Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2004 1:40 pmBenitez inherited a very good team at Valencia but he also inherited a very difficult situation where Mendieta (at that time probably the best player in Europe), Claudio Lopez and Kily Gonzalez all were departing or about to depart.
He also had a problem in so far as some of the mainstays of Hector Cuper's team, such as Angloma and Carboni were advanced in years and about to retire.
Benitez worked wonders with Valencia, taking them the extra mile to the Spanish Championship.
His second season was disasterous, but he proved his metal by sorting out the problems and winning La Liga and the UEFA cup last year. That is the real quality of the man in my opinion: it wasn't all plain sailing at Valencia and he had to dig himself out of a hole when the team hit the wall after a brilliant debut year.
I also remember (in hindsight) that his Tenerife team were very competive for such a small club during his tenure although I did not know at the time who Benitez was.
The situation at Liverpool is different. We are historically a far bigger club than Valencia and even though Valencia occasionally buy big (such as their two Italian signings this summer) overall they are not in our league financially. However, the bones of a great side was already there when Benitez took over and he fine tuned the side to almost perfection. Had he taken over Liverpool, say two years ago, he would have been in a similar situation to that of Valencia as Liverpool in 2002 were a coming team and prior to that summer Gerrard Houllier had done a wonderful job. However, in the two years since that the team deterioated to an alarming degree and while Benitez has a lot of building blocks at his disposal, he is essentially planning to build an entirely new side.
That takes time.
Arsene Wenger pulled off a miracle by turning a plodding Arsenal side into Champions within 18 months, but he had a solid base of a world class back four and an excellent centre forward in Denis Bergkamp. What the Gunners needed was a change of approach and a new midfield and Wenger performed the impossible by getting EVERYTHING right in a short period of time.
Benitez doesn't have that luxury. He has inherited some very good players from Houllier, and like Arsenal he needs to change the approach and midfield, but he also has problems in defence and up front.
The environment has also changed. Wenger really only had a decent Man UTD side to contend with (Newcastle and Liverpool were never contenders) whereas Benitez has arguably the best English side in a generation in Arsenal ahead of him, a weakening but still powerful Man UTD and the unprecedented financial muscle of Chelsea.
It will take time for this club to sort itself out and unless we get a cash injection of Abramovich proportions and a bit of luck, there is no quick fix. Even in the best case scenario where Benitez works wonders and builds a Championship winning team, we are talking about 2 or 3 years before we claim the trophy.
However, I understand fans frustration as they want to avoid another Houllier situation. Houllier was ultimately the wrong man for the job and several powers that be in the upper echelons of the club were dealt a severe lesson. It is well known that Robinson and Moores courted Houllier from the early Graeme Souness days and it was Moores (and later Parry's) pride that stood in the way of making a harsh decision 18 months ago.
Benitez needs time to sort the side out, and he must succeed, but I think that the board, for all their failings, may have finally made the right decision in hiring him.
All I worry about is that maybe the decision was made too late, as Arsenal look like they can dominate for years, Chelsea will eventually buy the title and Man UTD will surely get their act together again.
He also had a problem in so far as some of the mainstays of Hector Cuper's team, such as Angloma and Carboni were advanced in years and about to retire.
Benitez worked wonders with Valencia, taking them the extra mile to the Spanish Championship.
His second season was disasterous, but he proved his metal by sorting out the problems and winning La Liga and the UEFA cup last year. That is the real quality of the man in my opinion: it wasn't all plain sailing at Valencia and he had to dig himself out of a hole when the team hit the wall after a brilliant debut year.
I also remember (in hindsight) that his Tenerife team were very competive for such a small club during his tenure although I did not know at the time who Benitez was.
The situation at Liverpool is different. We are historically a far bigger club than Valencia and even though Valencia occasionally buy big (such as their two Italian signings this summer) overall they are not in our league financially. However, the bones of a great side was already there when Benitez took over and he fine tuned the side to almost perfection. Had he taken over Liverpool, say two years ago, he would have been in a similar situation to that of Valencia as Liverpool in 2002 were a coming team and prior to that summer Gerrard Houllier had done a wonderful job. However, in the two years since that the team deterioated to an alarming degree and while Benitez has a lot of building blocks at his disposal, he is essentially planning to build an entirely new side.
That takes time.
Arsene Wenger pulled off a miracle by turning a plodding Arsenal side into Champions within 18 months, but he had a solid base of a world class back four and an excellent centre forward in Denis Bergkamp. What the Gunners needed was a change of approach and a new midfield and Wenger performed the impossible by getting EVERYTHING right in a short period of time.
Benitez doesn't have that luxury. He has inherited some very good players from Houllier, and like Arsenal he needs to change the approach and midfield, but he also has problems in defence and up front.
The environment has also changed. Wenger really only had a decent Man UTD side to contend with (Newcastle and Liverpool were never contenders) whereas Benitez has arguably the best English side in a generation in Arsenal ahead of him, a weakening but still powerful Man UTD and the unprecedented financial muscle of Chelsea.
It will take time for this club to sort itself out and unless we get a cash injection of Abramovich proportions and a bit of luck, there is no quick fix. Even in the best case scenario where Benitez works wonders and builds a Championship winning team, we are talking about 2 or 3 years before we claim the trophy.
However, I understand fans frustration as they want to avoid another Houllier situation. Houllier was ultimately the wrong man for the job and several powers that be in the upper echelons of the club were dealt a severe lesson. It is well known that Robinson and Moores courted Houllier from the early Graeme Souness days and it was Moores (and later Parry's) pride that stood in the way of making a harsh decision 18 months ago.
Benitez needs time to sort the side out, and he must succeed, but I think that the board, for all their failings, may have finally made the right decision in hiring him.
All I worry about is that maybe the decision was made too late, as Arsenal look like they can dominate for years, Chelsea will eventually buy the title and Man UTD will surely get their act together again.
.
