Jamie Carragher questions Rafael Benitez's pragmatic approach

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has questioned Rafael Benitez's pragmatic approach to Newcastle United's meeting with Chelsea.

The Spaniard set out his team in a 4-5-1 formation to restrict the Blues' attacking players, only for his side to lose the match 2-1 on home soil with a possession count of 19%.

Carragher feels that Benitez, who he played under at Liverpool, possibly adopted the wrong mindset, comparing Newcastle's performance unfavourably to Wolverhampton Wanderers' in their 1-1 draw with Manchester City 24 hours beforehand.

"I keep hearing people say you've got to have a go. What does have a go mean? Having a go to me means pressing the ball and being aggressive," he told Sky Sports News. "You may not have the quality when you get the ball and the runners might not make the right runs to cause a team problems, but that was my problem with Newcastle last season and the difference with Wolves [against Man City].

"It's not a massive difference, just the mentality of how to press the ball and doing it a lot higher. If you do that you might have more opportunities to go forward. The thing about Rafa, who I had as a manager for six years and is probably my biggest influence in football, I actually look at where the game is going and how people perceive you as a coach.

"We spoke last week about how Unai Emery wants to play and it's fine, that's how the top teams play and the top coaches want to play. But someone like Rafael Benitez with his actual CV of what he has done, winning two La Liga titles, the European Cup, a European trophy with Chelsea and trophies pretty much everywhere.

"Why wasn't he actually in the running or interviewed for the Arsenal job with his great experience of the Premier League? It may be along the lines of where the game's going and how it's perceived."

Newcastle registered six shots across the 90 minutes, two of which were on target.