Rafael Benitez Faces Sack at Inter Milan: Misunderstood More Than Conceited?

Rafael Benitez's decision to join Inter Milan just days after being controversially sacked by Liverpool FC may very soon prove to be an error of destiny. 

After having joined the European Champions in early June this year, Rafael Benitez didn't exactly have a dream start to his life at Milan.

Inter Milan had been champions of Italy for quite some time then and lately even received a boost when they claimed the highest honor in European Club Football under Jose Mourinho.

Under Benitez, Inter Milan succumbed to an unexpected loss to Atletico Madrid in the European Supercup and rumors were out: "Did Inter do the right thing by signing the ex-Liverpool manager?"

However, as in football, one match never settles things and especially if it comes to judging the qualities of a manager. Rafael Benitez turned things around and even with Inter's top scorer last season, Diego Milito, out due to injury. Benitez gave Cameroon International and now-record African Best Footballer Award-winning player Samuel Eto'o a more central attacking role. 

Eto'o outscored his own tally last season in a matter of months! Amongst all this, Inter Milan still had a majority of their midfield and defensive personnel intact, even though the attack without Milito was thin to say the least.

Inter won matches and even led the table at the Serie A and this prompted a lot of articles, some of which made a very interesting read.

However, Inter's form plummeted soon and with players like Stankovic, Thiago Motta and Walter Samuel out, as well as Eto'o banned for head-butting an opponent, Inter didn't really look the same.

They started drawing matches and even losing a few. A few other Inter players had a very indifferent form as they were in and out with injury including Julio Caesar, Zanetti and Maicon.

Now, it is evident from the above list that asking Inter Milan to go out and deliver on the same level was asking too much from them, but one thing Rafa had done during his managerial regime at Liverpool was attract a huge following of critics.

What was worse was that most of them, even with none or forgettable managerial tenures with anonymous clubs like Carlton Palmer, managed to eke out the role of a football pundit to spread the poison!

No doubt, going by Rafa's latest comments of "back me or sack me," these critics will have a lot of fodder to feed upon, hinging on how Benitez himself has brought the "treble winning Inter Milan" to its knees! 

Unfortunately, Rafael Benitez has not had the best of management to deal with throughout his tenure. Firstly, he had problems with Valencia, where he took the team to two La Liga wins (2001-02, 2003-04), beating the likes of Barcelona and spending-freak Real Madrid.

It had been about 31 years since Valencia last won it in 1970! 

Benitez felt the need to spend to remain competitive with Real, ready to dish out ridiculous sums to build the squad. His words fell on deaf ears and he had to leave the club in 2004. That was also the last time Valencia managed La Liga glory, even though they had the promising Villa/Silva partnership after that!

Benitez was then given the opportunity to manage Liverpool FC ahead of Jose Mourinho, who also was apparently keen for the Anfield hot seat back then, fresh after his incredible Champions League feat with FC Porto.

Jose was snubbed by the Liverpool management and the Portuguese became one of the most vocal critics of the club hence. Some reports also claim the inability to beat Liverpool under Benitez after that also added fuel to his disliking for Liverpool.

Benitez then took the Reds to Champions League glory in his first year in charge, but wasn't as successful as the Portuguese when it came to the domestic league.

Liverpool though looked competitive on the pitch and finally in 2008-09 almost claimed their first League win in 19 years, as they challenged Manchester United until the last few weeks. Liverpool ended the season second best—their best achievement in the Premier League era with a record 86 points.

As a testimony to Benitez's achievements, Chelsea won exactly the same number of points the next season, and won the Premier League!

Now, if the history of the most successful club in England in the Premier League—Manchester United—be studied, it will be seen that after finishing near the top in the early 1990s, Benitez asked for and received lots of cash to strengthen his squad, which then subsequently went on to win the title in the years to come.

In fact, Manchester United did boast of one of the most expensive squads throughout the '90s and even though Liverpool were nearby at times, their management let them down. (Graeme Souness led the way down for Liverpool as many reports claim.)

However, after Rafa's Liverpool finished second, he got little support from the management. Although Benitez's buying of an injured Alberto Aquilani cannot be strictly defended; the fact that the then-owners Hicks and Gillette didn't support him to go for any significant buy after that, both in the summer and winter window, coupled with an unprecedented injury trail to Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson and Fernando Torres meant that Liverpool were never really in the title race in the season.

The club fell from grace to the seventh spot, which led to him being fired.

Even though Liverpool were far from their best in Benitez's last season in charge, it was the only season the Reds missed out on a probable Champions League qualification and shouldn't a squad thin on quality and built mainly on gamble buys of less than £10m be expected to face an odd hiccup?

Again, critically viewing even Benitez's performance last year and going by the club's reasoning to go for stability, Liverpool's horrible performance last season looks a lot better than what they managed under Hodgson—at least so far.

At least Liverpool never fought with relegation contenders and never looked like a perennially mid-table force! (Although they look better now and the Premier League looks much more competitive than it has been in a decade, the initial damage meant they go into Christmas at the ninth spot—two spots below where they ended last time. Their lowest since the Souness era in 1993 when they went into it a lowly 10th!)

However, Rafael Benitez's Inter Milan now lie 13 points with two games in hand and have recently won the World Club Championships, a tournament reported to be of utmost importance to Massimo Morratti.

Going by Inter Milan's injury list, which also includes Wesley Sneijder now, why shouldn't a rational manager who wants to improve the quality of the football ask for reinforcements? The only answer is pretty laughable: It's because they have a list of "treble winning players" even if they are more on the injury list than on the pitch.

In fact, Benitez is left with the job of building a team with youngsters like Coutinho and Biabiany, which, in the face of such huge expectations, is surely one of the most unenviable.

Inter Milan didn't win the "treble" just because of Mourinho anyway. They spent a significant amount of money even last summer under him to challenge.

With no money given to spend, Inter Milan have found in Rafael Benitez a scapegoat whose image is easy to be tarnished, especially if the job is left to some Xenophobic "pundits" from England who clearly seem to have conveniently missed out on the recent developments in the Serie A!

Lastly, it may be worth mentioning that the only club that comes close to emulating Inter's recent slump from the Premier League is Chelsea.

I name Chelsea because even they have undergone similar injury woes. Chelsea, after their fabulous start, now has won just one in their last seven! Inter, although they have lost the same three times, have won twice!

The difference is Ancelotti has been assured of January transfers, whereas Moratti has preferred a "no comments" approach to Rafael Benitez for the same, although whether he is eventually sacked remains to be seen!