Confidence, arrogance and the 'Rafa Benitez Problem'

There’s a spanner in the works; someone is not playing ‘the game’. The man in question seems quiet, reserved and astute, yet has a unique ability to get under peoples’ skin. The man I’m talking about is, of course, Rafael Benitez, manager of Liverpool FC.

What fascinates me is why this quiet man from Madrid seems to provoke such a strong reaction from people. To attempt to understand this, it’s necessary to take a brief look at his background.

Born and raised in Madrid, Rafa has had a love of football and tactics all his life. With injury forcing an early retirement, the young Rafael never quite made it to the top with Real Madrid. However, he returned to the game very quickly, earned his coaching badges and returned to Madrid to begin his eventful career in management.

During his time as youth team coach at Real Madrid, Benitez allegedly had quite a few run-ins with certain fat cats at the Bernabéu. One reported instance involves his refusal to play a member of his youth squad simply because Jorgé Valdano insisted he played him; clearly an early example of a run in with authority, instances of which would occur later in his career.

After deciding Real Madrid was not offering him the requisite opportunities, Rafa (unsuccessfully) tried his hand at first team management, with spells at Real Valladolid and Osasuna, both of which culminated in swift sackings. Rafa’s fortunes thereafter, but I’ll pick that up again a bit later on.

Many writers, pundits, TV ‘experts’ and fans seem to have a continual problem with Rafa, and part of that is his personality. He seems to be perceived as a bullish individual who excels in stubbornness. However, if we look at his professional past, we can see he’s had a hard route to the top.

Working right up through the ranks at Real Madrid, we can see that Rafa spent a lot of time having to answer to other people. The Valdano incident, coupled with an overwhelmingly frustrating time at Madrid will have set a fire raging inside Benitez, which I imagine is the motivation behind his relentless pursuit of perfection.

With his work-rate and drive, it seems that Rafa feels he has something to prove. He’s taken a few knocks to his professional pride in his time and, in my opinion, it shows in his attitude towards those who judge him, which includes the press, hierarchy and the fans.

Rafa is always reluctant to give anything away and seems to mistrust those he does not know personally. Consequently, he’s gained few fans within the powerful and persuasive media, with many fans lapping up the hype, which inevitably has a detrimental effect on vital public opinion.

On a couple of occasions in his tenure, the Liverpool manager has made thinly veiled swipes at certain TV pundits, including as Paul Merson, Charlie Nicholas and Matt Le Tissier. The problem is that too many fans tend to believe what they hear and do not look at the facts themselves.

The truth is that the aforementioned ‘experts’ are no more of an expert than any other Joe Bloggs at the ground. I may be giving my opinion in this article but I certainly would never consider myself to know more about the game than someone such as Rafa.

A prime example: On Sky TV recently. Paul Merson stated that Glen Johnson was the worst signing of the summer (!), with Michael Owen being the best. Not that I’m questioning Merson’s credentials as a manager (at which he failed by the way), but exactly what are his credentials for commenting on Liverpool or Rafael Benitez? You can almost guarantee that the majority of pundits making statements like this have never spoken to Rafael Benitez and certainly don’t study our games.

In another example, Tony Cascarino argued in his Times column last week that “full backs don’t win you leagues”. Well Tony, no they don’t; teams win leagues, but full-backs can be an integral part of a successful team. Clearly, Cascarino never bothered to watch Glen Johnson win a penalty for Liverpool against Tottenham and then take apart Stoke City a couple of days later, but there you go. This is how a non-media friendly manager ends up getting short shrift from pundits who quite simply don’t understand him.

The second most aggravating part of Rafa seems to be his confidence. A lot of people don’t seem to understand his methods or from where this confidence comes. However, a back into Rafa’s past reveals some answers. Basically, after his two unsuccessful spells at Osasuna and Valladolid, Rafa began his upward curve.

At both Extremadura and Tenerife, he gained promotion to La Liga and forged a partnership with Pako Ayesteran along the way. His abilities were noticed by Valencia, who - in the eyes of the Spanish press - took a gamble on him.

In 2004 Rafa was named UEFA Manager of the Year after guiding Valencia to a UEFA Cup and La Liga double. He’d cracked the monopoly of Real Madrid and Barcelona and made history in the process. On the continent, Rafa was now considered to be one of the world’s best coaches.

As is commonplace in Rafa’s managerial career, boardroom trouble was rife, Rafa felt betrayed by the board and felt as though they were not backing him. Rick Parry, in a rare moment of genius, pounced.

We don’t need to dwell too much on what happened in 2005, but Rafa ended up with another UEFA Manager of the Year award. A year later he brought the FA Cup back to Liverpool.

So, the real reason Rafa seems to have this confident air about himself is obvious; Two Segunda Division Promotions, two La Liga titles, a UEFA Cup, a Champions League, an FA Cup and a number of other finals.

He also revolutionised Liverpool FC both on and off the pitch and provided regular league improvements along the way, so we can clearly see he has good cause for his confidence.

But why does this seem to irritate people? I have to say the basic answer seems to be ignorance, the all too common enemy of the educated football fan. Too many people seem to see Rafa as this free spending, foreign, fumbling fool.

If that truly is the case, then I can guarantee that at the end of it all, the only person laughing will be Rafa. Indeed, I’m sure he won’t mind people underestimating him, a mistake too many managers from the so called ‘European giants’ seemed to make. Only two players remain from the Istanbul squad - this shows us that Rafa has no room for sentiment, which is essential for a great manager, and I truly believe Rafa fits that description.

The cheeky smirk and misrepresented attitude we see so often on TV is both Rafa’s downfall and his greatest weapon. Behind it lies genius, I’m sure of it. A man who relishes battling against the odds, obsessed with the game and blessed with success.

The misconception of arrogance may well be a feeding ground for ignorance in the media and in the stands but one thing’s for sure, those people who have a problem with Rafa are missing the point. Big time.

Once he wins the league - which I’m sure he will - what will there be left to throw at him? Last year Liverpool were a two man team, Gerrard and Torre; now Alonso has gone we were suddenly a 3 man team.

I’ve heard all the nonsense before and it’ll probably never leave us, because I don’t imagine Rafa will change his public image, but I know that I wouldn’t trade the man in for any other manager in the world!

The people who have a problem with Rafa should be safe in the knowledge of one thing - their problem is not Rafa’s problem.