Matt Diablo
Well-Known Member
MARTIN SAMUEL: Mourinho facing big trouble in little Inter Last updated at 12:01 AM on 02nd December 2009
My Stories Speculate on the return of Jose Mourinho to English football and one phrase crops up constantly. Whether the talk is of Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United or Arsenal, you hear that Jose is up for it.
He is up for anything in England, it seems, providing the position involves a reasonable budget and a shot at the biggest prizes. He is up for trying to collect the first title of the Premier League era at Anfield, or attempting to maintain a period of unprecedented dominance at Old Trafford.
He is up for adding the cutting edge to the work of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, or bringing Sheik Mansour's lavish project to fruition at Manchester City. He is Jack Burton in John Carpenter's cult classic Big Trouble In Little China. 'You ready Jack?' asks his friend Wang Chi. 'I was born ready,' Jack says.
Not that Jack is a conventional hero. He is something of a blowhard, actually. In his mind he is Indiana Jones, in reality he is a truck driver inadvertently embroiled in a mythical Chinese underworld, who messes up as often as he succeeds. Some think this of Mourinho, too. That he is all talk, a lot of hot air. They never get past the superficialities. They see only personality clashes, boasts and bravado. They are wrong.
I was born ready: Jose Mourinho, like cult hero Jack Burton, is ready for a challenge - and that may mean a return to England
If Carlo Ancelotti wins the league this season, it will have taken Chelsea four managers and the best part of three years to get back to where Mourinho took them in his first season. At Porto, his Champions League win was the most unexpected of the modern era. And if he has failed to repeat this achievement at Inter Milan, despite winning the title twice, well, join the club. Inter have had 33 coaches since 1965, and none of them have done it. Mourinho is far more talented than his detractors believe and, like Jack Burton, he has an ear for a good line, too.
'I'm a reasonable guy, but I've just experienced some very unreasonable things.'
The consensus is that Mourinho is increasingly tired of Italian football. When an English newspaper suggested this, quoting Mourinho lovingly on the subject of the English game, he issued a lengthy statement claiming misrepresentation. There was a little more to it, however.
Mourinho certainly did give an interview to a respected English football writer for use in a book on Sir Alex Ferguson. The meeting was cordial and Mourinho was very open, discussing Ferguson as friend and adversary. After the interview, however, he contacted Ferguson out of politeness and Ferguson requested he withdraw co-operation.
This put Mourinho in an invidious position and, in deference to a fellow manager, whose support he will need if he is to stand any chance of working at Manchester United, he asked the journalist to strike their conversation from the record. What cannot be known is whether Mourinho was aware that part of the interview was intended for use as a newspaper feature. He says not.
He is, however, no fool and if he wanted to publicly announce he would welcome a return to English football, he succeeded, even if the price was an awkward 24 hours in Milan and the hasty issue of a statement claiming he had been duped (making it look as if the problem was rogue reporting, rather than disloyalty to his employer).
So what is it about Italy that Mourinho does not like? The football, to begin with, which he is said to find much less compelling than the Premier League. He also believes the Italian media favours native managers and is harsher in its dealings with Inter Milan because he is an outsider.
This week, he rejected the criticism his club received for losing to Barcelona in the Champions League by hinting AC Milan got away lightly after losing at home to FC Zurich in September, as did Juventus when beaten 2-0 last month by a Bordeaux team that had already qualified.
Mourinho has also clashed with players, not least Mario Balotelli, and Massimo Moratti, the owner, is said to be unimpressed. 'No problem,' Mourinho sneered. 'I read that my replacement has already been found, but if I am sacked I will be back in work within a week.' Yes, but where?
'Everybody relax. I'm here.'
There are three main options: Manchester United, when Ferguson decides to retire; Manchester City, if Mark Hughes fails to deliver Champions League football this season; and Liverpool, if domestic performances continue to mirror the failure in Europe.
Some argue Arsenal should be included on this list were Wenger to go a fifth season without a trophy, but to appoint Mourinho now would require a 180-degree turn in club policy. (Although if Wenger did leave, the chances of finding a manager who would run Arsenal in his style would be as good as impossible, and a change of direction under the charismatic Mourinho would be an inspired decision.)
