'Special One' to 'Spanish One': Was Rafa's time at Inter fair to judge ?

As the newly crowned World Club Champions arrived on the turf in the early hours of the morning at the Malpensa airport the fans chanted "resta con noi rafa benitez, resta con noi" (stay with us). Massimo Morratti wasn't listening though he had made his mind up a while ago, just giving the Spaniard an extended stay to ensure the team went to the United Arab of Emirates without anymore disruption. The fans were not unanimous in their backing of the manager but then they rarely are at any club in the world. But as at Liverpool there was more than half that wanted him to continue at the club. For the critics/media they can't get their heads round it, these foolish fans with their support of a manager that is clearly under-performing, how can you take a treble winning side that has won the league for the last 5 years and have them sitting in 7th after 15 games, the "league doesn't lie" is an old favourite.

Sometimes the league just deceives ! Although the strongest squad generally takes home the title at the end of the season and deservedly so, if an injury crisis ravages through a team, how can we judge correctly that the manager hasn't been up to the task ? The fans watch their side week in week out, sometimes (only sometimes) it's worth taking note why they have such faith in a manager when to others it seems so mad.

Money

Internazionale are not the Internazionale of old, financially they cannot continue to lose money season after season. A profit of €32.8m was made in the summer, with €28m arriving in the coffers from the sale of daft hat wearer Mario Balotelli. In comparison to Mourinho's two seasons at the club where he had a net spend of €38.6m over his tenure this includes the Ibra/Eto swap deal which would have given him a considerable amount to reinvest. Promises of being able to bring in players has clearly been broken, not for the first time in the last 2 years Rafa had been lied to. Meanwhile AC Milan brought in Robinho for €22m and Ibrahimovic on loan on the provision of signing him in 2011. Michel Platini criticised Italian clubs for spending so much and warned them of the Fair Play Rules that are soon to arrive, for once he wasn't on about Inter. When Manchester United won the treble in 1999 they then made a net spend of £16m, which is more than you realise given it was eleven and a half years ago. When Barcelona won the treble in 2009 they invested €39m and on top of that the Ibrahimovic deal which estimated between £50-£70m. Both these sides went on to win the league the following season, but if Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola think treble winners should invest heavily in new blood who am I to disagree.

Record

Having played 25 matches overall, Rafa won 12 of them, with 6 drawn and losing 7. A win ratio of 48% not as high as he's 53% at Valencia or his 55% at Liverpool but not as unreasonable as some would have you think and having only been given 6 months. One of the managers linked to replace him Leonardo had a win ratio of 47.92% in his single season at rivals AC. Hardly seems fair that he is the bookmakers 2nd favourite does it ? As it stands Inter are 7th, (13 points off the top) with 2 games in hand on everyone else a win in those 2 games would see them 7 points off the league leaders. Last seasons Bundesliga double winners and fellow Champions League finalists Bayern Munich currently sit in 5th position in Germany and are 14 points off the pace with no games in hand. They to are feeling the effects of last year with injuries, motivation, tiredness all contributing but they havent had to contend with a change of manager or ideas.

Injuries

Inter have suffered terrible injuries this season, partly due to such a long season last year including the World Cup, ageing squad and the tough pre-season that Rafa had them undertake during the summer. But luck also plays a huge part and for that no one can deny Benitez has been out of it in this area. Whilst other clubs in Serie A have had long injuries none have had as many to key players as Inter. Julio Cesar, Maicon, Walter Samuel, MacDonald Mariga, Thiago Motta, Sulley Muntari, David Suazo, Wesley Sneijder (after he fainted at half time against Brescia), Dejan Stankovic, Diego Milito, Goran Pandev, Esteban Cambiasso have all missed parts of the season to varying degrees. Along with Samuel Eto's suspension after doing a Zidane. He can hardly be accused of not getting Jose's team playing as he has rarely had his team to play. Out of 25 games Rafa has been without his 1st choice goalkeeper 11 times, had lost his first choice centre back in early November for the season (after which they lost 3 out 5 league games, before had only lost 1 in 10), had star striker Diego Milito and attacking full back Maicon for 15 games a piece. Last season Mourinho was without his 1st choice goalkeeper just 3 times in the whole of the season, Walter Samuel made 42 appearances and both Milito and Maicon made a combined total of 104 appearances. Lucky Mourinho ?

