Benitez’s past allegiances, the unusual short-term nature of his appointment and the unique working environment at his new employer’s, combine to ensure that any decision the manager makes is at risk of being subject to opprobrium from all those who oppose him.
So it has been that the Spaniard’s resting to the bench of Juan Mata against Fulham and then Oscar against the Hammers bears microscopic scrutiny. If Roberto Di Matteo was still the man charged with making such choices barely an eyebrow would have been raised. In fact, pro-actively seeking to avoid two performers who are integral to their team suffering fatigue would be applauded as a sensible move.
Midfield is an area where Chelsea are equipped to alternate although, in order to guard against disruption, rotation should be minimal. Players such as Victor Moses and the newly available Marko Marin add depth to the creative ranks and their talent demands game time.
In his brief reign at Stamford Bridge, Benitez has restricted himself to minor tweaks in personnel and has done little to alter the side’s tactical approach – the only demonstrable change has been to place the brakes on his full-backs flying forward. It is the same group of players who opened the season in swashbuckling fashion, looking unstoppable when on the front foot, who are responsible for two guileless home draws and an inexplicable surrender at Upton Park.
It wasn’t the manager who was missing countless – admittedly skilfully crafted – scoring opportunities, losing physical battles, neglecting to track runners and widely falling short of the requisite application expected of any football team. Yet it is the man in the dug-out who is now the focus of headlines already questioning the safety of his position. The familiar backdrop to that speculation is that stories which have no place in the public domain are emerging from the privacy of the Chelsea changing-room.
There have been few clubs who have suffered training ground leaks quite like the Roman Abramovich era Blues. Any internal ill-feeling towards the incumbent boss is followed by reams of newsprint intended to emasculate the current patsy in the managerial chair. A fortnight is yet to pass since Benitez’s arrival at the Bridge and he is already vulnerable thanks to claims of separate team-talks for English and Spanish speakers, and the apparent dissatisfaction of players regarding his tactics and training ground methods.
Troublingly for Arsenal, a club so revered for its class and conduct, a similar trait is forming at the Emirates with reports of assistant-manager Steve Bould’s post-Swansea excoriation of his players being widely circulated in the national press.
It is inconceivable to think that a manager with such experience, regardless of personal opinion as to his suitability for the job or otherwise, has been able to stamp a mark on his new unit in the few days Benitez has spent on Chelsea’s Cobham training ground. As happened a mere nine months previously at the club however, the playing staff is largely escaping censure for their insubordination and inertia.
When it comes to the ultimate measure of success at any football club – results – there is no more powerful force than the playing collective. This is true even at Chelsea, hard as that lack of definitive control may be for Abramovich to accept.
Benitez’s CV identifies a major weakness in the transfer market. The 52 year-old’s stellar captures at Liverpool, Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano required little by way of astute recognition. The purchases of Josemi, Mark Gonzalez, Antonio Nunez, Jan Kromkamp, Albert Riera, Robbie Keane and countless others exposed the flaw. This area of management is yet to be tested at Stamford Bridge, and with the owner’s preference for selecting his own targets it is unlikely to be so.
The Spaniard’s teams have never been anything more than functional in style but his record of achievement commands respect. He led a limited Liverpool side – albeit with healthy chunks of good fortune – to a Champions League triumph in 2005. Often overlooked is his guiding the Merseyside club to the final of the same competition two years later – a run that oozed professionalism and discipline. Perhaps an even finer accomplishment, particularly in view of the modern two-team domination of La Liga, was Benitez’s Valencia claiming a double Spanish title victory as well as the UEFA Cup during his time at the Mestalla Stadium.
Benitez’s reputation has been scarred by his failure to halt a steady decline in performance at Anfield and a subsequent disastrous spell at Inter Milan. Nevertheless, he is not the man to blame for his latest clubs tribulations. The owner must shoulder a share of accountability for his staggering impatience with Di Matteo. If you are looking for the real villains of the piece at Chelsea – and Arsenal –, however, look no further than the men who have been trudging from the field, armed with excuses, after their latest flop.
One man well versed in the whims of Chelsea’s oligarch owner is Carlo Ancelotti who was sacked in May 2011, 12 months after winning a Premier League and F.A. Cup double at the Bridge. The Italian is now in charge at money laden Paris St Germain and, following a weekend defeat at Nice which left his side lagging in 4th place in Ligue 1, he expressed frustration at his players.
‘The players have to start taking responsibility. Everyone has to be serious about this. I have got a feeling the players are not all focused on the game plan nor on the club’s project’.
It is a message that is equally pertinent at his former club, and elsewhere in London.
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