Benitez has become a victim of his own success.
People expect miracles year in year out......because he is gulity as charged for winning a Champions League with a squad that had no right to even be making the knock-out phase...let alone turning over Juventus and AC Milan!
Our current league position is realistic if you consider the following:-
Manchester United - A squad expensively assembled and built up over a long period of time without wholesale changes.
Arsenal - Excellent pass and move football and players signed specifically to play this kind of football.
Chelsea - Bottomless pit of money thrown at building a team that should be winning the Prem every year without question.
Mourinho was ousted at Chelsea for failing in a job that was infallible.
How on earth can he fail to win the Premiership three seasons on the trot having spent such ludicrous amounts of money buying whoever he likes???
Not winning the Champions League once at Chelsea and being gazzumped twice by a team in two semi-finals that was built on a incompairable 'shoestring'
Mourinho was playing fantasy football with an unlimited budget and still failed to beat other teams that were not even able to compete in the same financial playing field.
As an ex-footballer....I believed in my own ability and nothing my manager told me would make me feel any differently. The manager can give instructions and bark orders from the touchline but the only person that can make a footballer perform is himself.
The 'puppet on a string' footballer is a myth and people who have played the game at a reasonable level will acknowledge this.
We are currently lacking hunger in the squad and that may have something to do with what is going on behind the scenes..but maybe it doesn't.
Our biggest failing is not having the 'killer instinct' to finish a game off by getting the second, third or fourth goal etc....when it is needed.
Things take time to find the right blend of players to compliment eachother and sometimes players are brought in that don't have the desired effect.
How long is Skrtel going to be given by the supporters before they are baying for his blood?.....a few games maximum going by some of the shite that you read on this forum! One mistake and they will be calling him a flop and a failure!
If the lad does well from the off in his Liverpool career I think we are going to see a quick change in the way we set out our stall.
Defending higher up the pitch would be possible with an Agger/Skrtel centre defensive pairing and this will give us much better shape.
Manchester United and Arsenal don't concede many goals and this is largely due to the fact that they are extremely pacey at the back and rarely get caught out by long balls or balls being played through the centre as they are quick enough to track back.
Their centre halves are also commanding in the air and can play a bit of football too.
Benitez has addressed this issue in my opinion by the Skrtel signing and this should make us even more tight at the back but also allow us to attack more as a unit.
People are upset about the contribution of Voronin and Kuyt.....imagine how pig sick you would be as a Chelsea supporter knowing that Shevchenko is possibly worse than either of them and cost cost £30,000,000 for the priviledge!
I do feel that in this transfer window a new striker would be beneficial just to give us something a little different and to compliment Torres.
Kuyt, Voronin and Crouch are all lacking a bit in the 'pace' department and someone with Premiership experience would be our best bet in my opinion.
Robbie Keane would suit us down to the ground I think!
