2021/22 Rafael Benitez

[Colonel Getafe]

Mina and Richarlison both have to play in internationals in January

At least that explains why Mina is "returning to fitness" I guess........

 

[urquattro]

Imagine what it'll be like outside the ground on the day that happens, if it does. All the RS waiving their Rafael flags and playing YNWA on their phones. ?

Wowsers that thought makes me sick to the pit of my stomach.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Look mate I’ve stayed off the board and I don’t want to get into a stupid pointless row but you can’t tell me you think the football we’ve played , the way we’ve set up , the substitutions all of it has been as good as it could have been . Honestly you just can’t & if you can’t then he’s partially responsible and if you’re at least partially to be blame for our worst run in decades , our worst derby defeat in decades and you’ve helped form a toxic atmosphere that does the exact opposite of help the club achieve results and you’re presiding over a slide to the relegation places then frankly it’s only right you’re under pressure .

I agree he's partially to blame mate I haven't ever said differently.

What I've argued is the squad/board/DOF/Chairman are miles more to blame and any manager outside of the top 4-5 in world football would struggle with this lot.

Its a double edged sword - the only eay we finish around top half/10th is to play ultra negative football which fans wont support long term whilst if we try play some kind of attacking football or not have our defence camped on the 6 yard line we often get torn to shreds as a good bulk of our players struggle with the basics/make too many individual errors (Keane, Godfrey, Coleman, Digne, Holgate, Davies this season alone just 14 games in).

Until the squad/recruitment changes this is the problem ANY manager will have with this club thats just the way it is.

We would all love there to be a quick easy fix such as sacking the manager or selling one player but the problems run deeper and its going to take time to fix that.

Can Moshiri hire the people at board/recruitment level to fix that? I dont know.

 

[Bulgarian toffee]

That still doesn't answer the question of what is the plan if Mina and DCL are out for another 6 weeks come March? He's the manager - an elite one we are told. Shouldn't be able to coach Keane and Godfrey? They've dropped off a cliff compared to last season.

You won' t get an answer from the Benitez love brigade, mate. Only this:
- he is not the problem;
- no point sacking him;
- who is going to come;
- injuries;
- 1.7 mln;
- Gray ;
- the players are awful;
- he is not accountable ( that bs is a new one for me)
Blah blah blah

 

[Lee Smith]

He brought Rondon to this club and give him a 3 year contract

That’s the thing that really gets to me, and what some people seem to ignore. “Rondon was only a free”, forgetting the fact that he will probably conservatively cost us ~£8 million overall based on a £50k a week wage (he’s possibly on more, I have no idea), with absolutely no chance of any way to recoup any of that money. It’s not as bad as some of our recent signings, but still, for a club in our financial position, that’s an horrendous waste of money.

 

[4737carlin]

I don't think the stick is unfair, have a look at the table, watch his 2 man midfield against City and Liverpool, marvel at his bizarre substitutions. Unfair stick I don't think so.

People were moaning when we beat Burnley and Southampton about poor halves and poor spells of the game, it was ridiculous.

 

[thebluebullet]

Win or bust this one. We are now 16th in the league, lose this and Watford could overtake us next Friday night if the beat Brentford,leaving us 4th bottom . Looks like Benitez is trying to give the RS fans an extra chrimbo present to go with their own teams gifts.

 

[4737carlin]

You won' t get an answer from the Benitez love brigade, mate. Only this:
- he is not the problem;
- no point sacking him;
- who is going to come;
- injuries;
- 1.7 mln;
- Gray ;
- the players are awful;
- he is not accountable ( that bs is a new one for me)
Blah blah blah

But all those things are true

 

[Bulgarian toffee]

But all those things are true

Really?

 

[4737carlin]

Really?

Yeah, all factually correct

 

[Harryflashman]

I agree he's partially to blame mate I haven't ever said differently.

What I've argued is the squad/board/DOF/Chairman are miles more to blame and any manager outside of the top 4-5 in world football would struggle with this lot.

Its a double edged sword - the only eay we finish around top half/10th is to play ultra negative football which fans wont support long term whilst if we try play some kind of attacking football or not have our defence camped on the 6 yard line we often get torn to shreds as a good bulk of our players struggle with the basics/make too many individual errors (Keane, Godfrey, Coleman, Digne, Holgate, Davies this season alone just 14 games in).

Until the squad/recruitment changes this is the problem ANY manager will have with this club thats just the way it is.

