The Benitez Thread

[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.

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

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.

No he didn't fail, the players did. They looked like they didn't give a fuck at all bar Luiz.

[Sheva. 5,373]

Diego Simeone

I wouldn't take him over Benitez. Not to discredit what's he has done for Atleti though, because it's been very good.

[Rmpr 8,977]

No he didn't fail, the players did. They looked like they didn't give a fuck at all bar Luiz.

So when we lose it is all the player`s fault and when we win it is Rafa`s tactical ability?

Get real, Benitez mistake at CWC (a final that actually was worth something, even if small) was way worse than raping Villa...

We lost the game bacause Corinthians returned better for the seconf half and he didnt do anything, he watched it and only did something when we conceded.

[Sheva. 5,373]

So when we lose it is all the player`s fault and when we win it is Rafa`s tactical ability?

Get real, Benitez mistake at CWC (a final that actually was worth something, even if small) was way worse than raping Villa...

We lost the game bacause Corinthians returned better for the seconf half and he didnt do anything, he watched it and only did something when we conceded.

There's also the fact that Corinthians were fresher and more prepared than us, but who cares about silly things like that?

I don't see any reason to put so much blame on one person - he played our best team and they just didn't do much.

And it's actually the other way around, when we win its the players and when we don't it's all Rafa, and his defensive football.

[Tomo 21,733]

After doing a bit of research and talking to a (very knowledgeable) Liverpool fan about the pro's and con's of Rafa i am actually starting to seriously think he could actually be the man we need for the next 2-4 years.

The one plus point that was made about his time at Liverpool was the way he restructured the academy (which was ran to the ground by Houllier) the players Rodgers is promoting now were brought in by Rafa initially.

What is a worry however is his shady man management, just after signing for us under Carlo Ancelotti, Yossi Benayoun claimed Benitez was treating him terribly saying stuff like "the fans want you to start this week Yossi, i don't know why", i don't know how well that will go down here if he did that to any of our lot.

Back on the plus side we as much as any fans should know about how astute he is tactically on one off games and i watched back a couple of games of Rafa's Valencia side and they were truly formidable, if he gets us playing any where close to that i won't be complaining that is for sure.

[Jype 6,398]

I wouldn't take him over Benitez. Not to discredit what's he has done for Atleti though, because it's been very good.

That's why I said possibly, first we'll have to see how he does for the rest of the season at Atlético but so far I've been very impressed with Simeone both in Europe and the La Liga. For his first year in charge a win percentage of 69% with a team like Atlético Madrid is not something you see every day, that's higher than Guardiola's first season at Barcelona and close to Mourinho at Chelsea. I've watched a lot of their games, mainly because of Falcao, and I have liked what I've seen from them.

[Sheva. 5,373]

That's why I said possibly, first we'll have to see how he does for the rest of the season at Atlético but so far I've been very impressed with Simeone both in Europe and the La Liga. For his first year in charge a win percentage of 69% with a team like Atlético Madrid is not something you see every day, that's higher than Guardiola's first season at Barcelona and close to Mourinho at Chelsea. I've watched a lot of their games, mainly because of Falcao, and I have liked what I've seen from them.

It's not about how he does this season though for me, i just look at all the clubs he's managed and meh. Plus the fact that he's a former Atleti player, a lot easier to get the players and fans on his side from the first day. Just like it was for RDM.

His Atletico team are very solid though and they create enough chances.

[Rmpr 8,977]

There's also the fact that Corinthians were fresher and more prepared than us, but who cares about silly things like that?

I don't see any reason to put so much blame on one person - he played our best team and they just didn't do much.

And it's actually the other way around, when we win its the players and when we don't it's all Rafa, and his defensive football.

I was quoting RyanDavidson who in the first post said he did great today and etc, but in his second post he said CWC was the player`s fault.

This is nonsense, everyone deserves credid in both games (negative or positve).

Rafa had a great game and prepared our team really well today, even with the lack of some important players. He had the sense to rest Mata and Lampard (when it was already over) and he also lighted them up, they were agressive during all 90min.

However, his lack of knowledge about Corinthians and the total lack of action costed us the control of what had to be an routine win. He changed the pivot and it fucked us up. We got embarassed worlwide for the 3rd time this season.

For me, Rafa`s mistake at CWC is a lot worse than his good judment versus Villa.

[klopfzeichen 78]

Rafa Benitez Blue and White army! :blue scalf:

Too soon?

[Sheva. 5,373]

However, his lack of knowledge about Corinthians and the total lack of action costed us the control of what had to be an routine win. He changed the pivot and it fucked us up. We got embarassed worlwide for the 3rd time this season.

For me, Rafa`s mistake at CWC is a lot worse than his good judment versus Villa.

Changing the pivot did not fuck us up, how many chances did Corinthians have?

It was a tight game like you would expect in a final, but we failed to take our chances and they took their 1 good chance.

I don't blame Benitez for anything actually, and neither do i blame the players - it's not as if they did not want to win, things just did not go our way, tough luck, move on.