Rafael Benitez returns to Real Madrid

Doc wrote:Might try to sell Modric to rekindle his love for Gareth Barry or whoever is his equivalent (Milner?).

Anyway, how is the semi available Spaniard YM mentions? Pep? He would not manage Madrid anytime soon (or in this lifetime). Emery? Please, not him.

Yeah Pep There's more chance of me managing Madrid.

How is translated Facths in Spanish anyway ?
or ci puo stare ?

Robespierre wrote:

Natalie Portman wrote:

Robespierre wrote:So after this season he ends on the most important bench in the world ? The football is sometims so strange.

Carlo got the Madrid job after losing the league to Montpellier with PSG

Klopp is likely to get a good gig this summer after arguable his worst managerial season

Mancini got the City job after being jobless and fired by Inter

Allegri got the Juve job after being hounded out of Milan and having them near the relegation zone

Conte got Juve job, after doing very very average with Atalanta.

Brendan Rodgers got Liverpool job after winning a promotion play-off and finishing 11th in PL.

and I can go on and on

Ancelotti won the Ligue One the year then , and then he was taken from Real
Allegri was taken in July when there was not choice because noone expected Conte resigned. Conte had got another promotion in Serie B with great football and expecially he was former Juve captain . Juve fans wanted him after Del Neri as LFC fans wanted Dalglish back after the English Mazzarri Roy Hodgson ,
Mancini was sacked when he had won the league and anyway ...we're talking about a City who wasn't still a top club, coached by Hughes and where the best player was Bellamy ( and I loved Bellamy),
and besides City ... is not Real . Real Madrid is the top .
I think he can make good anyway
He needs to be fine where he works, and he hates Serie A plain-spoken. Not been fine here even in Napoli, he can't wait to go away. Infact never considered really the hypotesis to stay at Napoli ... well, who 'd done this with Real Madrid... but he would have left equally..

Also his family. His wife and 2 daughters still live in Liverpool. He's human after all (a very emotional one as well), and living away from family for 2 years hasn't done him favours in Naples.

If he gets the Madrid job, I imagine his family can move back and it's just a win-win-win situation for him.

I had actually forgotten Mou signs Altintop and Adebayor for Real Madrid.



Mou

Rafa is a very intelligent guy. He could actually be exactly what Madrid need in terms of building the squad for the needs of the team rather than filling it up with Perez's toys.

He's actually in the exact center of the Mou-Carlo continuum. Carlo the "yes man" and Mou the "me against everyone" attitudes, with Benitez you have someone who would stand up to Perez when idiotic decisions are being made and would also not create controversies like Mou did.

Also, he rotates like his life depends on it. So hearing all this complaining from Madrid fans about rotation, that would be fixed. But this too much rotating might actually cost Madrid some stupid results against shitty teams that may cost the title.

Everyone knows tactically Rafa is very astute. He has good ideas and his favorite formation is 4-2-3-1. He will play and buy actual DM's. I don't think Rafa would ever play Kroos-Modric the way Madrid fans want. He will play a very direct game and defensively the team would be strong.

Varane will be an undisputed starter. Gone will be the days of Ramos and Pepe partnership that's for sure.

He will also bench Iker if he's not sold by then. He doesn't play players if they don't benefit the team. So even the likes of Bale and CR might get benched if they don't do what he asks of them.

Like Doc, when I read this I thought of Liverpool.

Anyway, I dont see such a big difference between him and Carlo. Different ideas for sure and different way of doing thing, but positives and negatives which help them in cup competitions and less so in a league format.

Sure, Rafa does rotation and Madrid have lacked that recently. But the other side of that was the criticism Rafa got for over rotating and not letting some fringe players find rhythm or build on a good run of form.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Yeah Pep There's more chance of me managing Madrid.

Pep is not even 1/12th available.

true, but how often since valencia has he been in a situation where he has a legit team to win the league from day one?

Heartening to hear everyone thinking we're Rafa's home

Sadly it won't happen. Our goal is to become the Arsenal of 04-14, trying to win the 4th place trophy every year with no aim to win an actual tangible trophy...Rafa is a winner, so he's way too good for us and our structure.

Sure, but there was a season they won the CL and finished 5th.

I understand not winning the league but come on now. You cant have the ability to win the CL and still not finish top 4, something is wrong there.

Does Rafa's football differ in any way to Carlo's and Mou's? Last I saw of him was at Liverpool where he played generic football with no identity. Considering we've been playing defensive - neutral in recent years, I think it's time we got a coach who played proactive football.

Mr Nick09 wrote:true, but how often since valencia has he been in a situation where he has a legit team to win the league from day one?

He really hasn't.

At Liverpool he was competing against Fergie's prime United with CR, prime Rooney and Tevez. And one season they even had Berba as 4th choice. And prime Vidic-Rio. As well Mou's prime Chelsea and Wenger's late Invincibles for the first 2 years.

