Not very smart Benitez
A few days ago, just after coming back from the FIFA World Club Cup triumph, Inter Milan manager Rafael Benitez seemed to be in exuberant spirits. So excited was the former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 manager that he blatantly toyed with Inter President,
Massimo Moratti and asked to be either be backed or sacked.
For his defense, Rafa has seen a torrid time at Inter Milan as the reigning Serie A champions are more like shadows of their former selves and are way off pace in Europe as well.
Winding up Moratti should be top on his “what-not-to-do” list and he should kept this in mind before dishing out ultimatums to an owner. The Club World Cup triumph was there for the taking anyway after Inter had to face just two
games against, with all due respect to the two sides, inferior opposition. Winning this piece of silverware was the least Benitez could do in order to save his job and avoid the sack.
Inter Milan effectively beat a Congolese side that wasn’t expected to repeat the upset it did against the Brazilian side, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Internacional-c39573 when Mazembe beat them 2-0 to reach the final. His post-Final press conference was completely
unbecoming. Failing to win easily would have seen Rafa get the sack but instead of praising his side, Benitez started demanding respect from the media and Signor Moratti in the glow of victory. If there’s one thing that a man shouldn’t demand, it’s respect.
We all know that respect is earned. Jose Mourinho never demanded respect at Inter but deep down, many people still respect him after all he achieved with the Nerazzurri.
Benitez effectively threw down the gauntlet and blamed President, Moratti for a poor season and demanded that he should be given money to sign 4 players in the January transfer window. He even went as far as giving Mr. Moratti
an alternative if he was unable to assist Benitez. The former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863 manager simply asked to be sacked if his wishes are not granted. This is a very dangerous game that Rafael Benitez is playing with Moratti who, as many former Inter managers know very well,
is a wily old fox.
Current Manchester City manager, Roberto http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mancini-c23323 once saw his resignation rejected at Inter and was then sacked a few months later and that resignation incident was later blamed for the sacking. When Gigi Simoni was awarded the
Coach of the Year Award, he was also sacked later on because he also demanded that he should have been given more respect the day he picked up the award. At that time, Moratti was already looking for the right opportunity to wield his ever-ready axe when there
were reports of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fabio-c13152 Capello, Luciano Spalletti and Walter Zenga all being linked up to replace Simoni.
Perhaps, Rafael Benitez should have learnt from his predecessors at Inter Milan because he has almost literally sharpened his Presidents’ axe and has drawn a black dot on the back of his neck. He won’t be staying at Inter for long
now.
It might even be an ideal time for Moratti to change the management of the team. The Christmas break has started and the season will kick off in a few weeks time and Inter still has a great advantage of two games over other Serie
A sides. A strong start to the 2nd half of the season is very essential for Inter to keep pace with the likes of A.C Milan, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Napoli-c40003.
It was a very bad timing on Benitez’s part to issue such a strong ultimatum when Inter actually had a great chance to come back strong in the Serie A. Let’s see if Moratti will be patient with Benitez this time and give him a few
more weeks to prove himself or will he wield the axe like he has done so many times with those who have questioned him?
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