Former Inter striker Diego Forlan says the club ‘love’ Jose Mourinho, and the door will always be open for him to return.
The Uruguayan striker spent one season with the Beneamata, arriving after the Portuguese tactician had left, but says he could still feel his impact.
“I’ve never been at a club where the players talked so much about a previous manager as they did about Jose Mourinho at Inter,” Forlan wrote in The National.
Former Inter striker Diego Forlan says the club ‘love’ Jose Mourinho, and the door will always be open for him to return.
The Uruguayan striker spent one season with the Beneamata, arriving after the Portuguese tactician had left, but says he could still feel his impact.
“I’ve never been at a club where the players talked so much about a previous manager as they did about Jose Mourinho at Inter,” Forlan wrote in The National.
“I arrived only a year after he had left, but the club worked through four managers in little over a year.
“Mourinho had left Inter as the treble winners: champions of Europe and Italy’s league and cup, but none of his successors came close to matching his achievements.
“It wasn’t just the players who loved him, everyone at the club did. I was told that the door was always open for his return.
“For so many players to speak so well about a manager is a surprise but players want to work for Mourinho.
“Not only does he win trophies players feel he supports them, protects them from pressure and shields them from criticism by taking it on himself.
“It’s not a problem that he has a big personality – that can be good taking attention away from the players.
“With Serie A slipping behind the English and Spanish leagues, Inter needed him more than he needed them. He had a lot of support and he was very successful.
“He got some criticism for the defensive way in which his Inter team played against Barca, but what else could he do? Barca had better players but Mourinho got the result.
“He had no temptation to be remembered like the Brazil team of 1982, a beautiful side which didn’t win anything.”