What has Rafa done ‘Right’ and ‘Wrong’ this Week?

Right

-Rafa dealt with Riera’s comments to Radio Marca in the right way. You cannot have a player undermining the team’s morale and distracting a team from an important match. The words were poorly timed and it was something that Benitez commented on after the match against Lille on Thursday:

“The timing was very bad for the team and for the club because we were in a crucial moment. I was really disappointed with this but we will deal with it internally. The team is doing well and we have to approach the [United] game with confidence.”

There is certainly no doubt in my mind that Albert will be sold now, and it maybe a quicker exit than some imagine for there are rumours that he could be on his way to Russia. As the Russian transfer window is still open, he could make his move now so as to be still in with a chance of getting into the Spain World Cup squad.

-The starting line up against Portsmouth was as positive as I have seen Benitez for a long time. He was rewarded with a great attacking display and saw the shackles unleashed for the first time in a long time. Although it was against a poor Pompey team, Rafa’s men showed they are capable of playing attacking, passing football and Alberto Aquilani was finally able to show why he was bought for such a sizable sum. A midfield of Babel, Aquilani, Mascherano, Gerrard and Rodriguez is not bad in my opinion, but it has been Rafa’s refusal to play so many attacking players which have cost him results in recent times. He has followed a safety first approach in many games over the past few weeks and it is an approach which will not get him a fourth place finish. Positive play will be rewarded and although it seems it is against Rafa’s nature, games such as the one against Pompey demonstrate that both the players and the manager are capable of doing it when they need to. For me it is the only way we will get fourth place and if he reverts to type in upcoming league matches, any hope of Champions League football will go up in smoke with it.

Wrong

-Although Riera’s comments were poorly timed and Rafa was right to punish him for stating them in public, the underlying substance of what he said was correct. The lack of communication by the manager has been a fundamental problem during Rafa’s reign at the club. My colleague David Ryder wrote about this earlier in the week, Rafa has always been seen to be pretty aloof from his players. Even those who have praised the manager such as Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso have commented in the past about Benitez’s different style of management. Gerrard didn’t understand Rafa’s coldness to start with and he mistook it as a lack of respect, while Alonso was disillusioned with Benitez’s pursuit of Gareth Barry and the subsequent lack of assurance from the manager about his position at the club. It seems as though the same thing has happened with Riera. Throughout his career as manager, Benitez has prioritised the coaching side of his responsibilities, and his attention to detail tactically has been admired by many, but he certainly seems to have neglected the man-management side. He sees himself as a coach rather than as a manager, and believes managing players is not in his remit. In the past, Pako Ayesteran was his safety net as he always had a good relationship with the players, relaying any misgivings in the playing staff to Rafa. But without him in recent years, the players are left with just Rafa. When things were going well last season, complaints were few about Rafa’s style but this season when things started to go wrong, people started to question his managerial style and his ability to handle players.

“The team’s playing badly and needs changes. It is a sinking ship. But in the two years I have been here Benitez has never managed a situation with a player by talking to him.He thinks he is the boss and everyone else is deaf. The dialogue with the players is practically zero. It is non-existent and there is a lack of tact.”

This is a justifiable criticism of Rafa’s management style, whether it is a bad as Riera makes out is up for debate but you have to remember Riera is not the only one to criticise Rafa in such a way.