"The victory over Barcelona was a triumph for Mourinho’s management and underlined that however big his salary and his ego, he’s worth it," Cascarino says. "This is a man who talks the talk and walks the walk. His charisma helps matches become must-see events."
The biggest transfer scramble this summer will not be for a player but a manager. Jose Mourinho will be in demand among the Continent’s top clubs and after Inter Milan’s 3-1 win over Barcelona on Tuesday he can name his price.
That victory was a triumph for Mourinho’s management and underlined that however big his salary, and his ego, he’s worth it. This is a man who talks the talk and walks the walk. His charisma helps matches become must-see events.
Behind the sense of theatre his personality brings, though, there’s a tactical intelligence that is thorough, precise and intelligent. Mourinho didn’t set Inter up to nullify key individuals, such as Lionel Messi. A lesser manager might have focused his gameplan on stopping Messi; Mourinho organised Inter to frustrate the whole team.
All Barcelona’s threats were more or less neutralised by a sophisticated, collective performance. They looked like an entirely different team to the one that beat Arsenal. The same was true against Chelsea. All Chelsea’s possible threats were systematically closed off.
That requires organisation, effort, clear communication so each player understands his job, and effective training and work-rate so they can execute Mourinho’s instructions correctly. And veterans such as Javier Zanetti and Diego Milito are overperforming.
Inter aren’t the best team in the Champions League, but they could easily win it now. At Chelsea you could have argued that Mourinho was lucky to have the most money and the best players, but that isn’t the case at Inter.
True, they have struggled in Serie A recently, but that’s forgivable when their focus is squarely on winning the Champions League and Mourinho has picked weakened teams domestically.
Can he pull off another surprise result at the Nou Camp? Inter will have to withstand lots of pressure but I can also see them scoring, because they won’t go to Spain and simply put eleven men behind the ball. Whatever happens, it will be one of the games of the season.
It looks like Mourinho will leave in the summer as he’s disillusioned with Italian football, but where will he go? Manchester City have the cash to attract him and even if Roberto Mancini took them into the Champions League, I reckon they would get rid of him in an instant if Mourinho was ready to take charge at Eastlands.
Real Madrid have wealth and an aura, of course, and if Inter knock out Barcelona, Real will see Mourinho as a man who is capable of thwarting their arch-rivals over a whole season in Spain, not only a two-legged semi-final.
While if Sir Alex Ferguson suddenly retired, how could Manchester United ignore Mourinho – even if Ferguson thinks David Moyes is the ideal candidate. The Everton manager is very good, but he’s not Mourinho, the most powerful and effective manager in the club game.
The biggest transfer scramble this summer will not be for a player but a manager. Jose Mourinho will be in demand among the Continent’s top clubs and after Inter Milan’s 3-1 win over Barcelona on Tuesday he can name his price.
That victory was a triumph for Mourinho’s management and underlined that however big his salary, and his ego, he’s worth it. This is a man who talks the talk and walks the walk. His charisma helps matches become must-see events.
Behind the sense of theatre his personality brings, though, there’s a tactical intelligence that is thorough, precise and intelligent. Mourinho didn’t set Inter up to nullify key individuals, such as Lionel Messi. A lesser manager might have focused his gameplan on stopping Messi; Mourinho organised Inter to frustrate the whole team.
All Barcelona’s threats were more or less neutralised by a sophisticated, collective performance. They looked like an entirely different team to the one that beat Arsenal. The same was true against Chelsea. All Chelsea’s possible threats were systematically closed off.
That requires organisation, effort, clear communication so each player understands his job, and effective training and work-rate so they can execute Mourinho’s instructions correctly. And veterans such as Javier Zanetti and Diego Milito are overperforming.
Inter aren’t the best team in the Champions League, but they could easily win it now. At Chelsea you could have argued that Mourinho was lucky to have the most money and the best players, but that isn’t the case at Inter.
True, they have struggled in Serie A recently, but that’s forgivable when their focus is squarely on winning the Champions League and Mourinho has picked weakened teams domestically.
Can he pull off another surprise result at the Nou Camp? Inter will have to withstand lots of pressure but I can also see them scoring, because they won’t go to Spain and simply put eleven men behind the ball. Whatever happens, it will be one of the games of the season.
It looks like Mourinho will leave in the summer as he’s disillusioned with Italian football, but where will he go? Manchester City have the cash to attract him and even if Roberto Mancini took them into the Champions League, I reckon they would get rid of him in an instant if Mourinho was ready to take charge at Eastlands.
Real Madrid have wealth and an aura, of course, and if Inter knock out Barcelona, Real will see Mourinho as a man who is capable of thwarting their arch-rivals over a whole season in Spain, not only a two-legged semi-final.
While if Sir Alex Ferguson suddenly retired, how could Manchester United ignore Mourinho – even if Ferguson thinks David Moyes is the ideal candidate. The Everton manager is very good, but he’s not Mourinho, the most powerful and effective manager in the club game.
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