The Benitez Thread

[Jase 43,479]

It's a tougher game than it sounds, especially away. Man city did not win there either, and they have much more physical players than us.

The minute Diame came on the game changed, he pushed Mata around like he wasn't even there - and those fucking long balls are a nightmare to deal with.

Nightmare but not impossible to deal with. We didn't do enough to prevent crosses from coming in and hardly track the runners from midfield.

[Jase 43,479]

That would have been a minor change, and wouldn't stop them from bullying us in the air. It also would not stop Diame from running around like he owns the midfield lol.

Even then, it will give us a better chance to match them in midfield rather than 3 v 2. 4-2-3-1 then wasn't even working then. Why not change things around and see what happens?! Silly to just dismiss that we couldn't do anything to stem West Ham's attacks.

[AndersonBLUE 819]

Change to the 4-3-3 please the 4-2-3-1 is getting boring now. Hate dicking around the enemy penalty area all the time.

[Sheva. 5,373]

Nightmare but not impossible to deal with. We didn't do enough to prevent crosses from coming in and hardly track the runners from midfield.

I beg to differ, we didn't let them have much joy on the flanks with Moses doing well to help Cole on the right, and Azpi dominating Jarvis.

But on corners they looked threatening and they also played it up from their own half a lot.

[Jase 43,479]

I beg to differ, we didn't let them have much joy on the flanks with Moses doing well to help Cole on the right, and Azpi dominating Jarvis.

But on corners they looked threatening and they also played it up from their own half a lot.

Unfortunately once they changed their midfield around and got their act together in the 2nd half, we hardly looked comfortable then.

[Sheva. 5,373]

Even then, it will give us a better chance to match them in midfield rather than 3 v 2. 4-2-3-1 then wasn't even working then. Why not change things around and see what happens?! Silly to just dismiss that we couldn't do anything to stem West Ham's attacks.

I agree with that, but i don't think Romeu especially would have made much of a difference.

[Jase 43,479]

I agree with that, but i don't think Romeu especially would have made much of a difference.

Like I said, why not just change it and see what happens? Can't do any worse than we did then in midfield.

[The only place to be 11,313]

I do find it quite telling that we're in agreement that we could have done with some heft in midfield - one is left wondering what the fuck Mikel's job actually is.

[Muzchap 8,966]

That's been my point all along...

I hated 4231 formation it just wasn't working and RDM had no other ideas...

Then RB comes in and does exactly the same fucking thing

We are a 1 trick pony...

Fair play to the old cunt SAF he mixes it up a bit and so does that wanker Mancini e.g. 352 or 3511

Why can't we try this??? Our current formation is shit and maybe 2 players up front will give us a better chance of holding up ball...

#grumbles

I could do a better fucking job!!!

I've taken Crawley town to the Premiership, won Blue Sq Cup, League Cup and Promotion and Premiership... Have a team of 22yr olds with some older players and about to sign Messi for 10 million!!!

I've used evey formation possible and tend now to match up to my opponents formation, if thy play 4231 I put 5 in midfield and rape them!

That's what's happening to us and NONE of our last 2 Managers or Coaches can see this?

Fucking retarded if you ask me!!! (Not that you probably are...)

[Reddish-Blue 2,513]

That's been my point all along...

I hated 4231 formation it just wasn't working and RDM had no other ideas...

Then RB comes in and does exactly the same fucking thing

We are a 1 trick pony...

Fair play to the old cunt SAF he mixes it up a bit and so does that wanker Mancini e.g. 352 or 3511

Why can't we try this??? Our current formation is shit and maybe 2 players up front will give us a better chance of holding up ball...

#grumbles

How are we going to play with 2 up front? We don't even have 1 striker...when teams like United & Citeh have 3-4 quality strikers. Torres is beyond repair, Sturridge has fitness issues.

[Hutcho 8,443]

How are we going to play with 2 up front? We don't even have 1 striker...when teams like United & Citeh have 3-4 quality strikers. Torres is beyond repair, Sturridge has fitness issues.

Lol true, that would be the worst strike partnership in the history of football... Torres and his imaginery friend.

[The Mak 4,459]

What about a 4-3-2-1, with Oscar and Ramires sitting along side a deep Mikel/Romeu?

It would release Ramires' shackles a bit as we know he can track back, but he just looks uncomfortable as a DM. Not just that, but we basically don't have the players to play with 2 DMs (+ it seems Benitez doesn't want the full backs in the opposition half, so it's not as if we'll be loosing a great amount of defensive cover). Oscar is good at tracking as well (the job he did on Pirlo) and he has a good work-rate. Frank could easily slot in there too.

I think it'd help connect the defence and attack a lot better.

I'd like to play 2 up front, but I don't think it's an option until after January.

[Corner 456]

What about a 4-3-2-1, with Oscar and Ramires sitting along side a deep Mikel/Romeu?

It would release Ramires' shackles a bit as we know he can track back, but he just looks uncomfortable as a DM. Not just that, but we basically don't have the players to play with 2 DMs (+ it seems Benitez doesn't want the full backs in the opposition half, so it's not as if we'll be loosing a great amount of defensive cover). Oscar is good at tracking as well (the job he did on Pirlo) and he has a good work-rate. Frank could easily slot in there too.