After the last debacle, when Ferguson gave advance notice of his retirement and his team took six months off to celebrate, the date of the next managerial vacancy at Manchester United is unknown. Ferguson has shown no desire to stand aside just yet - and why should he? - yet Mourinho would make an excellent successor.
It is going to take a brave man to follow Ferguson and there will be very few with the confidence to embrace this challenge. What is interesting is whether United are prepared to see Mourinho go elsewhere - particularly to their greatest rivals, Manchester City or Liverpool - and work in opposition, or whether the fear of this could accelerate discussions with Ferguson. The height of foolishness would be to miss out on Mourinho now, only for Ferguson to retire in six months time with the prime candidate unavailable.
Particularly if Mourinho is trying to do for City what Ferguson did for United: namely knock football's most consistently successful club off their perch. United are now where Liverpool used to be. Like Ferguson, Mourinho at Manchester City would turn the humbling of his supposed superiors into his personal crusade. Indeed, he seems made for such a challenge, as Ferguson was - he achieved something similar with Aberdeen in Scotland, up against Celtic and Rangers. Mourinho's character suggests he would contrive to do this while nursing a substantial budget and pretending the world is against him; as Ferguson did.
Much depends at which point Abu Dhabi tires of waiting for Hughes to turn City around. There are few signs of impatience so far, yet a two-month sequence of drawn Premier League matches cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely. End this with a run of three wins and the crisis may pass; end with three defeats and tough questions can be expected, perhaps as early as January. Hughes is a straight-shooter. He will know that Manchester City will be expected to achieve a top-four finish this season, considering the level of investment and with Arsenal and Liverpool in such erratic form.
He will also be aware that, in the eyes of Sheik Mansour and those advising him, the appointment of a coach such as Mourinho would be a greater draw to the best footballers in the world, and signal serious intent.
And then there is Liverpool, Mourinho's first choice, apparently. Like a great boxer, this is a man who fights with an eye on his place in history. Liverpool may have money worries, cowboys at the reins and a team in need of an overhaul, but they also have immense history and a 19-year itch that badly needs scratching.
The obstacle is that there is no appetite for dismissing Rafael Benitez, the manager, not in the boardroom and certainly not beyond. Maybe this would change if the season turned into a bust-on-all-fronts but, despite his track record, Mourinho is not a popular figure on Merseyside and the owners will be reluctant to further raise levels of animosity.
He would be a hard sell, as would a squad that has come up short too many times already this season. It is not feasible that Mourinho could outstrip the achievements of Benitez without greatly improving these resources. So there could be a sticking point.
'This is gonna take crackerjack timing, Wang.'
Isn't it just? Next week, Inter Milan have a home game against FC Rubin Kazan, the champions of Russia, that needs to be won to be certain of progressing to the last 16 of the Champions League. If Inter do not go through, there is a strong feeling in Italy that Mourinho's tenure could end, even seven points clear in Serie A. Win and he should be safe, although there is speculation over what would happen were Inter's resolve tested by an approach from an English club.
If anything is to be done before the summer, however, it must be timed to perfection in the hiatus between the break in the Italian season - Inter's last game is December 20, at home to Lazio - and when it reconvenes on January 6, or certainly before the first knock-out round of the Champions League, beginning February 16. Synchronisation with the European transfer window may be important, too.
'You can go and rule the universe from beyond the grave, or check into a psycho ward, whichever comes first.'
So this becomes a game of who blinks. If Manchester City are panicked by the recent flat-line and make a move sooner rather than later, are Liverpool, or even Manchester United, prepared to sit idle and watch it happen?
There is a world of difference between Mourinho parked safely in Milan, a random pairing in the Champions League away and Mourinho ensconced down the road having a crack at the title on behalf of another club.
And make what you will of this. Before writing, I spoke to a number of people who claim insight into Mourinho's mindset. I said I was working on a column about the possibility of his return to English football. 'I'd get that in sooner rather than later,' one told me. Mourinho is ready, have no doubt of that. And so are we.
