Give Rafa proper backing and he won’t be tempted by Arsenal, he could even take the Toon above them
IT was no surprise to hear Rafa Benitez touted as the next Arsenal manager after his Newcastle side inflicted the latest defeat on the onceInvincibles.
Even less surprising to hear Arsenal-friendly voices impersonate West Ham fans whenever they’re linked with a pragmatic coach by dismissing it out of hand because he doesn’t play their ‘way’.
People like Paul Merson, who said: “Arsenal fans want to see entertaining football... they want to see teams who go out to win football matches.”
Which presumably is why Gooners are currently packing out the Emirates at every opportunity to see all that winning football played with effortless flair which has left them 14 points off the top four.
Or why large sections of the fan base are so enthused by Wenger they wouldn’t dream of swapping him for a coach who can organise a defence, has actually won a Champions League, and who brags two of the current semi-finalists on his CV.
Micky Quinn was laughed at on talkSPORT when he said he’d been told Benitez didn’t want to leave the North East because he believes that, given the right backing, he could take Newcastle above Arsenal.
But is that statement so laughable? A Chelsea defeat at Turf Moor tonight will move Burnley into the top six, a point ahead of Arsenal. That’s a club that, as I mentioned last week, has an annual £34million wage bill, or what Arsenal will pay Mesut Ozil over the next two years.
If Burnley were to get that win, and stay sixth until the season’s end, it would surely be the biggest indicator yet of the paralysis at the top of Arsenal.
Instead of debating whether Benitez is good enough to go there, maybe we should be asking if he’s good enough to challenge Arsenal for next season’s European places.
Looking at what he’s achieved with limited spending at a club mired in civil war, you’d have to say that given the £100million budget he is entitled to expect, he’d stand a good chance.
The improvement since January transfer deadline day when he finally got loan reinforcements in the three positions he’d been crying out for since promotion – goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, winger Kenedy and striker Islam Slimani – has been remarkable, with 17 points taken from a possible 24.
He’s proved, by coaxing huge improvements from the likes of Ayoze Perez, Jamaal Lascelles and Jonjo Shelvey and instilling a collective solidity across the team, that he’s still an elite coach.
With Premier League safety
Benitez has proved that he is still an elite coach
assured, Benitez has started to lay down his marker, telling Spanish radio that “in principle” he is relaxed about his Newcastle future but “everything has to be right” for him to sign a new deal. In reality, after three transfer windows in which he’s been badly let down, he wants cast-iron reassurances.
He won’t tolerate a summer like the last one when a huge transfer kitty was promised but never delivered, as they missed out on targets such as Tammy Abraham and Willy Caballero. This time he holds all the cards.
I know Mike Ashley doesn’t own a magpie-themed alarm clock, but the revival in both his club’s and his manager’s fortunes should be the wake-up call for him to give Benitez everything he wants: big investment in the team and the training ground, and an overhaul of the academy.
Because that is the only way he’s going to keep a proven coach that big clubs will surely be circling this summer.
The only way his club stands a chance of challenging the likes of Arsenal.