Why Rafa’s Appointment Was Spot-on

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

The problem is that Rafa has not done well. We have a worse overall winning percentage under Rafa than under RDM with a much easier schedule. We have played very few difficult fixtures under Rafa. I'm talking about maybe 10-15% difficult matches..We're winning most of the easier games, but we did that under RDM as well and our worst losses of the season have almost all come under Rafa.

I'd say our most difficult games played so far this season have been Juventus, City, Spurs, and Arsenal away, and ManU and Juventus at home. All but one came under RDM. Of our worst results this season, Brentford draw, QPR loss and draw, West Ham loss, Southampton loss and draw, Reading draw, all but one have come under Rafa. I never really hated him, but he hasn't done a good job. We're beating teams we should be beating and even then at a lower rate than we should be or that we did under RDM.

[bushman 2,043]

The problem is that Rafa has not done well. We have a worse overall winning percentage under Rafa than under RDM with a much easier schedule. We have played very few difficult fixtures under Rafa. I'm talking about maybe 10-15% difficult matches..We're winning most of the easier games, but we did that under RDM as well and our worst losses of the season have almost all come under Rafa.

I'd say our most difficult games played so far this season have been Juventus, City, Spurs, and Arsenal away, and ManU and Juventus at home. All but one came under RDM. Of our worst results this season, Brentford draw, QPR loss and draw, West Ham loss, Southampton loss and draw, Reading draw, all but one have come under Rafa. I never really hated him, but he hasn't done a good job. We're beating teams we should be beating and even then at a lower rate than we should be or that we did under RDM.

Just add to the above. Rafa inherited the team already in shambles.

[The only place to be 11,313]

So the board went out and got Rafael Benitez who was probably the best man for the job with the lack of options available.

This is the most accurate point. He was probably the best option on paper from the options available.

But his appointment wasn't 'spot on'. That'll generate discussion but only because it's so wide of the mark. It was a panic decision that was the result of years of mismanagement and an unhealthy and ultimately unproductive obsession with Pep Guardiola.

Has he done well? He's done okay, but let's not ignore the fact that we have quality players at this club and every club around us has been poor or going through their own transition. Robbie is not a top-class coach by any stretch of the imagination but he had us top of the league with the players looking at times like they were playing without much in the way of instruction. Not much has changed in Benitez's time here.

Benitez has been hamstrung primarily by our lack of options in midfield but let's not go overboard in praising him or his appointment just to be a contrarian.

[English Freak 456]

Rafa's appointment wasn't spot on.

Our team isn't much better than it was under RDM

The only positives from Rafa's reign have been Azpi's continued development in the starting RB position and 2 first team appearances for the young Nathan Aké

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I tend to agree with you on the Robbie case..

but about Rafa, he did sort out some basic things that we lacked, and yea the team has improved on some level, but still its not enough.. we still keep losing important games (easy ones aswell) and we still need improvement.

Also, Rafa was never going to work.. how can it work when 90% of the fans hate the man's guts ? with hostile environment at the Bridge, with the fans hating on everything Rafa does, how was it ever going to work ?

Rafa was never going to win us the league or stay past May. I don't think anyone wants that. But I think that the improvements in the basics he brought to the team will be crucial for the coming seasons.

The problem is that Rafa has not done well. We have a worse overall winning percentage under Rafa than under RDM with a much easier schedule. We have played very few difficult fixtures under Rafa. I'm talking about maybe 10-15% difficult matches..We're winning most of the easier games, but we did that under RDM as well and our worst losses of the season have almost all come under Rafa.

I'd say our most difficult games played so far this season have been Juventus, City, Spurs, and Arsenal away, and ManU and Juventus at home. All but one came under RDM. Of our worst results this season, Brentford draw, QPR loss and draw, West Ham loss, Southampton loss and draw, Reading draw, all but one have come under Rafa. I never really hated him, but he hasn't done a good job. We're beating teams we should be beating and even then at a lower rate than we should be or that we did under RDM.

Again, I'm not talking about results. In fact, we'd probably had better results this season with RDM (although I think the performances were only going to get worse had he not been sacked) but that is due to other factors than whether or not the team has improved such as the atmosphere and the consequent players moral, the terrible decisions Rafa made sometimes (which I'm not denying), and the thick schedule with the thin squad.

But what I'm saying is put all those aside for a moment and look at the team's performance. The defense looks much more solid with the wingers tracking back the pivot being more disciplined Yes we've conceded a lot, but most goals are from individual errors rather than a defensive system that is not working like under RDM. Our lines are much closer to each other, now and when we are performing well, out attack actually looks like we have system that we are implementing. Yes those have not influenced this season's results much due to other factors I've mentioned above, but this article is not about this season, it's about the future. And when Jose, or whoever comes in the summer, takes charge of the team, he'll get a team that does the basics right and he would not have to spend the best part of next season working on them. I don't think we would have had that had RDM stayed.