My Stories Speculate on the return of Jose Mourinho to English football and one phrase crops up constantly. Whether the talk is of Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United or Arsenal, you hear that Jose is up for it.
He is up for anything in England, it seems, providing the position involves a reasonable budget and a shot at the biggest prizes. He is up for trying to collect the first title of the Premier League era at Anfield, or attempting to maintain a period of unprecedented dominance at Old Trafford.
He is up for adding the cutting edge to the work of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, or bringing Sheik Mansour's lavish project to fruition at Manchester City. He is Jack Burton in John Carpenter's cult classic Big Trouble In Little China. 'You ready Jack?' asks his friend Wang Chi. 'I was born ready,' Jack says.
Not that Jack is a conventional hero. He is something of a blowhard, actually. In his mind he is Indiana Jones, in reality he is a truck driver inadvertently embroiled in a mythical Chinese underworld, who messes up as often as he succeeds. Some think this of Mourinho, too. That he is all talk, a lot of hot air. They never get past the superficialities. They see only personality clashes, boasts and bravado. They are wrong.
I was born ready: Jose Mourinho, like cult hero Jack Burton, is ready for a challenge - and that may mean a return to England
If Carlo Ancelotti wins the league this season, it will have taken Chelsea four managers and the best part of three years to get back to where Mourinho took them in his first season. At Porto, his Champions League win was the most unexpected of the modern era. And if he has failed to repeat this achievement at Inter Milan, despite winning the title twice, well, join the club. Inter have had 33 coaches since 1965, and none of them have done it. Mourinho is far more talented than his detractors believe and, like Jack Burton, he has an ear for a good line, too.
'I'm a reasonable guy, but I've just experienced some very unreasonable things.'
The consensus is that Mourinho is increasingly tired of Italian football. When an English newspaper suggested this, quoting Mourinho lovingly on the subject of the English game, he issued a lengthy statement claiming misrepresentation. There was a little more to it, however.
Mourinho certainly did give an interview to a respected English football writer for use in a book on Sir Alex Ferguson. The meeting was cordial and Mourinho was very open, discussing Ferguson as friend and adversary. After the interview, however, he contacted Ferguson out of politeness and Ferguson requested he withdraw co-operation.
This put Mourinho in an invidious position and, in deference to a fellow manager, whose support he will need if he is to stand any chance of working at Manchester United, he asked the journalist to strike their conversation from the record. What cannot be known is whether Mourinho was aware that part of the interview was intended for use as a newspaper feature. He says not.
He is, however, no fool and if he wanted to publicly announce he would welcome a return to English football, he succeeded, even if the price was an awkward 24 hours in Milan and the hasty issue of a statement claiming he had been duped (making it look as if the problem was rogue reporting, rather than disloyalty to his employer).
So what is it about Italy that Mourinho does not like? The football, to begin with, which he is said to find much less compelling than the Premier League. He also believes the Italian media favours native managers and is harsher in its dealings with Inter Milan because he is an outsider.
This week, he rejected the criticism his club received for losing to Barcelona in the Champions League by hinting AC Milan got away lightly after losing at home to FC Zurich in September, as did Juventus when beaten 2-0 last month by a Bordeaux team that had already qualified.
Mourinho has also clashed with players, not least Mario Balotelli, and Massimo Moratti, the owner, is said to be unimpressed. 'No problem,' Mourinho sneered. 'I read that my replacement has already been found, but if I am sacked I will be back in work within a week.' Yes, but where?
'Everybody relax. I'm here.'
There are three main options: Manchester United, when Ferguson decides to retire; Manchester City, if Mark Hughes fails to deliver Champions League football this season; and Liverpool, if domestic performances continue to mirror the failure in Europe.
Some argue Arsenal should be included on this list were Wenger to go a fifth season without a trophy, but to appoint Mourinho now would require a 180-degree turn in club policy. (Although if Wenger did leave, the chances of finding a manager who would run Arsenal in his style would be as good as impossible, and a change of direction under the charismatic Mourinho would be an inspired decision.)
