Rafa Benitez for England?

Benitez's greatest achievement at Liverpool was the 2005 Champion's League victory

The time is nigh. The déjà-vu feeling of a soon-to-be-departing England manager needing to be replaced is about to rear its ugly head in the nation’s press to a crescendo of Anglophilic patriotism, where only an English manager will appease the majority of the red-top reading cognoscenti.

Yet, for what reason? Has it worked in recent years? The last homegrown manager to assume the helm at Wembley was Steve McLaren, whose managerial stock crashed under the down-pouring of both the heckles from his own fans and the skies above his final, fateful match.

Harry Redknapp may be the favourite for the England job once Fabio Capello departs in a pre-agreed deal following the conclusion of England’s Euro 2012 campaign, with Stuart Pearce likely to be close by in the running by way of his stewardship of the under 21s.

Redknapp is an obvious candidate, due to his position as the most successful English manager currently plying his trade in the Premier League, and an uncanny knack of being able to motivate his players to perform on the greatest stages – something that England may class as a major weakness.

But Redknapp apart, (discounting Pearce as being anywhere near ready for a job of this magnitude) the scarcity of English managers suitable for the job is obvious, so surely the candidate pool should stretch to those born out of these shores.

One such man, Rafa Benitez, may be the perfect groom to take England, perennial bridesmaid’s since 1966, down the aisle of football’s greatest ceremonies once again.

The former Liverpool manager left Anfield for the final time in June 2010, and endured a torrid short spell at Inter Milan, where he felt the wrath of Massimo Moratti’s short shrift and lasted just six months. Yet, Benitez’s undoubted qualities as a manager would fit like a glove in international football, and his familiarity with the facets of the English game should bring his name into the foreground as a prime candidate.

By breaking down what exactly is needed to be a successful international manager, Benitez’s stock rises high above the majority of the available or attractive candidates. His prevalence as a tactically astute thinker – a student of the game for many years – is exactly what is required in a job with an evident emphasis on knockout football.

Those matches are music to Benitez’s ears. Think Istanbul. Think two Champions League final appearances with Liverpool, and a quarter-final berth with Valencia. Think of the UEFA Cup and Super Cup triumphs with Valencia and Liverpool respectively, an English FA Cup and Community Shield, and an Italian Super Cup and Club World Championship in just six months as Inter coach, and Benitez’s abilities to win tournaments where one defeat can spell the end of the road is a remarkable feat. This strength sits on top of his footballing CV, with the miraculous and unfathomable success in Istanbul in 2005 being the best reference possible.

Benitez’s ability to play the media game will also go in his favour should he become England manager. A job known to be poisoned chalice, not least by Harry Redknapp himself, involves a media circus which past managers (Taylor, Hoddle, Eriksson, McLaren) are only too well versed with. At Liverpool, Benitez was more than happy to face the media, with memorable press conferences covering the good, the bad and the ugly (“it’s a fact, no?”) side of his job.

Yet, he was always willing to answer the questions, and in doing so held no fear for his contemporaries, standing up to the managerial might of Mourinho and Ferguson at every opportunity. With the England job requiring a greater reliance on forming these understanding relationships with club managers, Benitez’s ability to talk openly and freely to his peers may be a hindrance at times. However, to quote an old proverb, a palm tree growing in the shade will not bear ripe fruit – the openness to talk to managers is necessary and should be respected, if not always agreed upon.

As a man who still lives in England (Benitez calls Wirral his home and his daughters attend a nearby school), the former Liverpool supremo has always made his sentiments to the club, and English football, clear. After departing Anfield, he made a substantial donation of £96,000 to the Hillsborough Family Support Group from his own pocket just hours before becoming Inter Milan manager. And recent speculation towards his future has heralded claims that Benitez has turned down job offers from clubs across Europe to make sure that his next job is the right one. Residing in England, there may be few to suit his requirements, yet the one that would do so perfectly may be just a matter of months away.

Unlike Capello, Benitez is fluent in English and bears a true understanding of the English game, yet acknowledges the need to move away from the archaic and failing 4-4-2 system on the international stage. Benitez’s tried and tested 4-2-3-1 formation, something he became au fait with in and around La Liga, worked wonders at Liverpool, and the oft-mocked zonal-marking system was far more successful than claimed – yielding countless clean sheets and one of the best defensive records of any club during his reign.

Most recently, Benitez has launched a blog of his own, www.rafabenitez.com, a statistical analysis of some of football’s subjects that he so intently studies as though he was a manager producing a case report to prepare for an upcoming fixture. What it shows most vocally is that Benitez puts pride in his work as a manager, going out of his way to forgo the punditry cashflow of his managerial colleagues to stay true to what he really cares about – employed or not.

It is time for the recrudescence of Rafa Benitez, and what better man to lead the English revolt against the tiki-taka of the Spanish magicians than a pupil of the philosophy itself.