Shane Long went on air after West Brom’s victory this week to say “I didn’t receive any apology over the [Alan Hutton] tackle.” To me this is disgraceful. Shane Long has been out for a month. And after that particular tackle from Hutton, surely he deserved an apology.

The Hutton tackle was an outrage. It was a tackle that could easily have ended in a red. Hutton was one lucky man to stay on that pitch especially when he had already committed numerous fouls and on top of that his fouls continued throughout the game, until his substitution in the 41st minute.

Long was always going to be injured before his enforced substitution he had already been fouled 2 or 3 times. Aston Villa had been sent out to target him, even Shane himself felt this he said “I can’t really say that (I was being targeted), but it felt like it anyway”. Now what I have a problem with is not that they were sent out to keep Long quiet, as West Brom’s danger man it would be common practice. However to target him by giving away foul and foul and eventually injuring Long, that just isn’t right, and for me the fact that Villa did not even apologize is disgusting.

Shane Long also went on to miss his home nation of Ireland’s most important matches in an incredibly long time. To have caused this injury ruling Long out of a match such as this and to not even apologize – I don’t need to say it again – but I feel it is completely unsportsmanlike. Could Hutton not have just sat down with Long at the end of the game or in the coming weeks and say ‘sorry mate’. It is not a particularly difficult request.

I feel football is a great sport and the best thing about it is the competitive nature of it, especially in the English leagues and I would not like to see the competitiveness of the game disappear. However I feel that to intentionally go out to injure someone is too far. I also think it seems obvious that if you have injured someone you apologize. To me Shane Long has got it right he is willing to leave what happened to him in that match on the pitch. Despite the fact he has no reason to forgive Aston Villa or Hutton. No one wants to relive the malicious and unforgiving nature of the Roy Keane and Alf-Inge Haaland feud (where Haaland fouled Keane and Keane 5 years later intentionally fouled Haaland and damaged his knee leading, eventually to Haaland’s retirement). That is not the way football should be played.

Long was injured by Hutton, regardless of intention he should be apologetic for that. Footballers playing in the Premier League are role models for many young children these children don’t just copy players ability on the pitch but also the attitude if the pitch.

We can only hope that the follow the example of players such as Shane Long and not Alan Hutton.

If one thing has become painfully obvious in the last month or two, it is that David Luiz is not a centre back. In Chelsea’s recent games they have conceded goals like they haven’t done in a long, long time. The most obvious example of this was the 5-3 loss to Arsenal after which Jamie Redknapp observantly pointed out that David Luiz doesn’t want to play as a centre back, or at least he doesn’t look like he wants to. So where should he play?

Luiz can’t seem to play at the back. To put it gently, he is a liability to the Blues defence. He hasn’t even been at the club for a full season yet and has given away numerous penalties in a Chelsea shirt. Not only does he directly threaten the Chelsea goal by giving away unforced and frankly stupid penalties, but he also leaves the defence open many times each game. When he plays, he bursts forward on a regular basis, leaving his partner (be it Terry, Ivanovic or Alex) exposed and alone at the back. This, in a slightly less obvious way, threatens the Chelsea goal.

Recently he has come in from criticism for all these reasons from the pundits. However is it all bad? Maybe he is simply being played in the wrong position? While watching the Chelsea game against Genk (the one in which the blues ran riot winning 5-0), I was struck by the comment of Ray Wilkins that Luiz “sprays the ball around like a central midfielder”. He really can play the ball around well. The biggest problem for Chelsea now being that the wily Wilkins is no longer at the club to knock this gem of an idea into Andre Villas-Boas’s head.

Not only does he spray the ball around well but he has great feet. The feet of a Brazilian. We regularly see Luiz bursting forward from the back, going past numerous players before playing a challenging ball to the forwards or midfielders, showing just how good his technical ability is. Unfortunately, he just as equally loses the ball by trying to drive forward in the same fashion.

So his technical skills still need a little refining. However I feel they are already close to the required ability of a central midfielder. The larger problem is his frame of mind. He holds the ball for too long, makes tackles he doesn’t need to and picks up needless bookings – regularly. He would require significant training in this department. The biggest problem is that he is almost too excited and too keen to get involved. Although this is a problem, would you rather have to tell a player to relax or get them excited about playing football?

So to me David Luiz looks like he has the natural ability of a central midfielder. However, he needs training to really succeed as a midfielder. However will Villas-Boas take the plunge? We will have to wait and see.

