2021/22 Rafael Benitez

[StuBarlow]

Gordon has got more than 9 mins on the pitch so he will be up fat bennys' arse.

 

[Egil Olsen]

He’s a fecking shambles mate, the football is horrendous, the results are dire, his team selection is questionable. What on earth that debacle on Sunday was about, god alone knows. Never mind, he hasn’t got the players he needs to play the way he wants to. He’s being paid millions a year to manage the players he has. A manager has to adapt his system to suit the abilities of the players he has, not just lose week after week and say it will all be ok in the second half of the season.

If, as is being said, it’s not fair to expect him to win games until he has his own players in, is it fair for him to accept his massive salary check until then while he is inflicting this rubbish on us? By the way, the days of the school bully type manager are gone. Working with these modern day pampered prima donnas , who are all multi millionaires, a manager has to develop a bit more than being a manager who will not spare anyone. They will just hang him out to dry. With Benitez’ stubbornness and the self entitlement of the players, all that style achieves is conflict and that is detrimental to the club.

He got away with that style of management 15 years ago, but, today maybe he needs to stroke their hair a little, as you call it, now and again.

Agree.

Agree, but this is done by adjusting the system. Managers usually do not throw away all the principles of the boat. Guardiola has adjusted the system to the PL and the culture here, but the principles are the same. If a group of players is to get better at something, you need a certain kind of stability. If there are frequent absences and injuries, before the guidelines have been incorporated at all, then this becomes problematic. Constantly making big changes does not make the team better in the long run.

Agree. Both the results and the way we have played football are not good enough.

Neil Warnock's style is probably outdated. But an authoritative leadership style is still relevant, and there are no contradictions between setting boundaries and building positive relationships. Gordon's interview illustrated Benitez's leadership style. But in the end, this is sports at the highest level, and tough decisions need to be made. Barcelona sold Zlatan as fast as they could because he did not follow Guardiola's guidelines. Do not believe anything else, Guardiola, Klopp, etc. are ruthless if they see that players' behavior goes beyond the group, and question their authority.

 

[roy vernon]

Agree.

Agree, but this is done by adjusting the system. Managers usually do not throw away all the principles of the boat. Guardiola has adjusted the system to the PL and the culture here, but the principles are the same. If a group of players is to get better at something, you need a certain kind of stability. If there are frequent absences and injuries, before the guidelines have been incorporated at all, then this becomes problematic. Constantly making big changes does not make the team better in the long run.

Agree. Both the results and the way we have played football are not good enough.

Neil Warnock's style is probably outdated. But an authoritative leadership style is still relevant, and there are no contradictions between setting boundaries and building positive relationships. Gordon's interview illustrated Benitez's leadership style. But in the end, this is sports at the highest level, and tough decisions need to be made. Barcelona sold Zlatan as fast as they could because he did not follow Guardiola's guidelines. Do not believe anything else, Guardiola, Klopp, etc. are ruthless if they see that players' behavior goes beyond the group, and question their authority.

They go about their business quietly and with a little finesse, rather than trying to create conflict. Klopp and Guardiola earn the respect of their players week after week, because they are at the top of their game and are good coaches in the modern game. Benitez, on the other hand, is Benitez, no more needs to be said.

 

[Egil Olsen]

we are 15th... probably lower by the end of Jan.

So Coleman played as Digne couldn't be arsed and Godfrey's missus has been playing away.

One bag of whatever you have been snorting thanks x

You obviously did not take the point. This is not FIFA or FM. You can not manipulate the environment as small pieces, nor are the players unaffected by the environment. We do not know the rationale for the decisions, except for the little information we get from "reliable" social media. From the outside, it was a strange decision. But a lot from the outside seems strange, until we talk to the person or get relevant info.

 

[Bluestar]

So with pretty much the "lousy squad" we finished 10th last year. Now with almost the same team we are in relegation form.

The biggest crisis here is "blues" that think fat benny is the way forward.

Also just based of the poll here, you are in the minority.... tinfoil hat brigade.

A negative spend mate. We moved on James and Bernard for FFP reasons and have also lost Sigurdsson since last year, plus had DCL and Mina missing for most of the season. That is not more or less the same squad.

