Rafael Benitez

[newsted]

Rafa is the best. Simply the best. Better than all the rest. Better than anyone.

 

he's the opposite of you.

Now, now Needy

 

I wondered what the comeback would be. That's decent.

[relámpago blanco]

Rafa is the best. Simply the best. Better than all the rest. Better than anyone.

 

he's the opposite of you.

Now, now Needy

You could probably do without that comma.

[wacko]

 

Mourinho is so scared of losing and so paranoid about his image and persona, he has become a shadow of himself. He's a bit like one of his players at the moment, Rooney. Was great, but isn't and is past his best. Can he recover?

 

I think Mourinho needs to take a year out and then go and manage a club that doesn't have the best players or top players with the most money. He's a great coach, a great manager, arguably the best in general outside of Pep, but he's broken at the moment. The latter days of Real and then Chelsea have broken him for me.

 

Its actually quite sad looking in from the outside if you like. He will always win trophies, but cups and such. He's better than that. But he needs to rethink his entire outlook.

 

 

Sadness is the last emotion that comes to mind when I think about how things have unraveled for Mourinho over the past twelve months. It's down to the detestable air of squalid smugness that he carried around him during his years at the top: may it be the constant unseemly baiting of decent men such as Ranieri, Wenger, Vilanova & Rafa; the sordid hounding of referees; the shithouse bus-parking tactics across the years; taking cheap shots at Unicef or the NHS to deflect attention from his own inadequacies; the tiresome establishment conspiracy claims; or the abominable treatment of Eva Carneiro last year.

 

I for one am utterly satisfied that the chickens have come home to roost. Long may this spiral into the abyss continue. The odious cretin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AlanSkÃrare]

The thing with Rafa for me is the perfect timing. He needed this platform to revive the essence in his leadership as much as our club needed him. I think it's very difficult to keep getting the same effect at the level he was at, any moment or period of stagnation or poor results, and players will start question you in the same manner I think players have started to question Mourinho in the past two years. His idea of football won the league recently, but once players stop believing in your orientation, it  stops transmitting in the way it needs to.

 

The key for these managers is pedagogics and the players' receptivity. He needed to take a step back to a context where his message would be conceived in the right way again, and it'll help him rebuild himself.

 

As for swapping with other managers, I think Pochettino, Conte, Klopp, Pep and perhaps Puel and Howe are very modern and progressive in their thinking, and I think they are ahead of Rafa in terms of developing effective units, but I'm not sure any of them would be or would have been a better fit for us at this moment in time. Rafa is the right manager at the right club at the right time. Doesn't happen very often.

 

"Effective unit" is Rafa's speciality - how exactly isPochettino and even Puel better than Rafa at doing this??

 

was spot on until the building of effective units bit, and throwing Howe in there.

 

Agree with Howe, don't why I had to throw him in there, but judging from Rafa's performances at Inter and Napoli, he has struggled to build effective units at top level in recent years. That's why I'd trust the other names to do that at top clubs, but Rafa is perfect for doing so for us.

 

Pochettino's crafting of Spurs is extraordinairy. They've honestly been the better side in just about every game they've played for the past 1,5 years.

[JP]

Nailed on for October MOTM?

 

[Guest palnese]

The thing with Rafa for me is the perfect timing. He needed this platform to revive the essence in his leadership as much as our club needed him. I think it's very difficult to keep getting the same effect at the level he was at, any moment or period of stagnation or poor results, and players will start question you in the same manner I think players have started to question Mourinho in the past two years. His idea of football won the league recently, but once players stop believing in your orientation, it  stops transmitting in the way it needs to.

 

The key for these managers is pedagogics and the players' receptivity. He needed to take a step back to a context where his message would be conceived in the right way again, and it'll help him rebuild himself.

 

As for swapping with other managers, I think Pochettino, Conte, Klopp, Pep and perhaps Puel and Howe are very modern and progressive in their thinking, and I think they are ahead of Rafa in terms of developing effective units, but I'm not sure any of them would be or would have been a better fit for us at this moment in time. Rafa is the right manager at the right club at the right time. Doesn't happen very often.

 

"Effective unit" is Rafa's speciality - how exactly isPochettino and even Puel better than Rafa at doing this??

 

was spot on until the building of effective units bit, and throwing Howe in there.

 

Agree with Howe, don't why I had to throw him in there, but judging from Rafa's performances at Inter and Napoli, he has struggled to build effective units at top level in recent years. That's why I'd trust the other names to do that at top clubs, but Rafa is perfect for doing so for us.

 

Pochettino's crafting of Spurs is extraordinairy. They've honestly been the better side in just about every game they've played for the past 1,5 years.

