As revealed by The Chronicle, Rafa Benitez has delivered an inspiring message to his NUFC players at the training ground over the past week, telling them we’re all in it together and can beat ANYONE on our day ahead of our tough run of winter fixtures.
After a superb start to the season, two defeats on the bounce to Burnley and Bournemouth has halted our momentum, seeing some unwanted negativity spread around St James’ Park over the past few weeks, making this brilliant message from Rafa all the more timely.
As stated by The Chronicle, here’s the message Benitez is believed to have got over to his players ahead of Saturday’s game against Man Utd following a tough few weeks:
– We have had a good start and we’re all in it together
– We will get better if we stick to our plan
– Don’t worry about our tough games, we can beat ANYONE
And:
– To ignore criticism of individuals and to concentrate on the team
A strong and suitable message from Rafa, who is clearly keen to keep his team confident and united ahead of a crucial period between now and Christmas.
Benitez is staying calm and appears to have told his players that ups and downs are to be expected this season – reiterating that his “young team” are still learning to find their feet in the top flight:
“Listen: I know we have to play against all the top sides before the end of this part of the season. That is why I have said before ‘In January, we will know where we are’. I’m sure we will be stronger in terms of the understanding between players and how we will do things in the second half of the league but you can be really good against the top sides and still lose.”
“The main thing is to get the points and to realise that when you make mistakes – like we did the other day – we have to find solutions,” he said.
“Me? I have the confidence that we will do it but the players have to too. I said to the players the other day ‘Listen, if we are at the bottom of the table we still have to stay calm and keep working hard because we have shown already we can beat anyone.’
“We are a young team, learning and the way that we work I am confident that we will do even better.”
Saturday’s trip to Old Trafford promises to pose our toughest test of the season so far.
Hopefully Benitez and the boys will stand up to it and put in a strong showing ahead of crucial clashes with Watford and West Brom that are set to follow later this month.
