Why Rafael Benitez was doomed to fail at Inter Milan

Benitez faces an uncertain future after another disappointment at Inter

Six months ago, Rafael Benitez quietly exited Liverpool after being relieved of his duties as manager and immediatly landed on his feet by taking over at European and Italian champions Inter Milan. Today, the Spaniard was left mulling over why his tenure at Inter failed and the investigation into it won’t be too difficult.

Last season under the guidance of Benitez’ arch rival Jose Mourinho, Inter Milan exceeded all expectations by successfully retaining their Serie A title, winning the Coppa Italia and winning the Champions League for the first time since 1965.

But the lure of Real Madrid proved too big for Mourinho to resist and he left Inter to take the reins at the Santiago Bernabeu. Inter supremo Massimo Moratti was left with the dilemma of replacing a coach who had achieved success never seen at Inter in many years.

After being rebuffed by the English Football Association for their coach Fabio Capello, Inter were left with little options to replace Mourinho. When Benitez left Liverpool, it seemed a perfect chance to bring in a coach who had won the La Liga with Valencia and won the Champions League in 2005 after beating Inter’s city rivals AC Milan.

Benitez gladly accepted but it seemed impossible for the Spaniard to repeat or better Mourinho’s achievements of last season. Mourinho’s style was described as conservative, as usual making his team difficult to beat with a strong base of organisation.

So, this season Inter played the complete opposite with mixed results. Benitez’ first decision was to bring Samuel Eto’o back as a main striker to spearhead the team unlike last season where Mourinho employed the Cameroon international on the right wing. Benitez’ maybe knew it would be unlikely to achieve the successes of last season so tried to distinguish himself from Mourinho by employing a different concept of football at the San Siro.

The Italian media were grateful to have a mild mannered coach at Inter unlike Mourinho, who continually held the Italian media and at times the footballing culture in Italy, with great disdain.

Despite positive intentions, Benitez leaves Inter with the club in seventh place and 13 points behind leaders AC Milan. It would have been a tough job for any manager taking after Mourinho but with the bad blood between the two men, Benitez maybe took the job to show Mourinho he could something diverse and better at Inter.

He was able to succeed in getting Eto’o back to what he does best – scoring goals. But the team’s fortunes were halted by injuries to players and the lack of investment into the squad hence Benitez’ attack on owner Moratti recently.

Signs of discontent appeared in his media briefings but with also attacks on his Liverpool successor Roy Hodgson becoming a regular feature.

And having not gained successes in his reign so far, Moratti was probably left unamused by Benitez’ constant requests for funds and left enraged by his ultimatum last weekend.

A few days occured with confusion reigning but today Benitez’ reign finished with his career uncertain.

 

Why Tevez must do more to sustain harmony at Manchester City

Tevez has succeeded on the pitch at Eastlands but failed to settle off it

After taking back his transfer request today, Carlos Tevez has indicated his commitment to Manchester City. But the Argentinean needs to do more to fully show his employers his desire to stay and be successful at the club.

Manchester City will feel elated that their star striker has decided to stay but more questions will appear as to how Tevez’s sudden change of heart appeared. In the statement released by the club, it said that Tevez had been part of “clear the air” talks with the club and was now retracting his request.

Tevez’s decision to stay seems inconsistent with what he has been stating in the media for the last few months. Firstly, he said he was homesick from his native Argentina where his two daughters are residing. City, realising the importance of keeping their captain happy, allowed him on breaks to see his children. In the midst of all this battle with City, Tevez had been on a four day break in Tenerife.

Secondly, it was his professional relationship with coach Roberto Mancini that had been tense and resulted in publicly clashing with the Italian during a home game against Bolton. Since leaving Manchester United in 2009, Tevez has struggled to bond with the coaches at City in the way he had done with Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford.  Mancini’s double training sessions and man management has failed to win him any player support, Tevez being the main leader in voicing his anger at the coach’s methods.

In the statement released by Tevez on the 13th of December, the Argentinean cited a breakdown of the relationship with “certain executives” at the club, rumoured to be chief executive Garry Cook and football director Brian Marwood. Since joining and becoming City’s main symbol of the takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group, Tevez and more importantly his advisor Kia Joorabchian, seem to be involved in the major decisions involved at the club. This is strengthened by Joorabchian’s claim that he was instrumental in bringing Cook to the club in the first place and have done business through transfers in the past.

Despite the speculation filled weeks, the impression seems to be now that all is good at Eastlands. However, due to the length of concerns that Tevez had, it seems unlikely that this story will go away. Maybe Manchester City were able to persuade Tevez not to derail a season of opportunity (City could go top by beating Everton tonight and also have qualified for the next stages of the Europa League) by leaving in January and that he would be able to go in the summer once the season is finished.

