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Benitez comments hint Chelsea exit

By on February 27, 2013

Chelsea manager, Rafa Benitez, has hinted that he will leave the London based club when his current contract ends this summer.  The Spaniard was appointed Chelsea manager back in November, despite being unpopular with the Chelsea fans because of his success at Liverpool.  He almost won over the Chelsea fans minds when he won seven out of eight games in December, but once they lost 1-0 to the last place Queens Park Rangers in the English Premier League, the fans returned to protesting against his appointment.

He recently denied reports that he had lost control in the Chelsea dressing room after their 2-0 loss to Manchester City, but acknowledged that there was an “exchange of opinions”.

“You know, more or less, how things go (at Chelsea) in terms of what happens if you lose or win,” Benitez stated ahead of their FA Cup match against Middlesbrough. “I have a job to do and the players are clever enough and realize they will be here next season with long contracts.”

“I will be working hard until the end. We have to try to beat Middlesbrough and then move on. My job is to concentrate on the next game, not the speculation.”

“I accept we have had some games where we had to do better.  At Manchester City, we still had a penalty and two counter-attacks when we could have scored and made the difference, but we didn’t play at the level we could play and that is my concern.

“I think we have had a lot of games we could have won, two or three easily. Reading, where after 93 and a half minutes towards winning and we lost two points. We conceded two at Newcastle when we were ahead. You have to win those games.

“It’s not a question of character. It’s a question of mistakes, of attention, of a lack of concentration, but we fight till the end. Don’t forget, this team finished sixth last year, we have to fight now for the top three.

“I can guarantee the players know what we’re trying to do and believe in it 100%. I am here to be in the top three, and do my best in every competition. After that, we will see.”

Benitez has also hinted that he would like to move to Real Madrid when he leaves Chelsea, describing the Spanish club as his “sweetheart”.  Chelsea are currently sitting in fourth place in the English Premier League, but got knocked out of the Champions League and Capital One Cup.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.