Rafa Benitez is gone as Real Madrid manager. That part isn't surprising -- the odds were
stacked against him from the moment he took over -- but what is surprising is the timing and the choice of Zinedine Zidane as his successor.
Upon his appointment in June, Benitez described the Bernabeu as his dream job and went in with a "thank-you-sir-may-I-have-another?" attitude that, with hindsight, might have been precisely what got him the role. After all, in explaining the rationale behind his appointment, Madrid did not go much beyond some platitudes about "organization" and the fact that it was important to have a Spanish coach.
It's not that Benitez lacked the experience or tactical nous to do the job; his résumé speaks for itself. But managing Real Madrid in the Florentino Perez era is as much about being a "Galactico whisperer" as anything else.
When you're handling footballers who are basically corporate entities with outsize egos, you need, above all, man-management and diplomacy. That can mean being the nice guy, a players' coach like Carlo Ancelotti, or the "us-against-the-world" siege mentality generalissimo, as Jose Mourinho was before the wheels fell off in his third season.
Benitez simply didn't fit either profile. He's not the warm, cuddly type, and, in fact, his relations with superstars have been strained in the past. And, unlike Mourinho, who arrived in 2010 as a treble winner, he didn't have the power or political capital to keep everyone in line.
Benitez is an intelligent man, aware of his strengths and weaknesses, and went into the job with a softly, softly approach. He didn't demand specific signings, and, when tensions arose, he let things slide. But there's a fine line between being a permissive players' coach of a boss and being seen as a pushover. And it's not one he was used to walking.
He hoped that his football would be enough to see him through, but he also knew that he was inheriting a lopsided, unbalanced squad, packed with attacking midfielder types and low on defensive midfielders.