About  two weeks ago Roy Hodgson said that West Bromwich Albion’s deal for Shane Long was “potentially the bargain of the season.”

Shane Long moved from Reading in the Championship to the Baggies for a fee of £4.5 million (potentially rising to £6.5million). Although this may be a small sum for many of the top teams, it was rather a lot by West Brom’s standards to spend on one player. For proof, look at the other signings West Brom made last transfer window: a free transfer for Billy Jones and another free transfer for Gary McAuley. Hodgson is not a man to fork out the cash and the Baggies aren’t a club with excess money to spend.

One important thing to remember is Shane Long’s age, only 24. Long is a young player just coming into his physical prime and West Brom have him tied down on a three year deal — straight through his best years. Unlike the Baggies star signing last year in Peter Odemwingie, now 30 years old, Long is a player on which they can build for the future. Should Long perform in the top-tier of English football, West Brom will have secured a brilliant long term signing.

However, is Shane Long still a bargain? The initial signs were good: a goal on his debut against title holder sMan United and another the following game against ever-strong Chelsea had the Hawthorns immediately chanting his name.

However, following that burst at the start of the season, Long seemed to come off the boil a little. Great chances came his way against Swansea but Long failed to put his name on the scoresheet. After a quick goal against Sunderland, however, Long has come back to life.

Against Wolves this past weekend Long played out of his skin. His name may not have been on the scoresheet but his general play was outstanding. This fact was recognised by the poll on the WBA webpage voting Long as man of the match. A reward he very much deserved. He used his pace to terrorize the Wolves defence, chasing down what most people would consider impossible balls. He made Roger Johnson look downright slow at times. His ability to hold the ball up was also outstanding, showing an upper body strength that doesn’t seem to match his incredible speed. The ball would be cleared long by the Baggies defense and almost without fail Shane Long would be there to collect it and use it; a valuable attribute indeed.

Shane Long’s display earned him credit from the fans, manager and pundits alike. However is he the bargain of the season? I guess we will have to wait and see. However if he continues at this rate he may well surpass team mate Odemwingie’s brilliant first season in the Premier League. If he continues at this rate he could be the signing of the season. After all, £4.5 million is not too much of a debt to pay back to his club. Having said that, we will have to wait and see. The English Premier League season is a marathon, not a sprint.

But why exactly does the fact that Arsenal won demonstrate Barca’s superiority? From the opening play, Arsenal lined up in a pretty typical line-up and formation in an attempt to play their usual relatively patient, possession-orientated style. In short, they set out to play the match on their own terms. They retained their usual 4-2-3-1 (considered more of a 4-1-4-1 by some) with Alex Song sitting deepest to provide a steady flow of short passes for Arsenal’s more “visionary” midfielders to provide the more incisive passes. However, this was a game plan that predictably failed in general.

A lot of Arsenal supporters may well have believed that they stood the best chance of overcoming Barcelona because, in the words of one fan I spoke to before the game, “We play the most similar style of football”. Unfortunately for Arsenal, this logic cannot really be applied when the opposition is as mighty as Barcelona. A similar, perhaps slightly extreme example of this logic failing to apply in the Champions League was in the Quarter Final in 2007 when Manchester United met Roma. At the time, both sides were playing a near-identical brand of football, using a “False 9” (Totti and one of Rooney or Tevez, depending on the situation) in the so-called 4-6-0 formation. Despite the similarities and a 2-1 victory for Roma at the Stadio Olimpico, Manchester United stormed to a 7-1 victory in the second leg at Old Trafford.

As far as we can predict at present, it is unlikely that Barcelona will quite reach that level of domination in the second leg against Arsenal. However, the truth is that they are well capable of cutting the current Arsenal defence to shreds, and they certainly did this at times at the Emirates Stadium. A key part of Barcelona’s power lies in the intricacy of their passing triangles and diamonds, and their players’ willingness to take the ball in the tightest of areas. In comparison, Arsenal’s midfield looks pedestrian and impatient. It would be inaccurate to suggest that Wilshere and Song are poor (or even average) players but they simply are not up to the technical standards of Iniesta and Busquets, and at present, Fabregas cannot compete with Xavi (who can?). With such a large gulf in quality, it becomes hard to even argue that the two sides do actually play similar football. Of course, they both play with a focus on dictacting possession, but if you actually look at the two sides at work, it is hard to argue that they look similar.