Just to make one thing clear, I am NOT in any way saying that Rafa should stay past May. I'm just saying the work he's done will facilitate the next manager's job.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Rafa was never going to win us the league or stay past May. I don't think anyone wants that. But I think that the improvements in the basics he brought to the team will be crucial for the coming seasons.

Again, I'm not talking about results. In fact, we'd probably had better results this season with RDM (although I think the performances were only going to get worse had he not been sacked) but that is due to other factors than whether or not the team has improved such as the atmosphere and the consequent players moral, the terrible decisions Rafa made sometimes (which I'm not denying), and the thick schedule with the thin squad.

But what I'm saying is put all those aside for a moment and look at the team's performance. The defense looks much more solid with the wingers tracking back the pivot being more disciplined Yes we've conceded a lot, but most goals are from individual errors rather than a defensive system that is not working like under RDM. Our lines are much closer to each other, now and when we are performing well, out attack actually looks like we have system that we are implementing. Yes those have not influenced this season's results much due to other factors I've mentioned above, but this article is not about this season, it's about the future. And when Jose, or whoever comes in the summer, takes charge of the team, he'll get a team that does the basics right and he would not have to spend the best part of next season working on them. I don't think we would have had that had RDM stayed.

Just to make one thing clear, I am NOT in any way saying that Rafa should stay past May. I'm just saying the work he's done will facilitate the next manager's job.

The only point that I've seen evidence of is the wingers tracking back, and that's primarily been Hazard.

But is that the effect of Benitez or is that simply a person in his first season in the league getting used to the additional responsibilities associated with that position?

The same goes for Azpi - he always seemed destined to take that right-back spot which isn't surprising considering Ivanovic, despite his performances over the years in the position, has always been a part-time right-back in a lot of people's eyes.

Honestly I think Benitez has done the bare minimum that you would expect from any coach familiar with the rigours of the Premier League - the only difference is that he was happy to sign a six-month contract.

[bushman 2,043]

Rafa was never going to win us the league or stay past May. I don't think anyone wants that. But I think that the improvements in the basics he brought to the team will be crucial for the coming seasons.

Again, I'm not talking about results. In fact, we'd probably had better results this season with RDM (although I think the performances were only going to get worse had he not been sacked) but that is due to other factors than whether or not the team has improved such as the atmosphere and the consequent players moral, the terrible decisions Rafa made sometimes (which I'm not denying), and the thick schedule with the thin squad.

But what I'm saying is put all those aside for a moment and look at the team's performance. The defense looks much more solid with the wingers tracking back the pivot being more disciplined Yes we've conceded a lot, but most goals are from individual errors rather than a defensive system that is not working like under RDM. Our lines are much closer to each other, now and when we are performing well, out attack actually looks like we have system that we are implementing. Yes those have not influenced this season's results much due to other factors I've mentioned above, but this article is not about this season, it's about the future. And when Jose, or whoever comes in the summer, takes charge of the team, he'll get a team that does the basics right and he would not have to spend the best part of next season working on them. I don't think we would have had that had RDM stayed.

Just to make one thing clear, I am NOT in any way saying that Rafa should stay past May. I'm just saying the work he's done will facilitate the next manager's job.

How can you know what Rafa was gonna win ?

See if you can base your opinion on players out on loans.

On one hand you stated Rafa is one fine coach. On the other, you refuse to admit any possibilities.

There is nothing better than being consistent, I might add.

[yuvala 2,167]

Rafa was never going to win us the league or stay past May. I don't think anyone wants that. But I think that the improvements in the basics he brought to the team will be crucial for the coming seasons.

Again, I'm not talking about results. In fact, we'd probably had better results this season with RDM (although I think the performances were only going to get worse had he not been sacked) but that is due to other factors than whether or not the team has improved such as the atmosphere and the consequent players moral, the terrible decisions Rafa made sometimes (which I'm not denying), and the thick schedule with the thin squad.

But what I'm saying is put all those aside for a moment and look at the team's performance. The defense looks much more solid with the wingers tracking back the pivot being more disciplined Yes we've conceded a lot, but most goals are from individual errors rather than a defensive system that is not working like under RDM. Our lines are much closer to each other, now and when we are performing well, out attack actually looks like we have system that we are implementing. Yes those have not influenced this season's results much due to other factors I've mentioned above, but this article is not about this season, it's about the future. And when Jose, or whoever comes in the summer, takes charge of the team, he'll get a team that does the basics right and he would not have to spend the best part of next season working on them. I don't think we would have had that had RDM stayed.

Just to make one thing clear, I am NOT in any way saying that Rafa should stay past May. I'm just saying the work he's done will facilitate the next manager's job.

I agree.. this is maybe the best thing Rafa has done, making us actually play with a certain system. with RDM it seemed like he would just tell the players "play" and let them do what they want. The best example being the wingers tracking back, I remember oppositions breaking us down with 2-3 passes from the defence because both of the wings were wide open, because our wingers always gathered around in the middle and didnt track back.

