Rafa Benitez says he wants to improve the Real Madrid team but it will be difficult to do so and again dismissed claims he is a defensive Coach.
Benitez was on Wednesday confirmed as Carlo Ancelotti’s successor on a three-year contract after leaving Napoli.
He was welcomed to Madrid by President Florentino Perez as a man of the club and in an appearance on Al Primer Toque, spoke about what it means to return to Santiago Bernabeu.
“I’m excited because after many years of hard work I’ve returned to Madrid to train the first team and it’s a great satisfaction,” he said, AS reports.
“I’m here with all the excitement and enthusiasm in the world. When my agent told me Real Madrid was a possibility I was the happiest man in the world. It was a surprise, because I was focused on my team.
“I didn’t think this wasn’t going to happen because when I spoke with Florentino before, when I was at Liverpool, the honesty and discretion was very much appreciated.”
Benitez was asked for his impressions of the squad he has inherited, specifically the choice between Iker Casillas and Keylor Navas.
“Coaches are eternally dissatisfied, everything can be improved, although it’s difficult to improve on what is already here,” he acknowledged.
“We’re already talking about possible transfers, but we have to know what we have. For me, Navas is also a great goalkeeper.”
Benitez, in his first Press conference as Madrid Coach, batted away the suggestion he is defensively-minded, and the topic was raised again here.
“It doesn’t bother me when people say that. At Liverpool, for example, we scored 199 goals,” he argued.
“If a team has quality in attack they have to be attack-minded. Everything depends on the team you have available.
“I just like to win. When I don’t I change my approach. The key is to get the team to be competitive in every match and competition, so I know I will enjoy this year a lot.
“I’d rather be on a team so good that achieves great things than at other clubs, where, even if you do it well, your work goes unnoticed.”