We would all love their to be a quick easy fix such as sacking the manager or selling one player but the problems run deeper and its going to take time to fix that.

Can Moshiri hire the people at board/recruitment level to fix that? I dont know.

winning matches , negative or otherwise is a start we haven’t won since it was t-shirt weather outside and that’s ridiculous.


The tactics are insane & we all know it , find me a blue that thinks Allan can play in a two against Liverpool ? The only time he looks to help him out in there is to keep the score down late on , that’s mind blowing . We press in the second half against Brentford , like a modern team , and suddenly look ‘alright ‘ but despite pinging in crosses and 3 strikers on the bench we go with a striker so immobile he’s not even in frame on the telly coverage when the ball flies across the box . The bloke was successful but seems wedded to a style and system that’s gone out of style years ago and seems so stubborn he’s prepared to die in a ditch for one of the worst players I’ve ever seen (who suddenly decided to run midweek , which actually felt even more insulting after his Brentford performance) .

Do you think we’ll beat Arsenal? I hope we do but I’m certainly less than confident. If I said to you x , y & z was taking over tonight would you feel even 10% more confident? If the answer is yes then that tells you all you need to know .

I don’t want to say I told you so but all this rubbish we’re seeing playing out from brands going , the RS mocking , the fans protests , the division the slow slide down the table , the toxicity and frankly Let’s say all of it . It was completely predictable and predicted by plenty of us , we saw it and in your heart so did you . It’s heartbreaking it really is .

 

[Bulgarian toffee]

Yeah, all factually correct

They must be, If you say so.
One more fact, please. In your opinion which player/s has Benitez improved since he came here?

 

[ForeverBlue92]

winning matches , negative or otherwise is a start we haven’t won since it was t-shirt weather outside and that’s ridiculous.


The tactics are insane & we all know it , find me a blue that thinks Allan can play in a two against Liverpool ? The only time he looks to help him out in there is to keep the score down late on , that’s mind blowing . We press in the second half against Brentford , like a modern team , and suddenly look ‘alright ‘ but despite pinging in crosses and 3 strikers on the bench we go with a striker so immobile he’s not even in frame on the telly coverage when the ball flies across the box . The bloke was successful but seems wedded to a style and system that’s gone out of style years ago and seems so stubborn he’s prepared to die in a ditch for one of the worst players I’ve ever seen (who suddenly decided to run midweek , which actually felt even more insulting after his Brentford performance) .

Do you think we’ll beat Arsenal? I hope we do but I’m certainly less than confident. If I said to you x , y & z was taking over tonight would you feel even 10% more confident? If the answer is yes then that tells you all you need to know .

I don’t want to say I told you so but all this rubbish we’re seeing playing out from brands going , the RS mocking , the fans protests , the division the slow slide down the table , the toxicity and frankly Let’s say all of it . It was completely predictable and predicted by plenty of us , we saw it and in your heart so did you . It’s heartbreaking it really is .

The 2 in midfield against Liverpool was absolutely daft I agree.

But then you can argue at 2-1 down we were putting pressure on them until as usual one of our players cocks up and gifts them a goal and heads dropped.

If we came back to draw 2-2 no one talks about the 2 in midfield.

Ancelotti's Napoli played 2 in midfield against Liverpool in the CL 2 seasons ago and done well - it ultimately comes down to the quality of players on the pitch and the mentality of the side.

 

[4737carlin]

They must be, If you say so.
One more fact, please. In your opinion which player/s has Benitez improved since he came here?

DCL, who recently said in an interview he was the best manager he has worked with.

 

[Harryflashman]

The 2 in midfield against Liverpool was absolutely daft I agree.

But then you can argue at 2-1 down we were putting pressure on them until as usual one of our players cocks up and gifts them a goal and heads dropped.

If we came back to draw 2-2 no one talks about the 2 in midfield.

Ancelotti's Napoli played 2 in midfield against Liverpool in the CL 2 seasons ago and done well - it ultimately comes down to the quality of players on the pitch and the mentality of the side.

he brought Delph on at 3-1 so unless he had a time machine I’m struggling to see how he makes it 2-2 . I do accept you’re probably talking generally though rather than about that sub specifically .

If you want though We can talk about how we should have been 2 or 3 down after 10 mins , we got schooled and we all know it . The formation was a joke and those few minutes on the front foot shouldn’t hide what we all saw