“The hackneyed theory of self-criticism is populism” | Relevo
Celta’s third defeat in just eight days at Balaidos reignited the Vigo fans in the stands. “Benitez, leave now“there was a unanimous chant from a fan who, just like he did in the cup knockout match against Real Sociedad“, he pointed out to the Madrid coach once again. This Sunday’s defeat to Girona, the eleventh in 22 games, This greatly touched Celta, who could end the day in the relegation positions.
“It’s important for me to focus on how I can get the team to perform, and that’s what I’m focused on.“, a serious Rafa Benitez replied into the Movistar microphone when asked if he understood the fans’ anger.
“I came to Celta with a three-year project. Professional trainer working 12 hours a day. dI want this project to end well. The group is convinced that this can be changed. We fought against an opponent who is the leader of La Liga. Whether we like it or not, the team is fighting,” Benitez said when asked if he was ready to negotiate his departure from the club.
Rafa Benitez on his future at Celta de Vigo:
🗨️ “A professional trainer working 12 hours a day, coming to a three-year project, wants the project to be a success.” pic.twitter.com/0i062nvayN
— Relay (@relevo) January 28, 2024
As for the whistles and chants he heard from the stands, the former Liverpool player chose not to pay attention to it. “It’s always easier to get cracked when you’re not winning. What you need to do is think about supporting the team.. Not knowing about the signings. We will be stronger,” said Benitez, who repeated several times that the last three defeats were to a champion team like Real Sociedad and La Liga leaders Girona. “We had the clearest chances against a team that is playing well. . “The team has clear chances, we must take advantage of them and not concede the way we missed.”
As the questions continued from the stands, the coach seemed to become even more fired up. “How many people are in the stands? The stand is very general. Maybe five people, 500 or 5000. I’m a professional coach, I know my players and I make the changes that I think I need to make for the team to win.“.
Asked if there was a lot of self-criticism behind closed doors, Benitez became more serious. “I’ve been working there for many years. Whenever something doesn’t work, there’s this hackneyed theory of self-criticism… which is very simple. I can’t come here and say everything we did wrong. It would be very easy. My job is to analyze it, make the players understand it and put it into practice (…) Self-criticism is very easy, but I have been hearing it for 30 years. I have to analyze games and show them to my players so they can correct mistakes. I could be wrong, but sometimes players correct mistakes and sometimes they don’t. I’m not here to blame anyone, I’m here to monitor the team’s performance.“.
And that influenced what the team needed. “Unity of all until the end, because we will have fewer problems. Until the final days of last season, people needed people to support us. We know there are many games where we deserved more and I’m not going to get into a debate. If we had six or eight more points, would we have more or less confidence? we would have more. The hackneyed theory of self-criticism is populism. We do it internally to try to fix it. We are looking for solutions internally.”
