Big managerial merry go round this coming summer, surely he'll find a club for ext season hopefully in Spain.
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Brandt - Keita - Van Dijk - Sessegnon -
Would not be surprised in the slightest to see him back at Valencia."Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob PaisleyComment
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That wasn't really a Mourinho team as such. Malouda signed in the summer of Jose's last season and didn't play much and Anelka was only a January signing.Originally posted by DannyMan2006 View PostIf we are all only happy when we are really winning in the end, when your race finishes, what life would that be?Comment
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Would have liked to pop along and shake the man's hand, as he was doing a walkabout today, but work gets in the way.Originally posted by Liverpel View Post
Just seen him getting asked about the Chelsea job, but nothing happening there for the reporter...............asked about traitor, he said something about how he was fantastic at Liverpool, and how he'll come good at Chelsea.
Clearly Rafa has lost the plot during his cold turkey...."I will make the boys feel your support"
Jurgen Klopp June 2020Comment
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THE HEAD of England’s League Manager’s Association seems to think that landing the Chelsea job these days is a no-win situation but most of his members might be forgiven for taking the view that the scale of the pay-off cheques Roman Abramovich writes to those who fail to live up to his expectations gives the job a certain “no-lose” quality.
That might be a part of the reason Rafa Benitez seemed to be in precisely the right place yesterday as he discussed the vacancy prior to addressing the Trinity Philosophical Society where he was awarded the Gold Medal of Honorary Patronage.
Benitez indicated he would like his next job to be in the English Premier League because the culture there is that you are a manager rather than a first-team coach and, as such, get to make the decisions. But this is probably not the sort of stuff to endear him to the man in charge at Stamford Bridge, who likes, rumour has it, to have a say in how things are done. Fortunately the former Liverpool and Inter boss can see it both ways.
“No, I can do it (take the first-team coach route too if required to). I was doing it before in Spain and winning trophies so I don’t have any problems because I can do it. It’s just a question of talking with the person in charge.
“The British way of doing things,” he continued, “is that you have the manager and the manager has control and then you have people around and you talk with them but you have the final decision so you can decide. I think that’s much better but,” he mentioned once again in case there was any doubt about the matter, “I used to do it in another way too.”
Now you might think that Liverpool fans, especially the ones actually residing in or around the city where the 51-year-old Spaniard still lives himself, might take exception to the man who engineered their remarkable Champions League comeback against AC Milan in Istanbul nearly seven years ago swanning off to Stamford Bridge. However, Benitez reckons that his relationship with Merseyside’s red half is so special that they won’t mind.
“I don’t think anybody can argue that the Liverpool fans love me? No? And if we agree on this, what do you want for somebody who you love? The best for him. I cannot be waiting at home for five years. Everybody understands that I will need a job. If they want me to have the best, they can say: ‘You can manage a team at the bottom of the table or manage a team at a top of the table and try to win trophies’. That is my idea, to have the option of a top side and try to win trophies.”
Being philosophical about the terms on which you would take the Chelsea job is one thing but expecting fans of the rival side you used to manage to be philosophical about you taking it is quite another, and it will be interesting to see how their love of their former manager might manifest itself on his first appearance back in Anfield if a deal is done.
Benitez is clearly interested although the sense yesterday was that there has been no contact so far and that he appreciates he must be careful to observe the required niceties now that Roberto Di Matteo has, barring another turn for the worst, been handed the reins until the end of the season.
The speculation in England is that he is, at best, the third choice for the job behind Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho with his style of football reckoned to be a stumbling block although he countered the criticism on this front yesterday citing the number of goals his Liverpool side scored in 2008/09 and insisting his teams play attractive football “a lot of times, yes”.
The Irish team, it is widely acknowledged, doesn’t, pretty much all of the time but, he suggested when asked about its prospects against the side managed by his friend Vicente del Bosque, it probably doesn’t matter too much what they set out to do when it comes to playing Spain in Poland this summer.
“Of course, in a competition anything can happen,” he observed politely. “In one game, I could use the example of Barcelona and Sporting Gijon, you can have one sending off and it changes everything . . . so you never know what can happen. That’s the good thing about football.
“But,” he acknowledged just a little cruelly when apparently unable to avoid the unpalatable fact of the matter any longer, “it won’t be easy. Spain are playing really well and they have a great manager in Vincente Del Bosque. If he has to change something – because people know Spain’s style and try to stop them in different ways – he can change something. I think Spain at this moment are favourites but Ireland, with the great manager they have, will be tough.”
With diplomatic skills like these it might be foolish to bet heavily against Benitez talking his way into the Chelsea hot seat. Hanging on to it though . . . well, that’s an altogether different matter.
Rafa speak: Benitez on . . .
Ireland at Euro 2012?
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“I think they can do well because they have a manager with experience. And, obviously, when you talk about a competition like this the motivation is the key and Ireland will be extra motivated against Spain. But it won’t be easy. Spain are playing really well, they have a great manager in Vincente Del Bosque who’s also experienced and if he has to change something – because people know Spain’s style and will try to stop them in different ways – he can change something. I think Spain at this moment are favourites, but Ireland, with the great manager they have, will be tough.”
Can Trap’s approach frustrate Spain?*
“Each one has his way to do things and to win things. You say to frustrate the other team. I think Ireland will try to win, but, to stop Spain now, it depends on the team you have and on your game plan. But how can you guarantee that if you play deep and wait for 90 minutes you will be successful because they have so much quality someone can score a goal. Or how can you guarantee that if you go and press high you will be successful because then you leave to much space behind. Each manager will have his own problems and, depending on the team he has, he has to decide.”
