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Why Rafa Benitez is the man for Aston Villa

With the news that Villa are close to naming their new manager, here’s my take on the right man for the job. Bear with me, I’m doing this for the first time.

Steve Mclaren. Roberto Martinez. Owen Coyle. Mark Hughes. David Moyes. All names that have been mooted as Villa’s next manager. These are all men that in their own different ways deserve respect for their managerial achievements. A common factor binds them, however. A lack of success.

Success is a term incapable of a “one-size fits all” definition. For fans of Wigan, Martinez succeeded last year. Bolton fans will have seen an improvement in the style of their team’s play: success for Coyle. Mark Hughes took Fulham higher in the league last year than dear old Roy could manage. Success of sorts.

But when I speak of success in this context, I speak of what every Villa fan craves…tangible success. Trophies. For years Villa fans have seen their side rise and fall with the same inevitability as the tide, teasing them with success before cruelly withdrawing it. We’ve seen progress, the phantom “success” of numerous sixth place finishes, trips to Wembley for runners-up medals. What we haven’t seen is silverware.

This is where a name that I deliberately omitted from my list above comes in: Rafa Benitez. He will always have his critics – we cannot forget that the man signed Andrey Voronin and David N’Gog. Error.

Yes, he spent a lot of money at Liverpool. But what else did he do? He brought them the holy grail: SUCCESS. Not success of the Birmingham City variety, but Champions League and F.A. Cup victories. Certain managers have that ability to produce victory when on the biggest stage, when it really matters. They have the ability to outmanoeuvre their counterpart tactically, and to produce a team that finds a way to win. Benitez is one of them.

Let’s not forget, either, that the Houllier-Benitez succession is a tried and tested formula. At Liverpool, Houllier set the wheels of improvement in motion, and Benitez propelled them to the next level. When he took over at Liverpool, they were 5th in the league, and not dissimilar to the Villa side of today. He left them with two major trophies (and the European Super Cup), a second-place finish in the league, and memories that will never be forgotten. He’s also stated, rather blatantly, that he craves a return to English football. Unlike Hughes, he can start straight away.

From a footballing standpoint, I also believe he’s a highly astute tactician. This Villa side has talent, speed and no little technique. What the team lacked under O’Neill, and continue to lack, is a “Plan-B” – a touch of tactical genius to sway the course of a game. The emerging young players also need a man who commands respect and can teach them the finer points of the game, whilst instilling in them a real desire to win things. Rafa Benitez is that man. Get him in. (For the record, by the way, Steve McLaren is not.)

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