Soccer Portal

More than ever, the profile of Managers (or Coaches, or Directors of Football, or Football Management Consultants - call them what you will) will come to the fore when the World Cup is on. It is probably the pinnacle of a man’s career to coach his national side at the World Cup, to grab that chance of becoming a national hero by assembling the best a country has to offer. It is true, with major tournaments few and far between, that there is not so much change at this top level, but when you get back to club level, there is a constant game of musical chairs going on. Across Europe, some of the biggest clubs have already started shaking things up, barely letting the successes and failures of the previous season sink in. There will, no doubt, be a lot of more managerial changes to come before the kick of the next European domestic seasons in the UK, Italy and Spain, and some of the moves during this summer are raising curious questions.

Is there another industry, where failure can reward so well? Let us take a look at departing Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez, who systematically dragged the Anfield club down slowly through some very poor signings. He leaves Liverpool with a large squad of very average footballers, without Champions League football, and with the Kop wondering how the pieces of this disastrous season will be picked up. More importantly, who will come in an attempt to pick up those pieces? Rafa bolted, and it really was no big surprise. But, for his failure to win a league title with the club, he has bizarrely landed himself a job with the current Champions League holders and Serie A winners, Inter Milan. Did Inter stop for a moment and consider what has happened under him at Liverpool? Are they simply banking on him learning from his mistakes, and hoping that it won’t be a costly mistake? It is a long way to fall from being double Champions to nothing, but that is the basket within which they have placed all of their eggs for the foreseeable future.

The position at Inter became available because “The Special One” Jose Mourinho left on high, to take on the challenge of bringing some silverware to Spanish giants Real Madrid. This may be an even more bizarre move than Benitez going to Inter Milan. Why? Well, anyone who has watched Real Madrid through their Galacticos and New Galacticos years, has seen a side which loves to attack, after purposely bringing in the World’s most accomplished forward players. Players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul, Benzema, Kaka and Alonso like to express their creativity in attack, but Mourinho, conversely, is not that sort of Manager. He is the defensive tactical genius of football management, who enjoys a team keeping clean sheets at the expense of expansive forward play.

Two of his prime targets for his new club are Maicon and Nemanja Vidic, both world class defenders, which says everything about the Mourinho way. The way of the “Special One” is not a pretty one to watch, but yes, it can be argued that it is an effective, if dull and economical one. If Madrid are looking to attack rivals Barcelona with defence in La Liga, then the famed attacking prowess of Real Madrid may fade very quickly.

So Real Madrid could very soon become Inter Milan. Inter Milan could very soon become Liverpool, as Benitez is already targeting Liverpool’s Argetninean midfielder Javier Mascherano. But where does that leave the English club? Who do Liverpool become? Real Madrid? Highly unlikely, as former Madrid boss Manuel Pellegrini is unlikely to end up there, and with no Champions League football in sight, things could get a lot worse if their only star players, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are easily pried away. They could even end up with Sven Goran-Eriksson.