The Spaniard’s side are on a horrendous run of form, most recently losing 1-0 to Rudi Garcia’s Roma at the weekend, thanks to a Miralem Pjanic first half strike. In their last five, Roma are still without a win in those five games picking up just two points seeing them fall to sixth in Serie A, which for the moment is enough to see them cling on to the final European place in the league.
It was reported that the Napoli coach had already decided to leave after it was found out he wasn’t being offered a new contract anyway. But the 54-year old denied these reports.
“I’m calm, the team is still creating a lot of chances,” Benitez replied, when questioned on Napoli’s form and his future in his Press conference ahead of the Coppa Italia tie with Lazio.
“We have to improve the final product. At Roma they only had two shots on goal, against Atalanta only one.
“I’ve read that the President [Aurelio De Laurentiis] may not offer a renewal. I’ve read that Benitez has already spoken with the team. This is not true.
“In a few weeks I’ll meet with the President, and we’ll discuss what’s best for Napoli going forward.”
Benitez, however, did not enjoy the questions about his side’s lack of goals, dismissing suggestions that Gonzalo Higuain and Duvan Zapata should play as a front-two and that his tactics are the reason for the poor form.
“Having more attackers doesn’t mean you attack better. Having Duvan and Higuain together would weaken the team behind them.
“We got 104 goals last year with only Higuain.
“As I’ve said, the numbers are good, but we have to be more clinical and there’s also some luck involved because goalkeepers have made great saves against us.”
Benitez in the past has been successful having spells at Valencia – where he won the UEFA Cup- and at Liverpool – where he won the Champions League, Super Cup, FA Cup and Community Shield – as well as spells at Inter Milan.
