Ending Benitez's 'interim' reign - Is now the time to do it?

To all those Chelsea fans who feel they possess a virtue called patience (unlike the owner), please note that I have always been one to advocate ‘managerial stability’ for the club. For those with the school of thought that Rafa should continue till the end of the season, just to ensure some sort of stability, here are a few reasons for you to reconsider. As for those passionate “Rafa Out” preachers, this writer included, the following points certainly back up their demands!

Defiant attitude

He should have known what he was walking into. Already being an unpopular figure at Stamford Bridge, the hatred towards him reached soaring levels as he agreed to replace a club legend who had just been brutally sacked. Being only an ‘interim’ manager, it is easy to figure out that neither he, nor Chelsea fans, were ever willing to build any sort of a relationship. In spite of being the victim of passionate abuse and mutterings, he hasn’t done much good for himself either, has he?

As a manager, one of his key tasks is to inspire his squad and make them learn from the mistakes of the previous game. On the contrary, in most post-match interviews, he bemoans of a lack of depth in the squad given to him, and criticises his players.

“I asked the team to defend their half time lead, but the opposition played well and unsettled us, and ultimately equalised.”, “We couldn’t change the situation with Demba Ba. That looked like a penalty and a red card to me” , “we could have defended better, but possibly a lack of experience cost us.” – Just whom is he trying to fool here? I mean, when has Chelsea ever been a one man team reliant on Demba Ba? Does he consider the backline of Cech, Terry, Cole, Cahill and Ivanovic to be inexperienced, or not good enough?

In the midst of the comical sequence of results that Chelsea find themselves in, he has even talked up his chances by throwing his hat into the ring of suitors when his seat comes up for grabs in the summer. He must be kidding himself. No soul in Stamford Bridge would like to see him beyond this summer, and some like me are even calling out for his immediate sacking. As an interim manager, he has to take responsibility for immediate results only and not about long term issues, which he has not done so far. Instead, he prefers to talk about a situation which is still a good 4 months away.

Future possibilities aside, Rafa is also blinded on a day to day basis under a false sense of security. He claims that the owner is satisfied with the ‘progress’ (his understanding of the word clearly differs from fans) that he is making. Instead, the team is going backwards and he has blown two golden opportunities to lift a trophy. Even AVB got similar backing from the owner and the board, but eventually, did they really matter? Rafa has failed to grasp the obvious fact that at Chelsea, you either deliver immediately, or face the axe. Rafa feels he can still complete his term even with absolutely mediocre results, but sadly for him, that may not be the case.

Substitutions and Tactics

Substitutions and tactics employed are the major issues fans have with his reign. Here, let us have a game by game look at the substitutions made by Rafa and what else he could have done. We begin from the game where it all started going wrong – the League Cup semi final.

1) Chelsea 0 – 2 Swansea: In the League Cup game at home to Swansea, Fernando Torres was totally ineffective, but Rafa waited till the 80th minute to recognise this and replace him with Demba Ba. Ba made an instant impact as he scored a fine header within a few minutes which was wrongly ruled out for offside.

2) Chelsea 2-2 Southampton: Against the Saints, he withdrew Frank Lampard, again around the 80th minute mark, when Southampton had just equalized. Torres came on for him, and a reaction was expected – a two goal lead had just been wiped out, a midfielder (Lampard) came off to be replaced by a striker, and 2 upfront looked like a real possibility then. Instead, no change of formation was observed, and poor Fernando was asked to play on the left of the trio in a rigid 4-2-3-1.

3) Chelsea 2 -1 Arsenal: Having played with a flair missing since a long time in the first half on a snowy day and carrying a two goal lead into the second half, Chelsea meekly surrendered the momentum since the second half started, and got away with it. Ryan Bertrand came on for Oscar to provide cover for Cole on the left and the other substitutions were straight swaps.

4) Swansea 0 – 0 Chelsea: Chasing two goals with about 20 minutes left and defying all logic, Rafa threw on one centre-back for another by swapping Ivanovic for Luiz. Hazard’s sending off woke him up temporarily as he realised that his side still trailed by 2 goals with just 10 minutes left and introduced Torres for Oscar. Still, he employed only one centre forward in spite of having two on the pitch at that time. The next change came five minutes later, again a straight swap at left back – Bertrand on, for Cole, and the match dragged on towards a dull closure.

