Rafael Benitez is winning the Italians over (Part 2)
Jose Mourinho’s time in Italy, though highly successful on the pitch, was full of controversies. He fell out with the press and journalists a countless number of times. Italy is different to England. They have strong mutual respects amongst managers and
senior pupil at the club.
Unlike England, Italian managers rarely have a go at each other for any reason but still, Catania's director of football, Pietro Lo Monaco said that Mourinho "deserves a smack in the mouth".
After being consistently punished by the Italian FA and most managers turning against him, Mourinho, in March, openly declared his unhappiness for the Italian football "because I don't like it and it doesn't like me."
With all his charismatic behavior and abundance of cockiness, Mourinho was still badly missed by the English media. In contrast, Rafa Benitez is much more calm and a relaxed character. His planned and respectful press talk has gone down well with the Italian
media so far.
"Unsurprisingly, his entry has been a lot less controversial than Mourinho's. Whereas the Portuguese set his own agenda from day one, Benitez has been somewhat more diplomatic, on the whole showing respect to fellow coaches and the football environment.
This is important to Italians who value their own school of thinking and traditions", said the Italian Football analyst, Karlsen.
"I don't think Benitez got the credit he deserved in England. Partly because he didn't offer the sound bites and easy conclusions that make you a tabloid favourite, but also because his thinking and ideas on football may have been too prudent and unsexy
to win over the ever so demanding supporters.”
It is strange to see how Liverpool fans are split in their opinion of the former manager, even more so after their club's dismal start to the season under Roy Hodgson. Some of the fans never wanted Rafa to leave at the first place and they are now amongst
the voices being raised for Hodgson’s head. Other fans, who still are in majority, believe that Rafa was too stubborn for his own good.
One area where plenty of debate has been done already is the work Rafa did in the transfer market. Former player and current BBC pundit, Alan Hansen has slammed Rafa’s big money signings which failed to make the grade, such as Robbie Keane, Alberto Aquilani
and Andrea Dossena.
There are quite a few others who pointed out such high profile failures to have a go at the Spaniard, including the current Liverpool boss, Roy Hodgson, who last week cited that the current Liverpool plight is due to the “expensive failures” of the previous
regime.
On the other hand, Paul Tomkins, a highly respected writer and blogger- especially amongst Liverpool fans – has argued on Benitez’s behalf on a number of occasions. He has pointed out big money failures of other big teams and prefers to talk about the top
drawer signings Rafa made, such as Pepe Riena, Fernando Torres, Javier Mascherano and Dirk Kuyt.
But, his transfer record would mean little to Inter fans, as they know this part of the business is more likely to be in the hands of sporting director, Marco Branca and owner Massimo Moratti.
According to Paco Lloret, Benitez's biographer and a close friend, this working environment is a lot more similar to Valencia and will suit the Inter boss. He believes that Benitez is a better trainer and a tactician than a talent spotter.
Rafael Benitez studies the systems and oppositions to unreal depths and that is why he has been hugely successful in Europe. He prefers to work behind closed doors. He is a total football man who wants his players to understand his ideas and tactics. However,
he has also received criticism with regards to his man management.
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