Squad

With the sale of Balotelli, Inter brought in Brazilian Coutinho who looks a very good player but at 19 is new to Italian football. As Balotelli had his disagreements with the great man manager Jose and wasn't first choice it's often perceived he played a little less than he did but in total he made 40 appearances including 11 goals. Currently in Inter's playing squad they have 15 players in the 30+ age bracket, if Arsene Wenger was in charge there would be some very short contracts at the San Siro. Just 6 players in the 24-29 (peak years ?) area and 7 players in the -21 age range (3 of which were brought in during the summer). Rafa did say he felt the squad was unbalanced and more players were required in the 24-29 range, would it not make sense for a club struggling financially to have players with a sell-on value ? Over at the city rivals often deemed as Dad's Army they have 13 players of 30+, 8 players in the 24-29 and only 2 players in the -21 one of which Pato is now in his 4th season with the club. The new arrivals in the summer and new manager who is experienced within the league helping give them a new lease of life but for how long ?

Tactics

Under the old regime Inter played a not to dissimilar formation to the one currently being deployed. A 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 are seen in games throughout and formations will change subtly in a match and depending on whether in possession of the ball or not. The real differences have been between the sitting deep and looking to counter attack of Jose and the high pressure and high line of Rafa. Had he just kept things as they the same would they have not been ok ? Try telling Samuel Eto that the change in position to his favoured central one and the high pressure up field hasn't helped him score 19 goals in 18 games (3 more than in the whole of last year). Like Fernando Torres he's game, due to his pace is helped massively by being instructed to close down defenders high up the pitch rather than re-grouping behind the ball. But that's one player what about the other 11 players that started the Champions League final in Madrid ? Well apart from the fact the personnel has been ever-changing, when a manager believes in their system they will rarely deviate from it. Wenger and Guardiola both stubborn in the way they wish to manage their teams and styles of play. That's not to say that tactics shouldn't be tailored slightly to suit the squad at your disposal but Carragher and Hyppia were never Carl Lewis and they coped fairly well with the high line defence.

Media

In this aspect Rafa probably hasn't helped himself mis-timed comments and public spats with managers he has replaced or been replaced by have not helped him warm to the critics. However if your record and ability to do your job was called into question would you not defend yourself ? Especially when much of what is being said is untrue as with much of what was said by the English based managers. It seems that Rafa isn't allowed to comment and should have concentrated on Inter, but its ok for Alex Ferguson, Harry Rednapp and Roy Hodgson to talk about him and his time at Liverpool. Likewise Jose will talk about Inter regularly in press conferences but no one ever seems to say he should focus on Real Madrid. In terms of taking renowned owners head on maybe not the wisest but if my senior bosses continued to lie to me and didn't show me support, hinting about replacing me, I would certainly speak up and hold my own. Or would you prefer a spineless manager, a yes man to take the fall when things have certainly changed. Wouldn't want the fans knowing what a piss poor job you were doing of running their football club would you. Had Rafa not took the cowboys who used to run Anfield to task many supporters and media outlets would not have known that the club was being run into the ground.

I'm not saying Rafa Benitez was necessarily the right man for Internazionale. All of a sudden he was sitting in the favourites chair having been used to being in a close outsider one. Like his last 3 years at Liverpool it shouldn't just be judged on results but also the circumstances surrounding them results to get a clear and fair picture. What I am saying, is there was certainly more to the change of Inter's standing than just the change of 'Special One' to the 'Spanish One'.