Arsenal’s second half resurgence last week came purely through a change in approach. They began to sit deeper as a team, which apart from a few moments of lunacy by Gael Clichy, removed Barca’s ability to play regular through balls in behind them. This also gave Lionel Messi, who had threatened to run riot in the first half, far less space to operate in. More significantly though, Arsenal’s playing style had in fact become very similar to the select group of sides who have eliminated (or almost eliminated) Barcelona in recent years. There is a feeling around Europe that the only way to dispose of Barca is to sit deep and strike blows in the form of rapid counter attacks when their defensive line is at its highest. Wenger clearly decided to subscribe to this ideology when he removed Alex Song (who was admittedly at risk of getting sent off) in favour of Andrey Arshavin – a single-minded attacking player with a pure focus on striking fatal blows to the opposition. The significance of removing Song lies in the fact that he is a transitional player – it is his duty to make the transition from defence to attack as smooth and simple as possible. Wenger also removed Theo Walcott, who was now being comfortably contained despite a promising first half performance, in favour of Niklas Bentdner – the perfect outlet to receive more direct, long balls.

As a result of these changes, Arsenal’s formation became incredibly broken. They had a defensive collective at one end of the pitch and an attacking group up towards the other end, with Cesc Fabregas given the near-lone task of bridging the two groups. Of course, Arsenal should be congratulated for the way they did eventually turn the match around, but they did so at the cost of their usual playing style – something many Arsenal fans might have previously denied would ever happen. Barcelona, meanwhile, remain the undisputed leaders in their field, but this meeting provided further evidence that they are by no means invincible.

Can Arsenal maintain their advantage in the second leg? Of course there is a chance, albeit a slim one as they realistically needed to take at least a two-goal lead to the Camp Nou. The chance is still there though, as long as they learn from their first-leg naivety. They must not attempt to play Barca at their own game again, but instead persevere with the counter attacking style that eventually brought them success in the first leg. Even then though, success will be far from guaranteed. Arsenal are not used to withstanding long spells of pressure, and unfortunately, this is likely to be what they will have to deal with in the return leg regardless of how they try to play. If they can make Barcelona nervous with their counters and score a first half goal, they might just be able to cause another upset.

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Dortmund’s form this season has been exceptional. In the early autumn, many people thought that perhaps they would start to fade away by now, but they’ve in fact managed to do the complete opposite. Incredibly, they now find themselves 11 points ahead of Bayer Leverkusen in second, and rather comically, 17 points ahead of the supposedly mighty Bayern Munich. Dortmund’s dominant position hasn’t been down to the poor performances of their rivals though – after all, Leverkusen have only lost twice all season – but because of their own ruthlessly consistent displays. They have dropped points in just one of their previous 14 games (a 1-1 draw with the ever-stubborn Hoffenheim), and as a result, you could be forgiven for thinking they have already wrapped the league title up. To compare them to Europe’s other leading clubs at present; they have a points-per-match average of 2.69, whilst Arsenal average 2 points and Lille average just 1.82. The only side who can actually match Dortmund in the major leagues are Barcelona, who average 2.7 points per game.

They comfortably have the best defensive and attacking records in the Bundesliga, and yet their forwards are some way off Theofanis Gekas’ tally of 12 goals. This only serves to demonstrate Dortmund’s collective strength though – Shinji Kagawa and Lucas Barrios both have 8 goals to their names, but Dortmund are not reliant or one or two exceptional sources of talent to keep them at the top of the pile. Instead, they have a young, hungry, vibrant squad who are willing to work for each other, and tackle any obstacle in their path as a single, united entity. The talent is of course there, in the form of Kagawa, Barrios, Nuri Sahin, Neven Subotic, Mario Götze and Robert Lewandowski, to name a small collection, but as Bayern and Schalke are currently proving (for all the wrong reasons), talent is nothing without the right mentality.

The Black & Yellow’s manager, Jürgen Klopp, has got the defence looking beautiful in its shape and form – a site that should have any aspiring young coach jotting down notes – particularly the way they effortlessly narrow up and switch to a back five whenever they come under any sustained pressure. Three defenders will form an unusually narrow back three, a winger and a full back become wing backs and the midfielders plug any additional holes, which makes trying to pick them apart an unenviable task. This defensive wall has provided them with the base point to play what has actually proven to be extremely entertaining counter attacking football, reminiscent of Manchester United’s counter attacking play in the 2007/08 season.

