Diego Milito looks back over the Inter Treble and reveals Jose Mourinho “always needs an enemy, even if he has to invent them.”
The striker has now retired, but was a key figure in that 2010 triumph when winning the Scudetto, Champions League and Coppa Italia.
“Mourinho always needs an enemy and at times he even has to invent them. Just ask Pep Guardiola,” Milito told La Nacion.
Diego Milito looks back over the Inter Treble and reveals Jose Mourinho “always needs an enemy, even if he has to invent them.”
The striker has now retired, but was a key figure in that 2010 triumph when winning the Scudetto, Champions League and Coppa Italia.
“Mourinho always needs an enemy and at times he even has to invent them. Just ask Pep Guardiola,” Milito told La Nacion.
“Mourinho is a great leader of a group. We are talking about a Coach at the top of the world level. He makes sure every player gives 100 per cent, has the right word for the right moment and can be harsh when needed.
“He knows how to protect his group and always needs an ‘enemy’ to attack or to defend his group from.”
Now at Manchester United, Mourinho was accused of being excessively defensive when in charge of Inter.
“In that Champions League campaign we eliminated the best Barcelona team of all time, beating them 3-1. We then defeated Bayern Munich in the Final, yet we were criticised,” continued Milito.
“In order to stand up for that Barcelona side, critics attacked us and said our style of football was totally defensive. They forgot the first leg, when we were losing and it would’ve been impossible at Camp Nou against a side that kept 90 per cent possession.
“We went there, they called Mourinho defensive, yet we played with four strikers: Wesley Sneijder, Goran Pandev, me and Samuel Eto’o. Douglas Maicon was there too.
“The plans had to change because Pandev was injured in the warm-up and after 15 minutes they sent off Thiago Motta. If it’s difficult playing against Barcelona usually, imagine when down to 10 men.
“With our advantage from the first leg, we were a step away from the Final after a 45-year wait. Everything had to be considered, but the media focused on the Mourinho-Guardiola dichotomy and didn’t give us the credit for what we achieved.”