The Benitez Thread

[Laylabelle 9,534]

Miserable season...full of nearly won it moments in terms of trophies but we made it into the Champions League at least..hope we win it Weds..sod being only Europa and whatever crap we're the only English side in Euorpe with a chance to win a European trophy.Aint won it before so be nice to...and another shot at the Super Cup do dah

[HNKS 508]

Aside from Lampard's record, this was a miserable season and beating Benfica might be a consolation to some but not me. Standards have dropped considerably when Benitez views this as a successful season and Chelsea are being linked to Wayne fucking Rooney and fans actually would welcome that chia pet lab rat.

Typical glory hunter. I think you forget how worse off we could have been this season. We are in a transition also we dont have a permanent manager. I think finishing 3rd with a trophy is a brilliant end to the season. Considering how many games our players have had to play.

[Ankit 3,176]

Clive Public ‏@CFC_Clive1h

If you think that was good wait until you see the send off for Benitez next week. It will be emotional.

[Laylabelle 9,534]

Be less awkard now we're in top 4..possibly even winners of Europa.If we hadnt made top 4 there is no way he could've gone anywhere near the fans on the last day never mind walk around wave at them etc

[xPetrCechx 13,570]

Seven reasons Rafa Benitez has been a resounding success at Chelsea

http://metro.co.uk/2013/05/12/seven-reasons-rafa-benitez-has-been-a-resounding-success-at-chelsea-3756242/

[Martina 210]

Benitez wants to stay in England after being '100 per cent' success at Stamford Bridge

(Daily Mail)

Rafa Benitez has hailed his reign as Chelsea manager as a '100 per cent success' after leading the club back into the Champions League - and immediately targeted another top job in the Barclays Premier League.

He added: 'I can say that a lot of fans are telling me I am doing a good job. You can't convince everyone but I'm sure a lot will be pleased with the job I have done. It has been a success, 100 per cent.

'I came here and did a professional job from day one.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2323289/Rafa-Benitez-wants-job-Premier-League-success-Chelsea.html

[Ronaldo 28]

Rafa did well enough...

Maybe he can takeover Malaga.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Aside from Lampard's record, this was a miserable season and beating Benfica might be a consolation to some but not me. Standards have dropped considerably when Benitez views this as a successful season and Chelsea are being linked to Wayne fucking Rooney and fans actually would welcome that chia pet lab rat.

I think people are only disappointed because of the "false dawn" that the beginning of the season heralded. Let's be fair, after finishing sixth last season did anyone really expect us to win the title this season? We may all say yes, but that is merely the optimism of the football fan. Most of us we merely hoping to compete with the Manchester clubs, which we really haven't, although finishing six points behind the champions of the previous season does indicate some improvement. Standards have dropped and have been dropping since the second year of the Ancelotti era. We have postponed this period of transition for so long; it was inevitable that a big star such as Drogba leading would be the ultimate catalyst for it.

But when you consider the new spine of our team (in terms of players who have featured the most here this season) - Oscar, Hazard, Mata, Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Torres - these players have only been here for at most two full seasons with the club. With the likes of Cole, Terry and Lampard all now becoming bit-part players rather than the first names on the team-sheet, such transition without the management of a serious big-name boss was always going to work out in a not-quite desirable fashion.

People may be disappointed because we have fought in eight competitions this season - we have lost three finals (the Community Shield, Club World Cup and the Supercup) and reached the last four of two other cup competitions. That really isn't good enough; thankfully we may be able to make amends to some extent on Wednesday. But when you consider that this season may have been somewhat sacrificed in order to plan for the future, the additions of Hazard, Azpi and Oscar, and the true emergence of Mata, mean that this season won't have been for nothing.

You need time to build a new team. Look at Ferguson's United team - he has periods of dominance with one squad for two/three seasons, fades away for a season or two before returning with a squad with an all-new core. For instance the 10/11 season was all about van der Saar, Ferdinand, Vidic and Rooney, and before that the 07/08 campaign relied so heavily on the Rooney-Tevez-Ronaldo partnership. Now his team is based around de Gea, Jones, Evans and van Persie. The core of his team is constantly changing but with a constant squad in the periphery, if you will. That makes for a constantly-successful team, and that is what we are trying to do. We are replacing the old Cech-Terry-Lampard-Drogba core with (eventually) Courtois-Luiz-Hazard/Mata.

You have to be patient in the short-term to reap the long-term benefits.

[NiclasCFC 2,582]

He has improved Luiz, Hazards defensive play and Ramires we have to give him that.

