2021/22 Rafael Benitez

[roy vernon]

Couldn’t criticize Benitez yesterday, the team selection was good and the players looked more motivated than they have of late. I have some concerns about his style though. I worry that even when we have our injured players back, ceding possession and kick and rush breaks are going to be the order of the day.

It’s a great pity that we didn’t get all 3 points, as I think, in view of our upcoming fixtures, Brentford aside, we are going to struggle to get many points on the board for a while.

 

[Terrarian]

I missed the game, a bit under the weather this weekend. A point and a clean sheet is a start I suppose.

 

[roy vernon]

Looked like he had been talking to Benitez a couple of times before he came off. He also looked absolutely donald ducked

He was doing ok, he looked annoyed to come off and with an international break to come, he was well able to finish the game I feel.

 

[welshtoffee]

15 points in 11 games is ridiculous and to be honest expected as he is a complete and utter dinosaur of a manager and his good times sailed many many years ago. Before anyone mentions Ancelotti this is nothing to do with him its all about the stubborn manager we have at this moment. We need to start picking up points very quickly as if we go into the new year with less than 20 points we could be in a right mess come the end of the season. I really hope I am wrong but I see very dark skies ahead while he is at the helm.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

15 points in 11 games is ridiculous and to be honest expected as he is a complete and utter dinosaur of a manager and his good times sailed many many years ago. Before anyone mentions Ancelotti this is nothing to do with him its all about the stubborn manager we have at this moment. We need to start picking up points very quickly as if we go into the new year with less than 20 points we could be in a right mess come the end of the season. I really hope I am wrong but I see very dark skies ahead while he is at the helm.

Funny how the manager played exactly the same formation yesterday, 2 in midfield, same zonal marking yet the players actually did their part.

Maybe its not the manager but the same suspects who pick and choose when they want to give 100% or not.

Why wasn't Keane letting Kane bum him like he let Josh King?

Or Godfrey gift wrapping goals for Wolves players?

There is only so much a manager can do once those 11 step onto the pitch and frankly im fed up of blaming the manager after this same squad of players continue to take the mick.

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

Holgate sub was a head scratcher, but aside from that I think he got it right yesterday

Giving Gordon his chance was a big tick in the plus column for me, and the players all put the effort in

If he can keep those sort of performance levels then we should hopefully start getting points on the board when we're back to full strength and have shored up the squad depth with a couple of cheeky January loans

 

[toffeeblue9]

15 points in 11 games is ridiculous and to be honest expected as he is a complete and utter dinosaur of a manager and his good times sailed many many years ago. Before anyone mentions Ancelotti this is nothing to do with him its all about the stubborn manager we have at this moment. We need to start picking up points very quickly as if we go into the new year with less than 20 points we could be in a right mess come the end of the season. I really hope I am wrong but I see very dark skies ahead while he is at the helm.

I don't really have a dog in the fight on whether he's the right man or not. I didn't want him as manager but that was v little to do with his ability as a manager.

Looking back at least season we had 17 points from 11 games, so we are 2 behind that number although it seems likely we'll be 5 behind our 20/21 total after the next game given the fixture. That isn't great, but it's hard to ignore the injury situation - the spine of the team is missing currently - and the fact that the profligacy of previous years has us hamstrung in the transfer market and left with an overearning, weak squad.

I keep coming back to the question as to whether I realistically think anyone else would be getting significantly better results at the moment than Benitez. I don't know for certain, but I tend to doubt it

 

[toffeeblue9]

Funny how the manager played exactly the same formation yesterday, 2 in midfield, same zonal marking yet the players actually did their part.

Maybe its not the manager but the same suspects who pick and choose when they want to give 100% or not.

Why wasn't Keane letting Kane bum him like he let Josh King?

Or Godfrey gift wrapping goals for Wolves players?

There is only so much a manager can do once those 11 step onto the pitch and frankly im fed up of blaming the manager after this same squad of players continue to take the mick.

TBF, not sure if anyone noticed but Benitez changed the marking from corners yesterday - it was a hybrid of zonal and man to man, rather than pure zonal as he's used all season before yesterday

 

[Eggs]

Funny how the manager played exactly the same formation yesterday, 2 in midfield, same zonal marking yet the players actually did their part.

Maybe its not the manager but the same suspects who pick and choose when they want to give 100% or not.

Why wasn't Keane letting Kane bum him like he let Josh King?

Or Godfrey gift wrapping goals for Wolves players?

There is only so much a manager can do once those 11 step onto the pitch and frankly im fed up of blaming the manager after this same squad of players continue to take the mick.

…..which is fair, except you and a couple of others eulogise over the manager when the players perform.

 

[toffeeblue9]

Holgate sub was a head scratcher, but aside from that I think he got it right yesterday

Giving Gordon his chance was a big tick in the plus column for me, and the players all put the effort in

If he can keep those sort of performance levels then we should hopefully start getting points on the board when we're back to full strength and have shored up the squad depth with a couple of cheeky January loans

If you accept that Allan needed to come off (plenty won't, but I hardly think Benitez deliberately wanted Holgate on the pitch ahead of Allan) then the only head scratcher would be that Holgate came on over Gbamin. Holgate was just woeful in pretty much everything he did, but what that must say about Gbamin is the real statement - OK, he was terrible against Wolves, but I'm guessing he's also far from pulling up any trees in training either.

 

[Nymzee]

TBF, not sure if anyone noticed but Benitez changed the marking from corners yesterday - it was a hybrid of zonal and man to man, rather than pure zonal as he's used all season before yesterday

Back to last seasons method then.

 

[MisterJ]

Couldn’t criticize Benitez yesterday, the team selection was good and the players looked more motivated than they have of late. I have some concerns about his style though. I worry that even when we have our injured players back, ceding possession and kick and rush breaks are going to be the order of the day.

It’s a great pity that we didn’t get all 3 points, as I think, in view of our upcoming fixtures, Brentford aside, we are going to struggle to get many points on the board for a while.

That's the joy of football though, we have every chance of picking up unexpected points in the same way we drop points in games we all think we should win.

Everton inconsistent? Never...

 

[toffeeblue9]

Back to last seasons method then.

More or less - He gets plenty of stick about being stubborn and he also should rightly take a large portion of the blame for our woeful set piece record this season, but think it's only fair to point out that yesterday it seemed he had recognised the problem and changed things as a result. That's a positive as I did genuinely think we were just going to keep playing that pure zonal system, even if we kept conceding, until we got it right

 

[ToffeeTim]

We are all agreed that he was lying through his teeth about Allan having the flu yeah?

No way does the club put someone on the pitch with flu for 75 minutes. Ridiculous fib.

I'd be surprised in this day and age if someone with flu like symptoms was kept around the group

 

[ToffeeTim]

More or less - He gets plenty of stick about being stubborn and he also should rightly take a large portion of the blame for our woeful set piece record this season, but think it's only fair to point out that yesterday it seemed he had recognised the problem and changed things as a result. That's a positive as I did genuinely think we were just going to keep playing that pure zonal system, even if we kept conceding, until we got it right

We would have more points if we stuck with that method all season. It worked well, there was no need to change.