' RAFAEL BENITEZ ADMITS '

Rafael Benitez admits it was not easy for Newcastle United's Aleksandar Mitrovic against Cardiff City

BBC Radio Newcastle

Sunday 6th November 2016


http://www.annisabraham.co.uk/2016/11/0 ... ez-admits/


Newcastle United boss Rafael Benitez has told BBC Radio Newcastle that Aleksandar Mitrovic was given a tough challenge by Cardiff City yesterday.

Mitrovic was selected to start for Newcastle ahead of Dwight Gayle against Cardiff, after what has been a fine run of form.


And although the Serbian international was not able to hit the back of the net in the match, Benitez was still pleased with the forward’s performance.

“It was not easy for him today, because the two centre-backs are quite big,” Benitez said. “But he was fighting and creating space and chances for those around him. He did well.”

Prior to Newcastle’s game against Cardiff, Mitrovic had scored four goals in his last two matches.



Newcastle scored their goals against Cardiff through Christian Atsu and Yoan Gouffran, to establish a 2-0 lead in the contest.

However, the Bluebirds hit back to set up a nervy finish, when Peter Whittingham found the back of the net.

Newcastle did manage to hold on to the three points, though, as they strengthened their position at the top of the Championship table.



The Magpies now have an eight point advantage over third placed Huddersfield Town, and look near certainties to claim an automatic promotion spot.

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So we didn't make it easy for him?

tw*t.

Also moaning about how the ref let too many challenges go -FFS!

For the first hour we didn't get within five yards of any of their players at any time let alone put in a challenge. For the last 30 minutes we at last started snapping into challenges and putting their players under pressure and they didn't like it and neither did the fat Spanish waiter.

I was disappointed with how we played for the first hour - we knew they would start quickly and yet we gave away a sloppy goal after two minutes and the second goal they just walked through us. We looked all over the place, short of confidence and almost like Trollope was still in charge of the team and we looked scared of them.

Yet after about an hour, something clicked and we really started taking the game to them, putting them under pressure when they were in possession and not giving them the time on the ball we had been happy to let them have in the first half. Then it was a different game as we started to create some decent chances wasted by Noone and Lambert.

Why on earth we didn't play the whole game like we played the last 30 minutes? Even then we should have had a penalty after Morrison was garroted in the penalty area and on the basis of the last 30 minutes, a draw would probably have been a fair result.

Was amazed to see Whitts as the most forward player a few times when he came on, even ahead of Chamakh.

What does he think teams will do, give his little sweet hearts an easy game? f*cking moaning tw*t!

Geordie in peace,

I don't think what Rafa said was a complaint. I think it was just an assessment, Mitrovic had a tough game because of the size and physicality of your centrebacks, he still had a good game and he'll benefit from facing a variety of challenges from the opposition defence.

The standard of refereeing in this league is shocking, mind. Brentford could/should have had a penalty in their last game against us, Brighton should have faced a penalty yesterday, and your consolation came after a handball. And those are just the recent examples, all season Newcastle fans have been baffled at the terrible standard of officiating. Not just the big decisions, but stupid stuff like where a throw-in should be taken from, what's a foul throw, if it's a goal kick or a corner.

Geordie in peace,

I don't think what Rafa said was a complaint. I think it was just an assessment, Mitrovic had a tough game because of the size and physicality of your centrebacks, he still had a good game and he'll benefit from facing a variety of challenges from the opposition defence.

The standard of refereeing in this league is shocking, mind. Brentford could/should have had a penalty in their last game against us, Brighton should have faced a penalty yesterday, and your consolation came after a handball. And those are just the recent examples, all season Newcastle fans have been baffled at the terrible standard of officiating. Not just the big decisions, but stupid stuff like where a throw-in should be taken from, what's a foul throw, if it's a goal kick or a corner.

Greetings Mr The Fish,

You are very welcome and congratulations on your win yesterday - welcome to the world of appalling officiating known as the Championship. It's terrible week in week out I'm afraid and when you think of the possible consequences of poor decisions when the difference between getting promoted or not can rest on such small margins it's positively scary!

Your manager was moaning about the "physical" side of our game As mentioned in my post we got nowhere near your players in the first half yesterday and it's a source of frustration to some of our fans that we rarely put pressure on the opposition when they have possession, allowing them to proceed virtually unchallenged until they reach our box - for both of your goals yesterday not one meaningful attempt was made to tackle your players before the ball hit the net!

So we were delighted when during the second half we started at last to put your talented team under a bit if pressure. Did Benitez honestly think that we were just going to stand there watching your players have fun all game? We've tried the "possession" game and the patient build up and the playing it on the floor method under our previous manager and look at where that's got us!

From my vantage point halfway to the moon in the away end, I could see nothing wrong with our "aggressive" approach which began to pose some questions of your team and upset your Champions League winning manager. He has to realise that the Championship is different to the Premier League and that dealing with what he believes to be "aggressive" play is something he has to deal with. Any team managed by our current manager isn't just going to lie down to have it's tummy tickled whilst being over-run.

You had enough chances yesterday particularly in the first half to have buried us - we had enough chances in the second half to put you at risk of drawing or even losing the game.

You'll be going up this season and you'll deserve it - you have by far the best squad in this division (thank god Gayle stayed on the bench yesterday!), you have an amazing level of support, you have the ability to spend tens of millions of pounds in January if your manager feels he needs to and yet he moans about an "aggressive" approach from a team that is currently scrapping for every point to try to get away from their current precarious position.

