Internazionale happy with Mourinho

godtabh

Preview

Inter Milan may have endured a difficult start to 2009 but the three-time defending champions still top Serie A and club president Massimo Moratti has given a thumbs-up to the job done by coach Jose Mourinho.

A 1-1 draw against Cagliari and last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Atalanta cut Inter's lead over Scudetto contenders Juventus to three points at the halfway point of the campaign.

But with the Nerazzurri unbeaten at the San Siro and having only suffered two defeats in 19 games, Moratti has called Mourinho's spell in charge "extremely positive".

Moratti told the club's official website: "The first six months leading the Serie A standings is a very difficult thing for any coach.

"Therefore, it is absolutely positive. Three points more or less doesn't really mean much at this stage of the campaign."

Mourinho is equally satisfied. The Nerazzurri are through to the Champions League last 16, where they will take on Manchester United, and also still alive in the Coppa Italia.

"I am very proud," Mourinho said. "Not many coaches can say the same thing."

Inter will be without their top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic through suspension on Sunday when they host strugglers Sampdoria.

Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Lazio last weekend and face another big test when they take on Fiorentina in Turin.

AC Milan have been boosted by the confirmation that Kaka will remain at the club instead of joining Manchester City in a world-record transfer.

The Rossoneri are six points behind Inter and three adrift of Juve as they make the journey to Bologna.

"Now that we have Kaka, we plan to go all out for the Scudetto," said AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani.

Surprise package Genoa will fancy their chances when they host Catania. Gian Piero Gasperini's side are fourth in the table and remain unbeaten at home.

In-form Roma expect to have Francesco Totti available for the encounter at Napoli, with the captain having recovered from a muscular injury which has sidelined him since December.

Meanwhile, a defeat for Udinese at Palermo could bring to an end Pasquale Marino's coaching reign.

Despite the Udinese boss having been given numerous votes of confidence by the club hierarchy, the Bianconeri have collected just three points from their last 10 league games.

Atalanta will be looking to pick up where they left off in last weekend's 3-1 win over Inter when they travel to Tuscany to meet Siena.

Delio Rossi's Lazio will go after their third win in four games when they meet Cagliari in the Italian capital.

The Oreste Granillo stadium host a relegation scrap as bottom side Reggina and Chievo locks horns. Chievo are level on 13 points with Reggina after 19 games.

Finally, Lecce will be under pressure to beat Torino, knowing that a defeat will drop them into the bottom three. Lecce, who hold the last safety position, are two points clear of Toro heading into Sunday's game at the Via del Mare stadium.

Saturday, January 24, 2009
Time Home Away VENUE
17:00 UK Reggina v Chievo Verona Stadio Oreste Granillo
19:30 UK Juventus v Fiorentina Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Time Home Away VENUE
14:00 UK Siena v Atalanta Artemio Franchi Montepaschi Arena
14:00 UK Lazio v Cagliari Olimpico
14:00 UK Genoa v Catania Comunale Luigi Ferraris
14:00 UK Bologna v AC Milan Renato Dall'Ara
14:00 UK Napoli v AS Roma San Paolo
14:00 UK Lecce v Torino Stadio Via del Mare
14:00 UK Palermo v Udinese Renzo Barbera
19:30 UK Internazionale v Sampdoria Giuseppe Meazza

Hopefully Inter can kick start 2009 with a good win this weekend. I've mixed fillings about Mourinho. SOme time the team is great. Some times the team is poor some times its great but I reckon he is getting the results and at the end of the day thats all the matters.

I think Juve will drop points this weekend.

Milan wont be focused and may struggle

eagle eye

Hopefully the special one returns to the PL soon. Best Manager over the last couple of years imo, and great at stirring the pot and getting it going. Legend.

grames_bond

eagle eye wrote: »

Hopefully the special one returns to the PL soon. Best Manager over the last couple of years imo, and great at stirring the pot and getting it going. Legend.

i will put money on seeing jose sitting in the dug out at old trafford at some point n the not too distant future! any takers?

eagle eye

grames_bond wrote: »

i will put money on seeing jose sitting in the dug out at old trafford at some point n the not too distant future! any takers?

Oh please, anywhere but there. Man City could be a real possibility. I just have this feeling about that.

Quint

Juve have an injury crises. But hopefully inter will be 3-0 down before half time again

yahoo_moe

eagle eye wrote: »

Oh please, anywhere but there. Man City could be a real possibility. I just have this feeling about that.

Think he was referring mainly to the upcoming Champions League tie...

As for City, not sure Mourinho would be all that interested if meddling from the top was the reason for leaving Chelsea...

bullpost

Very good manager no doubt but have to say more entertaining off the pitch than on it. If you want to win at any price he's your man but ultimately as a Chelsea supporter I wanted something more on the pitch.
Might regret saying that in the not too distant future

redout

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1707/inter/2009/01/22/1072597/jose-mourinho-tells-inter-players-you-are-all-a-pile-of-st
22/01/2009 12:37

Jose Mourinho Tells Inter Players: You Are All A Pile Of S**t!

