Rafael Benitez won’t hold back as Blues bid to rule the world

 
Simon Johnson13 December 2012

Rafael Benitez says he will prove he is taking the Fifa Club World Cup seriously by fielding his strongest team for Chelsea’s semi-final against Monterrey tomorrow.

Benitez has been in charge for just three weeks since replacing Roberto di Matteo but has a chance to make history by guiding the club to the trophy for the first time.

Chelsea play the Mexican side in Yokohama, Japan, tomorrow morning English time with the winners going on to face Corinthians, of Brazil, on Sunday.

It has been suggested that the tournament is an inconvenience to Chelsea and that it means more to Monterrey and Corinthians to come out on top.

But when asked whether he would field a team of youngsters tomorrow, Benitez (above) said: “No, I intend to win. I’ll pick players to win the first game. You cannot think about the final until you’ve won the semi-final.

“Monterrey are a good team who can play the passing game and move the ball easily but at the same time they can play more direct. It will be an interesting test for us, we need to manage the tempo of the game and see if they can match us physically. They can change tactics, their shape and play different formations, so the coach is doing a good job.”

Chelsea have started to show some signs of improvement under the former Liverpool coach after winning their last two games, scoring nine goals in the process.

Benitez believes he is starting to make an impact and added: “We’ve tried to change little things, things we could improve. Tactically we’ve tried to be more compact and press high.

“When you change manager, players want to prove that they should be picked for every game and that’s been the situation. In the last two games we’ve played much better, created more chances and that’s good for the confidence of the players.”

However, Benitez remains a target of abuse from the club’s fans, who are still seething that he replaced Di Matteo, who took them to the Champions League in May. But Gary Cahill is confident that securing the Club World Cup will help convince them he is the right man for the job.

The defender said: “Everyone wants to win trophies. If that’s the case I’m sure he will win people over. The only way you can do that is by getting results.

“Defensively, as a team, we’ve tightened up which has given us a platform to build from. It was hard for him to get all his points across at first because he was playing games every couple of days but now the lads are fully aware of what strategy he’s come up with and what’s expected of them. It’s working well at the moment.

“Robbie [di Matteo] was fantastic and the club had a great period of success under him but it’s the way football is.

“As players you just have to keep working. You’re not in control of other things. You keep your head down and work hard. It’s a good distraction for us to come to Japan. It’s a fantastic trophy to win and can help us kick on for the second half of the season.

“We’ve got some Brazilians in our squad and it’s absolutely huge for them.

“It’s sunk in how big it is and we want to do well in it now.”

Midfielder Juan Mata insists winning the competition will also be key for the club to challenge Manchester United in the title race.

They could be 16 points behind Sir Alex Ferguson’s side by the time they play their next League game against Aston Villa on December 23.

But when asked what impact being crowned Club World Cup champions could have on their campaign, he said: “It will be perfect. We know December is a crucial month for English teams. We are playing a lot of games in the Premier League and are now in Japan but if we win this trophy it will be a big step forward for the rest of the season. We have never won this and will try to add it to our trophy cabinet.”

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