A man without the Charisma of Mourinho, the credibility of Ancelotti or the homeliness of Di matteo.
Benitez, who is unpopular with Chelsea fans because of his time as Liverpool manager, will take charge of his first game against Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Am still wondering how a person who was rejected at Anfield became so desperately needed at Stamford Bridge, which goes to explain the popular saying "The stone rejected by the builders have become the corner stone" but this time definitely not on the same construction site.
The 52-year-old has been out of work since he was fired by the then reigning European champions Inter Milan, just six months after replacing Jose Mourinho.
Born in Madrid, Benítez played football throughout his youth and joined the Real Madrid academy. He mixed his university studies with his football career at lower division Spanish teams. He joined Real Madrid's coaching staff at the age of 26, going on to work as the under 19 and reserve team coach, and assistant manager for the senior team. Benítez moved away from Real Madrid but management spells at Real Valladol and Osasuna were short-lived and unsuccessful.
Benítez guided Segunda Division side Extramadura back to the Primera Division in his first season in 1997, but the team was relegated the following season. He left the club, taking a brief break from football before returning to coach Tenerife in 2000. Benítez was appointed coach of Valencia and he proved himself to be amongst the top Spanish managers by winning La Liga in the 2001–02 season—Don Balón and El País named him Manager of the Year. In 2004, another league title and a UEFA CUP victory were added. However, a disagreement between Benítez and the club director over team investment caused the Spaniard to switch to English Premier League club Liverpool.
Benítez was a high achiever in his first season as he guided Liverpool to victory in the UEFA Champions League, the highest honour in European club football. In the following three seasons he won the FA Cup, amongst other honours, and reached the 2007 Champions League Final, but remained unable to win the Premier League, with Liverpool's best performance under Benítez a second place finish in 2008–09.
Despite Rafa Benitez good records at Liverpool he also guided the team to their worst run in 22 years combined with an exit from the Champions League at the group stages which led to the first major vocal criticism of Benítez by Liverpool fans. It was suggested that this Liverpool team was missing Benítez's characteristic defensive rigidness despite the fact that only Manchester United and Chelsea conceded fewer goals than Liverpool, and lacked the necessary depth to cope with injuries to key players such as Gerrard and Torres while Benítez's decision making was called into question.The club subsequently exited the Europa League at the hands of former Manchester United player Diego Forlán and his Atlético Madrid side, eliminating any hope of the consolation of a trophy.
Benítez left the club "by mutual consent" on 3 June 2010 with a reported £6m pay off;the media speculated that this was because the team had finished seventh in the Premier League missing out on the Champions League, and poor results such as the defeat by Wigan Athletic. Shortly after his departure from Anfield, Benítez made a £96,000 donation to the Hillsborough Family Support Group.
But now all that is History because Rafa has somehow found his way back to England and into the open arms of Roman Abramhovic.
Chelsea’s players are usually required to report for a light warm-down the day after a game, but Di Matteo gave them the day off after the Juve defeat. They will report for a 10.30am training session today and skipper John Terry, who is out with a knee injury, will introduce Benitez to the squad.
Crucially, he has assured Abramovich he can restore £50m misfit Fernando Torres to former glories. Benitez brought Torres to Anfield from Atletico Madrid in 2007 and the Spain striker once claimed he was the ‘most important coach of my career’In a statement issued shortly after 9am yesterday, it was all Chelsea could do to thank Di Matteo for his contribution, noting that he had only ‘helped’ guide the side to the greatest moment in the club’s history.
‘The team’s recent performances and results have not been good enough and the owner and the board felt a change was necessary now to keep the club moving in the right direction,’ said the statement.
‘The owner and the board would like to thank Roberto for all he has done for the club since taking over in March. Roberto helped guide us to an historic Champions League victory and a seventh FA Cup. We will never forget the huge contribution he has made and he will always be welcome at Stamford Bridge.’
Assistant manager Eddie Newton, an ally of Di Matteo, will be fired and Steve Holland is also expected to be sacked. Benitez, who guided Liverpool to Champions League glory in 2005 and a second European Cup final two years later, agreed to take the job after 72 hours of negotiations.
He has the European experience and pedigree that Abramovich demands, but he has been told his priority is to finish in the top four of the Premier League to guarantee Champions League football.
A Chelsea statement issued last night said: ‘The owner and the board believe that in Benitez we have a manager with significant experience at the highest level of football, who can come in and immediately help deliver our objectives. The two-time UEFA manager of the year comes with an outstanding pedigree.’
Benitez return to the premier league will no doubt bring in a different kind of flavour to the already tasty league, a return that will see him return to face familiar foes such as Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger and this will definitely steer up joy in the minds of the journalist who enjoy going for Benitez pre and post match press conference because there will always be something to write about in the papers.
Though a lot has changed since his departure from the league like the emergence of Man city as a force to be reckon with and the beautiful football being played by "lower" teams such as Swansea and Norwich, Benitez did not be told that he needs to give it his best shot at Chelsea if he wants to remain in the club come May 2013.
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