 

http://www.teamtalk.com/news/pochettino-blamed-for-tottenhams-end-of-season-slump

[54]

Nailed on for October MOTM?

 

Bruce will get it imo.

[JP]

Nailed on for October MOTM?

 

Bruce will get it imo.

 

Steadied the ship well yes, but still only won 2/5 games? We've convincingly (other than Preston) won every game in October.

 

[Paully]

I’ve changed my mind about this man………………I absolutely detest him as I am sick of getting text messages or Facebook message begging for spare away tickets and it is all because of him! Ha ha ha!

[TheDonis]

Those saying 'right fit, right time' are exactly right. I'd argue Rafa has only had a similar confluence at Valencia, were he had gained enough experience to impose his methods, and a talented young squad eager to learn them, and Liverpool, where he found a club desperate to succeed, immediate respect, and a board willing to allow him to shape a team (initially at least - that would change). Then of course he ent to Inter at exactly the wrong time. Chelsea obviously (though he did a stunning job there, all considered). Napoli less so, but the club had done very well under Mazzarri, with a few players looking misty eyed over their shoulder at him, and Rafa sought to change the playing system to 4-2-3-1. This meant playing Hamsik out of his favoured position, which in turn caused a few issues as he was their main man. You sensed the players, or some of them, never fully bought into his methods. Then of course Real Madrid, where few of them did and the fans didn't want him.

 

Now, he has a fan base who do want him, even if his methods occasionally baffle. Believe me, they always will. And it's fucking fantastic. It gives you so much to discuss. But he will always explain and give reasons for his decision, and you will always see they are sound and wise even if you might not agree. You know for a fact he has studied and thought about it harder than you and knows more about football than you ever will, and you'll love him for it. Though you'll wish every now and then he'd make life easier for him and everyone to tale the easy, popular/populist decision. But Rafa sticks to his principles and lives and dies by them. Another of the eight million reasons to love him.

 

But more importantly, he has a group of players who believe in him, respect him and buy into his methods. That hasn't been the case since the first few years at LFC. In return, where once he was cold and aloof, perhaps overly so, he seems to have mellowed and accepted that you need to do the fatherly thing, and drop the odd carrot to make the stick have effect. Or maybe that's happened naturally. Whatever, it's vital though as it nearly every club he's run intro player intransigence and it's caused ructions. Here he has a chance to build something long lasting and substantial, so when the star players start to walk through the door, as they will if and when you are promoted, they will not be in any doubt about who's in charge. Much like a certain red-nosed Scottish manager who had a fondness for shitting on hard shoulders.

 

 

[TRon]

Those saying 'right fit, right time' are exactly right. I'd argue Rafa has only had a similar confluence at Valencia, were he had gained enough experience to impose his methods, and a talented young squad eager to learn them, and Liverpool, where he found a club desperate to succeed, immediate respect, and a board willing to allow him to shape a team (initially at least - that would change). Then of course he ent to Inter at exactly the wrong time. Chelsea obviously (though he did a stunning job there, all considered). Napoli less so, but the club had done very well under Mazzarri, with a few players looking misty eyed over their shoulder at him, and Rafa sought to change the playing system to 4-2-3-1. This meant playing Hamsik out of his favoured position, which in turn caused a few issues as he was their main man. You sensed the players, or some of them, never fully bought into his methods. Then of course Real Madrid, where few of them did and the fans didn't want him.

 

Now, he has a fan base who do want him, even if his methods occasionally baffle. Believe me, they always will. And it's fucking fantastic. It gives you so much to discuss. But he will always explain and give reasons for his decision, and you will always see they are sound and wise even if you might not agree. You know for a fact he has studied and thought about it harder than you and knows more about football than you ever will, and you'll love him for it. Though you'll wish every now and then he'd make life easier for him and everyone to tale the easy, popular/populist decision. But Rafa sticks to his principles and lives and dies by them. Another of the eight million reasons to love him.

 

But more importantly, he has a group of players who believe in him, respect him and buy into his methods. That hasn't been the case since the first few years at LFC. In return, where once he was cold and aloof, perhaps overly so, he seems to have mellowed and accepted that you need to do the fatherly thing, and drop the odd carrot to make the stick have effect. Or maybe that's happened naturally. Whatever, it's vital though as it nearly every club he's run intro player intransigence and it's caused ructions. Here he has a chance to build something long lasting and substantial, so when the star players start to walk through the door, as they will if and when you are promoted, they will not be in any doubt about who's in charge. Much like a certain red-nosed Scottish manager who had a fondness for shitting on hard shoulders.

