When Jose Mourinho left Internacional for Real Madrid at the end of last season he left behind a legacy that is hard to emulate, a season where Inter won almost everything in front of them. A treble (domestic league, domestic cup and the UEFA Champions League) winning season no less. But the success story was not limited to last season alone. They have been winning the Scudetto for the last five years. So the question that begs to be asked is what more can they achieve.
Rafael Benitez has had a torrid time at Liverpool the last couple of seasons and there was growing dissent amongst even the most ardent of Rafa fans who still swear by that magical night in Istanbul in 2005 when Liverpool turned around a 3-0 deficit to defeat AC Milan and reclaim what they believe is rightfully theirs, the UEFA Champions League title. But rather than going on to attain greater heights they failed to challenge on the domestic front. The critics, especially Jose who was in-charge of Chelsea at the time, alleged that it was Gerrard Houllier’s team that won and not one assembled by Rafa. Add to that Rafa then proceeded to dismantle the core of the team with some not so astute signings. The only three good signings he made in the years to follow were Pepe Reina, Fernando Torres and to some extent Javier Mascherano. The rest were mostly average and did not cut it at the highest level. He made more news for the players he let go, Peter Crouch, Craig Bellamy and Xabi Alonso readily come to mind. The result was that though he had some quality in every department, the squad was awfully lacking in depth. There was no back-up for Torres and Gerrard and when Carragher had a bad day in office, Liverpool’s defense was almost nonexistent. As a result he left the club in 7th place in the league and missing out on the Champions League this year.
The best response for Rafa would have been to go to a club that needed rebuilding very much like Liverpool do right now and build a team he could call his own and win. But the option he chose is one that is surprising to say the least. What more can he achieve with a team that has already reached the pinnacle of club football? Can he take them any higher? The answer is an emphatic no. Jose has built a team that has quality all over the park. If Rafa does a repeat of last season and achieves the treble, he will be accused of doing it with Jose’s team. If he fails one even one front he will be accused of failing despite a strong squad.
This is actually a win-win situation for everyone except Rafa. Liverpool got out of a sticky situation without having to pay the £20 million they would have had to pay Rafa had they fired him. Inter can wait for a couple of years to see if things work out else Fabio Capello will anyway be free from his England assignment in two years time and would love nothing more than to return home to Italy. And Jose, if Inter win anything Jose will claim it was his team that won. And unfortunately if they don’t manage to win anything the vultures will be back to haunt him. But the most haunting thing for Rafa would be Jose laughing at him and come end of the season it will happen regardless of the number of trophies he manages to add to the San Siro cabinet.
