Jamie Carragher believes that there is ‘no chance’ Newcastle will go down under Rafa Benitez this season, but has warned fans to ‘enjoy him while he’s here’, suggesting the Spaniard will not be at the club for long.
Speaking last night on Sky Sports’ Monday night football, the Liverpool legend, who played under Benitez for several years at Anfield, commented on Rafa’s situation at Newcastle, admitting he does not expect him to stay on Tyneside too much longer:
“If I’m being totally honest, I don’t expect to see Rafa Benitez at Newcastle over a sustained, long period of time,”
“I think eventually something will happen with him and the owner and unfortunately for Newcastle this is not going to be a happy and long marriage.
“So enjoy it while he’s here.”
Whilst this is a rather bleak outlook from the former defender and current Sky pundit, Carragher did later suggest that Newcastle would not go down this season, claiming that Benitez will make it too difficult for opposing teams with his ‘pragmatic’ style.
Carragher then commented on the players at Rafa’s disposal, singling out NUFC new boy Joselu, suggesting players like him will stop Benitez from turning the club into a force to be reckoned with:
“You can’t turn Newcastle into a force if you’re buying players like Joselu, who was a squad player at Stoke who Newcastle are probably going to rival this season, maybe in the bottom half of the table,”
Probably a fair assessment from Carragher, although a little unfair to single out Joselu so early in his Newcastle career.
Unfortunately, the truth hurts sometimes, however I’d love to see him proved wrong regarding Rafa’s longevity at the club. We can only hope.
