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Rafael Benitez

Jesse Pinkman

by Jesse Pinkman
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TRon

TRon

Posted
Posted

quote author=TheDonis link=topic=97780.msg6140785#msg6140785 date=1474150130

You didn't butt in and good input. At Liverpool I know he changed the team all the time, was he always changing the pattern aswell, even after good results ?

 

 

Re rotation, there were two schools of thought on it among LFC fans. One, that it motivates players because they know they'll be involved. The other that it demotivates them because no matter how well they play they might end up bring rotated. For me, it worked. So often we finished the season so strong. But then you get the pang that there were a few too many missed opportunities earlier on. But then we might have won those games early season and run out of steam.... I do think his methods did sometimes jar with some 'superstar' footballers. But with a group of players hungry to achieve, like you should have, they should work a treat. No one should doubt him, given his experience. No one is going to turn around and say 'But Ancelloti said this' and 'Mourinho did this' as has been the case with him elsewhere. And, more importantly, he makes players better, which intelligent players will recognise. So many coaches make players worse or they don't improve. Not Rafa. Though he can be brutal as f*** when it comes to binning players off.

 

As for the pattern, it stays the same. (but there is pattern within patterns. There's the famous story of when Ranieri took over at Valencia from him, and he told them to 'defend like Benitez told you.' One of the defenders said, 'But we had five different ways of defending.') But the 4-2-3-1 is sacrosanct (though he'll say with good reason, there are variations within that system). Frustrating as f*** for some who want two strikers up top, but it won't happen. There might be two strikers on the pitch but one will be wide. One wide man will be a quick attacking player, the other will be someone like Dirk Kuyt, out of position nominally, but works his nuts off for the team, tracks back, gets goals. There'll be an unflashy holding mid next to someone who can hit passes.  People will clamour for a change sand say 'Put out our best team, forget about how our oppo play and smash them.' Rafa will not do that. He will stick to his system, press high up the pitch, control the game. He hates it when they lose control.

 

 

 

That all makes perfect sense when you are playing against top teams in the CL, but do we really need to be cautious against struggling championship sides?

 

Maybe not. But Rafa will always prepare with the opposition in mind.

 

I do sense him mellowing and changing a bit. He seems a bit more of the patrician these days, rather than the aloof technocrat. Arms around players,  pats and hugs and all that. Which he needed to do more given the namby pamby etc

 

One last Rafa story before I go. For me it sums him up. I went to see us play West Ham. Shit ground and shit fans and I was sitting in the middle of them. We battered them but couldn't score. In injury time they broke away and Carra brought down their guy in the box with a ludicrous challenge. They scored the peno. It was a fuck of a nut punch and you could see the players deflate. But rather than sit on his bench spewing and wait for the whistle, which was coming as soon as we kicked off, Rafa walked out of the dug out and stood at the side of the pitch. It sounds like nothing but it showed me what balls he had - 40,000 blokes in leather jackets calling him a fat wanker. But more than that - how he wasn't going to hide. The message was - keep your chin up, we'll have these next time. And we almost certainly did. 

 

 

 

I get that, he's a manager who learns and adapts. there's not much doubt about his balls either, he's built up a big squad to play to his instructions, the ones who can do it will be in the first team picture in January, the rest will be on their way out. Either way we'll still be champions come May.

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merlin

merlin

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The swings from him being a genius to his tactics and general philosophies on the game being seriously questioned and back again from match to match are both hilarious and quite sad. Not just in this thread, I mean across the forum. Signings, players, formations, the rotation policy; everything.

 

By all accounts we were just as s*** today as we were excellent on Tuesday. It's absolutely symptomatic of a team and entire f***ing organisation that's still finding its feet with a revolutionised squad under a brand new manager and coaching staff, and an apparent complete change in approach to running a football club. This after literally years and years of deliberate lack of investment, almost 100% lack of ambition and suitably chronic underachievement. It's no coincidence IMO that we've not drawn any games so far. Even when we went down last time things were more stable than they were before Benitez came in for f***'s sake. :lol:

 

Obviously nobody is beyond criticism when it's due but though I'm still very confident of promotion, turning this wretched ship around is going to take longer than nine matches.

 

Much of this is true - it does take time to turn a club around form decades of mismanagement but whilst every situation is different, KK did this in 92/93 but I believe he had the basis of a side that could improve both collectively and individually, whereas I believe Rafa has had to have a greater clear-out of players and therefore there is more teamwork to get right.

Nevertheless, promotion MUST be achieved this season if Rafa is not to leave and put us back to square 1, so the pressure is on to hit that target and it becomes harder with every defeat. We can only hope that other sides hit a bad run too, esp Huddersfield, but I think sides like Norwich and Villa will start to improve as the season progresses.

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Scoot

Scoot

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Posted

The swings from him being a genius to his tactics and general philosophies on the game being seriously questioned and back again from match to match are both hilarious and quite sad. Not just in this thread, I mean across the forum. Signings, players, formations, the rotation policy; everything.

