Mourinho left an excellent base that needed refreshing - Rafa didn't do that (and alienated his best striker too if I remember correctly, in Diego Millito). That being said, injuries robbed him of a fair chance but there was a reason he didn't last a full season ... The squad was disenchanted with him despite the trophies.
It's not similar to us losing Suarez ... we replaced Suarez with? Lambert and BAlotelli ... They replaced him Higuain ... I wonder where we'd be if we had done a similarly good job!
Benetiz took over a good Napoli team though - that they were in serie A since 2008 doesn't take from the fact they were alerady a top team when he was hired. Didn't think he (or anyone in Italy) was capable of managing a seasong long challenge against Juve - theyr'e too good.
"an excellent base that needed refreshing - Rafa didn't do that"
- Zanetti 36, Materazzi 36, Cordoba 33, Lucio and Samuel 32, Stankovic & Milito 31, Cambiasso, Eto'o & Chivu 29
- 57 matches played in previous treble winning season
- He wanted to but wasn't granted the wish
[article=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/rafa-benitez-warns-inter-milan-1078816]"Last year Moratti spent £70 million on five players. This year, with a new coach, he has spent nothing. " [/article]
- Marco Branca was the Technical Director - responsible for transfers (was sacked in Feb 2014).
[article=http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2013/06/marco-branca-the-man-who-ruined-inter/]Branca was responsible for the majority of Inter’s transfers during their treble winning 2009/10 season. Key pieces like Lucio, Diego Milito, and Samuel Eto’o were all brought in and shined for the club.
However, the latter was only acquired due to the Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barcelona deal, which involved both cash and a player exchange. Lucio and Milito were signed by teams abroad and in Italy respectively, and were two of the best in their positions during the Jose Mourinho-era.
Lucio was arguably the best defender in 2009/10 while Milito was one of Europe’s top marksmen with 30 goals in 52 games in his debut campaign for the Nerazzurri. Despite all of that success, the one flaw in those moves for Branca have been the ages of the South Americans.
Lucio was 31 when he moved from Bayern Munich, while Milito was 29 upon leaving Genoa. They were both in their primes, but since Mourinho left, every player around that age are either past their peak or consistently hurt.
That’s where Branca’s strategy has gone awry. For those two or three years, those specific players shone on the big stage. Once they reached their mid-thirties, however, they no longer performed at that top level.[/article]
"similarities to us
losing Suarez"
- not replacing.
- Point about Napoli being in Serie B barely 5 years ago was regarding stature of the club. For example, would Higuain have joined Napoli had it been someone else in charge? Don't think he was short of suitors.
As mentioned, just don't think he's doing that poorly. That's my main point, really.
