My dad was a sports journalist too so he has seen a fair few matches in his time.

After Inter Milan’s 0-0 Champions League draw with holders Manchester United at the San Siro, he sent me a very abrupt text message.

“If Inter are the best team in Serie A then the rest must be rubbish!”

(He didn’t actually use the word rubbish, I’ll let you guess the real word he used.)

Does he have a point? Jose Mourinho’s side were played off their own park by United in the first half. The Italian champions, nine points clear this term as they seek a fourth straight scudetto, continually wasted possession in the final third.

Mourinho hailed Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s performance (even though I thought he was average), saying: “I think it’s right to talk about Ibrahimovic, he had a wonderful game and let’s remember that playing against Manchester United isn’t like playing against Bologna.”

Isn’t that exactly the point? Inter have little competition in Italy at the moment and are again running away with Serie A without playing especially well this season.

They also have a big chip on their shoulder about the European Cup having only won it in 1964 and 1965. It makes them get unduly nervous. They were well beaten by Liverpool at this first knockout round stage last season and struggled through this term’s group stages.

AC Milan were easily beaten by Arsenal last season and the Gunners, despite their troubles in the Premier League, should have beaten Roma by more than 1-0 on Tuesday.

Can Serie A and Inter recover? An away goal at Old Trafford on March 11 would help…

PHOTO: Inter Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic (R) challenges Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United during their Champions League match at the San Siro, Feb. 24, 2009. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

Interim Chelsea coach Guus Hiddink is adamant that he will be leaving at the end of the season to concentrate on the Russia job.

Chelsea fans who had been hoping the Dutchman would decide to stay must now start contemplating a fourth manager in two years.

Frank Rijkaard is unemployed and the style of football his Barcelona side managed when winning the Champions League in 2006 would definitely go down well at the Bridge, especially after some dour displays in recent times.

On the downside, the Dutchman had a little run in with Chelsea when they met Barca in Europe a few years back while his agent has said he is enjoying a break from the game.

Roberto Mancini also has great pedigree and would seem available having been sacked by Inter Milan at the end of last season despite leading them to a third straight scudetto. (more…)

Spats like Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez’s recent run-in with his Manchester United counterpart Alex Ferguson are always guaranteed attention-grabbers.

But while I find stories of polemics between football’s top figures good fun, I sometimes get the impression they’re having us on.

Inter’s Jose Mourinho gave the game away some time ago, admitting he drank wine with Ferguson after matches despite their feuding in his Chelsea days.

Ferguson, especially, strikes me as someone who’s aware that he is acting a role in a pantomime which serves his purposes and helps generate interest in the game.

He cultivates an image of being surly and aggressive, possibly so that the media, referees, players, agents etc know that he takes no nonsense. (more…)

Diego Maradona has advised Manchester United and Argentina forward Carlos Tevez to join Inter Milan.

Then again he also thinks Atletico Madrid striker and compatriot Sergio Aguero should do the same. Who’ll be next? Barca’s Lionel Messi, another Argentine?

Tevez, whose bustling style of play seems at its most effective in the English Premier League, would surely be wasted in the rather drab confines of Serie A.

Tevez’s style has been a constant source of entertainment since he arrived in England.

It’s a shame, then, that after hitting 19 goals during United’s Premier League and Champions League campaigns last season, Tevez has been a peripheral figure in 2008-09 following the purchase of Dimitar Berbatov.

If Alex Ferguson continues to favour the rather languid, nonchalant style of Berbatov over the hardworking Tevez, the Argentine is going to have to make a move, and where better than title-rivals Liverpool?

With Robbie Keane and Fernando Torres struggling, perhaps the dynamic Tevez is just the man to complete Liverpool’s forward line.

PHOTO: Manchester United substitute Carlos Tevez applauds the crowd as he warms up during their game against Chelsea, Jan. 11, 2009. REUTERS/Darren Staples

Jose Mourinho will clash with old foe Alex Ferguson in the Champions League last 16 with holders Manchester United playing Inter Milan.

It is England v Italy twice more with Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri facing former club Chelsea while Arsenal and Roma, two teams who love to play the beautiful game, also meet.

Real Madrid against Liverpool will also be special for Madrid-born Rafael Benitez. Here’s the draw. What do you make of it?

Chelsea v Juventus

Villarreal v Panathinaikos

Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich

Atletico Madrid v Porto

Olympique Lyon v Barcelona

Real Madrid v Liverpool

Arsenal v AS Roma

Inter Milan v Manchester United

Didier Drogba reminded Chelsea fans of his importance to their cause with a match-winning performance against Cluj in the Champions League this week, but recent reports have suggested that the controversial striker may be on his way to Inter Milan to link up with former manager Jose Mourinho.

Can Chelsea afford to let him go? Click on the video above to see Vlogonthepitch regulars Owen Wyatt and Jon Bramley have an elevated discussion. Let us know your views.

Although Inter coach Jose Mourinho believes a tough draw in the Champions League last 16 will shock his side out of their European malaise, the damage may already have been done.

The Serie A champions have remained true to Italian form by limping through the group stages, losing twice, drawing twice and winning convincingly only once.