 

By all accounts we were just as s*** today as we were excellent on Tuesday. It's absolutely symptomatic of a team and entire f***ing organisation that's still finding its feet with a revolutionised squad under a brand new manager and coaching staff, and an apparent complete change in approach to running a football club. This after literally years and years of deliberate lack of investment, almost 100% lack of ambition and suitably chronic underachievement. It's no coincidence IMO that we've not drawn any games so far. Even when we went down last time things were more stable than they were before Benitez came in for f***'s sake. :lol:

 

Obviously nobody is beyond criticism when it's due but though I'm still very confident of promotion, turning this wretched ship around is going to take longer than nine matches.

 

Spot on Dave.

 

This post literally saved me typing out something similar.

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Billy Pilgrim

Billy Pilgrim

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It's not really worth panicking about at this stage.

 

We've shown that we're susceptible to playing defensively when we should be tearing sides to shreds. When I saw the teamsheet today I thought we were going balls out attacking, but based on the radio coverage it sounded as if we were playing it safe from the beginning.

 

Rafa is going to have a problem with keeping a good thing going in the league. We're going to have to live with that, but I think we're going to have enough to see us through to promotion. At the start of the season I would've taken a playoff final win, and I still would. Some days we'll dominate, some days we'll get humped. It's newcastle ffs.

 

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STM

STM

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Even in defeat, I just imagine Benitez sorting out what went wrong and feeling totally at easy again.

 

Wolves in the cup, is the perfect tonic in writing the wrongs of yesterday. We've got a at least 11 players who are chomping at the bit to prove themselves.

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madras

madras

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True. Even in the premiership last season we raised our game and got good results against manure twice, Liverpool twice, Chelsea and man city whilst losing to Norwich west brom and the mackems

Don't include Liverpool away on that list. The first half performance was as bad as I've seen us play in the top flight then they took their foot right off the pedal. Sure they had a Euro game later that week.
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joeyt

joeyt

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"We need to realise we're now the head of the mouse, and not the tail of the lion. It's a Spanish expression.

 

"So, when you are in the Premier League, you are the tail of the lion and some people are happy being the tail of the lion, some prefer to be the head of the mouse.

 

"When you are at the top and strong enough, we want to make sure we are strong enough to be sure that we can manage the games.

 

"Teams will come against us and wait, so we have to make sure we know what to do every time and, if we make mistakes, we carry on because there are a lot games to play and we need to be consistent in the right way.

 

"If it's good we can be excited, if it's bad we analyse on what we need to do and improve things quickly.

 

"The team needs the right mentality. Now is the time to realise it's not a parade. We have to work hard in every single game

 

"We need to be united, like the name of the team. We need the fans to stick with the team.

 

"We need to be ready - that means players, staff and fans. We need to be together - United - and that means we can bring the best from every single player.

 

"We have watched (Saturday's) game, talked with the staff and the players; analysing what was wrong and especially trying to correct things on the pitch.

 

"After the QPR game, I said that there was plenty of room for improvement. You can see that we are a team that needs to improve and manage the games a little bit better.

 

"If the players give everything, we have to support them. Then at the end, maybe we can celebrate together.

 

"Sometimes you have to give players a run to gain the best from momentum, but sometimes you have to change.

 

"In this case, we will make some changes. I want to keep everyone on their toes and thinking they can help and make a difference."

 

 

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TRon

TRon

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"We need to realise we're now the head of the mouse, and not the tail of the lion. It's a Spanish expression.

 

"So, when you are in the Premier League, you are the tail of the lion and some people are happy being the tail of the lion, some prefer to be the head of the mouse.

 

Love that expression,and I think it applies perfectly to players who look great on the training ground but can't produce in match conditions. Also those who prefer to play without the pressure of a big crowd with big expectations.

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Leazes_End_Mag

Leazes_End_Mag

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If you take out all the times we've come back from behind to get something, we have never come back from behind to get something.

 

If you don't it's 3 times out of possible 9, unless I missed something.

It was a genuine question, not a dig at him. I was struggling to remember any others if they did exist.

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Yorkie

Yorkie

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I think we will win.

 

Really disappointed to hear about the crowd reaction at the weekend, especially after what Benitez said to the lads who went to the training ground.

 

Every manager, captain or PR whore who is associated with the club will - at some point - make a call to the fans to 'be our 12th man!' It's a fair call, but those words were basically empty ones in the 'pre-Benitez' era. The club was barely worth supporting; to the extent that many fans not only gave up their seat at SJP, but actively wished defeats on the club. The sheer resentment we've witnessed in recent times was not unjustified.

 

It is different now, though. If Benitez says we need to support the players no matter what, then that's what needs to happen. I'm not in the business of forgiving the club for all of its previous misdemeanours, but the appointment of Benitez and the subsequent culture shift has put me back on the right track, as far as being a supporter goes. I don't blame anyone who hasn't had their fervour fully reignited yet, but if you're buying a ticket then you at least need to subscribe to what's happening now. We need to put the past behind, at least to a certain extent, because we're a club that is trying to get back to the Premier League and I believe, ever since March, those in charge are doing everything they can to ensure that.

 

St James' Park needs to be a fortress and the fans need to play their part in that. There's absolutely no point in booing the players every time they play shite. It's a brand new collection of players and it will happen. If our home ground becomes a place where our own players are shit-scared of making a mistake then we won't get anywhere. Hopefully a convincing win in front of a reasonably-sized crowd will put to bed everything that happened at the weekend, and we can all just crack the fuck on.

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