The coaches of the three biggest Serie A clubs recently indulged in what has always been one of the favourite pastimes of the older and wiser — picking fault with today’s youngsters.

Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho kicked things off when he criticised 19-year-old forward Mario Balotelli’s approach in training and suggested that footballers of his age were more interested in Ferraris and Bentleys than getting on with the job.

“It’s probably a generational problem,” Mourinho said. “At the moment it’s very difficult to find a player who’s 19 or 20 and thinks like a man.”

Reporters asked Juventus coach Ciro Ferrara what he thought, but if they hoped to stir up another Mourinho-versus-the-rest-of-Italy row, they were disappointed.

“I agree. It’s a problem of values,” Ferrara said. “Things have changed a lot and the purely sporting side often drops down to a secondary level.

“A young player becomes a star after just a few matches in Serie A. Million-euro contracts arrive and thoughts immediately go to the national team. It’s difficult for them to keep their feet on the ground.”

AC Milan boss Leonardo agreed too.

“I understand what Mourinho is saying. It’s difficult to teach certain values to youngsters,” he told reporters, adding that he believed it was a problem for society as a whole, not just soccer.

Maybe the managers have a point and all the money pouring into football has corrupted the game’s budding talent.

I’m not so sure. Football has always had its share of prima donnas and players who, let’s say, gave great importance to the economic side of the profession.

Moreover, those wondering why young players find it harder to get a chance to shine in Serie A than in other top flights, might have be given a clue to the riddle.

PHOTO: Inter Milan’s coach Jose Mourinho (L) argues with his player Mario Balotelli during their Serie A match against Siena at San Siro, May 17, 2009. REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito

It is a bit early to be making judgements on the new Inter Milan (especially after a lacklustre first league game) but the 4-0 thrashing of AC Milan at the weekend suggests the Samuel Eto’o-Zlatan Ibrahimovic swap could completely change their way of playing.

Ibrahimovic, who scored on his Barcelona debut in Monday’s 3-0 win over Sporting Gijon, was everything to Inter. He was the target man, the talisman, the go-to man when a flash of inspiration or a goal was needed.

Inter’s over-reliance on the tall Swede was only exposed in Europe when better defences than in Serie A shut him out and nullified Inter’s occasional long ball approach.

In Saturday’s derby, Inter passed the ball more than I remember them doing under Jose Mourinho last season. Thiago Motta, a midfielder with attacking instincts which they lacked last term, scored a wonderful opening goal following a flurry of quick passes.

Forward Diego Milito, also a new signing from Genoa, then blasted in a penalty. Eto’o had taken the spotkick in the previous weekend’s 1-1 draw with Bari but he was quite happy to share the duties with his strike partner.

Inter suddenly looked like a collective group far more than they had in the four years of Ibra.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, however. Milan were awful and Gennaro Gattuso’s dismissal, after he had asked to come off with an injury but couldn’t because substitute Clarence Seedorf wasn’t ready, summed up their display.

Inter need to prove again and again that they are now more pleasing on the eye, especially in Europe…

PHOTO: Inter Milan’s Samuel Eto’o celebrates their win at the end of the Italian serie A soccer match against AC Milan at the San Siro stadium in Milan August 29, 2009. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho has again lamented the lack of a playmaker* following Sunday’s 1-1 home draw with Bari in their Serie A opener.

Creativity was already a problem for the champions last season and now talented striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has left for Barcelona, it is difficult to see where inspiration is going to come from judging by their Super Cup defeat to Lazio and the Bari draw.

Samuel Eto’o is a goalpoacher while Dejan Stankovic, who occupies the role behind the front two, is a hard-working midfielder at best.

Mourinho has said the club is working to bring in a playmaker before the transfer window closes but with Deco too pricey at Chelsea and Wesley Sneijder looking happy to bide his time at Real Madrid, the options are limited.

But there is Sampdoria’s reformed wildchild Antonio Cassano. He has certainly matured in the last two years after annoying a slew of coaches with his behaviour and at the moment is undoubtedly the most talented Italian with the ball at his feet.

Reports linking Inter with Cassano have swirled for months and Mourinho is an admirer, although he cryptically said at the weekend that Cassano now played too far forward to be considered a playmaker and had blotted his copybook by daring to score against the champions last term.

Perhaps Inter are worried that a return to a big club will prompt Cassano’s childish side to re-emerge (which is probably why Marcello Lippi will not consider him for Italy).

But it is often worth taking a risk to find that bit of brilliance.

* Kevin and I have often wondered if there was better way of saying “playmaker”. “Man in the hole” is just a bit too weird. The Italians have a nice word — trequartista (three-quarter forward)

PHOTO: Plenty of space on the Inter bench. Jose Mourinho gestures before the start of the Serie A match against Bari at the San Siro, August 23, 2009. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

Jose Mourinho is no stranger to run-ins with rival club managers, but this week the Portuguese raised his aim and had a swipe at Italian national team boss Marcello Lippi.

