Posts Tagged ‘José Mourinho’

AC Milan 0-4 Inter Milan: Yes Way José, the “Real” Serie A Can Begin

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

Inter Milan's Serbian midfielder Dejan Stankovic, second from left, reacts after scoring their fourth goal with from left to right, Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder, Argentine defender Walter Samuel, Brazilian defender Maicon, Romanian defender Cristian Chivu and Brazilian defender Lucio, during their Serie A soccer match against AC Milan at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009. Inter won 4-0. (AP Photo)

In many ways a new year of Serie A doesn’t truly begin until it features one of thee Big Matches. It is often said that over the course of the season it’s the the “little games”, those against teams battling for relegation, that pave the road for a championship title. Often true, but the “little games” certainly are not those everyone is waiting to see. And thanks to Lega Calcio’s new fixture drawing system, this year we have the opportunity to see two ‘Big Games’ as early as Matchday 2, starting with Saturday’s Derby della Madonnina.

And what a derby it was. With 4 goals against their most bitter rival this match featured a true display of power by Inter Milan, highlighted by the shining performances of Thiago Motta, Eto’o, Diego Milito and with and a clear clear message to their harshest critics: Zlatan who?

As for Milan, to quote Gazzetta Inter were “giants without an adversary”. AC Milan cannot hide behind their good performance of today’s first 15 minutes. A team which completely disintegrates both tactically and psychologically (see Gattuso’s red card) at the first sign of trouble cannot, for lack of a better phrase, call themselves a “team”. At least for the moment. Until Leonardo figures out a solution out of this mess.

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Udinese 0-1 Inter: Isla own goal Gives Nerazzurri +9 Serie A Lead (Serie A Matchday 30)

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

Inter Milan's Patrick Vieira of France, center, and teammates Luis Figo of Portugal, right and Maxwell react after scoring, during a Serie A soccer match between Udinese and Inter Milan in Udine, Italy, Sunday, April 5, 2009. (AP Photo)

Thank you Mauricio, the Isla(nd) of Inter bliss.

I could find no better way to open this article. I tried. Not too hard, but I tried. When faced with the sad reality of the unstoppable gears of fate (that is, even when Inter play poorly they still manage to win), imagination tends to leaves its place to facility. Writing facility in this case, and all its associated bad puns.

In seriousness though, if Sunday’s win vs. Udinese doesn’t virtually clinch the Nerazzurri’s 17th Scudetto for you, you must still believe in fairy tales. And to make matters worse for Juve (as if their 3-3 draw vs. Chievo earlier in the day wasn’t enough) is that Inter’s winning goal didn’t come from one of the many superstars at José Mourinho’s disposal. No. It came from an Udinese player.

Poor Isla. In the day where, due to his team’s injury problems, he was forced to backtrack to the defensive line (he’s a midfielder), he ended up being the unlikely and unfortunate protagonist for his opponents, as well as the annihilator of all the good work (and many scoring chances) obtained by the Bianconeri in the first 60 minutes.

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Inter 3-0 Reggina: Easy Peasy… Zlatanesey (Serie A Matchday 29)

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

Inter Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic (L) celebrates with his team mate Sulley Ali Muntari after scoring a third goal against Reggina during their Italian Serie A soccer match at the San siro stadium in Milan March 22, 2009. (REUTERS)

See what I did there? Feel free to use that in future Inter victories (sounds a bit better than “japanesey” or “lemon-squeezy”, no?). For there are few words more appropriate than “piece of cake” to define the Nerazzurri’s victory over Reggina Sunday. Juventus thought that by keeping the pressure on their rivals, Mourinho’s boys were going to slip up… eventually. Ibrahimovic thought otherwise.

Inter’s third goal, a marvelous left-footed chip over the keeper after a double dribble by Zlatan, epitomizes the ease and facility with which this team is playing domestically at the moment: one can only wonder how on Earth they could not translate Serie A domination into European success (especially with Man utd losing against teams like Fulham this past week-end). And the stats speak loud & clear: 10th match without a loss, 7th consecutive game ended with a +2 goal margin. Those who criticized Mourinho for non-spectacular playing style are keeping quiet.

Reggina on the other hand, and their hopes for avoiding relegation, are looking grim: Nevio Orlandi’s team has not managed to win since the end of November…

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Inter 2-0 Fiorentina: Zlatan Doing His Thing(s) Again, Nerazzurri Keep Juve at -7 (Serie A Matchday 28)

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009

Inter Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores a goal during the Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Fiorentina at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, March 15, 2009. (AP Photo)

Hats off to Manchester but we are a great team. Moratti-Mourinho: full steam ahead“. So recited a banner at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium this week-end, a sign that Inter supporters seem to be quick at forgiving their heroes’ European misfortunes. It is thus fitting perhaps, that Sunday’s match vs. Fiorentina featured the last appearance of the Nerazzurri’s celebratory “centenary jersey” (the one with the Crusaders stripes), as if to symbolize “a cycle is over, let a new one begin”.

For Mourinho, that new cycle can only hope to begin with an Italian Scudetto and given his team’s performance vs. La Viola, things are looking okay. The change of scenery, from Old Trafford stadium to the dire reality of Serie A, seems to have been absorbed rather well by his players: Julio Cesar is still the ever-reliable rock between the posts, Cambiasso the midfield (slash defense) dynamo, Zlatan the goalscoring machine up front. With their win Sunday, the Nerazzurri are keeping Juventus at -7.

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Manchester United 2-0 Inter Milan: Nerazzurri Complete Italy’s Big European Disillusion (UEFA Champions League Round of 16, Second Leg)

Friday, March 13th, 2009

Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic, bottom left, reacts with teammate Rio Ferdinand, top left, after scoring a goal during their Champions League second round, second leg, soccer match against Inter Milan at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England, Wednesday, March 11, 2009. (AP Photo)

Bad luck? I don’t buy it. Okay, had Inter’s woodwork efforts (Zlatan’s crossbar and Adriano’s post) entered the net you probably wouldn’t be reading these lines now, but certainly there are factors other than old-fashioned “sfiga” (as the Italian press is claiming) explaining Inter‘s defeat at the hands of Manchester United Wednesday.

How about the fact that for the third consecutive year, Inter are out of the UEFA Champions League in the round of 16? How about “Man Utd played better, and showed 100% cynicism by converting their two biggest scoring chances in the game”? How about the fact that yet again, English club football has proven its superiority over its Italian counterpart? It’s sad to admit folks, but the truth often hurts and this case is no different: for the late part of the 2000′s, EPL >>> Serie A big time.

As for José, at least in the eyes of the English press he’s just “not special any mour“.

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