Rafael Benitez: Chelsea will conquer world and can win the Premier League The invitation was designed for Benítez to become better acquainted with the knot of reporters who had travelled across the world to see if Chelsea could become champions of it. Benítez is on a charm offensive, partly to win friends for a club battered with image issues but also because he wants to be mentioned in glowing despatches when major jobs become available next summer. Benítez is also the man who does not boast many friends amongst his managerial peers in England, who had such a reputation for not celebrating golden moments that his captain in Istanbul, Steven Gerrard, told him to have a beer and unwind at Liverpool's 2005 Champions League victory party. Benítez famously greeted a jubilant Gerrard with a question about his first-half marking. So it was important to look beyond the ready smile yesterday, to understand that this is a man with a point to prove to Sir Alex Ferguson, to Jose Mourinho, to some former players and the majority of a quizzical media. Benítez is the outstanding outsider and the charm on the surface could not conceal a certain chippiness. A two-time winner of La Liga with unfashionable Valencia, Benitez craved proper recognition. "Look at the [his] CV," he demanded, "and then analyse the CVs of other managers who people think are amazing in England and you think: "What is going on here?" Analyse it. I have the confidence in myself for years. When I was 11 I was playing football in Madrid, winning championships between schools in Madrid, and I was captain. I was taking notes at 13, analysing football. I was at the Real Madrid academy and got injured, but I'd been playing with the likes of Vicente Del Bosque and I wasn't scared of any of them. I knew where I should make the run, the pass, the movement. At Valencia, we were improving, learning and winning. Talk with Mista, my centre-forward. We were promoted with Tenerife when there was Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Betis in the same division and Tenerife went up with no money and terrific football. Extremadura, a very small village, were promoted into the First Division. My degree is in physical education. I was a teacher in a school for three years and in a gym for five. You have to explain, repeat, teach. Against Monterrey, we had a penetrating pass for Ashley Cole on the left in the second half. John Obi Mikel and Cesar Azpilicueta had another one on the other side. That was part of our training."" For all the Chelsea fans" non-negotiable antipathy towards a former Liverpool manager who once castigated them, Benítez is undeniably having an impact on their club. I could be working in Spain, Italy or China, earning massive money at a club in the middle of the table for 10 years but I want to win trophies. And bury ghosts. Benítez still confronts memories of discomforting events in the 2008-09 season when his Liverpool team chased Ferguson's United but finished four points adrift. He's still not moved on. "They scored in the last minute against Aston Villa,"" Benítez recalled of Federico Macheda's late winner for United on April 5, 2009. He's neither forgotten a controversial spot-kick nor forgiven Howard Webb for a game-changing incident at Old Trafford 20 days later. "United were 2-0 down and then they got that penalty,"" reflected Benítez of Michael Carrick's suspect tumble. "I remember,"" he sighed. How Benítez would love some title nirvana.