da gbg bet： Newcastle fans are lauding Rafael Benitez again, as one important statistic shows exactly why he set up so negatively against the big boys this season.
da dobrowin： It’s been a common criticism of bottom half teams in recent years. All too often they play the “big six” and set up with eleven men behind the ball, just waiting for the final whistle to blow with the score at 0-0.
Rafa Benitez seemed to come under particularly intense criticism this season, especially in the Magpies’ narrow defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool.
Newcastle are having the last laugh now though, as they have the best goal difference in the bottom half of the table, which could have proved vital to survival had results not gone their way in recent weeks.
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The difference between many other managers and Benitez is they often don’t make any effort to win the match, whereas Benitez clearly has a deliberate plan to steal three points – make 75 minutes as boring as possible, then make a game of it in the last 15 minutes.
This approach was particularly evident in the 1-0 loss to Manchester City in December, when Newcastle could have easily grabbed a goal or two in the closing stages.
Benitez was heavily criticised for setting up so negatively in that match, and now the Toon Army are enjoying saying “I told you so”, as Newcastle are the only team in the bottom half with a goal difference better than -10.
Some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…