performances in the league for a long time.

[super_frank8 186]

Yeah before the game started i said that i liked the lineup and seeing david luiz in the midfield is something that many people have wanted to see for a long time which he has started to implement.

Exactly. It's great to see Luiz clicking so perfectly in that position as well, that should truly be considered his optimal place in the side every week. But even better was the manner in which both he & Lamps controlled the game from the middle of the park. That's the major aspect that I have to admit Rafa finally got right - it's exactly what I wanted to see & I guess he delivered in that sense, as did the players.

They were quite literally everywhere today & for me they were easily the two best performers on the pitch aside from Hazard's exceptional last 30 minutes. If he endeavours to maintain that partnership of two incredible ball-playing individuals at the heart of the team along with giving Oscar the nod ahead of Moses on the majority of occasions, then at least he will gain a few points in my book in terms of reverting back to a more adventurous attacking style reminiscent of his Valencia days.

Like I said though - he's still a fucking cunt - that part's never going to change unfortunately.

[MHL 47 378]

One thing that is pissing me off slightly right now is just because we thrashed Villa 8-0 today, Benitez's worshippers(Liverpool fans especially) are out in force saying that we are idiots to go against him!

Just as one or two very bad results (Fulham and Wet Spam) doesn't make him the worst Manager/Coach in the world neither does two very good results. Credit to him today, you can only beat what's in front of you and we did, very well.

I'm still of the opinion he's not the right man, and everything today went our way from the early goal to Benteke not understanding the offside rule, that's the only way I can come to terms with how many times he was offside and when thy did have a decent 15mins spell nothing came of it. Let's see what we made of against sterner opposition before making too many positive judgements.

[Joker10 946]

Why are people still criticizing/hating Rafa? Hes done what the recent managers we've had haven't even though of doing, put Luiz in midfield and hes also got Torres scoring goals again. Roman will be delighted with the Torres thing especially. Things are looking up, the team is much more balanced, we can defend and attack with ease now unlike under Robbie we were very open. Reinforcements in January and well you never know, we could push for the title, just depends on the personnel we get in.

Are you forgetting a certain trip to Japan? That was his biggest test as a manager yet and he failed.

I don't really get the criticism of Rafa on a personal level, that is quite irrelevant imo.

[termninja 5,290]

As I said as we appointed him, I don't like him, but then again, I don't have to like him to support him. Nothing to say against him for today, watching us was like sex

[speker 0]

I think we should judge Benitez on what he does for Chelsea.............and so far so good.

[Jype 6,398]

Still a long way to go for me to completely change my mind about him, especially after what happened in Japan, but if the results continue to be like today it certainly won't hurt his chances. He deserves some credit for improving our defence since taking over, and playing Luiz in midfield as well as giving Piazon a chance have also been things we have all wanted for some time now and he's the one who made them happen. I won't go as far as say he has also made Torres a better player because the opponents he scored against haven't really been that good to make a decent judgement, but I do remember a time when the ladyboy couldn't score an open goal...

Like @ mentioned, if Mourinho or Guardiola won't come in the summer (personally I would also add Jürgen Klopp and possibly Diego Simeone to that list but hey, that's just me), I honestly believe we should hand out Rafa at least a one year contract. He was desperate enough to accept a deal till the end of the season so there should be no problem for him to sign any contract we give him. Low risk, high reward.