Internazionale Main Thread III

[zafferano]

[Totally FRANK]

Benitez has two-match lifeline
Inter boss Rafa Benitez has been given two matches to save his job at San Siro, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Despite Inter President Massimo Moratti expressing his 'full confidence' in the Spaniard yesterday afternoon, a meeting was chaired later in the day to discuss his future.

It appears that Sunday's trip to Chievo and Wednesday's Champions League match against FC Twente will now be decisive for Benitez, who was appointed in the summer following Jose Mourinho's departure for Real Madrid.

La Gazzetta also claims that Inter will sound out Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni to see if he is interested in returning to the club as a caretaker should the axe fall on Benitez.

Trapattoni won a historic Scudetto with Inter in 1989 and was approached by Juventus in the spring when Ciro Ferrara was dismissed, such is his ability to steady a ship and fight fires.

[Messinterista]

Trappa? I'm still fuming at what he did with the National side.
Hoooray Chivu got injured in the friendly against Italy...

[RomaShield27]

Ha ha really, Trapattoni to Inter? lmao

[Messinterista]

Yeh lol, not believing it for one second.

[Totally FRANK]

Coutinho injured in training and injury relapse for Cesar. Great!!!

[Totally FRANK]

Tetchy Moratti gives Benitez his backing - for the time being

Friday 19 November 2010 12:05

So, after storming away from the San Siro on Sunday, spending Monday in tetchy mood with reporters before falling into sulky silence, Massimo Moratti broke cover to hand Rafa Benitez his full backing.

Usually the vote of confidence is a harbinger of doom for any coach and Moratti has plenty of previous when it comes to telling the public one thing and doing completely the opposite in private. Well, sort of in private, as it is well-known in Milanese circles that sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport will break a story originating from the inner sanctum of Inter headquarters.

Alberto Zaccheroni, Hector Cuper and Roberto Mancini no doubt have the press clippings horded away somewhere foretelling of their demise. Benitez has three games to save his job was the gist of the latest premonition, coming as it did from reliable sources close to the man from the black stuff.

Oil is a pretty slippery liquid, so any blame for the coach’s failure will seep downwards towards Marco Branca, who persuaded his employer that Benitez was the man to continue where Jose Mourinho had left off – without any new signings, of course.

Apparently the technical director brushed away the Spaniard’s concerns that, having landed the Treble, the team were in natural decline and in need of a few fresh faces, claiming that the club had everything in hand but when Benitez put forward a few transfer targets they were ignored.

As long as the current group continued to dominate at home then the hierarchy could get on with bringing the club finances under control, but the last month or so have seen the side sail some choppy waters, spring a leak along the way before running aground in the derby.

It was left to Branca to see what could be salvaged and then get the vessel afloat again, dispatched as he was to the training ground with vice president and heir to the throne Angelo Mario Moratti, for a clear the air meeting with Benitez and his assistant Amedeo Carboni.

Or put it another way, let’s get tough with this Iberian interloper. The meeting came at a time when most of the first-team squad were away on international duty or injured, so no one could hear the pleas from Benitez for more time.

The emissaries apparently returned to the city satisfied that they had made is suitable clear what was expected, but all too aware that once a rift occurs between an underling and the boss then there is little that can be done to heal it.

Mancini sealed his fate with his public resignation at the final whistle after losing to Benitez-managed Liverfekkin'wankscum in the Champions League despite going on to win the title.

Benitez is a veteran of boardroom politics from his time in England and he knows he needs to get results back on track again which means getting tough with his players.

Early momentum has come to a grinding halt over the last month or so with just 10 points from the last eight games while Milan have gathered 21 points. So an 11-point gap has turned into a six-point deficit.

Injuries are one thing but what seems to be at the heart of the problem is that the dressing room is missing belief - something Mourinho excelled at, getting the best out of whatever resources he had at his disposal – Moscow when the side were on the cusp of elimination from the Champions League, Chelsea after the 1-1 draw at home and of course Barcelona when the odds were stacked against them, all come to mind.

Benitez cannot seem to lift his charges in the same way – witness the abject performance at Spurs and the lacklustre response in the derby against 10-man AC Milan which so obviously ticked off Moratti.

If Inter cannot get positive results from Chievo, Parma and FC Twente then any Inter coach would be expecting the dreaded meeting with the main man, but as it stands the World Cup for Clubs will be the moment where Benitez’s fate will be sealed.