Good luck for the rest of the season (except the return in Cardiff of course ) and enjoy a season where you'll win far more than you lose for a change. Rafa's real challenge will be when you get back to the Premier League next season.



ps - I don't think our goal was a "consolation". A consolation is a goal when you are completely out of the game. We were right back in the game when we scored and could well have nicked a point late on.

Geordie in peace,

I don't think what Rafa said was a complaint. I think it was just an assessment, Mitrovic had a tough game because of the size and physicality of your centrebacks, he still had a good game and he'll benefit from facing a variety of challenges from the opposition defence.

The standard of refereeing in this league is shocking, mind. Brentford could/should have had a penalty in their last game against us, Brighton should have faced a penalty yesterday, and your consolation came after a handball. And those are just the recent examples, all season Newcastle fans have been baffled at the terrible standard of officiating. Not just the big decisions, but stupid stuff like where a throw-in should be taken from, what's a foul throw, if it's a goal kick or a corner.

Didn't notice it at the time, but apparently Chamack played it with the top of his shoulder, which is not handball.

Geordie in peace,

I don't think what Rafa said was a complaint. I think it was just an assessment, Mitrovic had a tough game because of the size and physicality of your centrebacks, he still had a good game and he'll benefit from facing a variety of challenges from the opposition defence.

The standard of refereeing in this league is shocking, mind. Brentford could/should have had a penalty in their last game against us, Brighton should have faced a penalty yesterday, and your consolation came after a handball. And those are just the recent examples, all season Newcastle fans have been baffled at the terrible standard of officiating. Not just the big decisions, but stupid stuff like where a throw-in should be taken from, what's a foul throw, if it's a goal kick or a corner.

Didn't notice it at the time, but apparently Chamack played it with the top of his shoulder, which is not handball.

Greetings Mr The Fish,

You are very welcome and congratulations on your win yesterday - welcome to the world of appalling officiating known as the Championship. It's terrible week in week out I'm afraid and when you think of the possible consequences of poor decisions when the difference between getting promoted or not can rest on such small margins it's positively scary!

Your manager was moaning about the "physical" side of our game As mentioned in my post we got nowhere near your players in the first half yesterday and it's a source of frustration to some of our fans that we rarely put pressure on the opposition when they have possession, allowing them to proceed virtually unchallenged until they reach our box - for both of your goals yesterday not one meaningful attempt was made to tackle your players before the ball hit the net!

So we were delighted when during the second half we started at last to put your talented team under a bit if pressure. Did Benitez honestly think that we were just going to stand there watching your players have fun all game? We've tried the "possession" game and the patient build up and the playing it on the floor method under our previous manager and look at where that's got us!

From my vantage point halfway to the moon in the away end, I could see nothing wrong with our "aggressive" approach which began to pose some questions of your team and upset your Champions League winning manager. He has to realise that the Championship is different to the Premier League and that dealing with what he believes to be "aggressive" play is something he has to deal with. Any team managed by our current manager isn't just going to lie down to have it's tummy tickled whilst being over-run.

You had enough chances yesterday particularly in the first half to have buried us - we had enough chances in the second half to put you at risk of drawing or even losing the game.

You'll be going up this season and you'll deserve it - you have by far the best squad in this division (thank god Gayle stayed on the bench yesterday!), you have an amazing level of support, you have the ability to spend tens of millions of pounds in January if your manager feels he needs to and yet he moans about an "aggressive" approach from a team that is currently scrapping for every point to try to get away from their current precarious position.

Good luck for the rest of the season (except the return in Cardiff of course ) and enjoy a season where you'll win far more than you lose for a change. Rafa's real challenge will be when you get back to the Premier League next season.



ps - I don't think our goal was a "consolation". A consolation is a goal when you are completely out of the game. We were right back in the game when we scored and could well have nicked a point late on.

I honestly don't read it as a complaint, just an assessment. Most teams have ratcheted up the aggression when trying to stop us and it's a valid approach. It makes sense to try and level the playing field. It's up to us to deal with that, not moan about it.

Mind you, I've seen quite a few salty reactions from opposition fans after we've played them, the worst being Preston so far. Apparently we bought the ref, bought the league, dive and didn't deserve the win. As much as we shouldn't moan about teams getting stuck-in, it'd be nice if (like yourself) the opposition fans are reasonable and don't conjure excuses for our win.

Didn't notice it at the time, but apparently Chamack played it with the top of his shoulder, which is not handball.

Doesn't look like his shoulder to me, looks like he's controlling it with his arm.

Didn't notice it at the time, but apparently Chamack played it with the top of his shoulder, which is not handball.

Doesn't look like his shoulder to me, looks like he's controlling it with his arm.

He's got massive shoulders. The ref was poor for both teams, no mention of the challenge on Morrison, or the small decisions like corners. We should of had 1 at our end but by the reaction of your crowd we shouldn't have when Hoilett tried to play the ball off a defender and we were given a corner, hard to see when your sat on the moon.

He's got massive shoulders. The ref was poor for both teams, no mention of the challenge on Morrison, or the small decisions like corners. We should of had 1 at our end but by the reaction of your crowd we shouldn't have when Hoilett tried to play the ball off a defender and we were given a corner, hard to see when your sat on the moon.

I absolutely agree that the refereeing was poor, and that that's been the case in nigh on every fixture. It's not just the missed decisions, it's the inconsistency.