rgk_lfc

Thank you for some of the love you have shown to my previous post. Here is some more information. Rafa's preferred formation is 4-2-3-1. He may not play that during the next 10 games but over the summer and the next few transfer windows expect him to buy players which fit within a 4-2-3-1. when he was at LFC, he made even the youth teams (U15 onwards) play the 4-2-3-1 so that everyone is comfortable with their roles as a youngster. Striker: I have seen him play two type of strikers: first is Peter Crouch/Mista (at Valencia) type who serves as a focal point and their main role is to hold the ball and bring the 3 attacking midfielders into the game. The second is Torres style who works the channels, plays on the shoulders of the last defender and can destroy defenses on their own. A Rafa striker must relish the physical aspect of the game and be able to battle defenses with the ball. I dont think Rafa ever player Sturridge as a striker when he was at Chelsea. And when he came to LFC, Owen was moving to Madrid and from many rumours, Rafa did not do much to discourage the move. Same thing, when Owen was coming back from Madrid and you guys outbid us, lot of rumours that the LFC interest was primarily driven by Parry, Moore and Rafa wasnt too keen. I dont think he rarely played Bellamy as a striker too. 3 attacking midfielders: All 3 players must be interchangeable and fluid. He sometimes plays strikers on the right or left side of the 3 (Kuyt, Bellamy). When 2 attack the center and support the striker, sometimes he instructs one of the three to remain wide to give width. His best team at LFC had Riera, Gerrard, and Kuyt forming the three. His best team at Valencia had Vicente, Aimar, and someone else( dont remember maybe Rufete). 2 central midfielders: One of them is going to be a old school agricultural defensive midfielders in the Mascherano/Albelda mould -"Either the ball passes me or the player passes me but never both". Rafa loves his defensive midfielders. They are the fulcrum of his team. He is flexible with his second midfielder. From what I have heard Baraja used to join the attacks, runs into the box and score goals. But for us Alonso used to patrol the midfield and act as a pivot. Central defenders- Again he prefers one of them to be old school defenders in the Ayala, Carragher mould. When in doubt, launch it. None of this new age let us build the attacks from the back. Safety first. The triumvirate of defensive midfielder and central defenders is very important in a Rafa team. He makes them repeat drills over and over and over again till everything is second nature to them. The existing defenders and midfielders at Newcastle better have patience as he is very demanding in terms of positioning and maintaining offside lines. FullBacks: Again he is a safety first guy. So he rarely plays two attacking fullbacks. Normally one of them if not both will be more defensively oriented. Clarification on owners: He does fight a lot with owners and managing directors. He has balls made of highest grade titanium. He has high standards and tries to control every aspect of the club - diet of U 14 teams to signings. He works 14-18 hours a day and if he feels the directors/owners do not share his vision or passion, he does throw the toys out. Judging by your opinion of Ashley, Charnley - expect fireworks in the future. He would rather be fired than toe the party line and work in a compromised manner. Have to admire him for that. Media - hates the media. Hates Shreeves, Gray, and the general British media. And the feeling is mutual. VEry few reporters get along with him. Part of the reason why his reputation is poor in England. Doesnt worship traditional media heroes like Ferguson, Mourinho and makes that very clear. After Mourinho got fired: "The key to them is Abramovich. The only difference I see between Mourinho and [Avram] Grant is in their press conferences! I watched the game at Everton and they were playing the same as they always did. The media might miss Mourinho, but not me." "If Chelsea are naive and pure then I'm Little Red Riding Hood." He loves poking rival fans, So expect some brilliant quotes about Sunderland. Chelsea Fans "We don't need to give away flags for our fans to wave." He called Everton a small club ) Expect some nice WTF quotes like ""I was hoping for a sofa and they've brought me a lamp". On Roy Hodgson: "Every single press conference is even worse than the last one. Some people cannot see a priest on a mountain of sugar." His thoughts on the Luis garcia ghost goal controversy after Sky showed a complex all angle camera view. "After the game, Sheila, who was sitting right in line, said to me that the ball had crossed the line. She is a very honest person and that was good enough for me. It was a goal." and then walks off.

