Tom Shaw/Getty ImagesRafa Benitez was all smiles at his introductory press conference as Chelsea manager.

In the days and hours since the dismissal of Roberto Di Matteo and the appointment of public enemy number one, Rafael Benitez, there has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the Chelsea supporting community.

The Spaniard has never been particularly popular in West London largely due to his disdainful attitude towards Chelsea and their fans during his time as Liverpool manager and the outcry over the last 48 hours on social media sites has illustrated that those feelings persist with ever increasing fervour. Benitez has always polarised opinion, and on Merseyside he was the Marmite of managers -- they either loved him or loathed him -- with his supporters and detractors deifying or demonising him in equal measure. One particular Liverpool-supporting friend of mine holds him in such fanatical regard that I sometimes worry that he would commit hara-kiri if his idol ask him to.

That same friend, who unsurprisingly has a deep-seated dislike of Chelsea, is curiously rather pleased with the latest developments. He is convinced that Benitez will do an excellent job at Chelsea and will help thwart the team that Liverpool fans really hate, Manchester United, while also proving him right about the 52-year-old's true standing in the hierarchy of the world's top managers.

But casting away all the fundamentalist rhetoric, what can Chelsea fans expect from their new boss?

Squad Discipline

Benitez is fabled for his authoritarian style when dealing with both the playing and administrative staff and the expected continuation of this attitude will be interesting to observe at Chelsea. The squad may well contain several young stars that are new to the club and in need of some direction but there are still some powerful voices within the dressing room. If he has any sense, he will try to get the intrinsic leaders such as John Terry, Frank Lampard, and Petr Cech on his side as quickly as possible so they can help transmit his message to the rest of the squad. Benitez might be a tough cookie but this set of players has seen off Luiz Felipe Scolari and Andre Villas-Boas in the past and have been credited as being the real architects of Chelsea's revival under Avram Grant. He will need to earn the respect of the players before stamping his authority on the squad.

Equally, he will not be allowed to replicate the disobedience he showed to his superiors at Anfield. A repeat of his open disdain for former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillette, as well as other board members such as Rick Parry, will not be tolerated by Roman Abramovich whose word is final and absolute as Roberto Di Matteo found out so starkly this week.


Tactical Discipline

Whatever people might think about Liverpool's style of play under Benitez's management, it has to be accepted that he was tactically astute. On the European stage, he managed to get an average squad dusted with a sprinkling of stars to perform as more than the sum of their parts through meticulous planning and defined roles for each of his players. He generally preferred hard workers over flair which is why it is unlikely we will see Juan Mata, Oscar and Eden Hazard all starting matches in advanced roles at the same time on too many occasions. Instead, the likes of Ramires, Cesar Azpilicueta and Ryan Bertrand will probably be asked to reprise the Dirk Kuyt shuttling role on the flanks to offer energy and defensive cover.

That approach appears to be at odds with Abramovich's vision of free-flowing football but the Russian must be aware of that, otherwise he wouldn't have hired him. The real question will be whether he can translate Liverpool's old Champions League prowess into domestic success for Chelsea. That was a summit he couldn't conquer at Anfield but will be expected to do so at Stamford Bridge.


Questionable Transfer Dealings

Ok, this is a somewhat erroneous title as we all know that the manager has little say in the acquisition of players at Chelsea, however one would hope that he would have some input into any potential arrivals in January. While his supporters will point to the signings of Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres, Daniel Agger and Pepe Reina, his detractors will highlight flops such as Alberto Aquilani, Robbie Keane and Ryan Babel along with countless failed signings of between £1m to £8m. Jan Kromkamp, anyone? The argument against him is not that his bargain buys were not successful, but that he didn't simply pool his resources to buy fewer players with greater quality.

The difference between Liverpool and Chelsea, though, is that money is no object at Stamford Bridge. He will not need to do any horse-trading to unearth some hidden gems. Instead, he can point towards whoever he wants and hope that Michael Emenalo and the rest of the owner's 'yes' men agree with him.


Restore Torres To His Former Glory

Only kidding. Unfortunately it looks as if Torres' goose is cooked and it would be a minor miracle should Benitez be able to raise the £50m man from his slumber. One can hope but I think it would be easier and quicker to convince Radamel Falcao to swap Madrid for London and be done with it.


Benitez will only have a couple of days to begin implementing his philosophy before his baptism of fire at the hands of Manchester City and the Chelsea fans on Saturday. His influence will be marginal at best but he could do himself plenty of favours by ending the weekend with a positive result. A succession of them might even quiet -- if not totally dispel -- what will be a hostile atmosphere in the stands.

Follow Phil Lythell on Twitter @PhilLythell

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