Sam Allardyce has a pop at Benitez & his Newcastle work after West Ham claim by ex-owner

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Rafa Benitez left Newcastle United last summer and has been previously linked with West Ham United.

Sam Allardyce doesn’t think West Ham appointing Rafa Benitez instead of David Moyes would have been a ‘forward step’ after Simon Jordan suggested that the London club would have been better off bringing in the Spaniard instead of the Scotsman.  

Speaking to The Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast Show on TalkSport (11/02/2020 at 6:50 am), ex-Crystal Palace owner, Jordan, felt that Benitez, who left Newcastle over the summer, would have been a ‘forward’ step’ for West Ham as he feels it was wrong for the club to go back for Moyes.

Allardyce, however, disagreed with Jordan and claimed that when he was West Ham manager, the perception was that his style of football was ‘wrong’ and he thinks Benitez ‘consistently’ played in a similar way during his time up north. 

Even though Allardyce praised Benitez for his ‘great reputation’, he did have a pop at his style of play at Newcastle, and as a result, he doesn’t think he would be suited to the Hammers.  

“I’m not sure Rafa Benitez would be a forward step [for West Ham],” Allardyce told TalkSport. “If you have seen what Rafa did at Newcastle. I always seem to play the wrong style of football at West Ham whilst I was there. Rafa plays that style of football all the time and he played it consistently with Newcastle.

“He has got a great reputation and he has been a great manager. And there’s no doubt about that. But that style with the way he plays and he’s very methodical in the way he sets his teams out, and tactically as a coach is exceptionally good. 

“He will set a team out on the basis of the quality of the team. And West Ham doesn’t suit.”

Benitez is currently out in China after he decided not to extend his stay at Newcastle last summer when his contract came to an end. 

During his time in the North East, Benitez had to work with a pretty small budget which meant that he perhaps couldn’t have been as expansive as he would have liked. 

Nonetheless, Moyes is now in charge at the London Stadium and their fans won’t care what style he plays along as he keeps them in the division. 

But when the West Ham board opted to bring back Moyes, following Manuel Pellegrini’s sacking, it was met with a mixed reaction. The result, so far, have been on the negative side.