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Benitez Will Leave A Lasting Legacy At ChelseaAlthough Rafa Benitez has only spent six months at Chelsea, Paul Little believes the interim manager will leave a lasting legacy in ending the influence of the old guard...
Last Updated: 07/05/13 at 11:52
Despite the fact that Rafael Benitez felt his 'interim manager' title was a mistake - even a personal slight - the very temporary nature of his role may well have played a crucial part in driving the club through a difficult period of transition. Critically, imposing an experienced and successful manager with such a strong sense of self on the club, while also removing from him any power over the future of the playing squad, has helped Chelsea make overdue personnel changes on the field of play and break unhealthy player power off it.
Benitez's 'don't waste your bile and time on me, I'm going anyway' message to fans delivered so memorably at Middlesbrough in February could just as well have been directed at certain members of the playing staff. Players who had become more and more powerful in the fabric of the club as manager after manager was shown the door. Constants in a volatile environment, they were also some of the club's greatest ever representatives - legends in their own playing careers, revered by paying customers and increasingly feared by managerial fodder. By the time Andres Villas-Boas arrived to try and take the club in a different direction, this cadre of footballers truly had the power to make or break the manager.
If they didn't fancy you, they wouldn't play for you and they would counsel (internally and externally) against you. Young AVB - a serious threat to their cabal - felt the full force of their displeasure. His inexperience, combined with player intransigence and the lack of support from those above him, saw the 35-year-old driven from the club just nine months into a three-year contract for threatening to upset the old order.
His replacement, the more pliable Roberto Di Matteo, was much more to the players' liking. Free to do as they pleased, the power brokers switched off from Premier League duty and went in search of cup glory. That they won both the FA Cup and the Holy Grail is certainly to their credit - but the fact that they could no longer compete over a full league season suggested that their influence on the field no longer matched the power off it. A sixth-place finish in the Premier League showed that serious change was required, and Di Matteo, the players' friend, was not the man to deliver it.
With Roman Abramovich apparently setting his long-term sights on Pep Guardiola - the likes of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar the apparent bait - he needed someone to temporarily fill the breach until the summer. Benitez, on the lookout for work and redemption, took the job. His later railing at the interim title, when surely he knew the score, may suggest that the Spaniard doubted that Guardiola would come and thought that if he performed well, he might get the hot seat long-term.
An unrealistic hope perhaps, but Benitez has managed as if he were there for the long haul. After all, the easiest thing to do would have been to play the likes of Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and John Terry in every game and glide into the summer before making a quick getaway. Instead, Benitez has made waves and has played a fundamental role in breaking their grip on power. Rafa's Chelsea is New Chelsea, built round David Luiz, Ramires, Mata and Hazard. His selections reflect Chelsea's future and not their past.Without any sentimental ties to the club or the players, Benitez was well-placed to do what Chelsea had needed for some time. The old guard still may have roles to play, but they can no longer dictate the terms.
So whether it was by accident or design, the temporary appointment of Benitez should prove to be a positive for the club. And whether or not Chelsea experience glory in Amsterdam and/or a top-four finish, the Spaniard will still leave a lasting legacy - the long, overdue and essential groundwork to a brighter, more competitive future.
Paul Little
http://www.football365.com/f365-says/8697162/Rafa-Will-Leave-A-Lasting-Legacy...