The coach lost his temper on Sunday and some nasty words began to fly out of his mouth...

Inter coach Jose Mourinho has slammed his players, describing them as a pile of faeces as he begins to show his frustration with their poor showings.

La Repubblica claims they heard Mourinho blast his players inside the changing rooms following the 3-1 thrashing away to Atalanta on Sunday. The Italian paper has released a transcript of of what the former Chelsea coach told his players.

"You won a Scudetto in the court, the second because there was no competition and the third was won at the last minute. You are all a pile of s**t," Mourinho is quoted as saying by La Repubblica.

The paper also claims the 'Special One' was ranting and raving for quite some time afterwards as his temperature reached boiling point. Also, it is believed Massimo Moratti was furious with Mourinho on Monday.

Meanwhile, Sky Sport Italia also claim Mourinho threw his notebook in the bin in anger, such was his disappointment with the result.

It was Inter's second loss of the season after the 1-0 defeat to Milan earlier.

The Nerazzurri have been through a turbulent week, but they made up for it with the Coppa Italia win over Roma on Wednesday, albeit in suspicious circumstances as there was controversy over Zlatan Ibrahimovic's winner.





Hear hear brother, I am with you on that.

Mr. Presentable

kearnsr wrote: »

I think Juve will drop points this weekend.

I suspect you're right.

I also think Inter will struggle without Ibrahimovic - where will the goals come from? And they needn't expect the sort of help they got vs Roma in the Coppa, as the spotlight will be on the ref again.

Trippie

Inter aren't a team of winners so they will always struggle

godtabh

Trippie wrote: »

Inter aren't a team of winners so they will always struggle

Why do you think this?

Neil3030

Some absolute gems in here....

keane2097

The one where he's talking about Big Sam is great!

godtabh

Juve win 1-0

Mr. Presentable

Fiorentina will be justifyably agrieved - they had what looked to me a good goal ruled out for offside. I didn't see their penalty claim so cannot comment on it, but they're calling ref error on that too.

Seems the more things change the more they stay the same.......

Pure Cork

17': Bologna 1 - 2 Milan

17 mins gone. Di Vaio scored a penalty, his 15th goal of the season. Seedorf tapped home a rebound to equalise. Kaka scored a penalty. End-to-end stuff.

Pure Cork

Bologna 1 - 3 Milan
Mudingayi sent off. Kaka scores a screamer.
Almost half-time.

Pure Cork

Beckham scores his first goal for Milan.

Charlie

Beckham's goal

dbecks

keane2097

Beckham's some legend.

godtabh

Mourinho is sent off for protesting

godtabh

Adriano scores. Nice to see him back at it

Mr. Presentable

What did you think of the Samp penalty claim?

godtabh

I'm only reading the game cast on inter.it. Net is real slow tonight

Mr. Presentable

Ah ****e. It's a poor enough game though. Poor Samp are fecked with injuries.

Mr. Presentable

Looks like Julio Cesar is badly injured.......

Mr. Presentable

although it's hard to see how

Mr. Presentable

all better now. ffs, actors

Quint

Mourinho will kill the game. might as well switch off now

Mr. Presentable

Samp have had a third penalty shout denied. I think they'd have had two if they were Inter.

Seaneh

Quint wrote: »

Mourinho will kill the game. might as well switch off now

Bit hard do that from the directors box...

Mr. Presentable

96th minute - Julio Cesar makes a 2 pointer! :eek:

godtabh

Quint wrote: »

Mourinho will kill the game. might as well switch off now

How will he kill the game?

Quint

kearnsr wrote: »

How will he kill the game?

Easy, tell his team to go all out defend, waste time with pretending to be injured, pass it around the back etc. His teams are good at it

godtabh

Quint wrote: »

Easy, tell his team to go all out defend, waste time with pretending to be injured, pass it around the back etc. His teams are good at it

Some people call that tactics.

I've seen inter under Mourinho win 4-2. Nothing exactly boring and I dont see how he is killing the game.

They've scored 19 goals and let in 9. Thats 4 more than any team in the top 4 (lazio have got 17). How is that killing off the game?

Get your facts straight before you start waffelling on

Mr. Presentable

Agreed. They did sit back a bit - almost cost them too!

Quint

kearnsr wrote: »

Some people call that tactics.

I've seen inter under Mourinho win 4-2. Nothing exactly boring and I dont see how he is killing the game.

They've scored 19 goals and let in 9. Thats 4 more than any team in the top 4 (lazio have got 17). How is that killing off the game?

Get your facts straight before you start waffelling on

Don't remember saying it wasn't "tatics". Doesn't mean anything.
And don't remember takling about past games. I was talking about tonight.
And most match reports I read, inter sat back on their lead and tried to waste time.
Basically exactly what I said they would do, they did.