The warm autumn replaces the sounds of children in swimsuits for peace of the monasteries at this resort where the wind decides if it smells like the sea or like the ground. In corridors as long as a lonely solitude walks a man who never feels so - because always accompanying him is a briefcase and a thought. He walks fast as a doctor with a patient expecting him, but there is no patient but a team - maybe not so different. Rafa Benitez speaks with the Director of the hotel about the ongoing works in his home with a balcony with football fields for horizons. He doesn´t need more, doesn´t want more, a monk who is isolated from any another horizon in a city where the exuberance of life devours any rule. It´s Naples, the city of his team - the former Kingdom of the two Sicilies, boiling with a new Spanish passion among the ones who never felt really Italian. Benitez, a cold Spanish man, very 'British', celebrates it with caution, meanwhile he makes calculations as Petrarca wrote verses, held in the 'Castello' of Maschio Angioino, because outside football as in life: it does not have any brakes.

The coach has just finished his talk with the Director. Everything will be in order soon, he says. He has just arrived from Florence, where Napoli have beaten Fiorentina. All the players have gone to rest in their homes, but Benitez has a meeting with his staff, Paco de Miguel and Antonio Gómez. They need to watch the video of the match that they just have played. Later, images of Catania, his next opponent, which they need to edit to show to the players fragments so they understand deeply. Then... There is always something after, even in this place that invites to dolce far niente. In three hours, Benitez has things to do and improvise a dinner with family, with his assistants, with attention to the visitor who had gone searching him to Castel Volturno, 40 kilometers far from Naples, in the North.

-Do you feel lonely?

-But there is much work...! – He exclaims- I would like to have my family here, but my daughters are at a crucial stage in their schooling and a change of environment was risky. All the technical staff are in the same situation. We all help each other.

Montse, his wife, and their two daughters remain in Liverpool. The first experience of a transfer, when Benitez managed Inter was not good in any of the senses. Despite of that the house being built in the interior of the hotel will house rooms for all. This experience and Inter cannot be compared despite being in the same country and the same league. The difference is fundamental. Here, what is said goes because there is a president that makes it real [Aurelio de Laurentiis]. He has done everything I've asked. Moratti, however, never made any of the signings that we requested. He told us that he would do it but it never happened, explains the manager.

-Three of the players that have joined you are Spanish, Callejón, Pepe Reina and Albiol. Are you trying to reproduce the same system from your time at Liverpool?

-When you get to a different League, the most important thing is to adapt, and the best way to speed it up is to have partners from the beginning, players who know your concepts and can transmit them to the others. Language is important, because there are many little things that can escape in the understanding.

Benitez has pointed out keywords for instructions which he considers basic, similar as an airline pilot who must handle universal concepts. The same thing applies in football. He no longer needs it though, the dinner is full of anecdotes about this. The best is when, telling Gerrard, the Liverpool player, to be careful with the wind, his pronunciation changed the wind in to wine (wine).

After winning titles in three different countries, all that a club coach can accomplish, one of his conclusions is that you must know environments, footballers and their habits and hobbies, because every place requires it. Despite this, there are similarities between Liverpool and Naples: "The two are not capitals of their country, are cities of workers who at times are marginalized and where football is not only a passion but also a social demand. In Liverpool the people helped me, loved me very much. Here, since the first time I arrived, they are excited. We have to wait , see what will happen when things don't go so well. I insist on maintaining a message of consistency and coherence, because there will be bad times".

-How much does Spanish soccer owe to people like you, the emigrants? Benitez smiles because he likes the question.

-There are Xabi Alonso or Fabregas... They returned after becoming best in a League most it’s the most demanding physically and they contributed with other styles to the selection. I look at Spanish football without passion of the ones who are inside. That allows me to analyse it with a cold mind. Possession is important, but it has become to an obsession. There are other ways to achieve results. Direct football, in England, for example, is effective. For us, go to the 'Premiere League' and get to counteract their way of play tactically was very rewarding. Adjusting the defense, shrink or expand - is completely different in a League or another. In Spain, you press a lateral player and, if he can get out of pressure, the transition begins. In England he gives it to the goalkeeper and puts the ball in their area. According to statistics in the 'Premiere League', there are goalkeepers who are the ones that give more passes into the area of their teams. In Italy we have had opponents who have played with a 4-4-2, others 4-3-3, others 4-3-1-2 and even to 5-2-1-2... Each team changes the system during matches. You have to adapt otherwise it would drive you crazy, but you have to know that and live with that. All this is impossible to get without leaving your country. I think that those who leave, learn end up becoming more competitive.

Pep Guardiola is one of those who took this decision, although Benitez clarifies that he has done so with a very powerful team: "Due to the difference of level, at Bayern is very difficult to not win a title. He inputs his ideas, something that we will see by possession of the team, but not completely", he adds. In his opinion, the powerful Bayern is the head of teams that have grown in Europe, such as Arsenal, "Ozil is going to help much in the game between the lines, along with Wilshere and Cazorla". For Barcelona and Madrid it will not be easy to show that superiority they had in the past, emphasizes Benitez. He believes, however, that we should give them time: "I know Carlo is a good person and a good coach. Martino has excellent references".

Do you never thought about returning home?

-At the time I was not employed, I had offers, but I expected the right team. I need to be competitive, with chances to fight for titles and adjusted to my way of doing things. Now it is completely different, Napoli is a team that wants to grow and wants to do well in Italy and in Europe, but with different conditions. We have had the best start in their history and are tied with Dortmund and Arsenal in the group of death. In Serie A, we are going after Roma, which have the advantage of playing just one game a week.

-Could you use your knowledge someday to manage the national team?

-It is a dream, but in the future. Spain has to win things still with Del Bosque...

THE CITY
'San Rafa' as San Gennaro

One of the publications of the city carried out a cover with Benitez dressed as San Gennaro, patron of Naples. The coach believes that it is necessary to know the culture of the place where he works and as he did in Liverpool, visit the most important places of the city. "I've been in the theatre of San Carlo, in the chapel of San Severo, in Posilipo and Pompeii. This city would famous across the world with the best marketing2, he says.

THE TRANSFERS
Maradona, the crucifix and Higuain

Next to Sant Domenico Maggiore an altar of religious images that surround a photo of Maradona, is another tenant: Higuain. "He is one of the few strikers who make a difference". About Callejón, who the press called the 'actor', emphasizes Benitez "He has the best moves to lose defenders in Europe". About Reina and Albiol, the "knowledge of what I want in defense, a step forward, with four instead of five".