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L&C, I like your post but don't necessarily agree with it.
After Zola braced my EPL-biased sports channels, I grew affection for Chelsea...trying to watch them constantly. When CR took over and then Abro came in....I could not believe how un-organised CR was.
Mourinho came in and all of a sudden proved that money alone does not buy you success...but also a brilliant coach, motivator and tactician.
At this point you could best believe Rainieri had ill feelings toward Mourinho. Then the whole Serie A saga happened and the ill-feeling became even more potent.
We ALREADY know what happens when you put in a coach that Mourinho has beef with. They come in and want to do their own thing so they don't get caught in his shadow, seeing how much they despise him.
I am scared. I already have images of Rainier on the touchline hand on his chin, looking stressed and clueless as to why the squad is falling apart around him, losing to fucking Trabzonspor at home.
You reiterated that we were hard pressed to find anyone with experience. I agree. But is that exactly what we are looking for? Or do we just need someone who knows that this team already has a tried and tested formula. Someone who will WANT to copy Mourinhos style of success instead of having an ego to big .
Ranieri is still a risk, but I think he was probably the least risky choice.
I don’t think Ranieri’s time at Chelsea should be viewed negatively. He improved their points tally every season, and got them into the CL. When Abramovich took over, he had a very good season considering the massive squad overhaul and made some very acute signings. When you look at the core of Mourinho’s Chelsea, many of them (John Terry, Petr Čech, Arjen Robben, William Gallas, Claude Makelele, and Frank Lampard) were all brought in/promoted by Ranieri. He’s obviously not as good a coach as Mourinho, but Jose is the best in the world and we can’t keep comparing coaches to that. I would rate him as better than Rafa, Leo and Gasp however.
I think Ranieri is smarter, and less of an egotist than Benitez. On his very first day here Benitez trivialized the clubs achievements and told the press he would win with more style. We all should’ve known right there that it was destined to fail, he geniunely could not have made a worst first impression. Then he tried to change the squads mentality and gamestyle completely. It was insanely stupid. Ranieri, on the other hand, has talked about the strength the team already has and has paid respect to our champions. Whats more, he’s never been a ‘style’-based coach. His success at Roma was achieved by taking Spalletti’s ‘sexy football’ and replacing it with a gritty determination that helped them win games when they played poorly- the exact characteristic Inter seem to have lost since Mou left. Add to that Moratti’s declaration “results are what are important”, and I think he’d be foolish to try and change us too drastically. He can take a leaf out of Leo’s book and see that this team doesn’t need much more than a bit of motivation, and a defensive set up.
In terms of the Mourinho issue, I don’t think it’s as big deal as it was last season. Slowly but surely, the team is becoming more and more removed from our treble winning squad. Players like Ranocchia, Nagatomo, Pazzini, Forlan, Zarate have no allegiance to Mou and probably don’t care about the past. Hopefully the old guard will be smart enough to realize that, while Ranieri didn’t like Mourinho, he never really had an issue with Inter. Finally, I’d really like to see Mourinho come out and back Ranieri, or atleast wish him well. If he’s as much of an Interisti as he claims, he will see that his constant sniping at Benitez did nothing to help the club and will put his ego aside. I think it could really help both players and fans get behind Ranieri and help to unify the club. We cannot be successful otherwise.
I was against Ranieri originally (would've preferred Dunga), but the more I think about it the more I don't mind the decision. It certainly could be worse...