Rafa Benitez

[DH1875]

New Real Madrid manager :)

[GreenArmyyy!]

Quite surprised by this to be honest, they are worse with managers than we are.

[Haymaker]

Two years work with the best players in the world, probably loads of trophies and then sacked regardless with a hefty pay off. Great job!

[Diclonius]

Gone by Christmas. Calling it now.

[allezsauzee]

Strange choice by Real Madrid given that he's not done particularly well in in recent seasons. I can only assume that they think if he can win the champions league with Djimi Traore and Igor Biscan in his team that he's bound to win it for Real.

[jacomo]

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Strange choice by Real Madrid given that he's not done particularly well in in recent seasons. I can only assume that they think if he can win the champions league with Djimi Traore and Igor Biscan in his team that he's bound to win it for Real.

They've gone through most of the top candidates already.

Rafa is a spiky character, expect conflict ahead. I really dislike Real Madrid - the only thing they are good for is ridiculous pantomime.

[ScottB]

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They've gone through most of the top candidates already.

Rafa is a spiky character, expect conflict ahead. I really dislike Real Madrid - the only thing they are good for is ridiculous pantomime.

Pretty much, I can't think of anyone else they could realistically get. Presumably a stop gap till Zidane takes over?

[Just_Jimmy]

They could have had anyone they wanted outside of Pep, Morinho, Simeone or Enrique. Sure other managers have contracts or connections to their clubs etc but this is Real Madrid the biggest club in the world bar none. People may not like that fact but very few people who work in football will turn them down when they come calling.

[MWHIBBIES]

Strange they sack one manager who is fantastic in Europe but struggles to win league titles for one who is good in Europe and pretty awful in the league.

[MWHIBBIES]

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They could have had anyone they wanted outside of Pep, Morinho, Simeone or Enrique. Sure other managers have contracts or connections to their clubs etc but this is Real Madrid the biggest club in the world bar none. People may not like that fact but very few people who work in football will turn them down when they come calling.

They tried for Wenger 3 times I believe and he turned them down every time. You are right though, out of the choices they had Benitez is strange, Carlo is a far better manager IMO and he was deemed not worthy.

[Hibeesmad]

I find it hard for any manager to not be able to do a good job there. The majority of people on this forum could probably win the league with the huge amount of talent within their team

[Bad Martini]

Ahh well, Stubbsy staying here for a bit longer then. Thank **** for that

[Just_Jimmy]

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I find it hard for any manager to not be able to do a good job there. The majority of people on this forum could probably win the league with the huge amount of talent within their team

There are other factors that come into play though. It's not as easy as saying that is the best 11 players and go and play. Injuries for example, Modric this season was a huge miss, Kroos didn't look the player he was when Modric was injured, the balance of the central midfield was all wrong. It wasn't helped by Carlo clearly not trusting Isco or Irramendi or Lucas Silva to play considerable game time and choosing to play Ramos in central midfield instead, Bale missed huge parts of the season through injury and struggled for form. You also have other factors, other teams have great players and when they also have a good coach (Athletico - Simeone, or Barcelona - Enrique) then any small failings are magnified. Carlo is a better manager than Benitez IMO, however he also made some silly mistakes this season. They were bossed by Juventus (not a surprise tbh, I watch a lot of Real and a lot of Juve) and Atletico owned them because they showed a startling failure to defend for the first 15 minutes of each half when they knew Atletico would come out like that. Saying that, they missed the title by 2 points and held the tie break over Barcelona, and reached the Semi-Final of the CL, I wouldn't have sacked him at all.

[Humo]

When you lead Napoli to a 5th placed finish then get offered the Real Madrid job....

[WeeRussell]

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I find it hard for any manager to not be able to do a good job there. The majority of people on this forum could probably win the league with the huge amount of talent within their team

Nope. Nobody on this forum would win the league with Madrid next season... and neither will Rafa.

In my (Catalan-biased) opinion of course

[Hibernia&Alba]

It's all a bit of a circus there: with the league and the Champions League every year or be sacked. An impossible job to keep for more than a couple of seasons.

[PeterboroHibee]

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It's all a bit of a circus there: with the league and the Champions League every year or be sacked. An impossible job to keep for more than a couple of seasons.

Even then is the job safe?

I think Benitez will be a good appointment and I expect him to win things, but it does feel like they had little option apart from him. It will be interesting to see where they turn next if he is unsuccessful (I know Zidane is being touted but its a tough job for anyone, let alone someone with no experience).

[Winston Ingram]

Somes up Real Madrid. In what universe is Benitez a better Manager than Ancelotti?

[Frank Moon]

He's one of their own. Was with them as a youth player from 13 years old and managed some of their teams at youth and ultimately Real Castilla. The chairman cited this and the fact he knows what it means to wear the jersey and the badge. I think he'll do well.

[jacomo]

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Somes up Real Madrid. In what universe is Benitez a better Manager than Ancelotti?

Benitez can't be blamed for last season's failure to win a trophy, to deflect blame from the President.

Rafa is a radge though, I reckon him and Perez will fall out sooner rather than later.