 

 

 

Great post again. Spot on about the right fit, right time. Everything he wasn't when he went to Chelsea who still had their Mourinho hangover. Beintez' over-caution sometimes baffles me, but you can't argue with the results. After decades of seeing Newcastle abandon organisation for sometimes suicidal attacking philosophy with managers who never really knew how to deliver it, I'm kind of loving seeing us so hard to beat right now.

[Guest TheBallWinner]

I don't like this negativity towards his time at Napoli. I watched 95 percent of the games there, they won trophies (Italian Cup and Super Cup) for the first time in YEARS and he signed two absolute stars who will command 40+ million pound fees in the form of Ghoulam and Koulibali. (7m and 3m).

 

It kinda fell apart when Insigne got injured with an ACL in October 2nd season (identical to Krul really) and the creativity went, along with the fact Reina went to Bayern for a season. Both were out and the struggle happened. Much like their struggle now without Milik.

 

He never planned on being there for longer than 2 years anyway so it's not as if he was sacked, his contract ran out and he wanted to go home to England.

[Yorkie]

Those saying 'right fit, right time' are exactly right. I'd argue Rafa has only had a similar confluence at Valencia, were he had gained enough experience to impose his methods, and a talented young squad eager to learn them, and Liverpool, where he found a club desperate to succeed, immediate respect, and a board willing to allow him to shape a team (initially at least - that would change). Then of course he ent to Inter at exactly the wrong time. Chelsea obviously (though he did a stunning job there, all considered). Napoli less so, but the club had done very well under Mazzarri, with a few players looking misty eyed over their shoulder at him, and Rafa sought to change the playing system to 4-2-3-1. This meant playing Hamsik out of his favoured position, which in turn caused a few issues as he was their main man. You sensed the players, or some of them, never fully bought into his methods. Then of course Real Madrid, where few of them did and the fans didn't want him.

 

Now, he has a fan base who do want him, even if his methods occasionally baffle. Believe me, they always will. And it's fucking fantastic. It gives you so much to discuss. But he will always explain and give reasons for his decision, and you will always see they are sound and wise even if you might not agree. You know for a fact he has studied and thought about it harder than you and knows more about football than you ever will, and you'll love him for it. Though you'll wish every now and then he'd make life easier for him and everyone to tale the easy, popular/populist decision. But Rafa sticks to his principles and lives and dies by them. Another of the eight million reasons to love him.

 

But more importantly, he has a group of players who believe in him, respect him and buy into his methods. That hasn't been the case since the first few years at LFC. In return, where once he was cold and aloof, perhaps overly so, he seems to have mellowed and accepted that you need to do the fatherly thing, and drop the odd carrot to make the stick have effect. Or maybe that's happened naturally. Whatever, it's vital though as it nearly every club he's run intro player intransigence and it's caused ructions. Here he has a chance to build something long lasting and substantial, so when the star players start to walk through the door, as they will if and when you are promoted, they will not be in any doubt about who's in charge. Much like a certain red-nosed Scottish manager who had a fondness for shitting on hard shoulders.

 

 

 

[last_monetarist]

I don't like this negativity towards his time at Napoli. I watched 95 percent of the games there, they won trophies (Italian Cup and Super Cup) for the first time in YEARS and he signed two absolute stars who will command 40+ million pound fees in the form of Ghoulam and Koulibali. (7m and 3m).

 

It kinda fell apart when Insigne got injured with an ACL in October 2nd season (identical to Krul really) and the creativity went, along with the fact Reina went to Bayern for a season. Both were out and the struggle happened. Much like their struggle now without Milik.

 

He never planned on being there for longer than 2 years anyway so it's not as if he was sacked, his contract ran out and he wanted to go home to England.

 

I think it's partly down to how they underperformed in Europe during those two years. First year they failed to get out of the group - admittedly a hard one against Arsenal and Dortmund but Rafa with all his tactical acumen would have backed himself to progress - and more pertinently failed to qualify for the group stages in the second year. That failure was compounded by league form during that season where they failed to finish in the Top 3, albeit there were the mitigating factors you mention and they were in with a shout till the last day when Higuain contrived to miss the penalty that would have allowed them to qualify. 

[Guest dabe]

But he will always explain and give reasons for his decision, and you will always see they are sound and wise even if you might not agree. You know for a fact he has studied and thought about it harder than you and knows more about football than you ever will, and you'll love him for it.

 

That's the key point for me. I certainly didn't feel that way about Carver, Pardew and somewhat McClaren (seems like he has the knowledge but is still clueless).

[mrmojorisin75]

He never planned on being there for longer than 2 years anyway so it's not as if he was sacked, his contract ran out and he wanted to go home to England.

