Foreign football 2012-13

[Nu-Eclipse]

Benitez should be pretty motivated to make up for his less than happy time at Inter.

Agreed.

Though as much as he was ultimately unsuccessful at Inter, there were plenty of mitigating factors (Moratti refusing to provide funds for new players, an ageing squad demotivated after winning everything under Mourinho and decimated by injuries, etc.).

[EJG1980]

Yeah, Mourhino got the absolute maximum out of that squad in the treble winning season and I don't think any manager would have been able to keep them at that level. The other factors you mentioned did hinder Benitez, although Inter still shouldn't have been as far off the pace in the league as they were.

Definitely not the "It's all Benitez's fault!!!!" disaster it's often made out to be, but I think he'd admit that he should have done better. I expect he'd have turned it around given a bit more time though, Moratti said a little while ago that with hindsight it was a mistake to sack Benitez so soon.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Yeah, Mourhino got the absolute maximum out of that squad in the treble winning season and I don't think any manager would have been able to keep them at that level. The other factors you mentioned did hinder Benitez, although Inter still shouldn't have been as far off the pace in the league as they were.

Definitely not the "It's all Benitez's fault!!!!" disaster it's often made out to be, but I think he'd admit that he should have done better. I expect he'd have turned it around given a bit more time though, Moratti said a little while ago that with hindsight it was a mistake to sack Benitez so soon.

Oh, I don't doubt that Rafa would (at least privately) own up to his shortcomings as Inter boss. For what it's worth, I was highly sceptical about him taking the role - it was always going to be a no-win situation for him in every sense.

It's just hard to account for your chairman blatantly going back on his promise to invest in a squad revamp the way that Moratti did - Benitez was screwed once injuries started plaguing the Inter squad (which was always likely with an average age between 28 and 31), forcing him to rely on youth-teamers.

[EJG1980]

Italian football club owners, some of the biggest loons going

I'm also looking forward to see if Walter Mazzarri can turn around Inter's fortunes next season. Finishing below Catania must have been hard to take! It's gonna be a lot of work but I think Mazzarri is a really good manager so he has a decent chance of being successful.