I think it'd help connect the defence and attack a lot better.

I'd like to play 2 up front, but I don't think it's an option until after January.

Couldn't agree more. I've been praying for this to happen for weeks.

[Kez 2,727]

Isn't it obvious? Di Matteo should never have been sacked if Rafa fucking Benitez was the only alternative. It's not like we were in the relegation zone or something that bad with Di Matteo so why switch a club legend to a universally hated cunt who isn't even any better than RDM as a manager?

If he was the only option then the club should have stuck with RDM at least until the end of the season. Everyone knows Roman was going to get rid of him at some point but to do it now makes no sense. At least the players actually wanted to play for RDM & had a good relationship with him. This season has just turned into a massive pile of shit that Rafa cannot control, the fans don't want him here, the players don't want to play for him or understand his ideas. His ideas make no sense.

Surely it wasn't too much to ask to keep RDM here just until the end of the season.

[Sheva. 5,373]

the players don't want to play for him or understand his ideas. His ideas make no sense.

I don't understand these 2 points. You can't say the players do not want to play for him since many of them have been playing like this since under RDM, so they didn't want to play for RDM either?

And his ideas are actually solid as far as i'm concerned. Someone posted an article that likened the way he wants Chelsea to play to how BVB play, but we just don't have a good enough squad atm, which is shocking looking at how much some of those players cost.

[Kez 2,727]

I don't understand these 2 points. You can't say the players do not want to play for him since many of them have been playing like this since under RDM, so they didn't want to play for RDM either?

And his ideas are actually solid as far as i'm concerned. Someone posted an article that likened the way he wants Chelsea to play to how BVB play, but we just don't have a good enough squad atm, which is shocking looking at how much some of those players cost.

You can't say that the players have the same relationship with Rafa as they did with RDM. You could see the way RDM celebrated with his players, when we eventually win a game I very much doubt that their will be many celebrations with rafa, he very rarely celebrates anyway.

As for his ideas, they are very negative, the defense was solid for the first 2 games but we literally created fuck all going forward. Okay things were not great under RDM but we looked like a team with spirit we were able to come back from going down. Right now the atmosphere around the club is very negative, the fans & the players. Rafa is not the man to get us out of this depressing spell he's just going to make it worse and worse.

[zolayes 14,489]

It is sometimes ok for a manager to criticise his players if he has been with them a time and previously praised and defended them .

for a new manager to come in and criticise everything is hardly a way like to achieve good results ....already he is making man management mistakes.

[Sheva. 5,373]

You can't say that the players have the same relationship with Rafa as they did with RDM. You could see the way RDM celebrated with his players, when we eventually win a game I very much doubt that their will be many celebrations with rafa, he very rarely celebrates anyway.

As for his ideas, they are very negative, the defense was solid for the first 2 games but we literally created fuck all going forward. Okay things were not great under RDM but we looked like a team with spirit we were able to come back from going down. Right now the atmosphere around the club is very negative, the fans & the players. Rafa is not the man to get us out of this depressing spell he's just going to make it worse and worse.

His ideas are based on being solid and organized defensively first, being good on the counter and passes in behind the defence instead of passing it in-front of them 30 times to create an opening.

Negative maybe, when you compare to some managers who love to play open attacking football, but i don't have much of a problem with it.

The atmosphere is negative because of the fans. Roman brought Benitez in because he was the best person available, but the fans don't like him and are creating a negative atmosphere around the club, one that makes it even more difficult to succeed.

And right now if Rafa was fired, who would come in and get Chelsea out of this "depressing spell"? Avram Grant? Steve Kean? Sparky?

[Sheva. 5,373]

It is sometimes ok for a manager to criticise his players if he has been with them a time and previously praised and defended them .

for a new manager to come in and criticise everything is hardly a way like to achieve good results ....already he is making man management mistakes.

What did he criticize apart from the lack of leaders thing? i've not read any football related articles since the West ham loss

[Kez 2,727]

His ideas are based on being solid and organized defensively first, being good on the counter and passes in behind the defence instead of passing it in-front of them 30 times to create an opening.

Negative maybe, when you compare to some managers who love to play open attacking football, but i don't have much of a problem with it.

The atmosphere is negative because of the fans. Roman brought Benitez in because he was the best person available, but the fans don't like him and are creating a negative atmosphere around the club, one that makes it even more difficult to succeed.

And right now if Rafa was fired, who would come in and get Chelsea out of this "depressing spell"? Avram Grant? Steve Kean? Sparky?

Being solid defensively is important yes, shipping 3 against West Ham not so solid.

But my original point wasn't about sacking Rafa was it? It was about sticking with RDM in the first place if Rafa was the only option to bring in. Things weren't exactly a disaster but now things have a danger of spiraling out of control. I honestly believe Rafa is never going to be the right man for Chelsea with his ideas of playing football, whether the fans were onside with him or not.