Jump directly to the content
ANOTHER LEICESTER

Rafa Benitez believes Newcastle can stun the big-boys and win the Premier League next season like Leicester in 2015-16

Spanish chief is urging his Toon squad to be competitive in the top flight following superb Championship-winning season

Rafa Benitez believes Newcastle can stun the big-boys and win the Premier League next season like Leicester in 2015-16.

The Spaniard’s Toon stormed back to the big-time after clinching the Championship title on a dramatic final day.

Rafa Benitez is hoping Newcastle will be competitive in the Prem next season

PA:Press Association
4
Rafa Benitez is hoping Newcastle will be competitive in the Prem next season

Now Benitez wants his Newcastle troops to be competitive and believe anything is possible.

The former Liverpool and Real Madrid boss told the Daily Mail: “When I start something I put all my passion into it. I will try to do my best and hopefully everything will be fine.

“The things will be done in the right way and we can build what we want to build, a strong team and a strong club that can compete in the Premier League for everything.

“When I say everything, I don’t say the title, but why not? Everything means we have to be consistent. If you have the FA Cup, you can be there.

Newcastle won the Championship title on a dramatic final day

4
Newcastle won the Championship title on a dramatic final day

“It is not Rafa saying he wants to win the league, no. I want to be competitive and after we can win a trophy or you can win the league.

“You never know. It will be more difficult with every year, but for sure, you have to try.”

On the challenge he face when joining Newcastle, Benitez said: “Was the club lost? I think it was a little bit disorientated, rather than lost.

“Lost is a bigger word. It means everything was wrong, and everything was not like this.

Newcastle are aiming to put in a better season back in the Premier League

Getty Images
4
Newcastle are aiming to put in a better season back in the Premier League

“The staff and the way things were going and how they were doing things was right. A lot of departments were right. You have to fix some things.

“They were capable to do it, it’s not that they couldn’t, they could do it, but I had to tell them, ‘Do it this way’.

“I knew from the beginning that we had to create a stronger bond between fans, city and team. You could see there was a lack of unity.

“We were trying to find a way. ‘Together we are stronger’. That is the message I gave through the whole season.”

Rafa Benitez is hoping Newcastle do a Leicester in stunning the big-boys

Reuters
4
Rafa Benitez is hoping Newcastle do a Leicester in stunning the big-boys

On his squad, Benitez added: “What you are looking for are professionals… professionals who can learn and improve and can behave in the right way.

“I have had a lot of very good players in all my career. This group have been fantastic.

“From day one they were listening, they were trying to improve, trying to put in place the drills and the tactics we were trying to do.

“It has been really good to work with them.