Mourinho charms his way into Inter job

MILAN: Inter Milan has been unable to resist the charm of Jose Mourinho despite Roberto Mancini leading the Serie A side to a third straight title.

Mourinho, whose brash nature fits the traditional image of a big-spending, flashy Inter, was linked with the club as soon as he left Chelsea last September.

The shadow of the charismatic Portuguese put Mancini under pressure and the Italian cracked after March's Champions League last-16 defeat by Liverpool, when he said he would quit at the end of the season only to change his mind the next day.

It was a fatal error, which convinced Inter owner Massimo Moratti that he had to change his coach at the end of the campaign.

Both the club and Mourinho denied media reports of a meeting in March but the rumor mill continued and Mancini began to look isolated.

The team also started to stutter, blowing an 11-point lead it had in February and sealing the scudetto only on the final day on May 18. Whether Mancini's nerves had spread to the players is uncertain, but Moratti had seen enough and sacked him last week.

The lure of the ever-confident Mourinho, a breath of fresh air after four years of Mancini, was too great for Moratti.

Mourinho offered him a glimpse of what he craves most - success in the Champions League.

Complete authority

Winning the trophy in 2004 with unfancied Porto and taking Chelsea to two semifinals made Mourinho's CV look impressive. Despite three Italian titles, Mancini had never come close to reaching the ultimate prize.

Inter also hopes Mourinho can attract a raft of top players to Inter, with Chelsea's Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard still close to their former boss.

Media reports say the two are among a mouth-watering list of potential targets.

Mourinho and Mancini differ in other ways too.

One of Mancini's biggest problems in the last few months was his relationship with the media. He was annoyed by several stories and decided to stop speaking to reporters, something the talkative, self-assured Mourinho would probably never do.

Mancini's occasional indecisiveness also contrasted with the complete authority Mourinho showed while winning the English Premier League title in 2005 and 2006 with Chelsea.

Mancini and Mourinho do have one trait in common. They are both argumentative and the latter runs the risk of rubbing Inter officials up the wrong way, as he did at Chelsea before being forced to leave.

Moratti and Mancini clashed about whether 35-year-old Luis Figo should play. Mancini hinted he was past his best but the club president was a big fan.

Mancini also accused Inter's medical staff of not doing their job properly when players took longer to heal than hoped.

Both these incidents contributed to Mancini's sacking.

Mourinho will have to be careful with his words, especially as Moratti may not be willing to spend millions on players like in the past.

Inter, despite its big buys, had been in the wilderness for a long time before Mancini brought success by cutting out the prima donnas and letting grafters lead the side to glory.

Suddenly, Mourinho has Mancini's shadow on his shoulder, not the other way around.

Agencies

(China Daily 06/04/2008 page22)