It is not possession but clear chances which count - Benitez

RAFA Benitez has insisted he is doing things much differently to Newcastle United’s bad run of form earlier in the season.

The Toon boss operated with a 3-5-2 system at Huddersfield on Saturday and carved out a 1-0 win but Benitez says the formation is not too dissimilar to the tactics he operated with during the home defeats against Chelsea and Brighton. Back then Jamie Redknapp and Graeme Souness led the calls for Benitez to be criticised after a bad patch of form.

However, after beating Huddersfield, the Spaniard said: “It is not always about how.

“I am sure they (Huddersfield) will be disappointed because they lost.

“However, we had the same situation against Brighton when we lost after having 27 attempts.

“They were pushing and had possession but in this case I don’t think they had very clear chances.

“They pushed and did well but we did what we had to do, trying to do well on the counter-attack.”

For all the negativity surrounding the manner of the win at the John Smith’s Stadium and the fact Newcastle had just 24% of the possession, the Magpies still produced the best piece of football in the whole game.

Ayoze Perez played a great ball down the flank for Javier Manquillo, who slid a fine pass into the feet of Salomon Rondon before the South American fired home.

Benitez quipped: “It involved a lot of players but we had not been precise in the first half.

“We were much better in the second period and this type of goal means at least the players are listening to you!”