The Inter Milan coach had taken exception to Lippi tipping Juventus for this year’s Serie A title.
He accused him of lacking respect, arguing a national team coach should be seen to be impartial even if deep down he wants Juve to win (Lippi had two glorious stints at the Turin club split by a dismal, short one at Inter).

Mourinho even added mysteriously that “this makes me think a great deal”.

Lippi responded by saying it was just a prediction: “Mourinho seemed an intelligent person to me, I’m sorry he’s interpreted things differently. You can’t say half a word”.

The Inter boss’s reaction struck me as a little thin skinned too. It’s not as if Lippi said he was rooting for Juve or would be lending a hand to their new boss Ciro Ferrara, his former assistant in the Italy backroom staff.

But I was surprised to see in a survey on La Gazzetta dello Sport’s website that, while most people were on Lippi’s side, a sizeable minority of around 40 percent believed Mourinho had grounds to grumble.

What do you think? Is Mourinho overreacting, possibly in an attempt to instil a siege mentality into his players for the upcoming campaign? Or should Lippi keep his predictions to himself in future?

PHOTO: Inter Milan’s coach Jose Mourinho (L) gestures during their Italian Super Cup soccer match against Lazio at the National Olympic Stadium in Beijing August 8, 2009. REUTERS/David Gray

If Inter Milan were intending their trip to Beijing for last week’s Italian Super Cup to be a China charm offensive, coach Jose Mourinho was obviously not kept in the loop.

The accepted form for European club officials on pre-season trips to China is to politely praise everything local and talk up the footballing potential of the world’s most populous nation.

After Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Lazio in the traditional Italian season curtain-raiser between the Serie A champions and Cup winners, Mourinho departed from the script.

The post-match news conference got off to a bad start when the local interpreter expressed his delight at Lazio’s victory and invited Chinese media to ask Mourinho difficult questions.

Matters did not improve when Mourinho, who earlier in the week had described the Bird’s Nest stadium — China’s pride and joy — as “so-so”, arrived on the podium.

The first question from state broadcaster CCTV, suggesting he had been forced into letting new signing Samuel Eto’o play a full 90 minutes, was answered politely.

The second, from a local newspaper reporter, asked why Lazio, playing on the same pitch and in the same searing heat that Mourinho had previously complained about, were able to win.

“After the first two questions, I know why Chinese football is so rubbish and why China has won gold medals in so many sports but not football, because the journalists are so unprofessional,” the Portuguese replied.

Later, a reporter from state news agency Xinhua asked whether the match had further convinced Mourinho of the need to strengthen his midfield with a playmaker.

“After your questions it seems that my team played a horrible match,” said the former Porto and Chelsea boss. “The conclusion is that you don’t understand a thing, because all the questions are based on the result. This is not football. If we talk about the result, it was 2-1 to Lazio. If we are talking about the match, then we have to say one team played, the other was lucky. This is football.”

Mourinho, who got his break in management after working as a interpreter for English coach Bobby Robson, was unsurprisingly lambasted by the Chinese sports media.

Web portal qq.com was typical, listing “Mourinho’s seven sins in China”.

“1. Losing the match, 2. Being arrogant, 3. Insulting journalists, 4. Sneering at Chinese football, 5. Despising the Bird’s Nest, 6. Refusing to attend a charity dinner 7. Losing his temper at the Silk Market,” it said.

Mourinho would not be the first tourist to lose his cool at the Silk Market, the central Beijing shopping centre famous for its faked goods where scores of shop assistants aggressively vie for custom, but he denied accusations of an eighth sin.

A statement posted on Inter’s Chinese language website on Monday read: “Jose Mourinho today firmly denied the reports that he refused to meet China’s coach Gao Hongbo.

“After Inter’s training in the Olympic Sports Centre in the afternoon of Aug. 5, Gao met and talked to Mourinho … The two coaches agreed to meet again the next day but because of the preparations for the Super Cup, they did not meet in the National Stadium.”

The journalist who had asked the second question in the press conference was not impressed with Mourinho. “I don’t think he’s the special one,” she told me as we left the stadium.

 Picture by David Gray

Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho has interrupted his holidays to remind soccer fans what they have been missing in the month since the end of the season.

The outspoken Portuguese, whose side are favourites for a fifth straight scudetto this term, has far from mellowed while lying on the beach.

Here’s his latest amusing rant from the Gazzetta dello Sport about the discipline of different nationalities in soccer.

“The Brazilians are the most difficult and ill-disciplined. If you organise a meeting for 10, they don’t care if you let them enter or not. The English arrive at 9.55, the Italian, even if he comes at 10.01, arrives in a hurry and is fed up.