He flunked the European Super Cup and failed in the derby so if Inter are not crowned World Champions then it would be adios Benitez.

If reports are to be believed then the candidates are indeed wide ranging – Leonardo obviously just to get up Silvio Berlusconi’s nose, Frank Rijkaard and Luciano Spalletti fresh from being crowned Russian champion with Zenit St Petersburg.

They have all been strategically placed to up the pressure on Benitez who needs to demonstrate some of that tactical wisdom to negotiate the corridors of power in what has been a five months at Inter that few could have envisaged.

[zafferano]

[Messinterista]

It just gets better doesn't it?
Any chance we'd be going for Ledesma this coming window? He is doing well for Lazio and now has been blooded as a Italian.

[zafferano]

THATS FOR LOMBA

Inter, timori confermati per Coutinho: si ferma 2 mesi
20.11.2010 09.18 di Giulia Borletto articolo letto 2518 volte
Fonte: fcinternews.it


© foto di Giuseppe Celeste/Image Sport E al club degli infortunati si aggiunge anche Philippe Coutinho. Il baby brasiliano entra anche lui nell'elitario circolo degli infortunati al bicipite femorale, a dimostrazione della fragilità muscolare dei nerazzurri in questo periodo, sintomo di una preparazione fisica diversa dal passato, molto più dura. Una preparazione che ha colpito un altro 'nuovo' dopo Joel Obi, fermatosi domenica nel derby. Gli infortuni del nigeriano prima e del brasiliano poi, fanno sì che si punti il dito contro il nuovo tipo di preparazione, confutando ogni opinione secondo la quale gli infortunati erano i reduci dalla Tripletta, i cosiddetti 'spremuti da Mourinho'. Coutinho si ferma, non più per tre settimane, come ipotizzato ieri, ma per ben due mesi. Per lui la lesione è assai più grave. Non si tratta di primo grado, ma di un grado superiore di stiramento, che farà sì che l'ex Vasco rientri nel 2011. Fatale è stato il contrasto in allenamento e il movimento innaturale che ha generato tal problema.

Addio Mondiale per club che l'ex Vasco da Gama aveva posto come prossimo obiettivo: Coutinho entra dunque nell'esclusivo (fino a un certo punto...) club degli infortunati al bicipite femorale. Presidente di quest'ultimo è Diego Milito, che ha collezionato tre stop, due al sinistro e uno al destro. Poi abbiamo i vari, Muntari, Mariga, Maicon, Cambiasso, Julio Cesar e Chivu, tutti colpiti dallo stesso problema. Una carneficina alla quale Benitez dovrà far fronte, così come la società, magari intervenendo in gennaio sul mercato.

[Lombardiamia]

[Totally FRANK]

Another loss and to add to the misery Eto'o is definitely going to be suspended for at least the next 2 games. We will be left with Pandev as the only striker who just can't seem to find the back of the net.

Bye bye Scudetto. I hope we at least finish in the CL places.

[Messinterista]

He deserves a 2 match suspension minimum. What was he thinking?!?! I thought he was more level headed than that (no pun intended). There simply is no excuse to act like that.
I didn't watch the match but it sounds like we were dominated and Eto'o only got a consolation goal in stoppage time. I wonder how Moratti is going to react to this...

[zafferano]

is clear to everone that benitez go one way the team the other way ,
a case can be made about benitez been a good coach but from what
as shown at inter he is just not good enough .the worst teams in seria A
are making as look like shit .i am sure benitez will go ,when i dont know
the sooner the better .and Lomba please stop making excuses ,we just
go on what we see .

[Messinterista]

I was thinking Rijkaard is available as well. Although, he isn't particularly the best manager and does have history with AC....just another option if we were to lose Rafa.

[Messinterista]

'Cassano will never play for Samp'
President Riccardo Garrone has made his position very clear. “Antonio Cassano will never again wear the Sampdoria jersey.”

The club is in the process of a legal bid to terminate his contract for ‘insubordination’ and the first meeting of the authorities to rule on the matter is set for December 3.

The initial attempt will be at reconciliation, but it’s already clear that is not going to happen.

“One thing is certain: Cassano will never again wear the Sampdoria jersey,” Garrone told RAI television.

“I am making this an issue of consistency, something I have never lacked in my life.”

If the contract is terminated, then Cassano could become a free agent in time for the January transfer window.

