Benitez: Focus on players, not on the touchline battles
RAFA Benitez says only players can emerge as heroes from Newcastle United’s clash with runaway league leaders Manchester City.
The visitors are undefeated in 19 Premier League games this season, winning an incredible 18 of those and scoring 60 goals.
Off the pitch, the former Real Madrid boss will go up against ex-Barcelona chief Pep Guardiola in a clash of tactics and styles.
Yet Benitez feels the clash is a real opportunity for his players to grab the headlines and end City’s superb run of form.
He said: “The problem is we talk about managers but we really need to talk about teams and players.
“You can prepare the best tactics in the world and still you can lose.
“Sometimes it depends on the players, in fact the majority of the game depends on the players, they make the difference.
“So we enjoyed the win at West Ham for a couple of days but now have to prepare for the next game in the best way possible.
“Is it difficult? Yes. Is it possible to win?
“Also yes, because that is football, but we will see.
“We are the first team they will play against for a few days so we will see if we can beat them.” United’s squad is already feeling the strain of the festive fixture list, Mikel Merino and Isaac Hayden sidelined for the 3-2 win at London Stadium. With another game to come before the year is out, Benitez was asked if he will rest bodies for the potentially more winnable game with Brighton. He added: “We will try to win with the best team available for this game.” Some fans already believe Newcastle will park the bus against City and try to catch Guardiola’s side on the break. Benitez said: “To be fair, the games we could not win we were so close. “It is not just at West Ham we did good counter-attacks but we knew West Ham needed to win because they played at home against a team in the bottom three. “So they needed to attack and leave spaces and we knew it could be like that. “Everything we were talking about we did well, so I don’t think other teams will necessarily be in the same way. “Man City, though, will be totally different.”