Indeed.
Difference with Benitez was that he was tactically astute whereas Brendan, quite frankly, isn't.
If Brendan had managed the 05 team Rafa had to manage, we'd have taken a nosedive toward the bottom half of the table.
Rafa had his signings slated on a number of occasions. I was never too easy on him myself, but something that was quite apparent was his ability to get the best out of some of the players he had signed.
By no means were the likes of Pennant, Kuyt, Bellamy or Crouch exciting players to watch, but Rafa had a system, he worked on it, and in return came some fantastic results. Frustrating was Benitez's managerial style, but he knew how to scrape out victories.
Brendan on the other hand is a complete novice. What's his resume? Youth coach at Chelsea, manager at Reading and Swansea, manager of Liverpool. Benitez had won the La Liga and Uefa Cup with Valencia before arriving here. We were clearly appointing a very intelligent manager with a proven record.
Yes Brendan nearly did win us the PL last season, but what inevitably cost us was our inability to break down the bus Chelsea had parked. That was the first real test of Brendan's managerial skills, and it showed how utterly one dimensional we were.
Brendan is still a young manager mind you, but he is going to make mistakes and tons of them. This is the 2nd real test of Brendan's managerial career. In May we can look back and see just how resilient he was.
First big big test of character for Brendan. Last season we witnessed him getting formations, team selections and tactics wrong early on but he never hesitated to have a slice of humble pie and change things. This season the humble pie has been left intact in the refrigerator. He seems a more stubborn manager now.
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