Thursday, March 28, 2024

Mourinho dismisses exit talk

Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho on Friday dismissed speculation that he is set to walk out of the club.

Rumours have spread this week that Mourinho will leave Inter if they fail to win the Champions League this season, despite the club being odds-on favourites to win a fourth straight Serie A crown.

But Mourinho dismissed any such concerns and said he could not determine how long he would stay in Italy.

“Me, leave Italy? In football you never know, you can stay two, three, four or ten years, it all depends,” he told a press conference in Milan ahead of Saturday’s trip to Genoa.

“But one thing’s for sure, I’m not trying to provoke a change of coach.”

Mourinho was questioned about his future in Italy because in midweek he launched a tirade against Italian football and the dramas surrounding it, particularly the manner in which every refereeing decision is analysed and reanalysed in the press.

However, he reacted in typical Mourinho fashion on Friday.

“Am I fed up with Italian football? No, the only adjective I would use to explain how I feel right now is not angry but proud, proud of myself,” he said.

“I’m neither angry nor tense, that’s your feeling. I like to change, sometimes I change my hairstyle.

“Once I cut it all off, now I’m letting it grow out. Once I turned up with a long beard.

“But right now I’m absolutely perfect. I like to change but I’m not angry.”

Mourinho was also in belligerent mood regarding his comments on Tuesday: “What I said on Tuesday is what I wanted to say.”

The former Chelsea boss landed himself in hot water with Italian football bosses over his comments about Juventus earning many points due to refereeing errors.

He could yet face a fine and/or touchline ban for what he said.

He was reacting to questions about his team getting an undeserved penalty in last weekend’s 3-3 draw at home to AS Roma.

His outburst against Juventus came when he was told that Juve coach Claudio Ranieri had agreed with Roma coach Luciano Spalletti’s assertion that the incident should not have resulted in a penalty — Inter forward Mario Balotelli had gone to ground very easily in the area as he tried to slip between Daniele De Rossi and Marco Motta.

“While Ranieri says he is behind Spalletti, I am on the side of coaches who have dropped points against Juve – and also on the side of those who are going to meet Juve in the coming weeks,” Mourino had said on Tuesday before slating all his main rivals.

“Roma, with their great players, so many players that I’d like to have, will end the season with zero titles.

“(AC) Milan will finish the season with zero titles when the club has everything it needs to win – as will Juventus, who have won a lot of points thanks to refereeing errors.”

For now, Inter face a tough trip away to Genoa, who alongside Inter are one of only two teams unbeaten at home this season.

Mourinho has some defensive problems to sort out after his team’s abject performance at the back in Wednesday’s 3-0 Italian Cup defeat to Sampdoria.

Centre-backs Marco Materazzi and Nelson Rivas are almost certain to face the chop even though Walter Samuel and Cristian Chivu are not yet fit.

It means Ivan Cordoba and Nicolas Burdisso should line up as centre-backs on Saturday.

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