Italian Serie A: Rafael Benitez defends himself against all odds
Up against a barrage of criticism by fans and the administrative hierarchy at Inter Milan, Rafael Benitez has come out firing in spectacular fashion as the Spanish manager has vowed to keep his place at Inter Milan as the club’s
first team coach. It has been an eventful year already for Rafael Benitez, who is set to be sacked by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567 Milan in the future if rumors that surround the club are anything to go by. Earlier on in the year, Benitez faced the same situation when he was in-charge
at http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809.
The ex- http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863 manager adopted a strategy of getting the fans behind his back at Liverpool as he sought to turn them against the owners, a tactic that almost paid dividends for the man who led Valencia to the Spanish league title.
However, in the end it was a fruitless exercise for Benitez who was dismissed by the English giants from his post as the club’s overall manager. The dismissal took place due to an un-favorable end to the season where Liverpool finishing 7th in the
Premier League and thus missing out on a possible top four spot which would have taken them to the UEFA Champions League.
After parting ways with Liverpool in a very un-sanctimonious manner, Benitez was sought out by Inter Milan to replace their outgoing manager, Jose Mourinho. Mourinho joined Real Madrid and his job was taken over by Rafael Benitez
at Inter Milan in late June. Early on in his tenure at Inter Milan, the Spaniard had to fend off jibes from Mourinho which implied that Benitez had inherited an already successful team as Inter had won the UEFA Champions League and the Scudetto in the 2009-2010
season.
Nonetheless, the team has not performed up to the level that the fans had expected it to this season and thus Inter find themselves in deep trouble in the Serie A. A.C Milan currently top the league table in Italy but Inter had
a small triumph of their own lately as they won the FIFA Club World Cup championship. Recent reports that surfaced on Monday from San Siro implied that Rafael Benitez had been sacked by Inter Milan after the infamous manager had called upon the club’s president,
Massimo Moratti to back him in the upcoming winter transfer window by allocating some precious transfer funds.
Several media agencies reported that Benitez was on his way out already as Moratti had taken his decision privately. However, Benitez has denied such rumors in his latest interview. The Spanish national said, "I have not been sacked.
Many people that read the newspapers have called me up to ask me if I had been dismissed. It's not true; I am surprised that it has been reported as a done thing. I am currently on holiday to rest and then to begin again. For months I have heard and read things
that are not true."
Inter are currently 7th in the Serie A at the moment as they have only captured 23 points from a total of 15 games, whereas other teams have played around 17 matches each. This shortfall in Inter’s matches has come about
due to their commitments in the FIFA Club World Cup that was held in Abu Dhabi in the early weeks of December. Inter qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup due to their success in the UEFA Champions League.
Inter’s manager further added to his remarks as he said; "While I am here (at Inter) I will work in the best possible way in order for the team to continue to win. But in order to win and to do well it is necessary to bring in
reinforcements. Injuries have hindered us and I don't want this to happen again. The transfer market begins soon and hence, this is the time to speak openly about acquisitions."
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