Tony Cascarino claims Rafa Benitez will sort out Chelsea's problems

Posted Thursday, November 22, 2012 by BBC.com

Tony Cascarino claims Rafa Benitez will help Chelsea turn their defensive problems around – when he’s appointed Blues chief.

Roberto Di Matteo was sacked on Wednesday morning following a disappointing 3-0 defeat to
Juventus in the Champions League, which puts their participation in the knockout stages of the competition in doubt.

The west London side have conceded 29 goals already this season in all competitions and former Stamford Bridge favourite Cascarino believes that poor defensive was Di Matteo’s ultimate downfall.

“People are saying that Fernando Torres being left out was the reason why Di Matteo lost his job,” he told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show. “But if you’re going to select centre-halves who are not doing their jobs then you are going to concede goals.

“The manager is paid to sort that out. He has to find a solution. When I saw Chelsea were
playing without a centre-forward I thought that’s OK because they’re playing a style that will
create a moment of magic from Oscar or Eden Hazard. You’re only going to get one moment of magic though and you’re going to need to keep a clean sheet.

“You can see that, when looking over the last few games, that was not going to be possible. Chelsea lost 3-0 but it could have easily been five or six.

“That is a big problem for a manager. It was inevitable this would happen if you’re going to lose games in that manner.”

Former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is the bookies' favourite to land the post on a short-term basis and Cascarino believes he’s the right man for the job.

“Rafa Benitez will get the Chelsea job,” he added. “That was nearly the case last time around. It won’t appease most Chelsea fans, but he is hugely respected in football. His first job is to sort out the back four and stop the team conceding goals.”