Mourinho: ‘Italy lacks innovation’

Mourinho praised the English Premier League’s ‘working conditions’ for coaches [AFP]

Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho has criticised Italy’s Serie A, saying there was too much emphasis on results and less flexibility for coaches to ‘innovate’ and develop tactics.

The self-appointed ‘Special One’, compared working in Italy to working in the English Premier League, where he used to manage Chelsea, saying in England coaches were given a greater amount of time to ‘develop their work’.

In an interview with Portuguese weekly paper Expresso, Mourinho again hinted he was not totally happy in Italy.

“When after a third of the Italian championship nine coaches have lost their jobs, who is the coach that wants to innovate?”, he remarked.

“The Serie A coach does not want to innovate, he wants to survive.”

Working conditions

Mourinho, also upset by the grilling he gets by Italian media among other difficulties he has found working at in Serie A, said conditions were better in the Premier League.

He cited Manchester United’s Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger of Arsenal and Liverpool’s Rafa Benitez as coaches who had been given time to innovate and develop their tactics.

“(In England) coaches go way beyond their first contract, even beyond the second and the third one and continue developing their work,” he said.

“Italy is much more results-oriented. Those who win, continue, while those who don’t, get out.”

The Portuguese coach said the same happens at the big Spanish clubs like Real Madrid, Valencia and Atletico Madrid, although Barcelona were an exception.

Staying put

Mourinho wants to see out his contract with the Italian champions and will only think about returning to the Premier League after 2012.

He was recently in England to spy on his former side Chelsea ahead of Inter’s meeting with them in the Champions League last 16, and was quoted in British tabloid the Sun earlier in the week as saying he was keen to work again in the Premier League.

“I was happy in England and when I went there I said one day I would go back. One day could mean 2012 or 2020,” he said at Inter’s mid-season training camp in Abu Dhabi.

“The problem is they really love to change my words. The problem is I also said I’m happy at Inter and would like to respect my contract which runs until 2012.”

Inter, eight points clear at the top of Serie A, won the championship last season in Mourinho’s first term in charge.