[Santiago. 1,500]

Just add to the above. Rafa inherited the team already in shambles.

Was it in shambles though? We were comfortably third close to United, and yes we got knocked out of Europe due to unfortunate circumstances, but we were still in a good position in the league and our quality of football was much better under RDM. We started the season with weaknesses all around the squad that the board didn't tend to, as well as the pressure RDM was under in terms of starting Torres

[sam#6 0]

Then keep him there and let Mourinho return to his favorite team .

[Spike 12,049]

It'll only be spot on if it leads to the appointment of Jose Mourinho...

[bushman 2,043]

Was it in shambles though? We were comfortably third close to United, and yes we got knocked out of Europe due to unfortunate circumstances, but we were still in a good position in the league and our quality of football was much better under RDM. We started the season with weaknesses all around the squad that the board didn't tend to, as well as the pressure RDM was under in terms of starting Torres

No it was not. Under RDM the team was going nowhere. Coaching change was needed & justified.

[Spike 12,049]

Then keep him there and let Mourinho return to his favorite team .

Awww shit, you should not have said that...

[Santiago. 1,500]

No it was not. Under RDM the team was going nowhere. Coaching change was needed & justified.

Going no where when our main flaw was the fact Torres couldn't get the ball in the fucking net? Whereas our Manchester counterparts were stacked with strike force, a matter the board should have attented to.

3rd place in the league. We were still challenging for the league, Fa Cup, Capital one cup, Europa, and CWC. How was that justified?

[Magic Lamps 11,668]

Robbie might never have been the best coach, but he was supported avidly by the players and the fans. He had deserved his chance to take over here and it was right to hand him a contact. We were not oving less forward then under Benitez. We recorded an impressive win at White Hart Line and completely dominated utd until the ref killed us.

Rafa has done as many things wrong as di Matteo, he also lost against ManCity, against small teams like Southampton and most importantly he lost us at least two cups, too. When Robbie left we were still in touch with utd, now we are 15 points behind them. We will most certainly go out of the FA Cup tomorrow two, EL and top4 are in the balance. So at best, Rafa can achieve a solid minimum. Under Robbie we always could do sth special.

[sam#6 0]

Awww shit, you should not have said that...

Why not ?!, I just stated a fact.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

This is the most accurate point. He was probably the best option on paper from the options available.

But his appointment wasn't 'spot on'. That'll generate discussion but only because it's so wide of the mark. It was a panic decision that was the result of years of mismanagement and an unhealthy and ultimately unproductive obsession with Pep Guardiola.

Has he done well? He's done okay, but let's not ignore the fact that we have quality players at this club and every club around us has been poor or going through their own transition. Robbie is not a top-class coach by any stretch of the imagination but he had us top of the league with the players looking at times like they were playing without much in the way of instruction. Not much has changed in Benitez's time here.

Benitez has been hamstrung primarily by our lack of options in midfield but let's not go overboard in praising him or his appointment just to be a contrarian.

I completely agree with the point about the board. In fact I made the same point on the last page. The board had made terrible decisions that had led us to that point, but at that precise point in time, I feel the best choice was hiring Benitez.

Yes RDM had a great start, but I think that had to do more with the high of winning the CL. You always start on high note after a great achievement the previous season. It also had to do with our new players that no one seemed to know how to defend against. Yes were second when he got sacked, but we were playing incredible bad for a couple of weeks before. in fact our worst spell of performances this season were probably those 2-3 weeks. I honestly don't think the club was going anywhere with RDM, and the performances were only going to get worse, The managerial change was justified, imo.

The only point that I've seen evidence of is the wingers tracking back, and that's primarily been Hazard.

But is that the effect of Benitez or is that simply a person in his first season in the league getting used to the additional responsibilities associated with that position?

The same goes for Azpi - he always seemed destined to take that right-back spot which isn't surprising considering Ivanovic, despite his performances over the years in the position, has always been a part-time right-back in a lot of people's eyes.

Honestly I think Benitez has done the bare minimum that you would expect from any coach familiar with the rigours of the Premier League - the only difference is that he was happy to sign a six-month contract.

I feel you have to give the manager credit, because Hazard started tracking back when Rafa got appointed, and even Mata's defensive work greatly improved. And Azpi not only became a starter, but an integral part of the squad. He played with increased confidence with each game. You can say that was inevitable, but that's just a bit cynical, imo.

Then keep him there and let Mourinho return to his favorite team .

GTFO

[bushman 2,043]

Going no where when our main flaw was the fact Torres couldn't get the ball in the fucking net? Whereas our Manchester counterparts were stacked with strike force, a matter the board should have attented to.

3rd place in the league. We were still challenging for the league, Fa Cup, Capital one cup, Europa, and CWC. How was that justified?

The results as expected were not coming, then.