Or had Tevez realised that any potential club would not be able to stump up the money City were wanting and that it was best to stay?

Whatever the reason, Tevez must be more appreciative of the efforts City are making for him and settle in England for the chunk of his contract or leave. Under City, he has been allowed breaks to see his children whereas other less integral City players are probably forced to do with limited visits to family abroad.

Since coming to England, Tevez’s limited grasp of English is beyond shocking. His spells at West Ham, Manchester United and now City hasn’t seen him improve his English skills unlike his playing ability, which has continuously developed over the years. This problem also means he relies more on other people to do various normal day activities rather than do it himself. Which means more control for outside people and less for him.

Manchester City have made great strides to accommodate Tevez and his personal needs but now it’s time for the Argentinean to show City he intends to fulfill his contract and settle in England.

Khan’s work under Roach is justified in Las Vegas

Khan lands a clean shot on the feared Maidana

It was the biggest setback in his professional career after being defeated in only 54 seconds by Breidis Prescott but on Saturday night, Amir Khan eradicated memories of that loss with an absorbing and brutal victory over big hitting Marcos Maidana in Las Vegas.

The doubters had still yet to be convinced of the Bolton fighter’s heart and punch resistance despite winning every bout under the tutelage of trainer Freddie Roach. Khan’s capturing of the WBA light-welterweight title from Andreas Kotelnik in 2009 and subsequent victories over Dmitry Salita and Paulie Malignaggi had shown the development under Roach but not truly tested him where all of his boxing and psychological abilities could be put to the test.

But there is an underlying reason why Khan was able to absorb so much punishment and not be defeated. When moving to Roach, the first thing the renowned American trainer did was to move the 24-year-old Khan up to light welterweight and it was a decision which has reaped dividends. Also, the addition of Alex Ariza as a strength and conditioner coach allowed Khan to focus on the physical aspect and put more weight on those legs of his.

On Saturday’s show, there’s no doubt had Khan been boxing in the lightweight divison, he would have been prone to going down alot more quicker than the one who bravely stood toe to toe with the biggest puncher in the light welterweight division. In the early days of his career, Khan was beating his opponents with ease due to the power accumulated in his upper body but to the detriment of his lower body which was not having the same attention as the upper. Hence, at times early on his professional career, he went down too easily after being caught with not so destructive shots. Coming face to face with a fighter he was apparently ducking, Khan showed why the work at the Wildcard gym was not going to waste.

The decision to move to LA has allowed Khan to implement Ariza’s punishing schedule of training and allowed him to keep focused amid the distractions from outside of the ring.

Khan’s day in the lead up to fights begins at 5am and it’s non stop with a training schedule designed to get him in the best shape possible and to sustain 12 rounds of boxing.

On a glitzy night in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay, Khan put on a show to emphatically prove all the critics wrong. It is a Fight Of The Year candidate and encapsulated what 12 rounds of boxing is truly about.

The fight showed the topsy turvy nature of boxing and how momentum can so easily shift from one fighter to the other. Khan was comfortable and sticking to the game plan from rounds 1 to 5 despite on the receiving end of some hard hits by Maidana. Round six saw the Argentinian boxer come back to land clean on Khan, who didn’t go down. The next few rounds saw both fighters gain advantage before Maidana cranked up the pressure in the 10^th. After catching Khan with a clean right hand, Maidana sensed a knock out was due. Khan stayed resilient and employed old school boxing tactics by holding, and using his legwork to stay alive until the bell rang. After coming out from the start with pace and energy, Khan had accumulated enough points on the scoreboard to take it easy in the last couple of rounds. But Maidana never relented and again succeeded in landing uppercut shots but in the last thirty seconds of the 12^th, Khan fought back to finish on a high and retain his WBA light welterweight title.

Khan was able to quieten a lot of the critics who surfaced after his loss to Prescott and prove he could get his hands dirty by going through a real boxing war. After a successful 2010, the next year rolls near with new opportunities and a chance to unify the light-welterweight division.

And who knows, this time next year, Khan could be in the ring with a pound for pound king, it remains to be seen whether it will be Floyd Mayweather Jnr or the Bolton boxer’s stablemate Manny Pacquiao. A far cry from that devastating night at the MEN in Manchester after losing to Prescott, when it seemed his career would never recover.

Mike Ashley’s ruthless streak adds Chris Hughton as another victim

Despite achieving success in his time in charge, Hughton has been ruthlessly despatched by owner Mike Ashley

The sacking of Chris Hughton as Newcastle United manager  is sadly unsurprising due to the unstabability that owner Mike Ashley has had since he took charge at St. James Park in 2007.

