Maybe even Stevie agrees now I wasn’t barking mad!
Rafa Benitez on tough love, an Istanbul Mk II and why he never lets his daughter win!
My next job? If it’s the right one in England, then we can do it tomorrow
THERE is a new TV room at Rafa Benitez’s house in West Kirby which has been installed at the insistence of Montse, his wife. Most days you will find Benitez holed up in there with his new coaching protege, daughter Agata, 18, watching football. As many partners without an interest in the sport will testify, there really is a game on every night in this most bizarre pandemic season.
‘We have another TV for games because my wife is complaining that I am watching even more games than in the past,’ says Benitez, smiling across the Zoom call. ‘Because you cannot go out, I am watching three or four games on a Saturday, three or four on a Sunday and on Friday or Monday. Montse is saying: “Another game! But today is Friday?” But there is the Premier League, Champions League, Europa League, German League, Spanish League...’
The problem is a familiar one in any household divided between those who love football and those who do not. But Benitez, though, has an additional reason to devote his time to games. It is father-daughter time, something he was deprived of in his most recent job in China.
HE says: ‘My daughter now likes to watch football. She plays Fantasy Football and FIFA and is interested in the players. I’m watching games and stopping the tapes, saying: “Go back, see this movement, do you see there is four at the back, now do you see there is three up front, now two...?”
‘When I want to disconnect, I just watch the game. I say: “OK, I will not analyse this one”. But when it is a Premier League game, you always analyse. How can you stop them? What are their strengths and weaknesses? I try to watch as many as I can and then take clips and share them with my staff.
‘I try to explain about tactics [with Agata] but she’s not very interested. She wants [a team] to win, or she wants the players to score goals and assists. But sometimes I stop and say: “Now, tell me the difference: if they have two strikers, then the full-backs will be free, or if they play with three and go to press then they will be late in pressing the wing backs.” Just simple things to be fair...’
It is a release from what has been an extraordinary and difficult year. Benitez was planning to return to China to coach Dalian Pro when coronavirus emerged in January 2020. He and his squad were stuck in limbo in a training camp in Spain for two months while the Chinese authorities attempted to reorganise the season but were not allowing incoming travel.
When they did get back, Benitez, as a foreigner, had to quarantine. With multiple trips between China and the UK, he has had four bouts of quarantine in the past year. At one stage he was stuck in Hong Kong for 50 days, a month of which was under strict quarantine in a hotel room. And when he was unable to enter China because his visa had expired, he oversaw training via video links in his Hong Kong hotel room.
He now has time with his family but does not regret his Chinese experience which was hugely well paid. But the pandemic and a change to funding rules imposed by the Chinese FA last year meant that the project he was hired to oversee did not exist any more. For all parties, it was best to end it, though Benitez remains in touch with the bosses at Dalian, offering informal advice.
BUT he will not be globe trotting again for a while. When he works again he hopes it is in England. It is unlikely to be at Newcastle, though, despite his iconic status at the club. The disconnect between manager and owner Mike Ashley came to dominate his three years at St James’ Park, where fans adored him while Ashley and his executives appeared to endure him, at best. Benitez loves the club, but there is no prospect of a return with Ashley in charge. ‘It was an amazing time and an amazing experience and I suffered with the fans because they deserved more.
‘Some people, some pundits say: “Oh, they [fans] ask for too much”. No, they are a city behind the team, they deserve something. I wish them all the best. I want them to stay up. I said so many times, they have to be united, even at this difficult time, it is the only way to stay up.’
Benitez sees his future in the Premier League or one of the major European leagues. ‘The priority is England because I like the Premier League and my family is here. But I want to compete. Or to have a project which will allow you to go closer and then try to compete. If not, I would like to stay in Europe.’
Offers have come in from the United Arab Emirates, USA,
Brazil and China. ‘But I want to stay in Europe and I want to stay in England,’ he says.
‘If it’s the right one in England, we can do it tomorrow. But which is the right one? The project, the competitive team, it’s not there at t h e moment so we have to wait. I would like to wait for one or two months to find the right one. But I want to be on the pitch as soon as possible.’ With as much money as you could ever want, a CV
which boasts trophies in the Champions League, La Liga, the World Club Cup, the Europa League, UEFA Cup, FA Cup, Coppa Italia and the Championship, you might be tempted to take the foot off the pedal. But Benitez, 60, may not rest until he has added a Premier League title to that list.
Ironically, given their rivalry, he cites Sir Alex Ferguson and Jupp Heynckes, who won the treble at 68 with Bayern Munich, and Mircea Lucescu, managing Dynamo Kiev at 75, as role models.
‘I want to be sure that I continue improving players and competing with a chance to win,’ says Benitez. ‘I know that you cannot win with Newcastle against Manchester City. You play 10 games, you will lose normally nine. But I want to be sure I can win this one, if we do the right things. I want to be sure I can see the players improving.’
He takes pride in all his proteges, none more so than Steven Gerrard, enjoying his first league title win as a manager at Rangers. ‘Firstly, congratulations Steve! He has done really well this season. He is in the right path to be a good manager. Now he has to be consistent and, from what I can hear from him, he is doing well. He will have difficult times and good times, the way that he reacts will be the key to his future success.’
BENITEZ was famously hard on Gerrard as a manager but only, he maintains, because Gerrard had extra special talent. Gerrard recently conceded that now as a manager he better understood that perspective, which pleases Benitez immensely.
The Champions League final will be in Istanbul. Liverpool are finding their level in Europe and face the possibility of Chelsea in the semi-finals. Could Benitez’s most famous triumph of 2005 in the Turkish capital be repeated?
‘For sure,’ he says. ‘Liverpool have the potential and the manager, it’s not a problem.
‘City for me are still favourites to win. Liverpool-Real Madrid it depends on the moment. Both teams can be good because Liverpool have the quality, structure and players coming back from injuries. They can compete against Real Madrid, no doubt.’
Yet he issues a word of warning gleaned from his time as Real Madrid manager, an indication of the priorities of that club.
One of the club captains told him not to worry too much about the league form in the first half of the season. ‘We have to be ready in February for the Champions League,’ the player said. The implication was clear: the real business starts now. And Benitez is itching to be involved again.