5) Brentford 2- 2 Chelsea: Marin went off for Mata at half time. Full credit to Rafa here. Later, trailing Brentford by a goal with 10 minutes left, he decided to bring on Azpilicueta in for Ivanovic at right back when throwing on his striker from the bench would have seemed like a better alternative. 3 minutes later, Ba got his chance. A minute later, he assisted Torres’ goal with his first few touches of the ball. This change, theoretically, should have been made much earlier.

6) Reading 2 -2 Chelsea: Looking to be well on course towards victory with just a few minutes to go, Juan Mata was replaced by Yossi Benayoun, while Demba Ba came on only in the dying seconds of the match after Reading scored an improbable equalizer. Straight swaps, and a late reaction. Again!

7) Newcastle United 3 – 2 Chelsea: Demba Ba had to be forced off due to injury and was replaced by Torres. What Rafa could have done here, was to give a chance to either Marko Marin or Cesar Azpilicueta. Instead, he forced his team to tire themselves and concede two late goals.

Ultimately, whenever the team loses or draws, he refuses to acknowledge his shortcomings. When has he ever spoken along the lines of “Maybe I could have made different changes” or “Maybe I could have made a substitution a little early”? Never. And when he does get it right, he comments as though he is a genius – “I brought on Juan Mata for Marko Marin and he changed the game completely.” I mean, is it rocket science to guess what kind of impact Juan Mata can have when he comes up against a League One side?

The next major issue is Oscar. It is a severe misjudgement on Benitez’s part in still not learning that he is not a sideline hugging winger. He is a CM / CAM who can also fill in as an inverted winger (one who plays on the opposite flank compared to the conventional winger, and cuts inside so that he can shoot accurately with his favoured foot). Oscar is wasted on the wing, in my opinion, as he lacks the strength to beat fullbacks. His vision, passing range, and shooting ability serve no purpose when he is stuck on the wing.

Then, there is the strange case of Marko Marin, an out and out winger. Marin has made only a handful of appearances as a substitute and when he has started, he has been substituted early. If given a consistent run of games, Marin can really shine in the position Oscar seems to be stuck with. In spite of this, we see Oscar starting in a position completely alien to him, whereas the perfect fit is left waiting on the bench.

Squad Depth

Some excuses he has given so far seem valid. For example, lack of depth in the squad. No Chelsea manager has ever had a role to play when it comes to transfer activity, so one can imagine how much influence an interim manager like Benitez could have had this January (thankfully as well, we do not want Ryan Babels and Albert Rieras here, do we?). True, they bought in Demba Ba in the summer, but another striker on loan and a centre back also seemed necessary. Instead, the club decided to send Lucas Piazon out on loan, when Mikel and Moses were already unavailable, owing to African Cup of Nations commitments. Squad depth thus stands as a valid excuse. The other factors like tiredness are direct consequences of this.

Final Call

Rafa’s excuse of squad depth seems valid, but in no way does it cover up his strange tactics. He makes substitutions too late, and when he does, they’re usually the wrong ones. Rafa may have won trophies with Valencia, but isn’t he also the one partly responsible for Liverpool‘s mid-table mediocrity? Wasn’t he the one who ruined Inter by turning them from Champions League winners into laughing stock in just 6 months? Rafa’s understanding seems outdated to me, and he is ready to change neither himself, nor his tactics. Some fans have also put forward a conspiracy theory that out of respect and loyalty towards Liverpool, he is only here to ruin Chelsea! Now, that seems too far-fetched to believe.

The Chelsea fans reading this, and others as well, can now express their opinion on Rafa here. Is Rafa’s ineptitude a good enough reason to sack him immediately and salvage this season? Or should he be allowed to complete his 7 month tenure no matter what and potentially risk Champions League qualification? The ‘Rafa Out’ movement is certain to be realised anyway, but should it happen immediately?

Hence, we finally arrive at the big question that has puzzled most fans for the past few weeks.