#ThankYouRafa- A Tribute to Rafael Benitez from CFC 360 Writers!

The most unpopular and despised manager in Chelsea’s history, the Spaniard Rafael Benitez has finished his interim stint as the club manager last Tuesday, May 28, 2013 when he was officially released by the club to take over Napoli. The former Inter Milan manager had been announced as the new boss of Italian club Napoli by their president Aurelio de Laurentiis on a two year deal via Twitter, in which the president claimed Rafa to be “A man of great international experience. A leader.”  Rafa has had a tough job at Chelsea since the majority of the fans were unhappy that he was appointed as manager taking over from club legend Roberto DiMatteo. Rafa had said some bad words about Chelsea and the fans during his time as a Liverpool manager and that was the main reason he was so much not liked by the fans. Although he had a difficult time with the boos at Stamford Bridge and the team were losing a lot of games at home, many fans’ opinion towards Benitez changed dramatically since his infamous rant after the FA Cup win at Middlesborough. The highlights of his Chelsea career are the Europa League trophy and a 3rd place finish in the Premier League which ensures we have earned a direct entry to the group stages of  next season’s Champions League. He has said that he left an improved and well organized squad that it will be easier to manage for the next manager which we are all anticipating to be Jose Mourinho. The announcement is coming soon from the Official Chelsea Website and we all can’t wait to hear the first press-conference of the ‘Special One’ Jose Mourinho. But, for now let’s pay tribute to Rafael Benitez and reflect on what he has done for the club since he was appointed on November 21, 2012. So, here are CFC 360 writers tribute and reflection for Rafael Benitez.

Fahmi Ahmed- @FahmiCFC
Rafa was mainly brought in to improve the squad and hold on to the post until the summer as an ‘Interim’ manager until some one like Mourinho or Gardiola arrives in the summer to take over. But, as we all now by now, Pep Gardiola has chosen Bayern Munich and he will start working with the newly crowned European Champions this summer. Benitez has said he was surprised by the decision to put his title as ‘interim’ because he though he had more experience as a manager to lead a top side like Chelsea. And looking from tactical stand point, the team has improved in the way we defend and many players were performing better under Rafa Benitez than at the beginning of the season under RDM. At the beginning of the 2012/13, the team very much relied on individual talents of the attacking players to win games against lesser teams and some big games as well. But, the tactics of DiMatteo were fully exposed when we were battered by Juventus 3-0 in Turin and Shaktar outplayed us in both group stage matches although we got three points at Stamford Bridge. We could have won against both teams home and away and have gotten to the last 16 of the Champions League but, the individual talents of the players weren’t enough to see us through the group stage. we failed and we become the first winners not to make it out of the group stage in the competition’s history. That can be excused by the fact that this season has been a period of transition and the young players have gotten much experience to help us succeed in top competitions in the coming seasons. But, the team has improved considerably since Rafael Benitez took over. David Luiz, Juan Mata and Eden Hazard had performed better under the new boss especially Luiz who was shifted into a CDM role for the first time under Rafa. He was exceptional through the 2nd half of the season even scoring some decisive goals in both the Europa and in domestic competitions. Frank Lampard started scoring more goals from midfield and has been in a good form since the beginning of 2013. That lead to Super Frank captaining many games in the absence of Terry and he went on to break the Bobby Tambling’s record to become the top goal scorer in our history by 203 goals.
Rafa Benitez had been very professional in what he needed to do even though the circumstances where not good as he was having a difficult time dealing with the strong hatred from Chelsea fans. I don’t think many fans were too harsh in doing so because all fans have the right to express their feelings towards the club, But we have to praise Benitez for helping us to a top 3 finish and winning the Europa League. I would like to extend my appreciation to a manager who i wish will have a successful managerial career in Italy with Napoli and wish the best where ever he goes. Thank you Rafael Benitez and Good Luck!!!
EKVR- @ZlatanDF
Rafael Benitez’s tenure started out with boos from the fans, but as we got towards the end of his reign, the boos and the anti-Rafa sentiments came to a halt. Whether it was out of respect for what he’s done or whether it was because they’d gotten over it and were just patiently waiting for the end of the season, I don’t know. But what I do know is, Rafa has done a lot for Chelsea. He has stabilized the club and set it up for success for the next manager. While he didn’t win multiple trophies, he did in the end, lead us to Europa League triumph. The Europa League might not be as good and wanted as the Champions League, but the fact that we’re the first team to win one then the other and are the 4th club to ever win all 4 European Cups speaks massive volume. The Europa League victory put us in the history books with some of the biggest European clubs – Ajax, Bayern Munich and Juventus. Also, Rafa Benitez made a lot of progress on David Luiz, whose inconsistency and immaturity had become a real problem. David Luiz began to make the right decisions, game in and game out. Rafa Benitez has set up David Luiz, in my eyes, as possible future captain of Chelsea FC.
This all being said, while Rafa’s reign could have been much more decorated, we should admire what he’s done for the club. Give credit where credit is due and hopefully, Rafa does us another favor by selling us Cavani.
Sherry Phillips- @shercasm

