Honestly...I am almost speechless. After ALL, the talk I did about Insigne...after EVERYTHING I said about him being the best player....Rafa laughed at me. He laughed in my face, gave me the finger or fingers, and BENCHED Insigne for this CRUCIAL match. This is why my friends, I may be done with Benitez.
Napoli were pretty much useless in that first half. My lord, were they bad. Higuain was pretty much just waddling about like a seal, because he wasn't going to get any balls. As I watched it, all I wondered was why Insigne was not getting the ball or if he was just having a bad game. THEN, when I worked out he was not playing, then I assumed he was injured. Without both Hamsik and Insigne, I would have told Benitez to forfeit the match and not even bother turning up. A waste of my time and effort.
I was wrong....INSIGNE CAME ON IN THE SECOND HALF. Okay, perhaps he was carrying an injury and could not give a full game. Then I hear....HE WAS NOT INJURED. I could not give a damn about the guy who was there in his place, because to not start Insigne is more than enough to get you sacked. To even just rub the salt in with both hands and teeth, Insigne scores a great goal. Ha....ha.
This is a classic example of managers overthinking. It was a very important match and Rafa was just trying to be too clever. He wanted to give Dortmund something different to think about, as he assumed Klopp would have prepared his team to combat the influence of Insigne. So by bringing out a team without Lorenzo, it would have caught Dortmund by surprise. Rafa...your plan....FAILED...miserably. Awful, awful....TERRIBLE. Benitez is to blame for this loss. The players did not play too well...but first off you leave your BEST player on the bench and Inler, who is a damn force in midfield was also not starting. Just plain unacceptable. For those decisions alone, Benitez DESERVED to lose and they should have no business going through, as I expect Arsenal to want to finish top in the group and beat their faces to the ground in Naples.
Dortmund are an excellent and an even better one at home. Without their key players, they are still a threat. I am of the belief that if Insigne and Inler were starting, Napoli COULD have got something. Dortmund wasted A LOT of chances and there was space to make some magic happen within that new Dortmund defence. Only problem were the BRICKS I saw playing and ZERO CREATIVITY whatsoever in the team. Rafa, you are lucky I am not the De Laurentis because your ass would have been FIRED!!!
HH
