Mourinho reinvents himself as Ordinary One

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-7  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

INTER Milan's new coach Jose Mourinho continued his drive to reinvent himself as the "Ordinary One" in Japan yesterday.

The former Chelsea manager refused to confirm speculation linking Frank Lampard, Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Essien with a move to the San Siro.

But Mourinho, who famously introduced himself as a "Special One" on his arrival at Chelsea four years ago, let his guard slip when he explained why he remained close to his former players.

"I don't think I'm a special coach," the 45-year-old Portuguese told reporters before an exhibition game in Yokohama today.

"I just think I'm one of the good coaches in Europe who have won important competitions. The relation I have with players is the one I have with my friends - it's exactly the same.

"With friends and also with players, we have very good moments in our relationship and also bad moments. But when the bad moments arrive we go over it in a very easy way."

Mourinho will coach an overseas 11 against a Japanese side captained by former Japan international Hidetoshi Nakata in a game to raise awareness of global problems.

After training at Yokohama's Nissan Stadium, venue for the 2002 World Cup final, Mourinho refused to comment on any possible pre-season signings.

"There's no relation with this game and the reason why I'm here," said Mourinho, who will lead a side including Dutch pair Clarence Seedorf and Edgar Davids, Chilean Ivan Zamorano and Cameroon's Patrick Mboma in Japan.

"We also have some former players," said Mourinho. "But I always get very emotional when I see old players come back to the game.

"Maybe they've lost their legs but the quality and the football brain is always there."

He is keen though to take Serie A to a new level.

Italian soccer has been dogged by hooliganism in recent seasons and authorities are cracking down after a fan and a policeman were killed in separate soccer-related incidents last year.

"(It is necessary) to make the fans more responsible and change their relationship with the police," he told yesterday's La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Images that are not beautiful go abroad. You see violence, deaths, fans not allowed to go to away matches."

"My bench at Chelsea was three metres in front of the crowd, you could see fathers, children, women, families. I would be proud, one day, to have contributed to changing (Italian) soccer."

Breaking away from the defensive style associated with Italian soccer is also important, Mourinho added.

"Starting with a winning mentality in every game, demanding that if you don't win, at least you play well," he said. "You can't be criticized if you lose while entertaining."

Luis Figo also told the newspaper that he hopes to renew his contract and play another year despite being unhappy with the marginal role he had last season under Mourinho's predecessor, Roberto Mancini.

"Sometimes I felt humiliated by Mancini," the Portuguese midfielder said. "At a certain point, he did not respect me any more with his decisions. If I can be useful, I'd be happy to play another year at Inter."