Rafa Watch

[Muddled]

Full article is here:

http://www.est1892.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=2229102&postcount=319

[Daniel 7]

He won't join Chelsea

[little dave hedgehog]

he might. they certainly match his ambition if not his methods.

[Phoenix07]

RAFA'S MASTERCLASS

http://www.thefa.com/GetIntoFootball/Coaches/NewsAndFeatures/2012/pro-licence-benitez-060212.aspx

Istanbul will forever reserve a place in Rafa Benitez’s heart. It was in Turkey’s largest city, and more specifically the Ataturk Stadium at half-time in the European Cup Final against AC Milan in 2005, that he experienced a career defining moment. It wouldn’t have happened, however, without an ice-cold clarity of thinking.

“You have to think: [you are] 3-0 down. It was my first year in England so it was quite difficult to send the message across. The body language is really important: to be calm. I say ‘nothing to lose, we have been working really hard to be here, and now we have to try change things, we have to try and score one goal and change the game,” explained the former Anfield supremo.

“Then I was on the blackboard, changing the game plan and playing three at the back, [after] this is when you push a little bit [the motivation] and then everybody goes and they are ready.” His captain, Steven Gerrard scored nine minutes after the break and as they say, the rest is now history.

Benitez, a studious and meticulous coach, who prioritises thorough preparation by way of detailed training ground rehearsal, was speaking at the recent FA UEFA Pro-Licence course at Wokefield Park, Berkshire. The qualification is the highest achievable in the game and mandatory for those with aspirations of coaching at the very highest level.

The course, attended by a variety of coaches and managers from all levels, incorporated the mandatory 15 hour refresher course for current holders of the qualification as well the mid-season Masterclass course for current students.

As well as recollection from that night in Istanbul, the former Valencia, Liverpool and Inter Milan manager provided the 50 candidates, who included current Pro-Licence holders Colin Cooper, Glenn Roeder, Phil Brown, Kevin Bond and Steve Cotterill, an insight into his beliefs on player rotation, set-pieces and ball-focused training methods. He stressed that all coaches, whatever their level of experience, must be willing to look to others for self-improvement.

“In football you can be playing all your life and you will have your vision, but you need to have different ideas and different people telling you how to approach a problem, because it will make you better. If you approach a problem in two or three different ways you will see the solution easier,” explained the Spaniard.

Benitez spoke with great detail about the history and evolution of tactics and trends in the game and urged all those young coaches who yearn for a CV of his calibre to embrace the knowledge of others.

“It is really important to have education [in football] and to have people around with more experience who can give you advice,” added Benitez, who has been out of work since he left Inter Milan in 2011 where he won the FIFA Club World Cup.

Still based in Merseyside, Benitez retains a great passion for English football and although he has enjoyed a short break from the game is seeking a managerial project which excites him, but only if the foundations feel right.

“It is time to analyse carefully: a club with a project, someone who wants to do something for the future. We have experience [he and his backroom staff] now in football in different situations [and know] what it means to work with young players and what it means like to win trophies, so we have to put all these things together. If there is someone with a good project and they want to win something and they will give you some time, I think we can do what we want to do.”

The full interview with Rafa Benitez will be available on The FA Licensed Coaches’ Club website in the near future. More coverage of the UEFA Pro-Licence will be available via TheFA.com and FATV soon.

[Shanks]

Nice to see Shaggy is whoring this thread out on twitter, re Rafa..
I dont think Matt Whitehouse is on his Xmas card list though..

[Shaggy]

He's okay.

By the way who are you on Twitter?

[Shanks]

Mr A. Follower..

I'm a lurker in twitter terms, follow 600, with 200 followers..

[Fivex]

Mr A. Follower..

I'm a lurker in twitter terms, follow 600, with 200 followers..

That's not lurkage

200 followers?

[Mostar]

That's not unusual. Many reciprocate and follow you when you start following them.

[Chazza]

Rafa ready to rescue Blues
By Harry Harris, Football Correspondent

Rafa Benitez will agree to take over the Chelsea job if he is offered it as an immediate replacement for under-fire Andre Villas-Boas, according to ESPNsoccernet sources.

Villas-Boas is facing a crucial few days at Stamford Bridge as his future has been the subject of much speculation and the former Liverpool boss is apparently seen as the coach to reignite the goalscoring flames of £50 million flop striker Fernando Torres, but also to glue together a dressing room that appears to be falling further apart by the day.

The Portuguese's condemnation of Torres in a recent interview - he talked about the Spaniard in the same terms as flops Andriy Shevchenko and Mateja Kezman - has hurt the hierarchy at the club all the way up to Roman Abramovich.

"We have been through the Torres situation before with Shevchenko and Kezman," Villas-Boas told Portuguese radio station TSF this week. "We continue to work on his motivation, his specific movements on the field and his trust. There is only one atmosphere which will make him regain his trust, and that is a competitive atmosphere."

Those comments have been the catalyst, according to ESPNsoccernet sources, for Abramovich to seriously look at replacing Villas-Boas, on top of the revolt of some senior players such as Frank Lampard and the disharmony created within the West London club.

Abramovich (said to be deliberating deeply about what to do next) might have to decide, perhaps as early as the next 48 hours, whether he needs a coach of vast experience to rescue the season, just as Guus Hiddink did when Big Phil Scolari was sacked midway through his first season in charge of Chelsea.

Following the crushing 3-1 defeat to Napoli, the Chelsea owner faces the daunting prospect of failing to make the top four and missing out on the Champions League next season, an option that he would find unacceptable.

Back in 2004, it was known that Claudio Ranieri was going to be replaced by Jose Mourinho before a vital Champions League tie in Monaco, and history might be repeating itself as a decision over Benitez might even be taken before next week's must-win return leg.

Benitez has not worked since leaving Inter Milan after a six-month spell at the end of 2010 and his agent has openly suggested the Spaniard's desire to return to work in England, where options are limited at the highest level.

Manuel Garcia Quilon has recently said Chelsea had not been in touch, but he hinted that Benitez would be most definitely interested.

Benitez led Liverpool to Champions League and FA Cup glory and Valencia to two La Liga titles, and the feeling is that he would have more chance of turning around the Napoli deficit in the Champions League and galvanising the team to finish fourth than AVB as the Abramovich camp agonise over what to do next, possibly even before the weekend.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...witter&cc=5739

[Shaggy]

Wow.

Mind you Harry Harris is a real cunt and a bull****ter.

[Chazza]

.

[tommyg]

"ESPNsoccernet understands Benitez will say "Si" to the Chelsea job if he is offered it"

What incredible writing

[Daniel 7]

Bollocks

[Gibbo]

Aye bull****