COMMENT: Rafa BenÃtez must have breathed a huge sigh of relief on Monday evening when Real Madrid's president, Florentino Pérez, gave him the club's partial backing and stated that he would be left to work and bring the success the board feels that he can.
A 4-0 defeat for Los Merengues is always followed by an inquest, but at home and against arch-rivals FC Barcelona meant that this was going to require a full autopsy to find out exactly why it had happened and could well have led to him being asked to go.
48 hours before the former Chelsea coach was publicly shown support, the probing had begun, that with under an hour of the game gone, and the president, coach and players were all accused as Madrid went three goals behind with Lionel Messi yet to even appear for the visitors.
During the Monday press conference Pérez backed the coach but then stated there was a conspiracy against himself from those that wanted him gone. A clear deflection tactic, but fingers pointed at the president often see the president's finger point at the coach.
For BenÃtez it was a reprieve. Unpopular with the players, critical of his predecessor and tactically defensive are all accusations thrown at the man at the helm and, most perhaps most importantly of all, he is not Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian was well-liked with squad and fans alike and when it was announced that he had been sacked at the end of last term, Cristiano Ronaldo's public support for the trainer was a clear indication that the move was not welcomed within the squad.
BenÃtez may be liked by the team because he was brought in with the remit of not being Ancelotti. To impose discipline, break up the cliques and not pander to the star names.
Part of his plan to show who is in charge could also have been to field all the stars at once, despite his own reservations, just to show that when they all play there is dysfunction and a lack of team cohesion.
While Barça have their problems off the field, their continued success on it has meant that few followers of the Catalan club are unhappy and the players play with a unity and a lack of ego that Madrid have in abundance, led by Ronaldo; who may or not stay if the current coach is indeed kept on longer than next summer.
The players were also criticised for playing as individuals rather than a team with the most high-profile being singled out for special mention of not playing for each other. But the squad, as a whole, cannot be removed in times of trouble.
Current Chelsea boss José Mourinho will certainly sympathise with the man in the Madrid hot seat having been in a very similar position after a 5-0 reverse against Barça in his first season in charge of Los Merengues, but he survived and won the Spanish title the following year.
At Stamford Bridge BenÃtez was labelled 'the interim manager' with many knowing he was only holding the fort and that feeling is already beginning to creep up on him at the Bernabéu, but for now there is nobody attractive enough for the club to actively seek a replacement and for that he can, at least for now, be thankful.
Source: tribalfootball.com