Chelsea manager Rafael Benítez has reacted angrily to his former Inter charge Marco Materazzi’s claim that the coach is living in José Mourinho’s shadow and has accused the player of lying at a recent press conference.

Like Mourinho, Benítez has now also managed both Inter Milan and Chelsea.

Materazzi though, a big fan of The Special One, appears not to have been impressed with the Benítez regime at Inter while the defender was there and claims that the manager felt the pressure of succeeding Mourinho after the club had won the treble with the Portuguese at the helm in 2010.

Materazzi provided a critique of Benítez to France Football:

He is not my ideal Coach. If I was a club president, I’d never employ him.

A great boss like Marcello Lippi or Mourinho knows how to get their demands across to a dressing room whereas Benitez, he wanted to put them all in writing, 10 or 12 rules – like the Highway Code, or being at school!

At Inter’s training centre, there were photos on the wall of all the most successful past Coaches, from Helenio Herrera to Roberto Mancini and Mourinho. Benitez had the ones of Jose taken down. With that gesture, he showed his character: that of a weak person.

On Mourinho’s last day at Inter the Italian centre-back is also reported as saying to the coach:

Damn you for leaving me with Benitez!

However, Benítez has hit back and accused Marco Materazzi of being “a liar”:

He’s lying. Marco Materazzi’s lying. He’s lying. Just lying. Everything he said is a lie. Everything that he talked about me, the things that he said about me, when he was talking with Jose Mourinho, is a lie because nobody knew that I was going to Inter – even me. He’s a liar. About the pictures, he’s lying, so he’s a liar.

Watch the video of Rafael Benítez’s Chelsea press conference comments below:

Football Burp does not know who to believe.

Dirty Tackle helpfully dug up a Goal.com article featuring José Mourinho comments on the photo saga, published in 2010 – shortly after he had left the club:

I don’t need photos to make those around me love me as they carry me in their hearts. When I was Inter coach I never asked for the images of Herrera or Mancini to be taken down.

If they don’t like my photos it’s not a problem. I always shared a great rapport with the Inter family.

See more great videos of managers ranting and clashing with reporters in our recent rundown.