José Mourinho: "The Special One" Loves to Stir Up Drama

Inter Milan has been dominating the Italian top flight ever since the infamous Calciopoli scandal, and while the club may have gained more followers, they have made even more enemies.

The reason?

Not only are the Nerazzurri sore losers, but they are also bad winners. In the midst of it is José Mourinho, who simply loves to create that sense of “us against them” mentality, all the while claiming that he’s only protecting his players.

As Inter patron Massimo Moratti, director Gabriele Oriali, and the Portuguese tactician have been busy complaining to the media about a so-called Anti-Inter campaign with the mission to stop the reigning champions from lifting their fifth straight Scudetto—his dislike directed towards the Beneamata has only been increasing.

Last Saturday’s Inter welcomed Sampdoria to the Giuseppe Meazza in an intense thriller that ended with no less than three dismissals—two of which from the home side.

At 31 minutes Walter Samuel received his second booking as his raised elbow caught Nicola Pozzi in the face as he cut off the forward entering the D.

Mourinho—never shy of controversy—was seen only moments later crossing his wrist in the style of handcuffs towards the cameras, clearly indicating that somebody is trying to “shackle” Inter.

The tension was on an all-time high and at 38 minutes Pozzi was sent flying by Ivan Cordoba’s late tackle which earned him his second card—and Inter’s second dismissal.

Tempers were flaring going into the interval as Sulley Muntari was seen repeatedly offending the officials while Esteban Cambiasso even tried to punch a player from the opposing team in the players’ tunnel.

Ten minutes into the second half Samuel Eto’o tumbled down in the penalty area under pressure from Luciano Zauri. The replays showed that the contact was minimal and instead of a penalty, the Cameroon received a yellow card for simulation. On the sidelines Mourinho was laughing away hysterically.

In spite of losing both of their centre backs and being down to nine men for the most part of the game, Inter managed to hold on for an impressive draw. Despite having nothing to complain about regarding the weekend’s game in terms of the refereeing, Inter were furious after the final whistle, acting as if a great injustice had been done to them. Right after the game the club announced a press silence due to that “injustice.”

On Monday, The Special One was slapped with a three-week ban and a €40.000 fine for his despicable behavior during Saturday’s game. Both Esteban Cambiasso and Sulley Muntari have each received a two-match ban. On top of that, director Oriali was fined €10.000 and will be banned until March 8.

Let’s face it, referees make mistakes and at times it might even seem like it’s all they do. However, there are different ways of tackling them—that is, if you actually happen to be subjected to one.

Take a look at Fiorentina for example. Last week the Viola were the subject to a great injustice as referee Tom Henning Ovrebo’s mistakes resulted in a 2-1 defeat away to Bayern Munich—leaving the Tuscan side with a very tricky home game and a possible elimination from the Champions League.

Naturally, Cesare Prandelli was furious with the refereeing, but instead of moaning to the media about possible conspiracies against Italian teams on the continental stage, both he and the team gracefully accepted the defeat and vowed to turn the anger and frustration to focus and determination in the return leg.

Mourinho may be a mastermind when it comes to the game, but he’s far from a class act. The way he’s behaving is only causing damage to himself, Inter, and Serie A. I’m not saying that you have to be likable, but only that you don’t have to go out of your way to be loathed.

But then again, José Mourinho is special—he said so himself.