This return to form will be a massive relief to the loyal Dortmund following, who pack out the stunning Westfalenstadion through both the good and the bad times. In the past, these supporters have seen their side win six league titles, a Champions League, a Cup Winners’ Cup and an Intercontinental Cup. Perhaps they are now finally on the cusp of once again bringing some silverware home, and who knows, maybe in the not-too-distant future they will be able to replicate the one night they have never forgotten. On 28^th May 1997 – they beat Juventus 3-1 in the Champions League final. Playing at the Olympiastadion, which was then the home of their rivals, Bayern Munich, Dortmund overcame a Juve side absolutely packed full of star names; Zidane, Deschamps, Boksic, Di Livio and the emerging Del Piero. Two Karl-Heinz Riedle goals and a decisive second half Lars Ricken strike provided the underdogs with their first European Cup, and it was hoped that the success would continue. Unfortunately though, they have won just one major trophy since then (the league title in the 01-02 season) and hadn’t looked like winning any more until this season. In recent years, they have been cursed by financial difficulties, numerous coaches have come in and failed to redirect the sinking ship, but now, finally, they might just live up to their potential.

If ever this current, promising Dortmund side does need to look for encouragement, they only have to look back to this legendary night in Munich.

Regardless of tonight’s result, however, it would still be naïve to completely write off Real Madrid at this stage. They will have learnt a great deal from tonight’s events, and in particular, Mourinho will now have a far better understanding of his team’s strengths and weaknesses, and possibly even his own managerial weaknesses. The biggest concern has to be the fact that he abandoned his usual “park the bus” (for want of a less horribly clichéd term) tactics for these key matches in favour of a slightly more ambitious counter attacking system, and saw his team get dismantled with relative ease. Real were exposed down both flanks, and coupled with a high defensive line, Barca always threatened to get in behind and cut the ball across goal to create more chances. Will this cause Mourinho to abandon these more ambitious tactics in future big games despite the pressure from those above him? Only time will tell, but it may be Real’s only chance of success, considering their weakness in the core areas compared to the likes of Barcelona and Chelsea.

Both of last year’s finalists; Inter and Bayern, have looked extremely underwhelming so far this season. Without the injured Arjen Robben, Bayern have looked painfully mediocre for long periods, but they still look set to top Group E, ahead of Roma. If the draw is favourable to them, they might just have a chance of reaching the semi finals, but their reliance on Robben will once again be huge. One sign for encouragement, though, is the sudden improvement of Mario Gomez. The big-money signing from Stuttgart struggled to impress in his first season at the Allianz Arena, but he has now scored 16 goals in 20 appearances this season. Inter, however, will now almost certainly finish second in Group A behind Tottenham Hotspur and this will most likely mean they have to face one of the favourites for the competition in the next round. Unless they are lucky enough to be drawn with Shakhtar or Schalke, the writing may well be on the wall for them unless they make drastic changes in the January transfer window. The squad is finally beginning to show its age, and Rafael Benitez is already under huge pressure, following a multitude of disappointing results and unacceptable performances so far this season.

After failing to reach the finish line last season, Barcelona will be determined to re-claim the Champions League trophy and it’s looking increasingly likely that they will do so this year. The only hope for the rest of Europe is that Manchester United or Chelsea face them as early as possible and somehow nullify them in order to grind out a positive result over two legs. If they reach the final, there is simply no way they will be stopped in a one-off match if they reach the levels they are capable of finding.

Having secured a historic treble, Mourinho departed to take the reigns at Real Madrid, and Benitez was brought in to replace him. Since that moment, things seem to have got steadily worse for Inter. First they were tactically outclassed in the European Super Cup by Atlético Madrid, although this was followed by a more promising performanace in a 3-1 win over Roma in the Italian Super Cup.

After only managing to win the much less prestigious of these two trophies, which Mourinho considered to be “on a plate” for Benitez, Inter haven’t showed any real signs of improvement. Convincing 4-0 wins over Werder Bremen and Bari have been two of the only high-points of their season so far, but Bari are rooted to the bottom of Serie A and Werder Bremen are languishing in 11th place of the Bundesliga following their recent 6-0 humiliation at the hands of Stuttgart.

