Rafa: We can beat
RAFA Benitez does not fear Newcastle United’s hazardous winter fixture list – because he reckons his team of Premier League rookies can beat anyone on their day.
That is the upbeat message Benitez gave to his players at the training ground this week as he attempted to lift spirits and keep the players confident and anxiety-free following a damaging couple of games. Benitez told his stars: 1. We have had a good start and we’re all in it together; 2. We will get better if we stick to our plan; 3. Don’t worry about our tough games, we can beat ANYONE and; 4. To ignore criticism of individuals and to concentrate on the team.
United have racked up 14 points from their first eleven games – EIGHT more than they had managed in the first 11 games of the Steve McClaren Premier League season, which is the last time they were in the top flight.
The caveat to that is that United have only played two of last season’s top four so far this season – and are yet to play any of the top six away from home yet.
McClaren’s men racked up 13 points from the equivalent fixtures in the year that went down – which paints a confusing picture of how to assess what feels like a solid start to United’s campaign.
On the plus side, they look more organised, compact and defensively drilled than at any point in the last decade or so.
Newcastle’s defensive record is the fifth best in the division – only bettered by Spurs, Manchester United, Manchester City and Burnley.
But there are justifiable concerns over their goalscoring capabilities: their ten goals this season put them 13th in the top flight and three of them were scored in one game against West Ham.
Benitez retains an air of calm about proceedings and has told his players not to worry too much about the ups and downs they will encounter this season – because they are a “young team” who are learning to find their feet in the Premier League.
After the stat about their different Premier League starts was put to him, Benitez said: “Every year is different.
“People compare the stats year on year and it’s fine. Maybe you see a tendency about how difficult the league is or how many points you need.
“But in this case the Premier League is getting stronger and stronger so maybe we have done even better to get those points?
“Listen: I know we have to play against all the top sides before the end of this part of the season.
That is why I have said before ‘In January, we will know where we are’.
“I’m sure we will be stronger in terms of the understanding between players and how we will do things in the second half of the league but you can be really good against the top sides and still lose.”
Benitez has spent the last week trying to calm down fears that United’s back-toback defeats are a sign that they will struggle in the mid-winter.
He knows the team requires reinforcements and is more than aware of their shortcomings, which have partly contributed to losing tight games against Burnley and Bournemouth before the interna- tional break. But there is no prospect of him changing his approach, ripping up the blueprint that he formulated before the season started to trying to completely alter the way the team play to fit in certain players.
Instead he sees salvation in working on the training ground and attempting to find “positive” solutions through meticulous planning for the tough fixtures that are coming up.
“The main thing is to get the points and to realise that when you make mistakes – like we did the other day –we have to find solutions,” he said.
“Me? I have the confidence that we will do it but the players have to too.
“I said to the players the other day ‘Listen, if we are at the bottom of the table we still have to stay calm and keep working hard because we have shown already we can beat anyone.’
“We are a young team, learning and the way that we work I am confident that we will do even better.”
With attention focused elsewhere United have been working hard on the