Friday, March 29, 2024

Why are Chelsea wasting time with Rafa Benitez?

Interim Chelsea fans of wasting time, but it's the Roman Abramovich that is wasting time

Interim Chelsea boss Rafa Benitez has accused fans of wasting time, but it’s Roman Abramovich that is wasting time

Last night’s press conference with Chelsea interim boss Rafa Benitez after the Blues 2-0 FA Cup victory at Middlesbrough  clearly annoyed the Spaniard.

The former-Liverpool boss accused the Blues fans of ‘wasting time’ by not supporting their team because he is in charge.

According to the Spaniard the fans will have to take some responsibility if Chelsea fails to achieve their goals this season.

I would suggest that is complete rubbish. If Rafa Benitez had done a fantastic job then I believe most fans would begrudgingly support the Spaniard.

However, he hasn’t done a fantastic job as interim boss. He has just done what owner Roman Abramovich wanted him to do and kept the seat warm until somebody better comes along in the summer.

Wasted

Benitez is right about time being wasted though. The people who are wasting time though are the Chelsea hierarchy (see Roman Abramovich). Rafa Benitez was never going to be a long-term Chelsea boss, so why bother appointing him in the first place?

Benitez has a very similar record to that of previous boss Roberto Di Matteo. I don’t know why Chelsea didn’t leave the Italian in charge. When Di Matteo left I believe Chelsea were in a higher position in the Premier League than they are now.

The Blues are now fourth, 19 points behind league leaders Manchester United at the top of the table and they certainly weren’t trailing the Red Devils by that much of a margin when Di Matteo was in charge.

Guardiola

It seems that Roman Abramovich really did believe that Pep Guardiola would become the Chelsea boss this summer. In a surprise move the former-Barcelona boss agreed to move to German giants Bayern Munich instead.

Replacement

That has left Abramovich and Chelsea stumbling around looking for a replacement for Benitez and it seems there aren’t that many viable candidates out there to replace the Spaniard.

Consistency

Rafa Benitez won’t be given the Chelsea job on a full-time basis in the summer. However, Chelsea needs a boss that will give the club consistency. Owner Abramovich hasn’t allowed Chelsea bosses the time to build anything lasting, except for Jose Mourinho and he left the club without much ceremony.

The Russian oligarch seems frightened to stick with a manager through slightly sticky patches. Chelsea were enduring a sticky patch when Di Matteo was sacked, but I think the Italian could have got the team out of it and let’s face it Benitez hasn’t exactly done a fantastic job.

Pellegrini

One of the current favourites for the Chelsea hot seat seems to be Malaga boss Manuel Pellegrini. The Chilean made his name in European football by helping previously little-known Villarreal establish themselves as a major force in Spanish and European football.

The Yellow Submarine managed to make it to the Champions League semi-finals and also finished second in La Liga ahead of Barcelona. Not bad for a small town team. His performance at Villarreal led to him being handed an opportunity at Spanish giants Real Madrid.

Pellegrini achieved a then-record points haul of 96 points at the Bernabeu, but finished second to Barcelona in La Liga. A knockout stage Champions League exit at the hands of Lyon was also considered not good enough for the Chilean to keep his job.

The Chilean was replaced by Jose Mourinho and the rest is history. Pellegrini has done a good job at Malaga, helping the club to finish in the Champions League spots last season and also making it to the last 16 in the Champions League this season.

However, financial problems at Malaga mean that the club are unlikely to be allowed to participate in next seasons competition should they finish in the top four this season, which doesn’t look impossible.

Pellegrini looks set to leave La Rosaleda in the summer and Chelsea currently looks like his most likely destination.

Potential

The current Chelsea squad has such potential and with the right man at the helm could be a big danger to the two Manchester clubs in the near future. Whether Pellegrini is that man is unsure just yet, but one thing is for sure Rafa Benitez is definitely not that man.

Who should be the next Chelsea boss?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Nugent


David is a freelance football writer with nearly a decade of experience writing about the beautiful game. The experienced writer has written for over a dozen websites and also an international soccer magazine offline.
Arguably his best work has come as an editorial writer for Soccernews, sharing his good, bad and ugly opinions on the world’s favourite sport. During David’s writing career he has written editorials, betting previews, match previews, banter, news and opinion pieces.

