Rafael Benitez was appointed after Di Matteo’s sacking as interim manager. And from the 1st day, Rafael Benitez was receiving hate left and right from many Chelsea fans. Why? Some say just because of his tenure at Liverpool. Some say because he’s not a good manager and others find his comments from 2007 as the reason. In those comments, he came at the necks of Chelsea fans and players (specifically, Drogba/Robben). Nonetheless, many fans find the vocal expression of their hate of Rafa as necessary. But that’s not the case in my eyes. Benitez is a very successful manager, whether you like it or not and his comments about Chelsea while at Liverpool were completely normal. Would you want your manager to criticize your rivals? Would you want your manager to say that even if he doesn’t mean it? It’s not a fact that Benitez meant everything he said, but as a manager in a press conference ahead of a match against your biggest rival at that time, there’s nothing more to it (whether he meant it or not).
Just to refresh your memory, here are some examples of the hate :
There you see some of the banners around Stamford Bridge that we’ve seen. Some of them are quite clever, but it’s still something we don’t need. After Rafa’s rant after Middlesbrough (you can see it below) and the bust up between him and John Terry, tensions were high and they still are, but the win against WBA cool it down a bit. Nonetheless, he did talk some sense in his rant and was very accurate in what he said. It’s not the first time that’s he has gone on a rant, but it’s not the first time he’s right in one of them.
Whether you like Benitez or not, I think everyone can see where he is coming from. He has a lot of valid points and it’s some emotion talking but it still contains a lot of truth. Benitez is a great manager with a lot of success. I certainly stick/stand up for Rafa as I believe he is one of the best managers the EPL has seen in the past decade (2000-2010). Why he didn’t succeed at Inter and why is Chelsea struggling under him? I’m not 100% sure, but he does shoulder some of the blame, but so do the fans and the situation he is in. The fans lack of support for Benitez has a huge impact on the team and the fans must realise that he is our manager and he does control the team. He will leave in the summer and let him be – after all, he is human. Humans make mistakes and Rafa has made a few under his interim tenure and so have the fans by chanting/showing their discontent. But no matter what you say/do, you can’t change that he’s manager until the summer and saying “Rafa Out” is useless because he said he’s leaving. So, the fans should just support the team and disregard Benitez because if they continue down this path… the situation could get a lot worse.
What do you think? Should the fans continue to show the discontent?
i realllly think RAFA is right for questioning we the fans purpose……because whether we like it or not he is our manager for now and that was always the case thats why he was named “INTERIM MANAGER” the sad part of this is that while we try our best to make rafa feeel that he is not wanted or not needed we dnt realise what we are doing to the current players of the team and how this will affect them confidence wise……………..this should not be what we do best CHELSEA FANS…I AM NOT SAYING THAT WE SHOULD SUPPORT RAFA DIRECTLY BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY HE IS THE ONE WHO DETERMINES HOW WE PLAY GAMES AND IF MESSES UP WE WILL ALL FEEEL IT…SO WE SHOULD TRY OUT BEST TO PUT OUR EVERY FOOT BEHIND THE TEAM AT ALL COSTS ESPECIALLY IN THIS TOUGH PART OF THE SEASON AND IF THAT MEANS GIVING RAFA A LITTLE VHEER EVERY NOW AND THEN SO BE IT……A MANAGER WITH CONFIDENCE PUTS OUT A TEAM WITH CONFIDENCE AND HAS A TEAM FULL OF CONFIDENCE #FACT# LETS STOP ACTING LIKE CHILDREN AND SUPPORT THE WHOLE TEAM!!!