After delivering Liverpool’s worst season for many years Rafa Benitez is the biggest winner, £6 million in his bank account and now manager of a treble winning Inter Milan. After going from 2nd place and so close to the title finishing just four points behind winners Manchester United one year ago to finishing in 7th place, crashing out of the UEFA Champions League and only qualifying for the Europa League because Portsmouth failed to register for a European Place after never believing they would get to the FA Cup Final. You could say Rafa Benitez was lucky not to be sacked before Christmas.
The five year contract Rafa Benitez signed in 2009 until 2014 made him virtually un-sackable! The very same contract that promised him such an embarrassment of riches should it is terminated. Now personally I am not a fan of Rata Benitez, and neither am I a fan of Liverpool who make me cringe when watching them due to their boring, slow unattractive football that only ever becomes exciting when Steven Gerrard links with Fernando Torres. But, you have to give credit where credit is due, Rafa Benitez is a winner, he may not be able to answer a simple yes or no question but he is a winner.
There is no secret in which Massimo Moratti’s first choice was to replace Jose Mourinho, he made that pretty public and within days Fabio Capello had met with the FA and had the clause in his contract removed that would of allowed him to leave England after the World Cup. So with this Rafa Benitez saw an opportunity, an opportunity created for him by Moratti, one phone call to the Liverpool chairman to discuss next season’s transfer budget [knowing their wasn’t one] and within that very night he had talked his way out of Anfield and had landed a nice £6 million pay off from his ‘unbreakable’ contract sending a message to Inter Milan chairman Massimo Moratti saying ‘come and get me’.
Inter Milan have gained a smart man that even when he loses, he still wins. Rafa Benitez has gained a dream opportunity. He has inherited a treble winning squad created by the ‘special one’ himself, a league that is actually harder to lose than to win and a transfer budget that he could of only dreamed of having at Liverpool even with new owners and a winning national lottery ticket.
Rafa will be able to play his way in Italy, his trusted 4-2-3-1 formation works in the country made famous for being organised and not conceding goals, and if he has any sense he will try his best to bring Fernando Torres with him.
"Liverpool who make me cringe when watching them due to their boring, slow unattractive football that only ever becomes exciting when Steven Gerrard links with Fernando Torres"
ReplyDelete... spoken like someone who clearly has seen little more than the odd 10 minutes of highlights that MOTD show.
I'd also suggest that Benitez would be mad to splash out the kind of cash required to bring Torres to Inter. He is constantly injured. Sure, he is one of the best forwards in the world when fit, but how useful is it to have a forward who will play maybe only 60% of games in a season?
I have seen a lot more than just 10 minutes of Liverpool (especially this season) and you can't deny watching them in the Europa League against teams they should be easily beating is hardly exactly much more than cringeworthy! Watching Fulham was a lot more excited and they played a lot more attractive football.
ReplyDeleteThe game is a lot less physically demanding in Italy and does not have such an electric tempo to it, playing alongside Eto'o, Pandev and if they keep Milito Inter would be a lot less reliant on Torres than Liverpool are!
Cringeworthy, maybe. But not boring and slow.
ReplyDeleteYes, Inter would be less reliant on Torres. But it still doesn't mean it's not a waste of money to shell out on a player who will spend a good part of the season injured.