Birmingham boss tempted to give Benitez full debut at Hull
Sep 18 2009 by Andy Walker, Birmingham Mail
The Birmingham manager must now decide whether to field Benitez, known as Chucho, as a lone frontman in a 4-5-1 formation or alongside Garry O’Connor in a 4-4-2 set-up.
“There’s a temptation to play him (Benitez) but I’ve now got to find the balance between looking solid and difficult to beat and making goal chances,” McLeish explained. “The irony is that we’ve made more chances in the away games against Manchester United and Spurs than we did at home playing 4-4-2 against Portsmouth and Stoke.
“Chucho has played up on his own before and it’s something that we are considering. He’s definitely champing at the bit and I don’t want to end up with the wee fella being frustrated.
“He knows last weekend (against Aston Villa) that it was a difficult one tactically, there was a reason I went the way I did and the fact that he’d just come off a plane 48 hours earlier having not slept on the journey back over the Atlantic.
“There’s a little bit of the Mauro Zarate situation. When he came on loan to us, we were teaching him the English game and getting him integrated.
“It would be great to nurture these guys for six months and then have them the next season. Unfortunately we’re educating them for their next adventure. But I know that pretty soon I’m going to get Chucho back into the team from the beginning because he’s raring to go.”
Birmingham’s severe injury problems have continued to worsen with McLeish admitting that the club’s treatment room is ‘bursting at the seams’.
James McFadden (thigh) and Franck Queudrue (hamstring) look set to be of action for at least a month while team captain Lee Carsley is struggling with a back injury.
Left-backs Gregory Vignal, midfielder Damien Johnson and striker Marcus Bent are still not ready according to McLeish.
However he has had good news regarding the long-term injuries that defensive duo Liam Ridgewell and David Murphy sustained last season.
Centre-half Ridgewell has made an astounding five-month recovery from his broken leg and is now available for selection, despite being expected to be out for between eight and ten months. Meanwhile left-back Murphy is now back in training having overcome a fractured knee-cap.
