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Liverpool fans' Rafael Benítez debate shows Hodgson's lack of friends
As Rafael Benítez's relationship with Inter was going south the Spaniard was on Merseyside, and the number of Liverpool fans that would like him to stay is bad news for his successor
So much for the theory that Internazionale would hang on to Rafael Benítez at least until they went out of the Champions League. The former Liverpool manager has some expertise in engineering Champions League success from unpromising situations and, as becoming the first team to retain the trophy since the change of format from the European Cup is believed to be Inter's main ambition this season, it had been thought he may have been able to achieve something of note with last season's winners.
On the other hand, perhaps Benítez will be secretly relieved at not having to go through a repeat of last season's final, when Inter take on Bayern Munich when the knockout stage commences in the new year. Anything less than perfection, which was pretty much what José Mourinho's team achieved in Madrid last May – given that Italian fans tend to place a high value on defending securely and striking effectively on the break and would not necessarily expect to see their teams passing people to death like Barcelona – would serve only to underline the fact that Benítez had a hard, maybe impossible, act to follow in succeeding a coach who had delivered a stylish treble.
If Mourinho is a winner, pure and simple, then Benítez is an enigma, considerably more complicated. Over the course of his career he seems to have specialised in winning against the odds, doing the difficult and sometimes the unexpected, while not always making the best of situations that appear to be to his advantage. In his best league season at Liverpool he lost only two games and supervised home and away victories over both Chelsea and Manchester United, a considerable feat, yet had to be content with runners-up spot after drawing on too many occasions against teams such as Stoke, Hull, Fulham and Wigan. While he seemed to be on course for a fairly undistinguished league season at Inter, it is as well to remember that Liverpool were nothing to write home about in the league the season he won the European Cup with them at his first attempt. Everton actually finished above them in 2005, yet when it came to the individual battles in Europe Liverpool always found a way to win, whether it took a phantom goal against Chelsea or a ludicrously unlikely comeback from three goals down in the final.
With that sort of track record one would have thought Inter could have extended Benítez the benefit of the doubt for a little while longer, especially as he has been at odds with the owners of the club – heard that before, anywhere? – and not the fans. Yet Italian clubs generally and Inter in particular are not noted for overindulging coaches, especially foreign ones. Inter have had 13 managers in 13 years since Roy Hodgson's first crack at the job and as soon as one heard Benítez effectively inviting the club to back him or sack him a few days ago it was possible to imagine a swift outcome. What works for a manager at Anfield does not necessarily transfer to San Siro.
From the sound of it Benítez must have known what was coming, otherwise he would not have received the news while on holiday in Liverpool. How depressed do you have to be, Manchester United fans have been queueing up to ask, to go on holiday to Liverpool? Especially when most of Europe's airports are clogged with frustrated travellers who cannot get anywhere, and Crosby was the coldest place in England the other night with temperatures of -17C. Perhaps the guy just needs a rest from football, and thought watching Hodgson's team a couple of times might do the trick. Sorry, I'll give the Mancunian jokes a rest now.
What is even odder than Rafa's choice of getaway location and stranger than some of his pronouncements about milk and sugar mountains in recent months is that a sizeable proportion of Liverpool fans would have him back in a flash. As there is also a sizeable proportion of Liverpool fans who wouldn't, this is not a course of action likely to recommend itself to the club board, yet even so it is fascinating to hear Liverpool fans arguing between themselves over the respective merits and demerits of the present manager and his predecessor.
Broadly speaking, around a third of Liverpool fans (I have not taken a representative sample of Merseyside opinion, I am only reflecting stances taken by the vociferous element on the message boards I have seen) think Benítez still capable of delivering major silverware and never wanted him to leave in the first place. Another third, roughly, were happy to see him go but would have him back straight away because Hodgson is merely a limp imitation of the same thing. The rest do not want Benítez back at any price and, while they grudgingly accept that even he would be better than Hodgson, they want the club to sack the present manager and move on to someone else. Hodgson, it will be seen, has very few friends at the moment. Almost every Liverpool fan wants to see the back of him and ultimately in this situation, even if it is widely suspected that Liverpool fans have been spoiled in the past and have no right to expect success all the time, when the people speak as one the people usually get their own way.
Ladbrokes is offering 12-1 on Benítez to return to Liverpool in the next five years. "If a vacancy occurs at Anfield then Rafa's name would be in the hat," a spokesman said. Perhaps such a quick return would be a bad idea from Benítez's point of view and could only be incredibly messy. The way things are going there will be a vacancy at Liverpool quite soon, though, and were I to have a flutter on who might fill it I would put my money on Owen Coyle. A rank outsider, it could be argued, but an ambitious young manager who is clearly going places. He lacks European experience but Liverpool want someone primarily to put a smile back on everyone's face, not joust with Mourinho. Just a thought.
The obvious English destination for Benítez is Blackburn, since a) they have a vacancy and b) the owners have indicated they wish to finish fourth or fifth or even better, which is what Benítez is good at. His Champions League experience will prove invaluable once Blackburn force their way into the elite, too. So expect Venky's to be on the phone to Merseyside almost immediately, and then Rafa to be straight on the phone to Sam Allardyce, for confirmation that he may not have been working for the worst owners in the world in Liverpool and Milan after all.
If Benítez fancies working in England again he should award himself a rest and wait for the Manchester City job to come up, which it is likely to do before long. Allardyce should be on the phone to Inter right away, stressing his defensive know-how and reiterating his line about being wasted in England. That's not a joke, actually. Allardyce might find Italian football suits him, and were he to put any kind of overseas achievement on to his CV he would strengthen his case for managing England. Always assuming that vacancy does not arise in the next few weeks due to the FA practically pushing Fabio Capello into Inter's arms. In that event, Benítez for England, anyone? He may not be English but he takes his holidays in Liverpool. Merry Christmas.
