Why I’m sticking By Rafa Benitez
- Author
- Posted by Lord_Luis at 9:40 PM GMT
- Category
- Filed under Guest Bloggers
- Keywords
- Tagged with Academy, balance, FA Youth Cup, Rafa Benitez, squad strength, Tactics, youth
Ola, it is Lord Luis again, hi-jacking the PST site once more.
Now I will admit Rafa Benitez has made some major blunders since he has been in charge of our great club, but in the long term I think he is the man to take us forward and eventually deliver that elusive Premier League Crown.
I’m just going to focus on the positives of Rafa’s Reign so far and why I am sticking by the man to the end. I don’t want the negatives on here (and I know there are a few who will want to point them out (SPC!)) but if you want to argue with my assessment of the positives, that is fine.
I want to start with league performance. Generally speaking, since Rafa took over, we have had a better points total than the season before (the curve is generally upwards at least). To me this says even though sometimes our football isn’t as attractive as it used to be, we are heading in the right direction. I think tactically Rafa is stronger in Europe but he has shown in recent years he is starting to get to grips with the top teams in the Premier league now too. All we need to do is find a balance between our attacking flair of last season and our defensive solidity of the season before that and we are on to something. Our squad might not look as strong on paper as the other top teams, but it’s avaerage age is relatively young. Hopefully this team will hit their peak together, then hopefully will have some decent young players to replace the lads who are getting on a bit. Which brings me on to my next point – youth.
As it has been well documented Rafa has bought in a lot of youth players since he took over, stating that the youth system wasn’t good enough. I couldn’t agree more, the last couple of players to come through the system and be successful were Steven Gerrard and Stephen Warnock – that must’ve been a decade ago. What has the Academy been doing for all the money pumped into it? Man United have former Academy players dotted all around The Premiership & The Championship, showing although they might not have been good enough for United, they were good enough for some of the other top 40 teams in the country.
Rafa bought coaches in and changed methods of coaching and has taken a more hands on roll in the development of the youth squad. Since he took over and bought in some players we have won the FA Youth Cup and also reached the final another time. I think this needs time to work but over the next couple of years we should see some progress. (The young lads coming through now MIGHT have been there before Rafa but I think have developed more with Rafa and his coaches change of methods).
And last but not least is our reputation, which has significantly increased across world football since Rafa took charge, especially since Istanbul and in both football and commercial terms. I think this shows in the way other teams managers react towards Rafa. Fergie in particular is a prime example, as when he didn’t see Liverpool as a threat he was nice as pie and supportive of Rafa – recently he’s been playing the usual Fergie mind games, trying to take Rafa out of his stride (and he has succeeded to some extent) to the other extreme of Wenger being right behind Rafa (he can probably see the similarities from his situation a couple of seasons back).
Across Europe we are once again well respected and have a growing reputation as a great football club. One stat I do know, that if you take the last 5 years worth of results, we are ranked as Europes Number 1 team. That surely is progress on the football front, which has lead to increased revenue on the commercial front. If it hadn’t been for the success that Rafa has generated in Europe, we would never have managed to attract the new sponsorship deal with Standard Chartered, the biggest in the clubs history and eclipsing anything Coco ever did (a nod to new MD Christian Purslow is due here also.)
That’s me done for now.
Thanks again to Poor Scouser Tommy for letting me hi-jack.
Adios
Lord Luis
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1 Comment
Comment by Self Pity City
Firstly I feel like I should offer my apologies. I didn’t think that I was particularly negative or over critical with my previous comments. I was under the impression that the purpose of these blogs was to offer a subjective view, and in order to be subjective, I believe, you have to look at both the positives and negatives, and try to look at things impartially. I just tried to offer my opinion from the outside looking in, without the handicap of rose tinted spectacles? Maybe you feel as a Utd fan I’m guilty of the opposite, that my allegiance leads to a view that tends to lean towards critical, but I think if you were to read my comments back you’d agree that I’ve been quite fair and not at all bitter.
Apologies Lord Luis, but my reluctance to continue reading after you boldy profess to “focus on the positives” was justified. The usual roll call of stats and figures masking the inadequacies of the performances and achievements on the field which, as fans, is surely all that matters to us? And as for your observation of the club’s reputation significantly increasing across world football. I personally, and know of other supporters of your club that have never been so disenchanted with the general running of the club and how it is perceived. Not wholly Rafa’s fault I accept, but completely misguided and I’m afraid to say again, blinkered on your part.
Again, if you read my previous post, I’m not doubting that you are in a far better state now than when the big guy took over. & I’m certainly not suggesting that the best course of action for your club is to get rid of him, something that cant be said for seemingly the majority of your fellow supporters. I’m not trying to be provocative; I’m merely giving my opinion on your team’s misgivings this season.