[Muzchap 8,966]

I think people are only disappointed because of the "false dawn" that the beginning of the season heralded. Let's be fair, after finishing sixth last season did anyone really expect us to win the title this season? We may all say yes, but that is merely the optimism of the football fan. Most of us we merely hoping to compete with the Manchester clubs, which we really haven't, although finishing six points behind the champions of the previous season does indicate some improvement. Standards have dropped and have been dropping since the second year of the Ancelotti era. We have postponed this period of transition for so long; it was inevitable that a big star such as Drogba leading would be the ultimate catalyst for it.

But when you consider the new spine of our team (in terms of players who have featured the most here this season) - Oscar, Hazard, Mata, Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Torres - these players have only been here for at most two full seasons with the club. With the likes of Cole, Terry and Lampard all now becoming bit-part players rather than the first names on the team-sheet, such transition without the management of a serious big-name boss was always going to work out in a not-quite desirable fashion.

People may be disappointed because we have fought in eight competitions this season - we have lost three finals (the Community Shield, Club World Cup and the Supercup) and reached the last four of two other cup competitions. That really isn't good enough; thankfully we may be able to make amends to some extent on Wednesday. But when you consider that this season may have been somewhat sacrificed in order to plan for the future, the additions of Hazard, Azpi and Oscar, and the true emergence of Mata, mean that this season won't have been for nothing.

You need time to build a new team. Look at Ferguson's United team - he has periods of dominance with one squad for two/three seasons, fades away for a season or two before returning with a squad with an all-new core. For instance the 10/11 season was all about van der Saar, Ferdinand, Vidic and Rooney, and before that the 07/08 campaign relied so heavily on the Rooney-Tevez-Ronaldo partnership. Now his team is based around de Gea, Jones, Evans and van Persie. The core of his team is constantly changing but with a constant squad in the periphery, if you will. That makes for a constantly-successful team, and that is what we are trying to do. We are replacing the old Cech-Terry-Lampard-Drogba core with (eventually) Courtois-Luiz-Hazard/Mata.

You have to be patient in the short-term to reap the long-term benefits.

Great post our early season form showed a little too much promise.

We have played what 70+ games this season - ridiculous

Also encouraging has been the loans of Lukaku, Chalobah, Piazon and Essien... Essien looks like a half decent potential backup for Azpi, freeing up Ivanovic to remain in the centre, where he needs to focus on becoming a beast again.

The potential addition of Rooney is very interesting and I hope it happens

All in all a good ish year 7.5/10

[Yeboii 1,844]

He has improved Luiz, Hazards defensive play and Ramires we have to give him that.

I agree, Hazard has gotten so much better, but its not hard when you have a diamond like Hazard.

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

Let's see how the season ends before rating Rafa's achievements. 3rd place would be a good deal better than 4th cos it would spare us those annoying qualification matches. Also EL victory is a must, ending this season without a title would be a huge disappointment and we (hopefully) seldom get the chance to win that competition.

[Strike 7,478]

It seems to me your football IQ is not much, then.

He could have played Yossi too.

Sometimes, folks like you should listen to others too. Tune in Chelsea TV when you finished, come back to comment.

That just shows how little you expect from Rafa. He does something completely ordinary like putting Luiz in midfield after going down to 10 men and you're praising it like it's tacitical ingenuity

[bushman 2,043]

That just shows how little you expect from Rafa. He does something completely ordinary like putting Luiz in midfield after going down to 10 men and you're praising it like it's tacitical ingenuity

No, all I am saying Rafa made a good choice for once, That´s all folks!

[Martina 210]

And this is why I can't stand him:

Angry Chelsea are considering making a complaint after Aston Villa fans abused John Terry as he was carried off.

The injured skipper is now a big doubt for Wednesday’s Europa League final in Amsterdam against Benfica.

Blues boss Rafa Benitez will wait for the results of a scan before making any final decisions.

But he fears the centre-half will miss his second European final in a year — after being suspended for last season’s Champions League triumph in Munich.

Terry suffered a serious ankle injury in a 78th-minute challenge with Villa defender Nathan Baker.

And it is understood Chelsea were disgusted with the behaviour of the Villa fans, who cheered as Terry was carried off the pitch on a stretcher and chanted “Racist, racist” at the former England captain. (note: I believe they were also chanting "Die, die")

Benitez said: “I didn’t hear what the fans were singing when Terry was going off. I concentrate on my job and don’t listen to the crowd.”

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4924067/John-Terry-abused-by-Aston-Villa-fans-Chelsea-consider-action.html#ixzz2T9zsKEHd