Rafa Benitez has claimed that some players are still struggling to come to terms with the club’s reduced status.
The Chronicle reports that Benitez is concerned that confidence is an issue in the squad. The manager said:
“[Lack of confidence] may be affecting some players and that’s why we aren’t playing at the level we can play.
“Some players have enough quality to play well. It’s not just about the Championship being difficult but this team have enough quality to play better.
“We were expecting a lot of teams coming here and playing the same way. It’s not what they do, it’s what we do.”
It’s a problem Rafa has to solve quickly which is very difficult. Back – to – back defeats is the worst possible start to the season and beyond the imagination of most us during pre-season. Yesterday certainly, was deemed a home banker.
Things have turned out that way and we need to get the first win before it becomes a millstone around the squad’s neck.
And more crucially, before the number of defeats racked up puts paid to any ambitions of finishing in the automatic promotion places. With another 44 games to go, there is time to put things right but we need to start getting points on the board.
