By Robert Stone

As the 2007/08 domestic league football campaign draws to a close, the avid European football fan can be sure the summer months will provide not only an extended season of football magic with the UEFA European Cup this summer in Austria and Switzerland but also the traditional rumor mill that grinds during the domestic off season.

And one club which could and should see some major changes despite recent domestic success is Serie A’s Internazionale!

Inter Milan’s current owner and president Massimo Moratti has been in charge of the club for eleven of the last 13 years and his objective is to cultivate the same kind of success his father enjoyed during a 13-year stint in the 1950s and 1960s. To be specific, Inter won the Champions Cup in 1964 and 1965 and lost the 1967 Final, whereas the son’s highest European achievement has been the UEFA Cup 10 years ago.

Even after four years of continental woe and tarnished success on the home front, it’s understandable that Moratti continues to back coach Roberto Mancini. “Mancio” provides stability in the often times tumultuous world of Italian football and has done well to keep Inter out of the headlines for the wrong reasons.
 
But in order to finally claim European glory, it’s time for Moratti to thank Mancini for his work and hire Jose Mourinho as the ideal replacement. While a few media outlets, including the BBC, have said the move is likely, Mourinho and Moratti have denied the reports there’s really no telling what may happen. But this change would certainly breathe new life into the blue-and-black half of Milan.

Domestically, Mancini secured the Coppa Italia in the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 seasons, and in the latter year also claimed the Scudetto – Inter’s first since 1989 – without earning it. With the lowest goal tally of the top four clubs, Inter finished in third place, 15 points below Juventus and 12 points below AC Milan. But because of their involvement in the Calciopoli scandal in which team bosses manipulated referee appointments for certain games, Juventus was stripped of the title and Milan was demoted to the #3 spot.

A brief glance of the final league table the following year would indicate that Inter fully deserved the Serie A crown. They finished 22 points above Roma and led the scoring table with 80 goals, and their rally to defeat Lazio 4-3 in the final game was especially poignant in light of the 4-2 loss to the Roman outfit that destroyed their dreams of a Serie A title five years earlier. The win was officially meaningless since Inter had an unassailable lead with five games remaining, but the players obviously felt the need to make a statement.

But upon closer examination, Inter’s task was made easy by the relegation of Juventus, Fiorentina and Lazio while Milan started the campaign with -15 points.

As for the current season, a 23-game unbeaten run in Italy prompted many to say Inter would win the league comfortably again.

However, the first priority for Inter this time was the Champions League, and their ugly performances against Liverpool were the latest symptoms of a prolonged illness.

Simply put, all talk of European aspirations has been made to look like idle banter during the elimination rounds throughout Mancini’s tenure.

The Nerazzurri found all four group stages to be fairly easy under his guidance, but in the first two seasons they bowed out of the quarterfinals, followed by Round of 16 exits. Each occasion was memorable for all the wrong reasons: first they fell to Milan by a 5-0 aggregate score due in part to Dida’s injury by a flare and smoke-filled images inside the San Siro, and then they were edged out by debutants Villarreal. Next, against Valencia, more violence ensued, with no fans needed this time as players punched and kicked each other. Finally, as they were unable to score against Liverpool, Zlatan Ibrahimovic publicly criticized Marco Materazzi as he left the Anfield pitch but failed to do anything noteworthy in the second leg.

Immediately following the latter defeat, the turmoil continued as Mancini announced his resignation and retracted the statement a day later by Moratti’s persuasion, possibly – and unwittingly – enhancing the crisis.

Sure enough, each loss to Rafael Benitez’s team took a toll on Inter’s confidence, bringing about a downward spiral that has their Serie A hopes in some jeopardy.

They returned from England to draw twice and then lost their first league game of the year. Next came the defeat at home to Liverpool, a win over Palermo, a tie with Genoa and the critical loss to third-ranked Juventus – the first home defeat in Italian league play this season. Finally, Inter gained a point against Lazio last weekend and rebounded by conquering Atalanta following a victory for Roma to stay four points above Luciano Spalletti’s squad.

So apart from the quartet of European heartbreaks, the events of the last six weeks leave Mancini the same amount of time to finish off the domestic campaign with another scudetto. The demand is quite simple: they have six league games remaining, and he must focus his squad to hold onto the trophy – a mission that shouldn’t be too difficult since four opponents are in the bottom half of the table.

And should he succeed, his position is probably safe. But if not, recall that Mourinho has long said he would like to coach in Italy. His philosophical approach toward football, combined with his tactical expertise and a penchant for ironclad defenses, make him a prime candidate even though he quit the coaching ranks in September.

Without a doubt, tactics and a “defense first” mentality will serve Mourinho well in the Serie A. The latter trait was certainly the foundation of his four national league titles in five years with Porto and Chelsea. But the Champions League must remain Inter’s primary objective and, although he couldn’t acquire it with unlimited financial resources in three seasons at Chelsea, perhaps Mourinho will get more out of players who don’t receive such astronomical salaries.

To speculate on player transfers, it’s safe to say he would bolster the Portuguese ranks once Luis Figo’s impending departure reduces the contingent to veteran Maniche and youngster Pele. Besides Maniche, he may hope to reunite with battle-tested names such as Deco (who has two Champions League triumphs), Paulo Ferreira and Ricardo Carvalho, but Inter is in need of young players so it couldn’t hurt to acquire burgeoning stars from the Portuguese Liga.

Mancini has favored experience over pace and stamina, for just over half of his 26 players are 30 or older. The rest, except Pele and Luis Jimenez, are at least 25. As Arsenal recently proved against Inter’s cross-town foe, there’s nothing wrong with having a collection of motivated young players and the European stage unquestionably nurtures such ambition.

In sum, Moratti needs to take the risk of getting a new coach for his beloved club. Mancini hasn’t demonstrated the tactical ability to win the most prestigious club football competition in the world, but Mourinho did so in just two and a half seasons at Porto (a year after hoisting the UEFA Cup) with a team that couldn’t possibly match the budgets of the European elite. Conversely, “The Special One” failed in his claim to win the trophy within three years at Chelsea, but at the moment Inter Milan doesn’t appear to have a coach who can lead them to the promised land.

On a final note, here’s a curious fact: Mourinho’s trophy successes as a coach have always come with a team that wears some shade of blue in the home kit – it began with Barcelona’s reserve team taking the division championship in 1998.

HAVE YOUR SAY...
Should Moratti make a change?  If so should he look to bring on Mourinho?  Would Mourinho be able to bring European success to the blue and black side of Milan or would he come up short like he did with Chelsea?  Send your opinions to Soccer 365.