Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has advised his former employees Inter Milan against hiring sacked Chelsea coach Andre Villa-Boas. Mourinho who still maintains a strong relationship with Inter President Massimo Moratti is reported to have warned the Inter chief against signing his former assistant.
Apparently, Villas-Boas who worked under Mourinho at both Porto and Inter, had a fall out with ‘the special one’ that led to him leaving Inter in 2009 for Portuguese club Academica. This marked the beginning of their torrid relationship. According to a source close to both parties, Mourinho believes villas-Boas is not the right man for the job.
“Moratti calls Mourinho regularly to discuss everything about Inter with him, and he has been warned off Villas-Boas by his former coach,” the source said. “Mourinho believes AVB is not the right man for Inter.”
Of course, Inter are also worried on the kind of effect AVB would have on the players especially after news of his breakdown with senior Chelsea players hit the headlines.
“Inter have contacted someone in the Chelsea staff because they are worried how AVB might manage the players, especially the ones with experience,“the source added. “They want to be clear that he is not going to have problems with senior players such as Javier Zanetti and Diego Milito.”
Moratti’s interest in AVB started last year when he approached Porto to try and sign him as a replacement for Leonardo who quit the club for French outfit PSG. Chelsea however beat out Inter for AVB’s signature but as they would later learn, it was to be their biggest mistake.
That said, Moratti believes that his club’s current woes as a result of Leonardo’s predecessors Piero Gasperini.
“Ranieri is a fantastic person, very intelligent, I thought he would tell me where to go (after being fired) but instead he offered his services as a consultant, he’s a true gentleman,” Moratti said.
“Given his method of coaching he needs another type of team, a different project. But it’s Gasperini’s fault for the disaster that is this season. He ruined everything, he stripped the atmosphere of determination and complained constantly of the players.
“He was really terrible.”
It remains to be seen what AVB’s next move will be. In fact if anything, his former players at Chelsea all look like getting new contracts, which makes you think that he actually was the cause for the club’s poor performances.
photo credit © cvrcak1
