Rafa's team talk - Team talk in istanbul!
Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 7:09 pmThis might have been posted before but i just read it on the main site...
Rafael Benítez's half-time team talk in Istanbul. By the man himself...
"It was difficult, really difficult. We had a plan. We started the game, conceded the first goal and Harry Kewell was injured. OK, we needed to change the plan. Then we conceded the second goal and I was thinking about half-time, how to change the game. Right away we conceded the third. And now, I was thinking I needed to change my notes!
"I walked to the changing room, hearing all the fans, and I said to the players, 'We need to work hard for these people. If we score a goal, maybe things will change.' Then I decided to change the system. I said, 'Traore, get showered. And Didi [Hamann], get ready. We will play 3-4-2-1. This is the idea, OK? Come on, boys [claps]. Let's start working.'
"Then I turned and Steve Finnan was on the treatment table. And [physio] Dave Galley said we'd have to change Finnan in the second half. I thought, we've made one change, Smicer for Kewell in the first half. Now, Hamann for Traore and we need to change Finnan maybe in 20 minutes. So I said, 'Traore, you're back on. Finnan, get to the shower.' Finnan was disappointed, but Traore was ready.
"I went to the blackboard and I was thinking, OK, I've got Smicer as a right winger, but he's not the best getting back to defend and we've lost Finnan. So I said, 'We will use Cissé in attack, on the left.' But they said, 'Hang on, boss, we've got 12 players on the pitch.' Forget Cissé! I already had Luis García as a second striker, so I switched Gerrard to right-back.
“Then the physio said, 'We've got one minute to change things.' So we changed the players, but the system was the same: 3-4-2-1. We had good luck because we scored early. If we scored again soon, they would go down. We did and then we scored again. Shevchenko had that chance and we had a bit of good luck...but we had worked to get it. I always knew winning the Champions League would be difficult. But my idea is to think about games, not trophies."
12 players on at the one time
LEGENDARY!!!
Rafael Benítez's half-time team talk in Istanbul. By the man himself...
"It was difficult, really difficult. We had a plan. We started the game, conceded the first goal and Harry Kewell was injured. OK, we needed to change the plan. Then we conceded the second goal and I was thinking about half-time, how to change the game. Right away we conceded the third. And now, I was thinking I needed to change my notes!
"I walked to the changing room, hearing all the fans, and I said to the players, 'We need to work hard for these people. If we score a goal, maybe things will change.' Then I decided to change the system. I said, 'Traore, get showered. And Didi [Hamann], get ready. We will play 3-4-2-1. This is the idea, OK? Come on, boys [claps]. Let's start working.'
"Then I turned and Steve Finnan was on the treatment table. And [physio] Dave Galley said we'd have to change Finnan in the second half. I thought, we've made one change, Smicer for Kewell in the first half. Now, Hamann for Traore and we need to change Finnan maybe in 20 minutes. So I said, 'Traore, you're back on. Finnan, get to the shower.' Finnan was disappointed, but Traore was ready.
"I went to the blackboard and I was thinking, OK, I've got Smicer as a right winger, but he's not the best getting back to defend and we've lost Finnan. So I said, 'We will use Cissé in attack, on the left.' But they said, 'Hang on, boss, we've got 12 players on the pitch.' Forget Cissé! I already had Luis García as a second striker, so I switched Gerrard to right-back.
“Then the physio said, 'We've got one minute to change things.' So we changed the players, but the system was the same: 3-4-2-1. We had good luck because we scored early. If we scored again soon, they would go down. We did and then we scored again. Shevchenko had that chance and we had a bit of good luck...but we had worked to get it. I always knew winning the Champions League would be difficult. But my idea is to think about games, not trophies."
12 players on at the one time
LEGENDARY!!!
