Jose Mourinho, a reflection of Inter Milan’s glorious past
Inter Milan and Dutch midfielder, Wesley Sneijder, believes that his club must put Jose Mourinho in the past and focus on their future.
Jose Mourinho, the previous coach of Inter Milan, had an incredible last season with the Italian side. Inter Milan won an incredible treble last season, including the Serie A title, Coppa Italia and the UEFA Champions League. Mourinho also coached Inter
Milan to a title in 2008-2009 Season. Under the Portuguese tactician, Inter Milan led the tables from the very beginning of their season, while other clubs failed to challenge their supremacy.
Under Mourinho, there are a lot of great things that happened at Inter Milan. One of the most important signings under the Portuguese-born manager was Wesley Sneijder. The Dutch midfielder was one of the Dutch causalities from Real Madrid, but Mourinho capitalized
on the opportunity by signing him for his club. Sneijder played a pivotal role as a holding midfielder, helping his team to glory in the three competitions.
However, things have been different under Rafael Banitez, the new coach at Inter Milan. The former Liverpool coach is not as successful as his predecessor as he is struggling to get results in important matches. At this moment, Inter Milan is sitting in
fourth place in Serie A table, while their archrivals and next-door neighbours are in top spot, with a difference of three points.
By this point during the last season, Inter had lost only one match while they had drawn another, scoring 28 points in 11 matches. This season, they have only bagged 20 points, with five drawn matches so far and one loss. This is significantly different
from the proceedings under Jose Mourinho, when Inter was feeling much more comfortable.
The Champions League story is almost similar under both managers. However, Rafael Banitez has shown more weakness than was exhibited under Mourinho. Mourinho faced a tough pool, having Barcelona and Russian champions, Rubin Kazan, in his pool. In the end,
he barely managed it through, but went on to win the title. Banitez has slightly easier pool but he has faced problems against Twente Enschede and Tottenham Hotspurs. Also, the new manager lost the UEFA Super Cup match against Atletico Madrid.
There is no doubt that the Italian champions are missing their legendary manager. The self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ did some special things at Inter, while Banitez has failed to reproduce the similar things. In fact, good things were not expected from Banitez
especially after his failure to win a league title as the man in charge of Liverpool. Hence, for the first time since 2005-2006, Inter seems to have loosened their grip on Serie A title.
The problem for Rafa Banitez is that his players are facing fitness and fatigue issues. These players had a very long season, which was followed by a World Cup as well. Among these players, Sneijder is also the one facing all sorts of problems. The Dutchman
led his team to a World Cup final as well, ending his treble winning season with an incredible finish for his Dutch side, in South Africa. This season, however, he is failing to find his form, creating all sorts of problems for Rafael Banitez.
Despite of these problems, Wesley Sneijder is hopeful of good things for his club. The midfielder believes that the fitness issues would be resolved and Inter would bounce back as the season progresses. Sneijder also demanded that the supporters should remain
patient and cheer up for their players despite of the problems.
Another important aspect of this season is that other teams have improved their quality, in order to compete with Inter Milan’s dominance. AC Milan and Juventus have improved their squads, signing a lot of quality players during the summer. Therefore, for
the first time after a long rule, it seems that Inter Milan would be stripped off with the Serie A title in the current season.
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