 

did not know that

[The College Dropout]

Let's not rewrite history. I don't think anyone would say he improved his reputation in his last few roles. Chelsea at the latest.

 

 

He didn't really push any of his last 3 teams on.

 

 

He'll push us on like. At a minimum i'm expecting cup finals and European runs.

 

Agree with right club, right man. I just hope Rafa at lasts Ashley at the club as Ashley won't know what to do once Rafa leaves. Much like Shephard & Robson.

 

 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

[Mr Logic]

Who the fuck is trying to rewrite history, you really are a grade-A arsehole.

[Hanshithispantz]

TCD just cannot make a point without talking down at someone or everyone, I've started trimming his posts in my head and they're a lot more pleasant to read, for example:

 

He'll push us on. At a minimum i'm expecting cup finals and European runs.

 

Much better.

[Mole_Toonfan]

[Kanji]

Only Keegan and Sir Bob got it, in terms of what made this club tick, and I'm not sure I think anybody would for some time until Rafa became our man - and then, after reading the foundation quotes...my word. Just brilliant. He not only gets it but you just know he wants to win everything with us for him and for us.

[rgk_lfc]

I would swap Rafa for Klopp or Pep only in the PL. Outside of those two

I firmly believe we have the best all-round manager. Btw I feel Pep needs star players and mega money to succeed where as Rafa doesn't. Klopp it's his football style that swings it, easily the best in the PL even ahead of Arsenal!

 

Klopp's sides are cracking to watch, but porous at the back compared to Rafa's. Rafa is a better bet for European competition, but I think Klopp will do better in the EPL.

 

 

I actually think Rafa will win you more trophies and be more of a long-term success in that regard, but Klopp could do something amazing like win the PL with Liverpool against the odds if you like. Maybe a one off, but special all the same. Plus his football is far more entertaining. Again he is very much like KK with his philosophy, the way he engages fans and the way he talks and sees the game. I really do like Klopp. I fact if I could cherry pick any one manager for my club right now it would be him.

 

With Rafa, if we go up, I think we will probably have the 2nd best all-round manager/coach/tactician in the league behind Guardiola who despite going where success is almost assured, he is for me the Messi of management. The absolute best basically. His ideas, his philosophies are something else.

 

Wenger I love, he's great, but he is massively limited and is at the perfect club for him. Would he do what he has done at Arsenal with say NUFC or Liverpool? I don't think he would.

 

Mourinho is so scared of losing and so paranoid about his image and persona, he has become a shadow of himself. He's a bit like one of his players at the moment, Rooney. Was great, but isn't and is past his best. Can he recover?

 

I think Mourinho needs to take a year out and then go and manage a club that doesn't have the best players or top players with the most money. He's a great coach, a great manager, arguably the best in general outside of Pep, but he's broken at the moment. The latter days of Real and then Chelsea have broken him for me.

 

Its actually quite sad looking in from the outside if you like. He will always win trophies, but cups and such. He's better than that. But he needs to rethink his entire outlook.

 

For me, in the PL if we go up in terms of all-round ability etc...

 

Pep

Rafa

Klopp

Pochettino

Wenger

Mourinho

 

 

Pochettino's achievements are impressive but I think he needs to win a few shiny cups before he can place himself at Rafa's level. Rafa has several important shiny cups which have come against all odds at the highest level.

 

One thing which is missing from Rafa's resume which prevents him from reaching the true elite level of coaches is league wins or challenges in recent years. But in Europe his achievements are stunningly good.

 

I think in 12 seasons where he competed in European competitions and was allowed to complete the season he reached the semi finals something like 8 times. He also reached the finals 4 times. All stunning achievements.

[loki679]

“But the main thing is as a team, as a club, as a city we have to be sure that we keep doing things in the right way.

 

“We cannot have over-confidence. Everybody is asking me about complacency, blah, blah, blah.

 

“Yes, I am passing the message on to my players; but it’s the same for the fans, the city, the staff and for everyone.

 

“We have to be sure that if something is wrong, we keep pushing. And if something is right, we will push and enjoy.

 

“But there will be no over-confidence and no complacency, especially from the top of the club and the people in the city or the fans in the stand.

 

“It’s everyone here, not just the players. We can win together and we can succeed together.

 

Love this man.  The way he talks about 'the city' as part of the club and vice versa says to me he really gets it.

 

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rafa-benitez-names-biggest-danger-12129575

[Hanshithispantz]

"Interestingly, Benitez insists it is not just the Newcastle squad who need to be wary of over-confidence though, but also the club’s staff, the supporters and the city as a whole."