 

[Egil Olsen]

They go about their business quietly and with a little finesse, rather than trying to create conflict. Klopp and Guardiola earn the respect of their players week after week, because they are at the top of their game and are good coaches in the modern game. Benitez, on the other hand, is Benitez, no more needs to be said.

Ok, that's your interpretation.

But do you know how Benitez really is with the player group? Is your word worth more than Gordon?

 

[Runub]

You obviously did not take the point. This is not FIFA or FM. You can not manipulate the environment as small pieces, nor are the players unaffected by the environment. We do not know the rationale for the decisions, except for the little information we get from "reliable" social media. From the outside, it was a strange decision. But a lot from the outside seems strange, until we talk to the person or get relevant info.

But don’t you think that it is possible that it appears strange from the outside because it is actually strange full stop given that the Manager is clueless

 

[roy vernon]

Ok, that's your interpretation.

But do you know how Benitez really is with the player group? Is your word worth more than Gordon?

No, my word is not worth more than Gordon’s, but, I think the word of several of his former players, who no longer have reason to fear his petulant reprisals, probably carry a bit more weight than the word of a youngster, who is just making his way into the team and, rightly, is not going to spoil his chances by doing anything other than sing the manager’s praises.

Just have a look at what Carragher and Gerrard etc. have to say about him.

 

[Egil Olsen]

But don’t you think that it is possible that it appears strange from the outside because it is actually strange full stop given that the Manager is clueless

I think there are very few managers at this level who are cluless. Admittedly, I can disagree with many of the decisions, and do not like the way they set up the teams to play football, such as Benitez. Sometimes managers make mistakes, quite often actually, but if we compare Benitez with the average manager then he has done more right than wrong. At the same time, I do not rule out that he does something completely insane behind the scenes.

 

[windymiller]

We aint going down this season and we've spent £30 million on two players Benitez wants.

Got to give him until the seasons end to see if he can improve things or not.

The media cant be allowed to destabilise us further.

The media are overwhelmingly pro-Benitez, what are you going on about?

 

[Nymzee]

Well pulled apart by whom, certain vile spiteful angry old drunk yards who can't get over something said a decade back and might well see the club being relegated then finishing top under Rafael, and who often bring forth childish statements that I might not even bother to reply to hereon.

Who's this mullet

 

[windymiller]

Think you might find Branthwaite tested positive ahead of the Brighton game

I wasn't aware of that. Nevertheless, he has played 2 games all season, once in the league cup and once when Benitez had literally no other options, hardly a ringing endorsement of Benitez trusting and developing young players which was the OPs point. An OP, by the way, who joined the forum this autumn and posts exclusively about Benitez's excellence.

 

[Egil Olsen]

No, my word is not worth more than Gordon’s, but, I think the word of several of his former players, who no longer have reason to fear his petulant reprisals, probably carry a bit more weight than the word of a youngster, who is just making his way into the team and, rightly, is not going to spoil his chances by doing anything other than sing the manager’s praises.

Just have a look at what Carragher and Gerrard etc. have to say about him.

Well both have said he was a fantastic manager. The same, as mentioned earlier, John Arne Riise has said. Past and present Newcastle players have expressed their admiration. People are different, and not everyone gets along on a personal level. Like other people, he probably has some traits that are not ideal, but one finds stories of bad relationships between managers and players everywhere.

 

[windymiller]

Branthwaite is regularly training under his supervision, and having long chats, as per the training ground reports and he was dropped because he had a knack .

2 appearances, 1 in the league cup, 1 when Benitez had no other options. Yeah, he's really bringing him on.

Why did you decide to join the forum this season, are you an Evertonian?

 

[Colonel Getafe]

The media are overwhelmingly pro-Benitez, what are you going on about?

It's obvisouly the media's relentless efforts to destabilize us as to why we can't defend corners, or constantly concede first, or are the 2nd lowest for possession, or have got 1 win in 12, or can't put two passes together, or have no tactical plan etc etc. If only the thoroughly impartial media wasn't hellbent on destroying this great manager who knows where we'd be.........