The Portuguese are there at 10 or 9.59. A Frenchman, who is always right, comes at 10 but thinks there was no actual reason to be punctual. Russians arrive at 10, not a minute before and not a minute after. They need to be guided.”

Looking at who he worked with at Chelsea and Inter, can you guess who he is referring to?

Roll on the new season…

As impressive as two Champions League triumphs are, Chelsea’s appointment of former AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti will not leave their Premier League title rivals quaking in their boots.

Ancelotti ended his reign at Milan on Sunday after eight years, following top flight stints at Parma and Juventus, all of which amounted to just one Serie A scudetto.

Some may say the Champions League is harder to win than a league, so two is a phenomenal achievement. He also won two domestic cups, two UEFA Super Cups and a World Club Cup, but Chelsea will be expected to challenge for the Premier League next season.

Outgoing temporary boss Guus Hiddink succeeded where his predecessor, Luiz Felipe Scolari could not, in giving a hint of the current Chelsea squad’s potential this season with a third place league finish, a Champions League semi-final and the FA Cup*.

The key to going a few steps further next season will be two or three key signings, including a striker.

In an attempt to put a disappointing fifth-placed finish in Serie A behind him, Ancelotti spent last summer signing the likes of Andriy Shevchenko and Ronaldinho, neither of whom made much of an impact.

John Terry apparently wants Chelsea to sign Franck Ribery and David Silva. Getting players of that quality would certainly make Ancelotti’s job easier. If Chelsea are not prepared to make that type of investment in the playing staff, it’s going to be hard for the new man to make his mark.

PHOTO: AC Milan’s coach Carlo Ancelotti gestures during their Italian serie A soccer match against AS Roma at San Siro stadium in Milan May 24, 2009. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

* Post updated to correct overgenerous reference to Hiddink cup exploits (see comments)

A Champions League with unfancied Porto, two Premier League titles with Chelsea — the first in fifty years — and the scudetto with Inter Milan in his first season.

Is there anything Jose Mourinho can’t do?

Roberto Mancini, who led Inter to the last three titles, should take a lot of the credit but Mourinho didnt try to stamp his authority on the team too much. After a bit of an experiment at the start of his reign, he realised Mancini’s tactics were the best with the personnel available.

(See here for a more depth look at Mourinho’s newfound humility)

Yes Serie A is much weaker than in the 1990s but Mourinho’s Inter have still romped home ahead of star-studded AC Milan and the might of a reborn Juventus.

If Zlatan Ibrahimovic decides to leave it will be much, much tricker next term. Then again, Mourinho is probably plotting right now how he can retain the title and make an impression in the Champions League…

Genoa striker Diego Milito and Udinese’s Fabio Quagliarella look good bets.

PHOTO: Inter Milan fans celebrate their team’s 17th league title in Milan’s Piazza Duomo after second-placed AC Milan handed them the scudetto by losing 2-1 at Udinese. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

Jose Mourinho has finally met his match.

I’ve never seen the Inter Milan boss look so timid and uncomfortable as when he was confronted by a pole dancer on a famously bizarre Italian TV show.

He looked away as the half-naked beauty strutted her stuff, twitching in his chair and scratching his ear to try to avoid embarrassment.

The Portuguese must have known what he was in for. Daily show Chiambretti Night also has a singing drag queen, a woman dressed as a rabbit sat on a swing and an older couple supposedly from another planet.

When the dancer had more clothes on, outspoken Mourinho still found time to clash with the host and an AC Milan-supporting journalist sat with me in the audience.

“Most of the things written about me are lies,” he fumed.

PHOTO: A dancer performs in front of Inter coach Jose Mourinho during Italian television programme “Chiambretti Night”, April 1, 2009. REUTERS/Paolo Bona

The sight of Serie A sides flopping in the Champions League has become a familiar one and although the three teams eliminated this week were a little unlucky, a mental block against English opposition is developing.

Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho, who won the trophy with Porto in 2004, was hired in June largely to boost their hopes of challenging Europe’s elite after years of failure.

However, his confident nature and man-management skills can only go so far and he acknowledged that the Italians need something extra if they are to really threaten the continent’s best teams.

The former Chelsea boss talked of his side lacking the necessary “intensity” after being eliminated in the last 16 by holders Manchester United on Wednesday following a 2-0 defeat.

“We need something more to win this competition, but I will talk about this with the club. I will open my heart,” the Portuguese told reporters.

United manager Alex Ferguson was scathing about his side’s first-half performance, but the fact they dispatched the strongest team in Italy with plenty to spare speaks volumes of the widening gulf in class.

“The interesting thing for me is that we played a team close to its maximum potential in terms of their experience and they played to their maximum,” Ferguson told reporters after accusing his players of playing “suicide football”.

“To get through is a big plus because we will be better in the next round, we can play far better than that.” (more…)