New Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez has set "winning everything" as his objective as he was presented as the club's new coach at the Bernabeu on Wednesday afternoon.
The former Madrid youth-team player and assistant coach is back at the Bernabeu 20 years after he left to further his management career, and struggled with his emotions as he gave a brief speech in the Bernabeu's VIP seats after being introduced by club president Florentino Perez.
The former Valencia, Liverpool, Chelsea and Napoli coach then told reporters in the press room that his aim was to send out his team to win each and every game and competition they played in.
"The team must be competitive, capable of reaching the end of the season with chance to win trophies," Benitez said. "The Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey are our objectives, as Madrid must win each game. Can we win it, sometimes yes, sometimes no, as this is football. But the idea is to try and win from the first game, that is what I inherited here, regardless of the competition."
Asked repeatedly about potential changes to the squad for next season, including a move for his former Liverpool charge Raheem Sterling, and the future of long-serving club captain Iker Casillas, the 55-year-old deflected a number of questions.
Rafa Benítez signs his contract with Real Madrid. The new manager will stay with the club for the next three seasons. pic.twitter.com/JnIofYj6Eo
- Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) June 3, 2015
"We know Raheem very well, that is no secret, but he is not a player of our team," Benitez added. "So I will not talk about him. Today I am here to talk about my presentation. Madrid is such an important club, that there's always look at what might happen in market. We have a great team, I am not going to get into names. We must focus on analysing well the performance we can get from the squad, in all aspects, and from there look to other things in the future."
Indeed, Benitez admitted that he was being hired as a first-team coach and may not be involved in transfer decisions.
"I've been in football many years, with experience of different structures," he said. "I am here to be coach, available to club to work with the squad I have. A coach always gives his opinion, but the club has its structure. If another player comes, then perfect, but will aim to get best out of those here."
There have also been concerns about how a coach known for his detailed and pragmatic tactical plans, and long arduous training sessions, will manage a squad packed with attacking galacticos including Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez.
"It is the squad with most quality of my career, great players, we all know that," Benitez said. "The way of playing, obviously, will not be the same having these players, compared to other teams. Maybe you have to adapt the system, but maintain positive offensive ambition, while keeping defensive balance.
"But more than talk of systems, I would like to talk of idea of play. The objective is to get the best out of individual talent. Here there is so much individual talent, that if you put it to the aim of collective success, you will win a lot."
Benitez's rotation policy has also caused some issues with former players in the past, but he said he expected no problems at Madrid
"The players here are very good professionals," he insisted. "Who plays in one game or another depends on the moment. The objective is the best for the team, to win, then to make the best of the individual qualities of the players."
When it was pointed out that he was becoming the 10th manager of Perez's 12 years as club president, Benitez laughed off the issue, saying coaching changes were normal at the highest levels of the game.
"I am happy with No. 10, it's a lucky number," he said. "Football is so demanding, no surprise that people are in a hurry to win things, and that there are often changes of coaches."
Then asked if his new job was similar to when he first joined Liverpool back in 2004, Benitez said the challenge at the Bernabeu was of a different magnitude.
"It is different, when I arrived at Liverpool there was a three year project to begin to compete," he said. "Fortunately we won the Champions League in the first year. Here it is different, from the first moment you must compete, try to win, be at a very high level.
"There is always a process of adaption with a new coach, but from the first moment we must be always up top, and leave every game satisfied. The demands are different, very high at Real Madrid."