2021/22 Rafael Benitez

[Marius57]

Can you leave the ball for the rest of us though, please?

I'd rather he took the ball. Save us all from watching abject football.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Our form is appalling. He has to go immediately.

It all weirdly can be traced back to that ridiculous decision to rest players in the cup. We lost all momentum and the season has unravelled. We've barely played any good teams yet!!

You would have been screaming for a top manager like Ancelotti to go, so why are you backing this mediocre manager so strongly?

Because if a top manager like Ancelotti cant get a tune out this squad without having to play 10 behind the ball Alladyceball what seriously makes you think a run of the mill manager which we would be bringing in would do any better?

You're like a bloke crying for the latest shiny Audi on finance whilst not acknowledging You're 20k in debt and have bailiffs knocking at your day.

Wake up and see things for what they are - the clubs a mess and swapping deck chairs on the titanic will solve absolutely nothing.

 

[sageyefc]

We can only begin to heal when he’s booted

 

[Furey1878]

It's gonna be a grim 2/3 years ahead lads, hoping we finally shift out players in that time and become competent again.

 

[Bluerover]

We can only begin to heal when he’s booted

....like we healed after Moyes, then Martinez, then Koeman, then Silva, then Ancelotti...

 

[Toff33Blues99]

1 win in 7 with an horrendous run of fixtures ahead. Defence looks all at sea, already conceding more set pieces than the whole of last season. The football even when we won games was patchy at best, turd for the majority . How anyone can still defend this God awful manager clearly doesn't watch us

 

[MikeH72]

We can only begin to heal when Moshiri is booted

Fixed.

 

[Saint Domingo]

I mean Spurs have just gone and got Conte like.

Spurs have some great players in most positions apart from defence. One or two buys and they are sorted for a decent push. We’re nowhere near them quality wise but people continue to overrate some of the utter dross we have.

How many of our players get in the Spurs team? Maybe a case for Richarlison on the right against Moura/Bergwijn. I can’t think of any others who would. People will say Digne but he has huge stretches of poor form for us and he’s in the middle of one now and he’s apparently one of our better players.

 

[Marius57]

Because if a top manager like Ancelotti cant get a tune out this squad without having to play 10 behind the ball Alladyceball what seriously makes you think a run of the mill manager which we would be bringing in would do any better?

You're like a bloke crying for the latest shiny Audi on finance whilst not acknowledging You're 20k in debt and have bailiffs knocking at your day.

Wake up and see things for what they are - the clubs a mess and swapping deck chairs on the titanic will solve absolutely nothing.

Might get a chair closer to a lifeboat

 

[Saint Domingo]

I would as well when people are going past Michael Keane like he's a toddler

How many crosses this season is he going to miss? The first goal last night he actually sees the ball coming in but then jumps way too late and closes his eyes (again) meaning that once again he’s caught under a ball he should be favourite for.

He’ll get another manager fired.

 

[ElGato]

Benitez has made some poor tactical/managerial decisions of late:
- Sticking with Rondon out of sheer loyalty until the goals ran out
- Exposing JPG in a two man midfield was a fools error
- Not starting Tony G over Iwobi. Bizarre

But I do think that there is only so far a set of tactics will take you when your squad is low on quality.
- Yerry Mina is made of glass and can't play ten games on the bounce, which for your premier centre half is a serious issue
- Mikky Keane is a scarecrow, which for your senior centre half in the absence of big Yez is concerning, especially given the younger centre backs who accompany him. Imagine learning off Keane as Ben God! Ouch
- Mason Holdgate is a second choice right back and absolutely not a starting centre half
- Behind Allan and Doucoure, our midfield is sooo light on quality it hurts: Gomes, Davies, JPG, Delph. That's 17th-11th.
- Our attacking options behind Rich, DCL and Gray read as follows: Townsend, Iwobi, Rondon. That's relegation fodder

It's going to take more than a few years of solid, intelligent recruitment to fix that lot

 

[windymiller]

Second half tonight he galvanised a shower of jelly fish into making a fist of it and they almost snatched an unlikely equaliser.

He needs to show more faith in Gordon, though, in this injury crisis. That would be my one and only complaint about him.

Really? Your one complaint. No problem with how he's got us set up on set pieces or getting rinsed with our two man midfield? That's fine, is it? Rondon, ffs.

 

[degsy]

As mentioned preiously - Benitez's share of the Blame Pie Chart is relatively small,
But...
Each game he persists with the Zonal Marking rubbish, his slice of the Blame Pie Chart will grow like Pinocchio's nose.

 

[Dixieslaces]

He should have dragged Gbamin off and put Delph on. You are right: a message - ANY MESSAGE - needed to be made to the team that they were outrageously bad and it was unacceptable.

It would have been harsh on Gbamin but ultimately Rafael selected him, knowing he was not macth fit, had hardly played in the Prem ever and after the Watford match should really have known better to risk him in this, we needed a performance from the Team and he set it up all wrong from the get go, yes he changed it but damage was done.

 

[BlueToff]

It would have been harsh on Gbamin but ultimately Rafael selected him, knowing he was not macth fit, had hardly played in the Prem ever and after the Watford match should really have known better to risk him in this, we needed a performance from the Team and he set it up all wrong from the get go, yes he changed it but damage was done.

He should have played a midfield three. But that would mean him having to show an ounce of tactical flexibility, I suppose