Among the clubs interested in taking on the Italy international are Juventus, Inter, Fiorentina, Palermo, Chelsea and Manchester City.

Source: http://www.football-italia.net/nov21r.html
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I hope! I hope! I hope!

[Lombardiamia]

Briz I have been siding with Benitez simply on the injuries issue. In the sense that all these injuries cannot be simply put down to a different training schedule but a mixture of many things. I agree that the players for some reason do not want him there and do not want to follow his instructions. The reason for that I dont know, but at this point maybe it is better to have a change. I'm sorry for Benitez and certainly I wanted to see what he was capable of doing with all the players at his disposal but in Italy nobody keeps it's manager after all that is happening. Certainly though if there will be a change, the players need to take the responsability of being more mature and for acting in a non-professional matter. Apart from that I would love to hear an apology from the club for never having any faith in him from day one. He is right now a dead man walking....but has been a dead man walking since day 1. Benitez is to take his responsability, but so are others.

[maro]

http://www.forzaroma.info/news-as-roma/ ... romaq.html

Some interesting comments from Graziani on Benitez there:
Benitez a rischio?

Secondo me, da quello che si è visto nella prima parte della stagione, anche essendo bravo e avendo vinto molto nella sua carriera, credo che non sia l'allenatore ideale per l'Inter.
L'Inter ha bisogno di carattere, di polso, ci vuole un allenatore diverso. Sono passati da Mourinho ad uno che non riesce a caricarti per bene prima di scendere in campo, che non ti prende a frustate per dire! L'Inter dovrebbe cambiare per dare un scossa all'ambiente, continuando così credo che andranno incontro ad una stagione fallimentare.

I only watched the first half of your game on Sunday but you guys looked shot - Eto'o's reaction was a reflection of a team and a club in crisis, without confidence and without direction. A couple of wins, of course, and all might be rosy again, but Sunday's performance I thought was pretty worrying for you guys.

Clearly it's pretty much impossible to judge Benitez given the injuries you've had - if those injuries are his fault then of course he takes the blame, but as Lomba's been insisting, there are so many other explanations (and certainly from the outside I find it impossible to judge). Zanetti also commented a few weeks ago that your training ground was in the worst condition it's been for 20 years. When Roma had so many injuries under Spalletti the training ground also got a lot of the blame. The thing that interested me most about those comments from Graziani, though, was just that they draw attention to the totally different cultures which exist within clubs. Because Moratti's such an eccentric character (lovable and insane in just about equal measure, I imagine), the club presumably doesn't have a rock solid organisational core - in this it's probably diametrically opposed to a club like Rubentus or even Bilan. Which means that it needs a really strong character as manager to hold things together, whereas at Bilan and Rube, it's possible to argue that they rely on not having a strong character, but, rather, a coach who does his job very well within a wider structure. Personally, I think Benitez is a very fine manager, as you know, and if he can ride this out and get some more players back and perhaps add one or two to the mix in January to give him the squad to suit his tactics then he can still do very well for you guys; Graziani's point about character, though, is an interesting one.

[Lombardiamia]

Yes Maro, clearly that was one thing which presumably have bothered us since he was first appointed. At first, personally I thought that that was just because we have been used to Mourinho, therefore anyone else after him would have less character so to say, but then it all seemed pretty clear that his calm attitude was being transmitted to the players too. Clearly, especially when one has so many injured players, it is down to the players left fit to play to put up a decent fight, but Benitez was not able to transmit that fire to the lads. I should believe that had the lads at least put up a fight or played with their heart, Benitez's position would be much less on the edge. But the players didnt even seem to try to win these last couple of matches, regardless of the fact that they would be putting their manager at the end of the line...so that clearly indicates a reluctancy from the players to even try to do something for him. In this case, Benitez needs to be fired, unfortunately.

[Totally FRANK]

You are right, last year how many times have we come back to win or at least to draw when we have been a goal down. Playing with 9 against Samp and 10 against Milan and Barca, I don't think this team is capable of doing that under Benitez. He seems too calm on the touch line. Partly the reason may be that the team has been used to the Mourinho era that they aren't able to adapt to the extremely opposite kind of regime under Benitez. I think we just need to get some victories behind our back and we will get back to the decent form we were in at the start of the season. The problems will still remain but we desperately need some confidence to boost the morale and we need to win for it.

Even if we are going to replace Benitez where are going to find a coach in Mourinho's mould?