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Rafa Benitez is the only manager to have won the Champions League, Club World Cup, UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup. Now, though, he faces his biggest test as a manager: the Championship.
I feel like I need to explain what I mean by "challenge." Most elite managers don't challenge themselves really. Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola are not "challenging themselves" by moving to Manchester. Sure, they will experience problems, but at those clubs the solution is usually "throw money at it until it goes away." That's not a challenge.
Taking a terribly-run club from the Championship to the Premier League and staying there with a limited budget? That's a challenge.
Here's a snippet from The Run of Play (the post in question is about Football Manager, but so what), which we think explains Benitez's decision to stay at Newcastle:
I almost always start out with a weak club when I launch a new FM career, because honestly, it’s the only way to find a challenge even remotely worthy of my excellence. If I managed Arsenal, I’d wind up transcending the physical universe and achieving a radiant spiritual synthesis, and the new Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie doesn’t even come out till August. So I’m basically looking for the also-rans, the losers, the small, troubled, sentimental favorites: Go Ahead Eagles, say, or Merthyr Tydfil, or, if I really want to suffer, Newcastle United.
Rafa Benitez must really want to suffer. Or, he really wants to test himself as a manager. Managing a team that already has a Champions League final-caliber roster is way easier than managing a team with Jonjo Shelvey, Giorginio Wijnaldum and some lads the front office staff found at a pub.
Maybe Rafa Benitez thinks of his career as one big football manager save. One of the best things about football manager is the autonomy. Every decision is yours and yours alone. Maybe Benitez wants that.
From The Guardian:
“The love I could feel from the fans was a big influence in my decision,” said the former Champions League winner, who started the season that just ended as manager of Real Madrid.
“This is a huge club and I wanted to be part of the great future I can see for Newcastle United. I’m convinced we can go up next season, stay in the Premier League for a long time and win trophies. This is a massive club and I want to stay part of it.”
Benítez’s refusal to activate the break clause in the three-year contract he signed when he succeeded Steve McClaren in March has not only startled large swathes of the football world but represents a major coup for Mike Ashley, the Newcastle owner, and Lee Charnley, the club’s managing director.
If Benitez pulls this off, it will be more impressive than Pep Guardiola's Manchester City retaining 78 percent possession and winning the Champions League. It will be more impressive than Jose Mourinho luring Zlatan to Manchester United and wreaking holy havoc on the Premier League.
What this will be, if Benitez pulls it off, is what real coaching is about: molding a club in his own image, then taking them to places they thought they couldn't go.
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus
