May 6, 2016
Benitez has already worked a minor miracle for Newcastle
Rafa Benítez may not be everyone’s cup of tea but he has quietly gone about his latest task with the type of football pragmatism that would make even his fiercest foe blush.
By Noel Butler
While it seems like the entire planet has been channelling their inner Claudio Ranieri this past week, another much-maligned manager has quietly gone about his latest task with the type of football pragmatism that would make even his fiercest foe, José Mourinho, blush.
Rafa Benítez may not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu after his brief cameo role at Real Madrid. Shown the door in early January, he’d only taken over from Carlo Ancelotti last summer. While his old charges have confirmed their place in this year’s Champions League final, Benitez has been deeply mired in Newcastle’s season-long relegation struggle.
If that wasn’t enough of a challenge, “Rafa the Gaffer” also has to deal with the most bombastic owner in the history of the BPL. King of the discount sports bins, Mike Ashley owns and operates close to 500 discount sports stores in the U.K., with another 150 littered across the European continent. Ashley started the company with a single store back in 1988.
He purchased Newcastle for a reported £135m ($250 million) in the spring of 2007. To show how much the popularity and riches of the BPL – and with it the value of their clubs – has grown over this time, consider that all BPL clubs are guaranteed in excess of £100m ($185 million) from the domestic TV deal alone next season.
This in part explains why Ashley, at great cost, turned to Benitez in March after firing Steve McLaren.
Signed to a three-year deal, Benitez has an out clause that allows him to leave Newcastle if the Geordies are relegated. Benitez hasn’t guaranteed their survival yet, but has already worked a minor miracle in ensuring Newcastle’s relegation battle will go down to the wire.
His mere appointment made Newcastle a better club instantly. The team’s current four-game unbeaten run has moved them out of the relegation places for the first time this year. One of those matches included a very emotional return to Anfield to face Liverpool, a club that will always remain very dear to the 56-year-old Spaniard’s heart.
As Ranieri’s career will now be defined by Leicester’s BPL triumph, Benitez’s career will be defined by Liverpool’s extraordinary Champions League Final in Istanbul, where they were seemingly down and out when trailing A.C. Milan 3-0 at half time.
Benitez also brought Liverpool the FA Cup in 2006, but he was unable to knock Sir Alex Ferguson from his perch, finishing second in 2008-09. Benitez acrimoniously departed the following summer on the back of a most disappointing season, bringing his six-year reign over Anfield to an inglorious end.
Taking over from Mourinho at Inter Milan, Benitez kept the family home in the Liverpool area, a city which has left such an indelible impression on him and his family. Now at Newcastle, Benitez is able to split his time between the two cities. His wife Montse endeared herself to the locals with her uncompromising scouse (Liverpudlian) accent and is still very active with her charitable endeavours on behalf of the underprivileged.
I had the pleasure of sitting down with Benitez in his office at Liverpool’s legendary Melwood training and academy complex the day after a disappointing home defeat during his final season with the club. Most affable with a keen sense of humour, he was nothing like the persona painted by media. His intensity and sublime focus were never too far from the surface – there was a midweek match to prepare for.
Benitez might not have been universally popular with the Liverpool players – Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard have taken him to task publically in recent times – but without his uncompromising management style there would have been absolutely no possibility those local lads would have the words, ‘European Champion’ etched in stone at Anfield. Benitez was pivotal in convincing Gerrard to remain at Liverpool after Chelsea had turned his head back in 2004. I’m not sure if that’s mentioned in the ex-captain’s autobiography.
Getting his start as a coach with Real Madrid’s reserve team, it was at Valencia that Benitez announced himself on the world stage. He brought the unfancied club a La Liga crown in his first season, then followed that up with a second title during in 2003-04. Benitez’ stock rose, Barcelona and Real Madrid duopoly exposed and embarrassed. For good measure, Valencia bought the curtain down on their 2003-04 campaign by picking up a UEFA Cup.
Benitez would be the first to admit that taking over from Mourinho at Inter Milan was not his best career move. The pressure could not have been greater. The Italian giants had just completed an unprecedented treble during the 2009-10 season. Inter won the Champions League in Mourinho’s final match in charge, the club’s first European Championship crown since 1965. Even though he guided his team to the FIFA World Club Cup in early December of 2010, Benitez was gone by Christmas.
No one could have predicted where Benitez would surface next. Not sure what generous odds the London bookies would have given you, but I do know none around Stamford Bridge would have taken your wager. They likely would have laughed, and advised a visit to the doctor was in order.
In late November 2012, Benitez was introduced to the media as the interim Chelsea manager. Adding to the surrealism, Rafa replaced Roberto di Matteo, who only six months earlier had delivered Chelsea their very first and only Champions League crown.
Benitez mocked Chelsea openly during his Liverpool tenure. Twice he had got the better of Mourinho in Champions League semi-finals. To say these two detested each other would have been the understatement of the season. There was no bigger rivalry in all of English football at the time. Chelsea did manage in their third attempt to defeat Liverpool in the 2008 semi-final. Attending the second leg, a few rows up from the Liverpool bench, Benitez was at his agitating best. Not even Gerrard was spared. Don’t be fooled into thinking Mourinho is the master of the football mind game.
Benitez was derided repeatedly during his Chelsea tenure, beginning with his very first game in charge at Stamford Bridge, where the home support let their feelings toward the ex-Liverpool manager be heard. Home and away, the Chelsea support didn’t let up all season long. To his immense credit Benitez rose above it. As his parting shot he guided Chelsea to a Europa League crown in May 2013.
Chelsea joined the most eminent and exclusive triumvirate in European club football by winning the trophy. Going all the way back to 1955, when the old European Cup (the precursor to today’s Champions League) made its debut – only Ajax, Bayern Munich and Juventus had previously won all three major European trophies. With the Europa League in 2013, Benitez had secured Chelsea’s place in European club football history.
That’s all in the past. Benitez is now staring square in the face at the opposite side of the top of the football spectrum. In a career where he has collected a total of 12 trophies, a team he manages could be relegated for the very first time.
One player in particular who is immensely grateful that Benitez replaced McLaren in March is Andros Townsend. Bought in the January transfer window from Spurs, Townsend’s career has been rejuvenated under Benitez. His four goals since Benitez arrived, including last weekend’s peach of a winner at home to Crystal Palace, are a big reason why Newcastle have finally moved out of the relegation zone for the first time this year.
Townsend is likely best remembered as the player who scored the goal at Wembley that resulted in England qualifying for Brazil 2014. Having fallen out of favour with Roy Hodgson in recent seasons, if he keeps up the form he has displayed in recent months he will make it very difficult for Hodgson when naming his EURO 2016 squad.
With a BPL season like no other, just maybe it is already written in the BPL stars that a Townsend winner at St James’ Park on May 15 secures Newcastle’s BPL fortunes. Did I mention that game happens to be against Townsend’s old club?
If all goes according to script for Newcastle, Spurs should confirm their runner-up position at home to Southampton on Sunday. Then, outside of Harry Kane, who is in a race with Jamie Vardy and Sergio Agüero to finish the season top scorer, Spurs will have very little to play for in their final game of the season.
Let’s hope that Benitez is still in the BPL next season. English football is far better off with one of the best brains in the business contributing and agitating.
Besides, if Mourinho throws many more toys out of his stroller, a job at the Theatre of Dreams might finally become a reality for him. If so, what price for a ringside seat near those world famous Old Trafford benches when Newcastle visits next season? Oh to be the fourth official that particular Saturday afternoon.
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