That rug really tied the room together.Comment
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I haven't seen this posted yet. Apologies if I've missed it somewhere.
Rafael BenÃtez makes a pitch for Chelsea job
• Spaniard suggests Liverpool fans would forgive him
• BenÃtez has had offers from clubs and a national team
Rafael BenÃtez has become the first high-profile candidate to declare an interest in the vacant Chelsea manager's position and suggested he would be forgiven by Liverpool supporters if he were to return to the Premier League at Stamford Bridge.
The Chelsea hierarchy are scrutinising their options after dismissing André Villas-Boas on Sunday a little over eight months into a three-year contract, with the London club fifth in the Premier League and risking a failure to qualify for the Champions League for the first time under Roman Abramovich's stewardship. The owner is to sound out Barcelona's Pep Guardiola, whom he regards as his ideal appointment, and José Mourinho at Real Madrid to ascertain if either would be willing to take over in the summer.
Yet, although their futures in La Liga are in some doubt, there is an acknowledgement at Chelsea that negotiating either manager's smooth passage to London would be complicated and costly – even for a club who have paid £64m and counting in compensation to clubs and managers over the past five years – with that reality offering hope to other contenders.
The merits of Borussia Dortmund's Jürgen Klopp, Tottenham's Harry Redknapp and Germany's Joachim Löw will be discussed, and BenÃtez, whose Liverpool enjoyed a fierce rivalry with Chelsea, particularly during the Mourinho era, will cling to the fact that he was tentatively approached last month over the possibility of taking up the reins on a short-term basis until the summer.
The Spaniard rejected that scenario, insisting on at least an 18-month arrangement, with Chelsea's interest having cooled significantly since. Yet the former Internazionale manager pushed his own case for consideration on Monday night in the belief that he would not fracture his relationship with fans on Merseyside in the process. "Can anybody argue [against the fact] that the Liverpool fans love me? No," said BenÃtez. "If we agree with this, what do you want for somebody who you love? The best for him. I cannot be waiting at home for five years. Everybody understands that I will need a job.
"If they want me to have the best, they can say you can manage a team at the bottom of the table or manage a team at a top of the table and try to win trophies. That is my idea, to have the option of a top side and try to win trophies. If they love me, they will understand.
"I have had two or three offers from clubs and one from a national team. I want to win trophies; it's not just a case of wanting a job and having some money. It has to be something. They have now Roberto Di Matteo in [temporary] charge, and I have to respect the manager in charge. I have to wait and [see] if something happens in the future. As a manager with experience in the Champions League, in Spain and in Italy, I am open to offers."
Whether Chelsea fans would accept his appointment is open to some doubt and an offer is likely only if the hierarchy's principal targets are deflected – Sven-Goran Eriksson also put forward his own name last night but is not a candidate – with one of Abramovich's former managers, Luiz Felipe Scolari, having warned that whoever takes the position will face a daunting challenge. "Villas-Boas was a champion and he will continue to be," said Scolari. "He needed to replace at least seven or eight players [players who had been at the club] even since I was there, but he failed. It will be hell for whoever succeeds him."
Abramovich is seeking a sixth permanent manager in under five years yet BenÃtez, who succeeded Mourinho at Internazionale but was sacked after less than six months, would have no qualms working for "one of the new owners in football who are investing big money". Perhaps more significantly, BenÃtez claimed Fernando Torres – Chelsea's underperforming £50m British record signing from Liverpool – can still return to the prolific form of his Anfield days as the striker still has "potential, quality and desire".
Di Matteo, who has been joined on the coaching staff by his former No2 at West Bromwich Albion, the former Chelsea midfielder Eddie Newton, will oversee the side for the first time against Birmingham City on Tuesday evening in an awkward fifth-round FA Cup replay at St Andrew's. The squad were made aware of Abramovich's intense frustration and anger at a season of underachievement during an hour-long meeting at Cobham immediately after Villas-Boas' sacking on Sunday – the Portuguese was the owner's personal appointment – with the players accepting they must now attempt to salvage the campaign.
"I think we have to start again," said Juan Mata, a player bought by Villas-Boas from Valencia last summer and one of the team's more consistent performers. "We are not in a good moment, we are not in a good run of results but we all want to change it. I think we are ready to change it. We have a very good squad and we have two months to achieve our objectives in the Premier League, in the FA Cup and Champions League."Comment
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Not sure I like how he seems to be whoring himself out to the highest bidder touting his credentials, but I suppose he has to, considering the hatchet job the gutter press has done to his reputation.
JURGEN KLOPP - LIVERPOOL MANAGER
YNWA
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I don't blame him. He's desperate for a top job and if I were in his position, I'd be doing the same.
I want him to go to Real Madrid. The perfect club. Fans will back him, he's friends with Perez and he's extremely popular in Spain both in the press and amongst football there in general. Also, the majority of players in the squad are his type of players.
Comments about Real Madrid being like Chelsea are naive and short sighted, especially if you've seen what's been happening there since Mourinho turned up. They're changing their ways.Comment
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FWIW, I understand, Rafa.
It was truly a golden age, I just wish I enjoyed it more rather than get frustrated on an internet forum at Rafa's tinkering etc..."Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob PaisleyComment
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Good luck to him and his boring arse footy
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Rafa + Roman's money = success
That team needs a monstrous overhaul, god help us if Rafa is the one that oversees itI saw a dead fish on the pavement and thought "what did you expect?"
There's no water round here stupid, should have stayed where it was wetComment
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Just sack Kenny and bring him in before he gets Torres firing them in!Comment
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Why, who's he buying Torres for?Comment
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You been having anger management?
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