Rafa came out all guns ablazing last night, in response to the continued hostility that he’s receiving from Chelsea fans, who are disgruntled at the state of their football team.
I have never been a big fan of Rafa Benitez but I do have great sympathy for him in this case. Whichever way you look at the situation, surely the fans should be bold enough to blame the owner?
The Chelsea faithful seem to be abusing Rafa because he took over from the highly popular Roberto Di Matteo. But Rafa had nothing to do with that. Abramovich sacked Di Matteo.
If the fans are unhappy with the job that Rafa is currently doing, why were they booing him even before the whistle blew for his first game? Regardless of Rafa’s sound bytes from his Liverpool past, surely the fans have to get behind their new boss for a while at least? Supporters can make a big difference to results. But Rafa was given a distinctly frosty reception from the Chelsea supporters which is always going to make it difficult to thrive.
Benitez wouldn’t be my first choice of coach. His PR and tactical skills are sometimes questionable. But he seems like a decent man who has been treated poorly in this case. It appears that he has become a scapegoat for the fans even though it’s plain to see that their ire has been created by the decision making of their owner. But, such has been the level of financial support from Abramovich over the last decade that the supporters seem fearful of upsetting him, despite the fact that his decisions have created the status quo. It’s not very sporting behaviour and it’s a very regrettable situation for Rafa Benitez.
Chelsea fans, please feel free to tell me that I’m wrong in the comments section
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JKK
Feb 28, 2013 at 12:48 pm
Before writing an article, get your facts straight, Chelsea fans booed him before the first game because he called us Bananas in Pajamas among other cut downs. And why in the world would the fans even consider attacking Abramovich when without him we would be in debt and without any trophies. Benitez has played the wrong line ups and made many mistakes that sometimes look like his purpose is to ruin us, for example, your 1-0 down to a team you need to beat, so take off your best attacker in Eden Hazard. He deserves everything he gets with no sympathy, there will be no tears in May just crossed fingers that Torres follows suit.
Soba
Feb 28, 2013 at 12:49 pm
For your information, you can’t expect fans to protest against Roman given what he has done for the club. Rafa on the other hand deserves all the boos because to the fans, including myself, is a man who has said he cannot manage a team like chelsea after plastic flag insult on us. The question is, why did he take the job even if the board erronously offer him the job? I was happy to know that he is badly upset and cracked.
Spud
Feb 28, 2013 at 1:15 pm
Don’t have any sympathy for Rafa, he slagged the Chelsea fans off years ago and is now paying the price, what comes around goes around.
There is a line, even in time of intense competition and Rafa crossed that line when in charge of Liverpool. What you don’t do is slag the opponents fans off, it’s like having a disagreement with your friend and start slagging off his family. You just don’t do it, end of.
Hopefully Rafa will be sacked in the next few days and we can all move on.
Thomas
Feb 28, 2013 at 7:42 pm
I think benitez has always been sort off a enemy. It’s like you would take mancini as a replacement for ferguson. I personally think that Benitez is doing many more mistakes than di matteo :-).
By the way when you gonna come and have your haircut???
Thomas – QT HAIR AND BEAUTY
oluwadare
Mar 11, 2013 at 9:40 am
take it or you leave it, benitez is the wost thing that ever happen to EPL not only chelsea but the entire F.A, he is a disgrace to the coaching world. chelsea will be better without a coach than benitez being in charge. his selections are always questionable, making every game defficult for the player to win. E.g f.a-man.u v chel, europa- bucuresti v chel. e.t.c
HORMOR OLUWASEGUN
Mar 11, 2013 at 3:05 pm
OUR INTERIM MANAGER DOES’NT HAVE FIRST ELEVEN IS THAT A COACH.