The Cottagers boss, speaking ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash at St James’ Park, thinks the Magpies manager plays football akin to that in Serie A.
Claudio Ranieri has always been known for his quirky, unorthodox and mostly good-natured comments about football and the people in it.
On Friday, the Fulham manager came out with another gem to describe Rafael Benitez, his Newcastle United counterpart, ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash at St James’ Park.
Ranieri is as Italian as they come – from saying he needs a clean sheet for his new side like he needs pasta in the same press conference (BBC Sport), to rewarding his players at Leicester with pizza (Sky Sports).
So when he says the Magpies boss is “more Italian than me”, it’ll surely pique fans’ curiosity – but from a tactical perspective, the Spaniard is certainly deemed to have adopted the kind of tactics that have been the staple of Serie A for years.
Indeed, the game on Tyneside will pit two coaches who managed in the Italian top flight, Ranieri previously holding the reins at Roma and Benitez having enjoyed stints at Inter Milan and Napoli, as well as both having coached Valencia in La Liga.
At his press conference, Ranieri described Benitez – as quoted by Chronicle Live – as “a great manager who has won a lot, he is very intelligent, tactically is very attentive, and he’s created a very good group there.
“The team is strong, very intensive, tight – I think Rafa is more Italian than me,” he added. “That’s because he’s very, very attentive on the tactical movement of the players. They were down two months ago, and in this moment they are safe. So for us they could be good inspiration.”
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