After the last debacle, when Ferguson gave advance notice of his retirement and his team took six months off to celebrate, the date of the next managerial vacancy at Manchester United is unknown. Ferguson has shown no desire to stand aside just yet - and why should he? - yet Mourinho would make an excellent successor.
It is going to take a brave man to follow Ferguson and there will be very few with the confidence to embrace this challenge. What is interesting is whether United are prepared to see Mourinho go elsewhere - particularly to their greatest rivals, Manchester City or Liverpool - and work in opposition, or whether the fear of this could accelerate discussions with Ferguson. The height of foolishness would be to miss out on Mourinho now, only for Ferguson to retire in six months time with the prime candidate unavailable.
Particularly if Mourinho is trying to do for City what Ferguson did for United: namely knock football's most consistently successful club off their perch. United are now where Liverpool used to be. Like Ferguson, Mourinho at Manchester City would turn the humbling of his supposed superiors into his personal crusade. Indeed, he seems made for such a challenge, as Ferguson was - he achieved something similar with Aberdeen in Scotland, up against Celtic and Rangers. Mourinho's character suggests he would contrive to do this while nursing a substantial budget and pretending the world is against him; as Ferguson did.
Much depends at which point Abu Dhabi tires of waiting for Hughes to turn City around. There are few signs of impatience so far, yet a two-month sequence of drawn Premier League matches cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely. End this with a run of three wins and the crisis may pass; end with three defeats and tough questions can be expected, perhaps as early as January. Hughes is a straight-shooter. He will know that Manchester City will be expected to achieve a top-four finish this season, considering the level of investment and with Arsenal and Liverpool in such erratic form.
He will also be aware that, in the eyes of Sheik Mansour and those advising him, the appointment of a coach such as Mourinho would be a greater draw to the best footballers in the world, and signal serious intent.
And then there is Liverpool, Mourinho's first choice, apparently. Like a great boxer, this is a man who fights with an eye on his place in history. Liverpool may have money worries, cowboys at the reins and a team in need of an overhaul, but they also have immense history and a 19-year itch that badly needs scratching.
The obstacle is that there is no appetite for dismissing Rafael Benitez, the manager, not in the boardroom and certainly not beyond. Maybe this would change if the season turned into a bust-on-all-fronts but, despite his track record, Mourinho is not a popular figure on Merseyside and the owners will be reluctant to further raise levels of animosity.
He would be a hard sell, as would a squad that has come up short too many times already this season. It is not feasible that Mourinho could outstrip the achievements of Benitez without greatly improving these resources. So there could be a sticking point.
'This is gonna take crackerjack timing, Wang.'
Isn't it just? Next week, Inter Milan have a home game against FC Rubin Kazan, the champions of Russia, that needs to be won to be certain of progressing to the last 16 of the Champions League. If Inter do not go through, there is a strong feeling in Italy that Mourinho's tenure could end, even seven points clear in Serie A. Win and he should be safe, although there is speculation over what would happen were Inter's resolve tested by an approach from an English club.
If anything is to be done before the summer, however, it must be timed to perfection in the hiatus between the break in the Italian season - Inter's last game is December 20, at home to Lazio - and when it reconvenes on January 6, or certainly before the first knock-out round of the Champions League, beginning February 16. Synchronisation with the European transfer window may be important, too.
'You can go and rule the universe from beyond the grave, or check into a psycho ward, whichever comes first.'
So this becomes a game of who blinks. If Manchester City are panicked by the recent flat-line and make a move sooner rather than later, are Liverpool, or even Manchester United, prepared to sit idle and watch it happen?
There is a world of difference between Mourinho parked safely in Milan, a random pairing in the Champions League away and Mourinho ensconced down the road having a crack at the title on behalf of another club.
And make what you will of this. Before writing, I spoke to a number of people who claim insight into Mourinho's mindset. I said I was working on a column about the possibility of his return to English football. 'I'd get that in sooner rather than later,' one told me. Mourinho is ready, have no doubt of that. And so are we.