They had already qualified for the knockout stages ahead of Tuesday’s game at Werder Bremen but Mourinho still wanted a win even if he queried the value of finishing top of Group B.

As it was his side put in another lacklustre display to lose 2-1 with wingers Mancini and Ricardo Quaresma, big money arrivals from AS Roma and Porto in the transfer window, looking major flops.

Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, easily their best player this season thanks to his goals and creative spark, was meant to be rested for the Werder game but Inter were so poor that the Swede was thrown on at halftime and scored a superb consolation. (more…)

Defeat to Arsenal means Luiz Felipe Scolari is facing his first big test as Chelsea manager and there are plenty of people waiting to see how the volatile Brazilian handles it.

Until a few weeks ago everything was sweetness and light at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea set the pace in the Premier League title race. They were scoring goals for fun and Scolari was seen as a breath of fresh air with his jovial manner.

The cracks are now starting to appear, however, as results turn sour. Last week he said he would have to go back to Brazil if Chelsea failed to make the last 16 of the Champions League.

The 1-1 draw with Bordeaux, in which they were dreadful, means they still have work to do on that front when CFR Cluj come to London next week.

Most worryingly for Scolari, what was once a fortress at Stamford Bridge under previous managers Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant is suddenly looking a little flimsy. (more…)

One of the benefits of being a World Cup-winning manager is that nobody complains if you turn up at a party and start badmouthing the hosts - they’re too grateful you came in the first place.

Italy boss Marcello Lippi did that this week when he reprimanded his country’s professional footballers for their treatment of referees at a ceremony celebrating the 40th anniversary of their union, the AIC.

“No one could have Italian footballers more dear to their heart than me, they made me world champion,” he said. “But something unpleasant exists, there are bad manners on the field. Relations with opponents and, above all, with referees are rude, vulgar and taste of animosity.

“Insults, swearing, expressions of intolerance have become habitual. The referee is faced with the dilemma of pretending not to hear to save the match or sending people off and spoiling the spectacle. Either way he gets criticised.”

The problem is certainly not limited to Serie A and Lippi’s comments take him into a debate sparked by the FA’s Respect campaign in England.

Launched earlier this year, the initiative is already on the ropes as it seems to have amplified attention on the errors referees inevitably commit, producing more questions than solutions.

What can players get away with? Should refs be made to speak to reporters after matches to explain their decisions and admit when they get things wrong?

Might it not be easier to encourage respect by upping the level of refereeing with the use of video replays rather than by ‘awareness-raising’ drives?

Jose Mourinho said on Tuesday that Italian referees have it even harder than their Premier League colleagues because in England “there is lots of fair play and the game finishes with the referee’s final whistle”. In Italy, on the other hand, they have to contend with a roasting in the media as well as grief from players and coaches.

Sevilla’s Italian midfielder Enzo Maresca said he had seen “more replays in half an hour tonight than in four years in Spain” while taking part in a TV show on Sunday that was analysing controversial penalty calls in AC Milan’s 2-2 draw at Torino.

Lippi thinks that player associations should make moves to cut out the surliness because “a union should not just defend its members’ rights, but also their dignity”.

But I reckon this is unlikely to work too because in football, disrespect pays!

Dissent is not just about letting off steam in the heat of battle. It’s also a way to pressure officials into being softer on your side in subsequent decisions. If a ref makes a dodgy call, it’s a good idea to make sure he knows so he’ll think twice next time. It’s a tactic and one that is hard to wipe out because it’s successful.

Lippi has won all the trophies in his illustrious career. But this time he may well be on the losing side.

PHOTO:Italy coach Marcello Lippi conducts a training session in Coverciano, Aug. 18. REUTERS/Marco Bucco

Adriano is surely one of the most frustrating players in the world.

The Brazilian has all the assets needed to be one of the very best strikers — power, pace and guile — yet he has wasted several opportunities to show he can be consistently good.

Indiscipline is part of his problem. Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho left him out for five games after he ignored his orders in a league match, stayed out at a night club and turned up late for training.

Cunning Mourinho brought him back for this weekend’s big clash with rivals Juventus, hoping Adriano would make the most of his return from exile.

Serie A leaders Inter deservedly won 1-0 and Adriano was alright but did nothing spectacular. Afterwards Mourinho defended his decision to recall the striker saying he needed ‘an animal’ to battle against Juve.

But didn’t Adriano used to be something more than an animal? 

He scored goals for fun for Inter and Brazil in 2004 and 2005, good goals at that, but a disappointing World Cup was the start of a sharp decline. His lifestyle upset then Inter boss Roberto Mancini and last year an overweight Adriano was packed off on loan to Sao Paulo.

He rediscovered his verve in Brazil and on his return to Inter it looked like he was going to be a regular, threatening Mourinho’s obsession with three upfront. 

Now the 26-year-old is once again in no man’s land. Will he finally fulfill his potential or is ‘the Animal’ destined to feed off scraps for the rest of his career?

PHOTO: Inter Milan’s Adriano (R) challenges Giorgio Chiellini of Juventus during their Serie A match at the San Siro, Nov. 22. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo