Why Mourinho must fuse two-faced mentality
Tuesday 13 April 2010 15:00
There are only two teams in Europe who can still claim the treble
this season – and Bayern Munich happens to be the other one.
Inter
could still finish the campaign with the domestic title and Italian Cup
tucked away before lifting the Champions League – or if one was to
listen to the harbingers of doom then they could end up with nothing.
Round
one of 'will they or won’t they blow it' commences this evening in
Florence when the Nerazzurri return to the Artemio Franchi stadium for
the second leg of their Italian Cup semi-final, holding a 1-0 advantage.
The
conspiracy theorists – or those with plenty of time on their hands –
had predicted Fiorentina would throw the league game at the weekend in
return for a win in the Cup, but why would Jose Mourinho want to be any
part of such a pact when he has already allured to dark goings on in the
Italian game?
The now silent one has once again bitten his tongue
and refused to shed any light on why he feels there is a conspiracy
against his side and why in the meantime they have made such hard work
of bringing early closure to the title race.
However, the way he
marched off the pitch on Saturday suggested that vengeance will be in
the air in the Renaissance city on Tuesday.
Just as in the Italo
Calvino novel, The Cloven Viscount, where a nobleman is split in
two on the battle-fight to become separate individuals possessing one
quality a piece, so we have witnessed a good and nasty Mourinho.
The
good Mou comes out in the Champions League, cheery and care-free with
the press, smiles for one and all; the nasty rears up when his mouth
twists into a half sneer to tell everyone he is sick and tired of Italy
and Italian life.
In Calvino’s fable, the villagers end up
disliking both halves of the nobleman until they are rejoined to balance
each other out – and this seems to be the case with our Portuguese
interloper.
What he needs to do is become whole once more: we can
put up with him being charming and then bristling with anger at the
flick of his cashmere scarf, but one or the other is just a bore.
And
in truth he needs to get down to business again which means getting the
best out of his players over the next five weeks or so.
In
Europe, the team have played with confidence and determination, taking
command of matches and holding on to their advantage; at home it is
almost the inverse.
There are patches of dominant play but then an
inability to defend a lead such as at the weekend and Palermo before
that.
Too many points have been dropped against sides they should
be rolling over and it is that balance in endeavour that has been
missing recently.
At this high-risk stage of the campaign no one
is asking them to play with open enjoyment but the players are not
getting the chance to enjoy the moment – in the league anyway.
A
little spring-cleaning may not go amiss in the Cup, with Mario Balotelli
and MacDonald Margia worth a run-out to rest Diego Milito and Esteban
Cambiasso for example.
After all, the strength in depth of the
squad was meant to have been the trump card, but Mou seems attached to a
core of players who will no doubt be in action against Juventus on
Friday and then Barcelona the following week.
Of course as in
Calvino’s ending it may all come together again with Inter and their
coach living happily ever after, but then again that may well not be the
case if the treble suddenly becomes the double.
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About Richard Whittle
Despite the name,
Richard Whittle is so at home in Italy that some call him Riccardo Rossi. He has lived and worked in Italy for the last 15 years as a football journalist and works as Italian soccer commentator for the English-speaking world covering Serie A, Champions League, Europa League and Italian Cup matches as well as Italy internationals. With Paul Visca, Richard concocts the regular
Calcio & Coffee podcast.