misconduct or should I say violent conduct, and no he didnt kick the ball. He tried to but he kicked the boy instead. And Hazard is looking at at least 3 match banned here.

Its unprofessional behavior, one might say.

Lol. Go and watch the replay again and over again till you see what I saw. Hazard clearly kicked the ball, that's why the ball jumped out of that kid's body

No miracle today. I didn't watch the match, and I don't know what happened to hazard and ball boy. But when I saw the substitution, I kind of fed up. Even they were injured, should sub in attacker and go for gung-ho. Losing 2-0 or 5-0 is the same, why don't just try all out attack to get goals?

Rafael Benitez claims he was at a disadvantage when taking charge of Chelsea because he joined a team in transition midseason, but he says he sees plenty of positives from his three months in charge.

Benitez was appointed interim manager in November following the sacking of Roberto Di Matteo, which came after a run of four games without a win in the Premier League and with the club on the brink of exiting the Champions League.

The Spaniard says that was not the easiest introduction to life at Stamford Bridge, but he is pleased with the progress the team has made since he took the reins.

"As a manager at a top side who want to win trophies, we have to do better," he said. "The priority of the club is to be in the top four and also to win trophies at the same time.

"Could we do it a little bit better? Yes. Could we have won the games we lost? Yes. The team is progressing, it's the right way, and for a lot of people - including the players - we are going in the right direction.

"The majority of managers have a pre-season. Other managers, who came in later, come in when the Champions League is already in place, and with a different squad. With the players we have, good players who still need to settle down, we are doing what we need to do."

Benitez, who has already conceded that Chelsea are out of the Premier League title race, takes his side to the Liberty Stadium on Wednesday as the Blues look to overturn a two-goal deficit in the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg against Swansea. While he describes Chelsea as a team in transition, he praised the work ethic of the squad.

"The players are working hard, and it's my job to put them in a position to make sure they keep working hard," he said. "You can see their motivation in every game. They are doing well, so there are a lot of positives.

"We are scoring more goals, conceding less, and even in the games we have lost we have done well. The team are in a transitional period because we have some new players, and some players who are coming towards the end of their contracts, so it's a team which is growing and improving."

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/...-of-appointment

Rafa Benitez has labelled Marco Materazzi "a liar" after the former Inter Milan defender again slammed the Spaniard in an interview.

Benitez took charge of the Treble-winning Inter side in the summer of 2010, succeeding Jose Mourinho after his decision to depart for Real Madrid, but he endured a disappointing spell and left the club before the turn of the year.

In an interview with France Football this week, Materazzi said: "He is not my ideal coach. If I was a club president, I'd never employ him.

"A great boss like Lippi or Mourinho knows how to get their demands across to a dressing room whereas Benitez, he wanted to put them all in writing, ten or twelve rules - like the Highway Code, or being at school!

"At Inter's training centre, there were photos on the wall of all the most successful past coaches, from Herrera to Mancini and Mourinho. Benitez had the ones of Jose taken down. With that gesture, he showed his character: that of a weak person."

His remarks echo comments Materazzi had made to Sport Mediaset in November, when he said: "Mourinho was number one. His secret was to make the players feel involved in the project. In Madrid [during the 2010 Champions League final], he told me that he was leaving. I said to him: 'Damn you for leaving me with Benitez.'"

Chelsea boss Benitez, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday ahead of his side's Capital One Cup second leg with Swansea, hit out at the player.

"He's lying," Benitez said. "Marco Materazzi's lying. He's lying. Just lying. Everything he said is a lie. Everything that he talked about me, the things that he said about me, when he was talking with Jose Mourinho, is a lie because nobody knew that I was going to Inter - even me. He's a liar. About the pictures, he's lying, so he's a liar."

The ballboy was acting like a prick tho. Hazard should have kick him for real.