Chelsea-Inter Milan: Mourinho Needlessly Controversial? No, Just Genius at Work

In the aftermath of Saturday evenings tempestuous 0-0 draw with Sampdoria and ahead of their eagerly awaited Champions League clash with his old club Chelsea, Jose Mourinho has called for a complete press blackout. None of his staff, players, President Massimo Morrati or the Special One himself will be speaking to the media.

This is seemingly the culmination of a conserted effort to give his side a psychological edge going into that all important knockout tie with the London club, a fact not lost on many people in Italy right now. It is common knowledge that he was brought to Inter to engineer success in Europe's elite competition.

It had been a quiet few weeks for the out-spoken Portuguesemen, with some easy wins coming as Juventus and Milan both imploded, leaving Inter to rack up a handy gap atop the Serie A table. Then a week or so ago, seemingly with the return to Stamford Bridge weighing on his mind, Mourinho was stirring up controversy following a 0-0 draw at Napoli.

He began a war of words with the southern clubs manager and president, seemingly over nothing. Not done there, Mourinho continued in his usual style, launching a scatter-gun attack on Juventus, Roma and the Spanish press.

He said Juventus were the only club who's penalty box was "25 meters long", after the penalty won by Del Piero against Genoa. He went on to say that Roma was "crafty" for "crying" about money problems, then refusing to sell players. The most bizarre part of his rant was to complain about being linked with Real Madrid, claimed the Spanish press "are dishonest and invent stories".

Both Napoli manager Walter Mazzarri and Juventus Director Roberto Bettega quickly responded. Mazzarri replied that Mourinho "talks and talks and talks rubbish", while Bettega commented that the Portuguesemen "shouldn't worry himself with errors relating to other teams".

Roma manager Claudio Ranieri, who also is a former Chelsea Manager, took a more considered response. Rather than just dismiss the Inter supremo's comments out of hand as most people do, he made a number of insightful observations.

He firstly recognised that Inter have had an easy run of games recently, but has an important period coming up. He noted the Inter players were relaxed and that Mourinho's words were his way of "firing his team up". He further went on to say that creating controversy would "raise his players level of concentration.

Looking at the situation from the outside and considering all the factors surrounding these outbursts, Ranieri is clearly speaking the truth. There is definitely no love lost between the two and the manner of Mourinho's appointment to replace him at Chelsea saw to that. The continued spat between the two when Ranieri was at Juventus merely added fuel to the fire.

The fact that Ranieri is speaking out in admiration of Mourinho makes it all the more striking. For all the theatrical outbursts in the dugout during the Sampdoria game, even the mock "handcuffs" gesture to the TV cameras, nothing could overshadow the tactical masterclass being put on out on the field.

Despite being down to nine men for almost an hour, Inter ran the game as though their lives depended on it. Even those with reputations as coasters put a shift in, Samuel Eto'o and Wesley Sneijder to name but two. The fact that Sampdoria barely registered a chance of note is testament to the effort and sheer will of this Inter squad to please their manager.

Love him or loathe him, you have to admire the belief Mourinho instills in his players. From Porto, through Chelsea and now at Inter, it is that spirit and desire allied to an astute tactical acumen that are the hallmark of his teams.

Whether his new team can overcome his previous employers or not in their Champions League tie is still to be seen, but Mourinho has already seen to it that his Inter have as much of a psychological edge as possible.