Former Inter President Massimo Moratti is sure Jose Mourinho will ‘be fun’ at Roma, while admitting the Special One is ‘similar’ to Antonio Conte.
Mou returns to Serie A next season for the first time since his Treble at Inter in 2010, but will be settling in at the Stadio Olimpico dugout.
“I think Mourinho has been dealing with teams that didn’t have the quality to match his ambition, but seeing him back in Italy is certainly going to be fun,” Moratti told Radio Deejay.
Former Inter President Massimo Moratti is sure Jose Mourinho will ‘be fun’ at Roma, while admitting the Special One is ‘similar’ to Antonio Conte.
Mou returns to Serie A next season for the first time since his Treble at Inter in 2010, but will be settling in at the Stadio Olimpico dugout.
“I think Mourinho has been dealing with teams that didn’t have the quality to match his ambition, but seeing him back in Italy is certainly going to be fun,” Moratti told Radio Deejay.
“Mou reminded me of Helenio Herrera before I brought him in. I am sure he’ll have a chance to do well at Roma without the pressure to get right back to the top, but I think he’ll do something surprising.
“It’s amusing to think of his return to Italy, I am just thinking of what he might say…”
The Portuguese coach was known for his battle cry on the touchline and in the press conference, although Moratti assures it wasn’t always that intense.
“The image people have of Mourinho is like being in war, he was against everyone and everything, but inside the locker room he was a phenomenal professional.
“For example, during a game with Milan we had Wesley Sneijder sent off just before the break. There was chaos at San Siro, I went into the locker room at half-time and there was this incredible silence. He was very calm.
“I had expected him to be furious with the referee, instead he calmed the players so they would face the game with confidence, not feeling like they were already victims. At the end of the day, we won.
“Conte is more or less similar to Mourinho in that sense, they are both such hard workers. Conte has a very strong character, he managed to isolate the squad and go beyond the controversy or club problems to keep them focused.”
Some of those problems included Inter signing up to the Super League, which they then backed out of 48 hours later.
“A similar idea was proposed to me many years ago by a group of new managers who were studying the project, but I found it to be too elitist. I would not have signed, no.”