EPL: Rafa Benitez defends his tactics in 2-1 defeat to Chelsea

Newcastle manager, Rafa Benitez, has defended his tactics in their 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Sunday.

Sky Sports pundit, Jamie Redknapp, said the Magpies’ defensive approach was “hard to watch” and said their performance let down the home supporters as they had just 19% possession.

But Benitez, who was criticised after using a similar approach against Manchester City last season, insisted he was only doing the best with the players he had available.

“When I was with Liverpool we beat Real Madrid 4-0 at home, we were offensive.

“When I was at Napoli, I was offensive, attacking all the time. When I am Newcastle United, I have to manage. I have what I have.

“I like to play with five strikers, if I can. In all my life, we have to be organised, playing attacking football and to score more goals than the others.

“I like to be organised defensively, but now, again, I was watching teams yesterday playing 5-4-1 and it’s said they are great tacticians because someone has an opinion on TV. I was watching and I don’t agree with some decisions, as a manager you have to make your own decisions.

“A long time ago, Barcelona had 80 per cent against 20 per cent and they lost the game. The stats are just for the TV. Yesterday at Wolves, Man City had 71 per cent possession and didn’t win.

“We had six players out of the team: [Javier] Manquillo, Jamaal [Lascelles] and Jonjo [Shelvey] were injured, Kenedy couldn’t play (as he’s on loan from Chelsea) and [Isaac] Hayden was suspended. You have to do what you have to do. That’s it,” he told Sky Sports after the game.

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