TSO and the Scudetto

Jose Mourinho's Inter team went through the motions today stomping on Siena 3-0 with the title already in the bag. They won the Scudetto with essentially the same team that did it last year. Mourinho inherited an elite squad in top form. Of the three big signings he made in the run up to his first year the only one that panned out was Muntari. Mancini rarely made it off the bench and Quaresma flopped for a half season in Italy before heading to Chelsea to do the same thing. He has succesfully made a failure tour of the three big leagues in Europe. Given this it would be tempting to say Mourinho just kept his hand on the wheel and coasted to the title. True, he didn't have the tallest mountain to climb, but maintaining focus through an entire season has its merits. On paper the squads of Inter's title rivals have as much firepower as they do. Juventus and AC Milan have plenty of names on their rosters that could play anywhere in Europe. Yet Inter's retention of the title was never really in doubt after November. For this Mourinho deserves credit.

I don't know if anyone else has done this, and I would be happy to learn if so, but I think Jose Mourinho is the youngest manager (at 46) to win titles in two of the big European leagues as well as a Champion's League. In addition to the league trophies he won at Chelsea and Inter, Mourinho also won two at Porto. That is an undeniably impressive track record for someone so young. S.G. Eriksson won titles in Sweden, Portugal, and Italy but lacks a Spanish or English title and a CL win to his credit. Fabio Capelo won at Real Madrid and with 3 different Italian teams but didn't do so until age 50.

The best manager argument is always unfair and inconclusive, but I think adding the Scudetto to his resume gives Mourinho a place in the discussion among current coaches. He has won everywhere he has gone, truly. If things at Real Madrid goes the way everyone expects them to, will he be leaving Inter a perfect 1 for 1?

-AM