Rafa: Utd are four too good

Posted Monday, April 01, 2013 by The Sun

Rafa: Utd are four too good
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RAFA BENITEZ says Chelsea have been left chasing Manchester United’s shadow by Fergie’s Fab Four.

But the interim Blues boss insists he has the quality in his squad to end United’s Wembley dream in today’s FA Cup quarter-final replay.

Beleaguered Benitez insists the only difference between his struggling team and champions-elect United lies in the strikers.

For while Alex Ferguson has been spoilt for choice up front with Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck, Benitez has only had Demba Ba and, er, Fernando Torres to lead the line.

United’s awesome foursome have already scored 58 times this season — 59 if you include Van Persie’s deflected winner at Sunderland on Saturday.

Compare that with the 19 Chelsea goals scored by Torres and Ba and it is easy to see why Benitez feels his squad has been distinctly second best.

Benitez said: “The reason United are top is because they have a strong squad so they can leave players out and still win their games.

“Just analyse the four strikers they have and compare that to the fact we only have two. All four of their strikers are at a good level and they have been scoring goals all season.

“For the first half of the season Chelsea had only Fernando Torres so that was obviously a problem.

“Since January we have also had Demba Ba and he has given us another option.

“But he cannot play in the Europa League so that is still difficult.

“We have offensive players with enough quality to create chances but in some positions it has not been easy to find the balance and play so many games.”

Torres, Britain’s most expensive footballer with just two goals all year, is likely to be back on the bench for this afternoon’s FA Cup showdown after another half-hearted display in Saturday’s damaging 2-1 defeat at Southampton.

Yet Benitez is convinced his team still has enough to see off United after fighting back from 2-0 down at Old Trafford three weeks ago to force a replay.

He said: “United are at the top but we were much better than them in the first game.

“On our day, we can beat anyone and it’ll be a real boost for everyone at the club if we can win this match.

“If you win a game like this, everyone will be happy and it’d give us more confidence and belief for the rest of the season.

“We are stronger than a lot of teams. We can still play very good football and compete against anyone.

“But it’s not easy when you’re playing two or three games a week as we’ve been doing the past four months.

“So considering the situation we have, I think we are doing well.”

Ba, Eden Hazard, Ashley Cole (right), David Luiz and Ramires are all set to return today after being rested at St Mary’s on Saturday.

And Benitez is optimistic Juan Mata will also have recovered from a virus to play United. But he insists it is not just the physical demands of a 70-game season which has left Chelsea so far behind rivals United.

He said: “Chelsea is a team in transition with a new boss and a lot of new players.

“United have had the same boss for years and 80 per cent of their squad is the same. They had a pre-season together so the majority of the players know what their manager wants them to do.
Chelsea are changing because they’ve brought in some good young players but they still need to settle down and be consistent.

“That only comes when you know the league, the refs, your rivals and team-mates. So it’s a question of time for Chelsea.

“You can talk about strategy and philosophy of having one boss for a long time or a number of changing managers, but Chelsea has won as many trophies as United in recent years.

“You’re talking about two top sides with good players. So for Chelsea the aim is to be more consistent.”