Jose Moaninho

When Jose Mourinho was pushed out of Chelsea, don't listen to those who say it was a mutual agreement, he was quick to point out that he already had offers from clubs in Spain, Germany and Italy and he was already learning a new language to go with it (early reports had it as Italian). He had come through his time in Portugal with Benfica and FC Porto as one of the bright minds of World Football, he had broken the two tier monopoly in the EPL and everyone expected him to do take lessons learned and apply them well in his new position.

Immediately his name began appearing behind the backs of a struggling Bernd Schuster and Frank Rjkaard in Spain, an Ancelloti or Mancini in Italy, and even competed with Jurgen Klinsmann for rumored jobs in Germany and England. While the Madrid press used his availability to unsettle Rjkaard’s last months at Barça it was obvious that Mourinho held a chip on his shoulder towards the club and the supporters of FC Barcelona who still jeered him for being merely ex-coach Sir Bobby Robson's translator while at the club.

It was quite clear though that the job he coveted was in fact at Inter Milan. He had been called the new Helenio Herrera, legendary coach of the great Barça teams in the 1950’s and later Il Grande Inter of the 1960’s owned by Massimo’s father Angelo. Jose himself never denied the comparison. Their methods were similar, emphasizing control on and off the pitch, a highly organized defense, and quick counter-attacks.

Whether Inter would make the call was another story entirely. Roberto Mancini had built a strong team set to his tastes: strong in attack and intimidating to a fault but as undisciplined at times as the ex-Azzurri midfielder was at the helm. A string of scudetti almost ensured his stay at the club, but failure to secure a European trophy for owner Massimo Moratti put doubt that he would be back. His meltdown after a 3-0 loss to Liverpool on aggregate, where he quit and later rehired himself the next morning, ensuring that the Special One would be traveling to Milano for the Summer.

The early days for Jose were at the Centro Sportivo Angelo Moratti were indeed special. At his introductory press conference, instead of holding it in English, Portuguese or Spanish with which he was fluent, he spoke in newly learned, yet slightly accented Italian, with a touch of Milanese slang thrown in for effect, and the press lapped it up. Despite it being rare in Italy to hold closed practices, the press were not all that concerned giving him more than a measure of respect.  The secrecy was to ensure the effectiveness of his tactics. He had nothing to hide from them.

Still, some cracks began to develop. He failed in his attempt to lure favorite Frank Lampard to the Guiseppe Meazza Stadium (neither Chelsea nor Inter would budge on the contract). Roma winger Amantino Mancini was a long rumored signing from Mancio's time at the club but he isn't necessarily the sort of selfless attacker who helps out defensively, one essential to the style that Jose prefers. He even had to fight hard with Moratti for the signing of Quaresma, who failed utterly in his last attempt at a big club when he was at Barcelona, and was seen as surplus considering all the talent already on the squad at the time.

On the field the results were spotty. They drew first to Sampdoria away before returning with three convincing wins iin Serie A against subpar Catania, Torino and Lecce, and also beating Panathanaikos in Europe. Then came the derby loss to Ancellotti's Milan followed by the 1-1 draw at home to Bremen.

Off the field though, he began his usual antics against old rivals like Claudio Ranieri and new ones like Catania president Pietro Lo Monaco, riling up the press and keeping the spotlight on himself and away from his still mentally brittle club. In England, he was an seen as an eccentric and a master at the sort of gamesmanship that rival Sir Alex Ferguson used to unsettle a Kevin Keegan led Newcastle to a Man U Premiership win in 1996. The English press, while dogged it seems, doesn't really care beyond the column inches Mourinho or any other coach provides. If he had maintained his relationship with Abramovich Jose would have had a long-term gig assured with Chelsea in the Premier League.

It’s not so easy in Milano. The press in Italy will hound him about his tactics, his substitution patterns and his selection. They will interview his players, they will interview his rivals and start flame wars between them, and they will judge him on much more than just his results on the pitch. The scrutiny will be intense and all encompassing. If he were Italian they might be a little less ravenous, but in the end he’s Portuguese and not the sort to defer to the status quo. He’s already starting to pull back from his press conferences, giving much of the job to his assistant Beppe Baresi, and the pressure will only mount if his “specialness” lags.

In the European Championships, he snuck up on people winning with guile and determination. In England, he was a master technician surrounded primarily by by honest hardworking craftsmen.  In Italy, he’ll be surrounded by scores of tacticians as well prepared if not better prepared than he. He won’t be able to outfox Ancelotti or Prandelli consistently, Spaletti and Delio Rossi are no muggs and even Pasquale Marino or Walter Zenga have enough tactical nous if not talent behind them to back them to draw points out of Inter. Even a beaten up Claudio Ranieri is on home soil in Italy and won’t be drawn into a fair fight with Jose Mourinho.

Also, if he thought Roman at Chelsea was meddlesome and impatient, he will find in Moratti a man who invented  the term. 14 coaches in 13 years came before Mourinho and Moratti grew impatient with all of them.

In the end a time at Inter it will be for him as it was for Ian Rush at Juventus: like being in a foreign country.