He almost led Liverpool to a league title in 2008-09 and his two best players Gerrard and Torres started like 16 league matches together all season and we won like 15 of those games. Injuries were the only that cost him that season really. Raped the champions United 4-1 at Old Trafford to show you how much better Liverpool actually was than United that season.

Yohan Modric wrote:Does Rafa's football differ in any way to Carlo's and Mou's? Last I saw of him was at Liverpool where he played generic football with no identity. Considering we've been playing defensive - neutral in recent years, I think it's time we got a coach who played proactive football.

WAT.

Rafa plays very direct football. Very organized tactically. He cares more about dominating space and controlling the tempo off the ball rather than anything on possession. Not counterattacking and park the bus. But he doesn't probe in attack, he likes his team to go straight for the jugular. A lot of pass and move as well.

Finally he's back

Well, im sure Benitez will try to implement some nice stuff with our players... but he has to meet CR first, and then react to CR telling him he is not running after the ball in defense.

Then we will see

Rafa actually is very prideful so we'll see how he deals with primadonas.

He may very well end up being the manager that turns CR into an out and out number 9. No more bs-ing about and starting from the left or whatever.

One thing with Rafa I forgot to mention, he really needs his wideman to help the fullbacks. I mean Dirk Kuyt and Callejon ffs the of the hardest working players played out wide for him.

Yohan Modric wrote:Does Rafa's football differ in any way to Carlo's and Mou's? Last I saw of him was at Liverpool where he played generic football with no identity. Considering we've been playing defensive - neutral in recent years, I think it's time we got a coach who played proactive football.

We didn't have an identity when we beat you 4-0 in 2009 ?

Protecting space, pressing aggressively at periods during the game, controlling the middle of the park.

That has always been Rafa's motto. from Valencia team that schooled us in 2003, to his peak Liverpool team.

His jobs since us has been part time where he hasn't had the time/funds to implement his ideal team. that's why Napoli team looks nothing like a Benitez team.

Isco would work hard for him, James as well even though neither are wide men at all. Not sure about Bale though, the man spent two seasons not helping out Dani and well Ronaldo is a lost cause if you want tracking back. Not even SAF got him to do that.

So either Cristiano turns into the striker he clearly can be or Marca is gonna have so much fun printing feuds with Ronaldo, Rafa and Perez names being mentioned frequently.

Yeah, if Crono didn't listen to Fergie, Mou or Carlo, I seriously doubt he'd give Rafa the time of day

incoming another "i am sad" from ronaldo?

all the muppets criticizing benitez right now would have been comparing Zidane to Pep right now if he had hired him. ffs

Strange to watch Ancelotti away after just 2 years with a Decima won . Real looked like having got stability with a solid manager some months ago. Definitely the most unruly bench in the world.
When did it go amiss ? Was it just a matter of trophies not won this year ( CL semi-final though ) ? Yet he didn't look like solid not even before of Juve match

Natalie Portman wrote:

Robespierre wrote:

Natalie Portman wrote:


Carlo got the Madrid job after losing the league to Montpellier with PSG

Klopp is likely to get a good gig this summer after arguable his worst managerial season

Mancini got the City job after being jobless and fired by Inter

Allegri got the Juve job after being hounded out of Milan and having them near the relegation zone

Conte got Juve job, after doing very very average with Atalanta.

Brendan Rodgers got Liverpool job after winning a promotion play-off and finishing 11th in PL.

and I can go on and on

Ancelotti won the Ligue One the year then , and then he was taken from Real
Allegri was taken in July when there was not choice because noone expected Conte resigned. Conte had got another promotion in Serie B with great football and expecially he was former Juve captain . Juve fans wanted him after Del Neri as LFC fans wanted Dalglish back after the English Mazzarri Roy Hodgson ,
Mancini was sacked when he had won the league and anyway ...we're talking about a City who wasn't still a top club, coached by Hughes and where the best player was Bellamy ( and I loved Bellamy),
and besides City ... is not Real . Real Madrid is the top .
I think he can make good anyway
He needs to be fine where he works, and he hates Serie A plain-spoken. Not been fine here even in Napoli, he can't wait to go away. Infact never considered really the hypotesis to stay at Napoli ... well, who 'd done this with Real Madrid... but he would have left equally..

Also his family. His wife and 2 daughters still live in Liverpool. He's human after all (a very emotional one as well), and living away from family for 2 years hasn't done him favours in Naples.

If he gets the Madrid job, I imagine his family can move back and it's just a win-win-win situation for him.

This is the reason why I believed he would have came back in Liverpool some months ago when Rodgers' future wasn't sure whiile it was clear Benitez would have not stayed in Napoli.I think it will happen a day . And infact I am among those posters to have thought immediately about Liverpool when I've read this title

Playing 11 players all season when you have 23 will get you fired.

OMG Rafa Return to MAdrid? I can't believe it!

Thanks God he is not come back to England, No Offense to Liverpool, But I just get tired saw him getting abused by english media...

sorry, is this news in any way concrete or reliable? Or is this thread based on transfer speculation?