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  • Haokip

    0 0

    Abramovich appoint benitez just for the sole purpose of rejuvenating fernando torres

  • Mourinho

    0 0

    Mabye they need me back
    What about it chaps
    ~
    Who needs te special one to solve the prob
    And bring with me pepe and coentrao
    For a party

  • Todd

    0 0

    I think Benitez could have done a good job there, but there have been a number of reasons why it hasn’t worked out.
    For starters (as he has pointed out) the team is rather imbalanced. For all their money they have a lot of players that do a similar job and are lacking in certain areas (i.e. center back). They are also a team that is in transition from the mourinho era which was a much different style and required different players.

    He is absolutely right that the fans should get behind the team and quit their moaning about him being manager.

    The team has also played enough games this year to equal about 3 seasons and that must wear on them.

  • Brad

    0 0

    It’s all down to their arrogant owner, Abramovich. He’s rich, but has goals that are way too high, and has always been like that, and he has very little patience. . . all you need is the example of RDM: helps Chelsea win the CL, gets sacked just a few months later. It’s impossible to please him and he’s now gone down his list of options (barring the unlikely acquisitions of SAF and co.) to the point he has no other option.
    My drift: it’s not the manager, it’s the owner.

  • NAISON MUTUSVA

    0 0

    I AM A LIVERPOOL FAN WHO IS NOT HPY WITH U CHELE FANS LIV BENITEZ ALONE

  • Water

    0 0

    Benitez is n’t the right coach for chelsea,any match won by the club(chelsea)isn’t b’cos of his coaching statistics b’t b’cos of the determination of the players b’cos they ‘re striving for the success of the club,benitez mission is to destroy the club,’ich is impossible and sir Abramovich is also castigating his club,up sir roberto di matteo up blues fans

  • Water

    0 0

    Benitez is n’t the right man for chelsea.Any match that is won by chelsea is n’t b’cos of benitez coaching statistics b’t b’cos of the determination of the players,he’s just like a statue on that seat,he’s there to put conflict.

  • Monica M

    0 0

    Why don’t you leave Benitez alone for the remaining few months? How do fans expect players to perform in such a situation? Give us a break and let Chelsea win games

  • Monica M

    0 0

    Why don’t you leave Benitez alone for the remaining few months? How do fans expect players to perform in such a situation? Give us a break and let Chelsea win games

  • Water

    0 0

    Benitez is n’t the right man for chelsea.Any match that is won by chelsea is n’t b’cos of benitez coaching statistics b’t b’cos of the determination of the players,he’s just like a statue on that seat,he’s there to put conflict.

  • Water

    0 0

    Benitez is n’t the right coach for chelsea,any match won by the club(chelsea)isn’t b’cos of his coaching statistics b’t b’cos of the determination of the players b’cos they ‘re striving for the success of the club,benitez mission is to destroy the club,’ich is impossible and sir Abramovich is also castigating his club,up sir roberto di matteo up blues fans

  • NAISON MUTUSVA

    0 0

    I AM A LIVERPOOL FAN WHO IS NOT HPY WITH U CHELE FANS LIV BENITEZ ALONE

  • Brad

    0 0

    It’s all down to their arrogant owner, Abramovich. He’s rich, but has goals that are way too high, and has always been like that, and he has very little patience. . . all you need is the example of RDM: helps Chelsea win the CL, gets sacked just a few months later. It’s impossible to please him and he’s now gone down his list of options (barring the unlikely acquisitions of SAF and co.) to the point he has no other option.
    My drift: it’s not the manager, it’s the owner.

  • Todd

    0 0

    I think Benitez could have done a good job there, but there have been a number of reasons why it hasn’t worked out.
    For starters (as he has pointed out) the team is rather imbalanced. For all their money they have a lot of players that do a similar job and are lacking in certain areas (i.e. center back). They are also a team that is in transition from the mourinho era which was a much different style and required different players.

    He is absolutely right that the fans should get behind the team and quit their moaning about him being manager.

    The team has also played enough games this year to equal about 3 seasons and that must wear on them.

  • Mourinho

    0 0

    Mabye they need me back
    What about it chaps
    ~
    Who needs te special one to solve the prob
    And bring with me pepe and coentrao
    For a party

  • Haokip

    0 0

    Abramovich appoint benitez just for the sole purpose of rejuvenating fernando torres

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