If Rafa Benitez is at Newcastle for the next 6 years, I am confident that you will win one of the UEFA cup, FA or Carling cup. I have no doubt about that.

Pool fan here. I come in peace. I am a bit of a Rafa fan and thought would share my views on positives and negatives of Rafa. Style of Play: Functional. Hates loosing more than loves winning. Players will be drilled, day in day out. You will have the best defense seen at the club for ages. It can grate fans who like the attacking style of football but I can guarantee one thing - Newcastle United will never let the fans down in terms of effort. He will demand every player to cover every blade of grass 10 times over in each game. Once his tactics take shape, expect Newcastle to suffocate the opposition. One of the reasons he is unpopular in the media is that he never bows down to others. His attitude towards Mourinho "F*** you", towards Ferguson " F*** you", towards Allardyc " F*** F*** F*** you". You will go to Nou Camp, Madrid, San Siro and play with the "F** you we are Geordies, this is how we play attitude". His Valencia and Liverpool teams never bowed to anyone. Ayala used to say about how Rafa wanted him to kick players in the shower and create fights in the dressing room when someone was giving less than 100%. Expect the same at Newcastle. Player management: He is not the best at managing egos. He views each player as a chess piece. If he believes the team performance improves after drinking tea which Alan Shearer makes, he will ask Alan Shearer to make tea. He is all about drills. Players come in repeat the drills over and over again till it becomes second nature. He is from the Sacchi school than Cryuff. Attention to details: Obsessive. He will spend hours analyzing every bit of detail about the opposition. Stop him on the street and ask about next weeks game, he will be able to recite the height and weight of all opposition players from memory. He will give you 400%. When he got fired from Inter he started coaching the U 10 or U 8 football team his daughters played for, and apparently parents got bewildered when he stood at the sidelines and started shouting at 8 year old girls for not following his instruction. Relationship with owners: Not the best at maintaining relationship with owners. Frequently gets into fights. Relationship with fans: Dont listen to the media who portray him as a cold person. You will love him. He embraces the city, the culture and when you loose you can see the hurt in his eyes. He will give you his everything. Him and his wife Montse Benitez are wonderful human beings who will do a lot for charity. When he left he gave the HJC a check for $96000. I know he makes millions but having the presence of mind to pick that number shows everything about him. Other incidents: Google for Montse Benitez charities. She and Rafa have done a lot. Tranfers: A bit of a mixed bag. His transfers initially were brilliant. He loves choir boys than mavericks. But when he gets it right, he really gets it right - Alonso, Torres, Mascherano, Reina. The right type of players love him. "Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano has expressed his gratitude to Rafa Benitez and feels the Real Madrid coach saved his career. Mascherano has not forgotten about his former mentor and has stressed he will always be grateful to Benitez. He's a great man, and a diligent and excellent coach," Mascherano told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has thanked Rafa Benitez for helping him to a reach a level he never expected to hit." Bellamy: "I have gone on record recently and I will say it again now that I have learnt more from Rafael Benitez than any other coach I have worked with. I am a much better player for the time I've spent working with him and if I do go on to manage at some point in the future he's the model I'll use in my career. I can't make my respect for him any clearer than that." Football infrastructure: He builds the long term football infrastructure along with the first team. His coaching staff are serious technical people - not people who get jobs because of their playing career. He revamped the youth setup at LFC and Sterling, Ibe, Flanagan - not exactly class of 92 but still the best youth setup LFC had in ages. Expect some personnel from Sevilla, Barcelona, Madrid youth setup to join yu guys in the future. Will Newcastle win the Premier League if Rafa is the boss for the next 10 years? Not sure. But you will definitely win cups and most likely nice shiny European ones. If my life depended on the outcome of a two legged European tie, there is no one on the planet I would pick to manage my club other than Rafa Benitez. Loose to Reading on Saturday and then go to Nou Camp and defeat reining European champion Barcelona on their home turf. Expect a lot of weeks like that. Good luck. Wonderful manager, great person. You will love him