I for one thinks Rafa has done well so far...read the article below
"We want our Chelsea back," sang the fans still inside Stamford Bridge as the seconds ticked down on their second consecutive 0-0 draw under Rafa Benitez. But which Chelsea did they want back? The one that had not kept a clean sheet in ten attempts? The one that had played so poorly at West Brom that it sparked a dressing-room slanging match? The one that got battered in Turin without a striker on the pitch?
Or perhaps it's the Chelsea that won the Champions League with extraordinarily negative tactics? Because if that's the Chelsea they long for, they certainly should not be decrying the appointment of Rafa Benitez. We're pretty sure he's capable of pulling off a European trophy against all odds.
Roberto Di Matteo said himself that it was 'ridiculous' that his side had to score three goals in order to win a game because they were so vulnerable in defence. What's 'ridiculous' is that he seemed entirely incapable of remedying that problem despite the fact that a small child would have walked into Cobham and instructed excellent centre-half Branislav Ivanovic to actually play at centre-half.
Chelsea did not appoint a small child (that would probably have gone down a little better) but instead appointed Benitez, who promptly moved Ivanovic to centre-half and brought in right-back César Azpilicueta to actually play at right-back. These are truly crazy ideas which more than justify any calls for the Spaniard's head.
Against Fulham he made another big call in dropping John Obi Mikel for Oriel Romeu, who immediately looked more dynamic than the Nigerian, who has drifted for far too long at Stamford Bridge. When compared to Liverpool-era Javier Mascherano, you can't help thinking Benitez must be a tad disappointed with his defensive midfield options.
If the aim was to stop Chelsea shipping goals - and that was always going to be the first aim of a pragmatic manager - then Benitez has succeeded. He has not set up his team for a 0-0 draw but for a 1-0 win that could easily have been achieved if more than three of Chelsea's 17 shots had hit the target. Yes, that does say 17 shots. And yes, that is above Chelsea's season average of 14.4.
(As an aside, there were signs that Fernando Torres is edging slowly towards - if not his best form - the form of August/September when he scored four Premier League goals. He was at least looking for goalscoring opportunities rather than hiding on the wing looking frightfully afeared of missing.)
I wrote after the Shakhtar defeat that Chelsea were sexy but vulnerable, making them far more attractive to watch for a neutral. Having sat through 180 goalless minutes in the last four days, it's clear that there's little that's sexy about this Chelsea side right now. But there's far more to suggest that Benitez can conjure victories from a 0-0 foundation than Di Matteo could fashion a title challenge from a team incapable of keeping a clean sheet.
Sarah Winterburn
http://www.football365.com/f365-says/8293058/F365-Says
like is Russians running our office as well
At this point trying to analyse Roman's decisions is an exercise in futility. Does he really have that short an attention span?