It was natural for us as fans to feel sheer anger with the appointment of Rafael Benitez . However , what made it worse was that club legend , Roberto Di Matteo was shown the door for a man who had once insulted the club . Toxic atmosphere at Stamford Bridge was converted to tremendous vocal support for the 11 players on the field after the Spaniard had enough of the banners and chants against him . I ain’t going to lie , I never did like Rafa for what he said . The same way the Toon Army hate Ferguson for what he said about Newcastle . Juvenile comments , which will never be forgotten . However there is a fine line between being loved and being respected . For me Rafael will be respected for what he has achieved at Valencia and Liverpool . Respected but not loved. Like it or not , Rafael has inadvertently entered the history books of our club by doing what only a few handful of clubs have achieved . The Rafalution has had it’s ups and downs and despite winning just 1 trophy out of a possible 7, the season has been quite memorable . Farewell Rafa, thanks for the memories .
Abdus-semiu Osho- @abdul_semi
My Benitez Post-Mortem: Rafa has my thumbs up considering the circumstances under which he worked during seven-month stint at Stamford Bridge. Take a look at these names: Didier Drogba, Nicholas Anelka, Michael Essien, Florent Malouda, Raul Meireles, Salomon Kalou and Bosingwa. These were experienced players who were weeded out of Chelsea after their significant contribution to the club’s success over the last seven years. Their departure (Malouda and Essien) left a huge void to fill, too quickly, yet we had Lampard and Terry injured when Benitez arrived. With only Eden Hazard and Oscar, both debutantes in the Premier League, joining Victor Moses (all three in their early 20s), it can be easily argued Rafa has done a very good job to navigate the longest fixture schedule ever, at the club. Even players like Yossi Benayoun, Oriol Romeu and Marko Marin were perennially unfit, while both Moses and John Obi Mikel away for six weeks on Nigeria assignment. Taking into account the paucity and the experience of the squad, winning the Europa League and a third-place finish should earn Rafa top plaudits. Cheers!
TuShar L. KuZhî- @T_L_KUZHI
When Rafa Benitez entered the management fray at Chelsea, even god must have wondered what was going through his head, as everyone knew he was entering enemy territory. And through the weeks, Chelsea fans showed their discontent with his appointment week in week out! But I’m glad that Rafa didn’t hold out the white flag and walk away, as there weren’t many managers around who would had wanted to take up the ‘could get sacked in 3 months’ job at Chelsea. He stayed back, and silently did the job that he was asked to do. Yes, we didn’t have the most spectacular season, but yet we managed to end it with a trophy, which might not be as glamorous as the CL or PL title, but is good enough, and of course the pride of being the holders of both European trophies at the same time, till 25th that is. And when most fans chose to praise the players for this, I’m glad there were also few who had the courtesy of thanking this man for his wonderful job, and for helping us set goals for the next season without a shadow of disappointment over our heads. 
I can confidently say that he made Chelsea a more balanced team, than it was under Roberto, and that the new incoming boss could make the most of it.
Thank You for everything Rafa, and hope you do well wherever your future takes you. You engraved your name into Chelsea’s history and we engrave your name into our hearts with respect. Thank You again!
Martin Stinson- @joseknowsbest

Well, Rafa left Chelsea and signed with Napoli. And all we should say is a big ‘Thank You, Rafa!’ – fact is that Benitez dealt with enormous pressure, mainly from the fans but also from the media who was constantly asking for his head. Fact is that at first the team was doing awful. Apart from the players, those so called ‘Propa Fans’ should also take some of the blame. Which led to the FA Cup game vs. Middlesbrough, won 0-2 away. After the game, Rafa had a meltdown which, at first, was criticized by almost every Chelsea fan. But after some sober thinking, many of us realized that Rafa is right and that the team needs our support for the remainder of the season. People shutted up with all the stupid ‘Rafa Out/Fuck off, Benitez/You’re not wanted here’ chants and suddenly, [miraculously] things started going in an upwards direction. Sure, we lost a few games/points but none mattered so much. After all, looking at the Premier League table after the final game shows that Rafa had a job well done – third place, directly qualifying us for the Champions League next season. Add an European trophy (Europa League) to that and I say this season was fairly successful. So, thank you, Rafa. You earned a lot of fans’ respect. Not love, but many of us don’t hate you, but respect you. Good luck in Napoli!

Well here are some of CFC 360 writers opinions or tributes for Rafael Benitez. The common message to Rafa is THANK YOU & GOOD LUCK. Let’s await the arrival Jose Mourinho and see the bright future that lies ahead for Chelsea Football Club. Thanks for reading and comment your own tributes for the new Napoli manager, Rafa Benitez!! KTBFFH!!!