Inter vs Barcelona - The Mourinho Factor

Perhaps its too late to write this. After all it's a mere 11/2 hours before kickoff and both managers would already have selected their 1st eleven. The destiny of todays tie has partially been written into history by default of that, should it of course be a fact. Should there be no substitutions due to the occurence of injuries or other external events not within the power of the manager, the first half at least would already be carved into stone, or part of billions of bits of memory space on hard drives around the world. Such is the impact in my opinion, that team selection has on the outcome of a game. And if I knew any better, I would say that the outcome at this moment or should I say this moment in view of the moments to come,  would be Inter sitting on a one goal lead. And my reason for saying this is a special one.

Jose Mourinho has in the last 7 years of football management proven to the world that he is an exceptional manager. Not that the world needed to first acknowledge that of course. Mourinho seems to have known this before anyone else as is evident from his perpetual bragging. However, that ostentatious behavior has its roots more in his confidence than conceit. When you look at his managerial record you will see what I mean. With league title triumphs  in every country he has managed in and wins to games played ratio at an astonishing 2:3, it comes as no surprise that he is such a loudmouth. The magnitude of his claims however do match his track record ans that cant be said of too many managers. Surely he has something that they don't. What is it? What makes him the celebrated 'Special One'?Is there an X factor that gives him the edge over the rest? The answer is yes.

Over the years, we have seen time and again, Mourinhos teams step out and ruthlessly sweep aside opposition like littlle toy soldiers on a table. Not exactly known for their verve or flair, his teams are quite similar to the German sides of old; well oiled machines with not a cog out of place. But what makes his machines work better than others is where Mourinhos talent really lies. Unlike other managers, he is able to get the individual consituents working at 115% each time. He infuses each part with human ambition. Such is his effect on the players. His infectious personality, enthusiasm and confidence tends to lift his players, psyching them up like a heayweight about to fight in a championship bout. His men walk out onto the pitch feeling like Spartan warriors; glowing with invincibility. Add his motivational skills to his tactical nous and his eye for picking up significant details and you have probably the most formidable manager of the modern game. And that formidability will be seen when the game begins.

 As usual, he will start with his perfered 4231 formation with Milito or Pandev starting out as the central striker. In midfield, expect to see Cambiasso and Mottha start boss the middle of the park for the likes of Sneijder, Eto, Stankovic or Pandev providing the creative spark in fromn of them. It will be interesting to see how he deals with Messi. If there is one thing Mourinho has figured by now its how to stop Messi from playing. Arsenal managed to do it in the 1st leg of the quarter final at the Emirates Stadium and Messi was preety much a passenger in that game. Much of Messis flea like runs are the result of space being created by the likes Xaxi, Iniesta and Busquets. There is no better player on the planet at exploiting those spaces but every has player his krytonite and Messis' has been shown to be the denial of space. Theres a good chance Mourinho will employ a man marker but theres the possbility that he will simply have his midfield tactically manicured to cage him out. Or he could just get the likes of Mhotta or Muntari to swat him out when he gets close. Expect to see lots of cynical fouls in midfield. 

 European ties can be tricky to call and this one more than any other could go either way. Barcelona could win it with their free flowing brand of fantasy football and that would be ideal. However football has not been known to always deliver ideal situations or results. And with Mourinhos genius behind and inspiration oiling the Inter machine, it could very well be advantage Inter Milan at the end of the fist leg of this most intriguing semi final tie.