Mourinho has it easy?

A Primal Nut

First of all I don't agree with the RTE panels assessment that Mourinho won the Champions League with a poor team.
They have one of the best goalkeepers in the world in Julio Cesar. At right back they have Maicon who plays ahead of Dani Alves for Brazil. Lucio was immense in the games I seen him play against Chelsea. If Manchester United, etc rejected him like Dunphy says, it is to Mourinho's credit that he recognised his talent. Javier Zanetti is still as consistent as ever. Schneider, Motta, Stankovic and Cambiasso are all great midfielders. Milito is a proven scorer and his two aweseome finishes were the difference in the final. Eto'o was arguably the greatest striker in the world last season.

But here is a list of the top 11 players in terms of league games started.

Look at their ages:

Júlio César (30)
Maicon (28)
Lúcio (32)
Walter Samuel (32)
Javier Zanetti (36)
Wesley Schneider (25)
Thiago Motta (27)
Esteban Camibasso (29)
Dejan Stanković (31)
Diego Milito (30)
Samuel Eto'o (29)

An average age of 29.9.

I believe Mourinho has realised the short-term nature of today's management scene. If he goes to a team to plan for the long term he probably isn't going to last long enough to see the positive effects because he probaby won't win a trophy straight away in which case he may lose his job. Instead he goes in, buys a load of players around the age of 30 for less money than a younger equivalent would cost, gets the tactics right, wins a load of trophies, leaves with all the glory to another club and starts again. Given how impatient chairmen are today its not surprising. But the likes of Arsene Wenger probably wouldn't even give Milito a contract of more than one season as has already turned 30, Ferguson would be reluctant to pay big money, never mind buy him for a total value of 24m. Its a massive difference in styles I suppose and there is something to be said for both, but I'm sure managers like Wenger and Ferguson must be annoyed at how easy Mourinho has it because he doesn't need to worry about long-term concerns. The fact that Inter will never get the 24m back and that Milito will only have a couple of years left at the top is irrelevant, because, Mourinho won't be around anymore, so it doesn't matter what ages the players he signs are. All he needs to worry about is Milito's form this season and his two excellent goals in the champions league final. This makes Mourinho's job considerably easier.

Its also through that he has sacrificed Inter's long-term future and we are bound to see a big decline in coming seasons. But football is all about trophies, so maybe there is something to be said for saying "f*** long-term" lets try to win a trophy this season. Because no matter what happens in the future, Inter fans will always love Mourinho and celebrate one of the greatest periods and nights in their history.

Nothing will change at Madrid. I was thinking about posting this yesterday, then I seen in today's Metro Herald, Mourinho was quoted as saying:

"I like players in the final parts of their careers. You won't recover he money but if they give you good performances for two or three years you've got your money's worth. Both [Gerrard and Lampard] are great players."

Apparently he said this to Spanish daily AS.

So do you think Mourinho is taken the correct approach, given most managers don't last very long these days and he is giving the fans what they want: trophies; so he deserves to run and take all the glory without having the worry about the long term future of the club, or would you prefer so see the likes of Benitez, Ferguson and Wenger who to varying extents, try to buy younger players who will hold their value and improve over a longer period, even though it maybe harder to win trophies, particularly on the European scene.

ziggy

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Crann na Beatha

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davyjose

ziggy wrote: »

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Exactly. They done brilliantly with him.

Reganio 2

Obaraten wrote: »

sorry champions,fa cup winners and a double ok nah ****ing bril mate

Yeah 3 years and 3 different managers later. (4 if you count Hiddink who was technically only a caretaker boss)

Its interesting that alot of Chelsea players will still say Jose made them the players they are now, Terry, Lampard and Drogba included.

Jazzy

its deffo a team that picks itself. but remember, a lot of this team were schooled by liverpool 2 years ago, and that liverpool team isnt really unchanged. jose just has this way of getting the best out of limitations, hes definately one of a kind as far as managers go. i dare say he would have made veron player of the decade at utd. (yes, im a closet veron fan what a player!)

oh, and im fully convinced drogba wouldnt have been the player he is now without mourinho. drogba was like luis garcia for his first season and a half at chelsea, but jose had faith. i remember interviews with him and he stated how good he was and how important he is, he has a great depth into footballers minds and how they work as a cohesive unit

ziggy

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eZe^

Jazzy wrote: »

its deffo a team that picks itself. but remember, a lot of this team were schooled by liverpool 2 years ago, and that liverpool team isnt really unchanged. jose just has this way of getting the best out of limitations, hes definately one of a kind as far as managers go. i dare say he would have made veron player of the decade at utd. (yes, im a closet veron fan what a player!)

oh, and im fully convinced drogba wouldnt have been the player he is now without mourinho. drogba was like luis garcia for his first season and a half at chelsea, but jose had faith. i remember interviews with him and he stated how good he was and how important he is, he has a great depth into footballers minds and how they work as a cohesive unit

That's a VERY harsh comment considering Inter have a very strong case for saying they have one of the best players in positions such as goal keeper, CB's, RB, AMF, DMF, and strikers. With Inter it was always a matter of time, they needed a good coach to gel the ridiculous talent that has always been there. It's not a case of Mourinho getting the best out of limited talent, more of a case of finally getting an amazing team to perform to it's expectation.


I really think it'll be interesting to see how he copes with a long term project. He seems to be going into every job so far with an expectation to shock, and win everything in a short space of time before upping and leaving. Once he 'ticks all the boxes' so to speak, I'll be fascinated to see if he can actually stomach staying at one club for an extended period without getting sick of the dressing room/ board room ala Wenger or SAF.