Inter Milan Appoints Leonardo as Benitez’s Successor
After the whole saga of Rafael Benitez and his sacking from Inter Milan, Massimo Moratti, the owner of the club, said that he would wait till Christmas before announcing the new replacement. However, Moratti could not wait for
long and he appointed the former AC Milan manager, Leronardo, one day before the Christmas day.
Leonardo was already linked with Nerazzurri at the time when Rafael Benitez was still in charge of the affairs. He was one of the names on the table in case Benitez is sacked from his job. Along with Leonardo, there were other
names under discussion, including the former Inter Milan manager, Jose Mourinho. However, the Brazilian tactician Leonardo was the most likely candidate for the job.
Rafael Benitez came to Inter Milan after his abysmal season at http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 FC. Benitez kept on blaming the ownership crisis at Anfield for the miseries of the club and he came to Italy to prove his worth. He was given a side which
had won an incredible treble last season, but their influential coach Jose Mourinho had left them for another job. Therefore, Benitez had a great squad at his disposal, while the tides were also favouring him. However, despite winning the FIFA Club World Cup,
he was an overall failure.
As Leonardo takes charge of affairs at Inter Milan, he would get a side struggling in the Serie A. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567 is 13 points behind in seventh place, on the league table, trailing their archrivals AC Milan. In Champions League, Inter
faces Bayern Munich once again, after the final last season, but this time odds are favouring the German giants. Benitez has left the team behind in critical conditions and there is a lot of work required by Leonardo to get them back on track.
However, the only problem is that Leonardo does not have the credentials or an exotic history for being a manager. Therefore, the fans do not know what to expect from the new man in charge of the club. As a player, Leonardo won
the 1994 World Cup with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Brazil-c2858, playing as a left back. However, he did not join the managerial career before 2008, when he was appointed as the Technical Director of AC Milan. In 2009, despite having any prior experience as a coach, Leonardo was made the
manager for the club.
Due to the lack of experience Leonardo did not have a great season with the team. He did not win anything for the club but used it for his own experiments. Leonardo adopted a unique formation, 4-2-1-3, which was well known as the
4-2 fantasy. This did not help the manager to win the league but it was useful in securing some important results. The focus was on the attacking side, a tactic which is quite unusual in Serie A, with a lot of creative players in the side.
With such credentials Leonardo seems to be an odd choice for the Inter Milan president, Massimo Moratti. The club needs someone who has the charisma of Jose Mourinho, in order to save it from falling apart. There are some senior
players who are not contented with the things happening at San Siro, including http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Diego-Milito-c11166 who were ignored and sidelined in the past four months. The team is almost the same as the one under Jose Mourinho, which means that the crisis is
in leadership. This is where Rafa failed and this is the area of concern for anyone coming as a replacement.
This is going to be a tough job for Leonardo who still has to prove himself as a worthy manager. Currently, he is being given a contract for a year and a half, which will end after the next season. During this time he will have
to take control of his team and will have to please the fans as well, who do not like the idea of having a manager from their archrivals. It would also be great for Leonardo if Moratti supplies him with some funds in order to make necessary adjustments according
to his own liking.
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