[lfc-news] IN DEPTH WITH RAFA BENITEZ

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page
http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/2_TolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

IN DEPTH WITH RAFA BENITEZ
http://www.leaguemanagers.com/news/news-5131.html?LMAS=af7e9297175a679598d914a0bafef522
Rafael Benitez was born in Spain, one month before the Champion Clubs’ Cup
Final on 1960, when Real Madrid CF beat Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 to win
their fifth consecutive European title. Years later, Rafa played for Real’s
youth team before becoming a coach at the club as a developer of young
talents. From 1993 to 1995 he managed the Real Madrid B team, and then went
‘solo’ at Real Valladolid CF, although this didn’t not last long. After a
short stay at CA Osasuna, he gained promotion from the second division with
CF Extremadura and went on to coach successfully at CD Tenerife before
settling at Valencia CF, the, club where he became internationally
recognised by winning the Spanish League and the UEFA Cup.

In 2004, Rafa moved to Liverpool and in his first season captured the UEFA
Champions League to become one of the few coaches to win the UEFA Cup and
UEFA Champions League with different clubs. (Jose Mourinho, of course, won
both cups with the same club FC Porto – UEFA Cup in 2003 and UEFA Champions
League in 2004.) At the beginning of this season, Rafa won the UEFA Super
Cup to add another trophy to his CV. Today the Liverpool boss is the
undisputed champion of Europe and an outstanding representative of the
Spanish School of Coaching.

What were the key steps which you took to become a top-level coach?
Even as a teenager I was interested in football teams and I took notes and
made assessments. Later, I studied physical education and over a three year
period went through the three levels of the Spanish FA coaching programme.
For ten years I trained youth teams and the reserves at Real Madrid
although I was not on the full-time staff. As the assistant of the second
team, I found myself training two different teams, one in the morning and
one in the afternoon, and working every day as a coach, writing reports or
watching matches. After three months of this I decided it was time to be a
professional coach and the President offered me a contract. When you are at
Real Madrid you are protected from many pressures, but when you go to
another club as the coach you are on your own, and you find yourself
dealing with many other problems like business, money, agents, etc. My
first two experiences as a head coach, at Real Valladolid CF and CA
Osasuna, did not work out and both clubs sacked me. I changed my agent and
continued to develop my football knowledge by visiting Italy, Brazil and
England. I watched Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello at work and spoke to
many managers about their methods. Then I returned to the front line with
CF Extremadura, had success there in the second division, and went on to
become head coach at CD Tenerife and then, in 2001, joined Valencia CF.

Who were your biggest influences on your coaching career?
The best team that I saw when I was developing as a young coach was
Sacchi’s great side at Milan. But it is impossible to repeat what others
have done – you can be influenced, but you must try to do something
yourself. Yes, Arrigo Sacchi, the coach was a big influence.

What have been the main differences between coaching in Spain and in England?
Language is of course the first difference and that is difficult to deal
with. In Spain, you have more pressure from the board, and the journalists
are different because they are constantly present, constantly reporting
every detail. In England, media attention is concentrated around the games.

How would you describe your coaching philosophy?
When I think of myself as a coach, the first thing I would say is that I am
a worker. I have a very good staff and every day we ask: Why this? Why
that? We are always questioning, always looking for new solutions, new ways
to proceed. We pay attention to all the details. Regarding football
philosophy; in Spain there are two considerations: Firstly, the short
passing game or the long passing style? Secondly, to win or to perform
well? I think you can play both styles of play, short and long. Our
approach is to play well and win. It is important to have control over the
situations in the game. If a team plays deep against you, you may need to
circulate the ball; when you are being pressurised, sometimes the long ball
is the answer. To know what to do in each situation is the key. I am very
pragmatic in my coaching work.

What do you emphasise in training?
The first priority is to improve defensive tactical play because this is
less complicated than the attacking side and is important for success. The
most important thing for me is to be organised. I work a lot on patterns of
play and, of course, as the statistics prove, counter-attacks and set-plays
are very important. When we talk about set-plays, I agree with Sir Alex
Ferguson that delivery is everything.

Do you do the coaching yourself or do you delegate it to other members of
staff?
This is another difference between Spain and England when we talk about
coaching. In Spain, you must do your job on the pitch, coaching the players
in tactical work or working with your physical trainer and other members of
staff. You must be there every day on the field. In England, you can give
responsibility to your people because you may have to deal with agents, the
board or a player. You need to have confidence in your staff to carry out
the general work, but I am always there to deal with the tactical training.
Some members of my staff have been with me for eight or nine years and they
know my philosophy and the way I work. But I also have an assistant, Alex
Miller, who was at Liverpool before me and he knows the mentality of the
players and the philosophy of the club.

What were the important features of your Valencia team which won the UEFA Cup?
It was a team that worked very hard and had been together for three years.
We were therefore able to talk about where, how and when to do the
pressing. They know what to do and we could change tactics quickly. We used
a lot of players by rotating the squad and this proved successful because
we won the League and the UEFA Cup. This was a team which understood our
style and what we were trying to do.

Unsubscribe: lfc-news-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
http://www.lfc-list.org.uk/

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lfc-news/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
lfc-news-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/