Having taken over as manager after Newcastle were relegated to the Championship in 2008, Hughton oversaw a transformation of a team who’s performances in the main tier of English football was woeful and brought them back with a style reminiscent of the Kevin Keegan days. And after a fine start to the Premier League, in which they lie in 11th place and having secured some impressive results, it seems that the impatient hierachy at the club felt it was time for a more experienced man at the helm.

Ashley seemed to have no permanent confidence in Hughton and this was shown clearly by the club not giving him a longer deal. Without the public backing from his employer, the uncertain clouds lingered over Hughton who admirably gained good results in beating Arsenal 1-0 at the Emirates, gaining local bragging rights by thumping arch rivals Sunderland 5-1 and denting Chelsea’s title aspirations with a 1-1 draw at St. James Park.

Hughton’s sacking not only leaves you scratching your head but an unfair outcome for a young manager who’d overcome the odds at St. James Park. He took over after a short spell from Magpies legend Alan Shearer failed to materalise the upturn in fortunes that Ashley had expected and thus were relegated to the Championship.

With a squad of players low on confidence, Hughton showed his underrated managerial abilities to guide Newcastle back into the top flight in style by winning the Championship and scoring plenty of goals in the campaign. With his influential skipper Kevin Nolan leading the line, the revitalisation of foreign players such as Jose Luis Enrique, Fabricio Collicini and the potential of target man Andy Carroll developing, all signs were positive heading into the new season.

However it seems Ashley and co weren’t reciprocating the same confidence of the team into their manager. The decision not to hand Hughton a longer deal and letting the contract situation linger on without any public comment, only undermined their manager and pretty much confirmed that they had no intention of keeping him. As time dragged on like a slowly awaiting execution, Ashley tightened the noose on Hughton and relieved the manager of his duties today.

It seems Hughton had the support when all things were rosy in the Championship but when it came to re-cementing their Premier League status (which Hughton had done satisfactorily so far), it seems Ashley got itchy feet about his manager’s credentials and that seems the only reason why he got rid.

With the Christmas schedule and the January transfer window looming, it appears a change was needed now for the new man to edit the squad with new arrivals.

After it seemed a spell of stability was giving Newcastle the results it needed on and off the pitch, Ashley has unseated his manager to give the North East club more chaos when it least needed it.

England’s 2018 dreams end in a miserable first round exit

With a World Cup bid filled with optimism, hope and one which included the big hitters of the country, England‘s failure to win brings more questions than answers.

Prime Minister David Cameron, ex-England captain David Beckham and newly engaged Prince William travelled to Zurich at the start of the week to push forward the bid. However, after a promising start to the day, it ended in huge disappointment as Russia were named the surprise winners of the right to host the World Cup in 2018.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter may have alluded to England’s forthcoming disappointment when he described their slick presentation as “remarkable”. Was this a warning that despite coming up short, England had shown the executive FIFA committee that it could bring a slick presentation group consisting of big names, a smooth running verbal performance by it’s presenters and a nicely put together video but not good enough to host a World Cup?

Its executive committee believes so judging by the results. Russia’s successful bid on the other hand, seemed to be in third place behind favourites such as Spain/Portugal and England. With its PM Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev not attending, it lacked the political punching power required to knock the executive committee off its feet but its muted tone and presentation of facts and figures seems to have done the trick.

As always, England’s bid was launched amidst huge fanfare and captured the national imagination. Would success have been achieved had the approach been more low key?

FIFA already know the passion England has for the game, the entertaining value that it’s domestic league brings and the passion football has for it’s citizens. Could England have helped themselves by focusing more on the practicalities of the bid, highlighting issues of transport, accommodation etc rather than delivering a bid which was filled with too much emotional drive. Russia showed that it’s simplistic bid had succeeded where England’s had failed. Russia’s capital Moscow, which hosted the 2008 Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea, will now become the main focus on it’s country’s hosting of the World Cup in 2018.

Other issues also had an effect. The British media’s scent of corruption within FIFA saw it delve into a taboo area for the governing body and it was unrealistic to expect the members implicated to turn round and vote for England considering the publicity of their touchy subjects. Despite Issa Hayotou voting for England’s bid which could be construed as voting as to not get revenge on the bid itself but the whole investigation must have alienated the voting committee.

It should be noted that corruption should be investigated in all sport but the timing of BBC Panarama’s programme suggests that it was designed for maximum public effect and may have costed England accruing more votes.

All that expectation, attention and dreams failed dramatically at the first stage in Zurich. Whatever the real reason was for the failure, all we now know is that England until 2030, will not host a World Cup on it’s shores.