Benitez has to be held directly responsible for this slump, as he has handled just about every aspect of the team extremely poorly. Firstly, he wasn’t given any money to build a side in his image, so it was absolutely vital that he didn’t attempt to make any major changes to the way the team plays. Possibly out of pure stubbornness, he has tried his best to do so anyway by using two returning young, raw talents on the wings; Coutinho and Johnathan Biabiany. These two youngsters have been used in an effort to play uncharacteristically (both for Inter and Benitez) attacking, high-pressing football, but this move simply hasn’t paid off. These two players lack the experience to assert themselves regularly at a high level, and Coutinho is much more comfortable when he is playing as a central playmaker. As a result, Inter have often found themselves “enjoying” large periods of possession but they have lacked the spark and intelligence to open their opposition up.

Benitez’ insistence on playing a high defensive line has been even more bizarre. Inter’s defenders are fantastic in the tackle, dogged, brave and generally dominant in the air, but they can also be made to look very ordinary if they aren’t used correctly (as demonstrated by Walter Samuel and Lucio’s struggles at their previous clubs). One of their undoubted weaknesses is having balls played in behind them, and the high line has already caused this weakness to become exposed on multiple occasions. Gareth Bale managed to humiliate the previously-proud defence three times at the San Siro, and yet Inter still failed to learn their lesson. Bale again had repeated success in the return match, and things got no better against AC Milan. Milan broke Inter’s long, proud unbeaten home record with relative ease by playing early balls over the top of the defence for Ibrahimovic and Robinho to run onto, and in truth, they could’ve scored several more goals from this simple, unsubtle method of breaking through the Inter defence.

Unless Moratti loses patience before it’s too late (which is perfectly likely, considering his track record), it’s entirely possible that Inter will finish second to Spurs in Group A of the Champions League and then get overrun in the first knockout stage if they are drawn with one of the big forces. Jose Mourinho will be the smuggest man alive, as if he wasn’t already.

Despite this, they now find themselves just a single point behind their now-stuttering Milanese neighbours. Leonardo is keen to bring an attacking, expansive style of football to Milan, and who can blame him with the likes of Ronaldinho, Pato and Borriello as well as cultured, if aging midfielders such as Pirlo, Seedorf and up until now, Beckham. Despite that recent humbling 7-2 aggregate defeat to United, Milan aren’t necessarily too far off being able to compete with Europe’s top sides once again. Winning this season’s Serie A would clearly be a tremendous boost for morale and momentum, and it’d make it an awful lot easier to attract more big names to the club, but it shouldn’t be seen as the be-all or end-all.

It’s vital at this stage that Berlusconi gives Leonardo time to learn the errors of his ways and continue to develop the AC project, but it’s also equally important for him to resist the seemingly regular temptations to poke his nose into the tactical developments. Whilst it’s been a Milan tradition to play skillfull, attacking football since the days of Giuseppe Viani in the late 50s, Leonardo needs to be afforded the freedom to find the right level of balance freely and organically.

However, despite any pressure coming from above, Leo really does need to learn the errors of his ways, and fast. Whilst they could actually have found themselves two or three goals up early on against Manchester United, it’s naive to think that you can approach these sorts of games with three forwards who have absolutely no defensive responsibilities, and an aging, more than slightly immobile midfield. A change in formation coupled with perhaps three or four signings next season will see Milan well on their way to achieving the titles they so desperately crave.

Barcelona and Manchester United have shown for the last two or three years that you can still be defensively solid whilst still playing attacking football, whilst Real Madrid and Arsenal look to be following a similar trend this season. The key to all of these sides is a decent sense of balance throughout the respective teams, and also a large degree of discipline despite the often-free flowing playing systems. Firstly, this straight-edged 4-3-3 formation at Milan has to abanonded, in favour of a more modern, multi-dimensional system. What they should be looking to mirror is the increasingly popular fluid 4-2-3-1 system that can just as easily transform into a 4-5-1, 4-4-1-1 or a 4-2-2-2. With some added personnel, it’d be a mouth-watering prospect to see the Rossoneri line up in similar fashion to this next season:

Sirigu
Gallas Nesta Silva Srna
Ambrosini Pirlo
Pato Ronaldinho Vargas
Borriello

Salvatore Sirigu has been hugely impressive in goal for Palermo since displacing Rubinho, and despite recently signing a new contract, would most likely cost under 10 million Euros. He is likely to become Italy’s number one when Buffon eventually hangs up his gloves, and he has the potential to be a permanent fixture for Milan for the next decade, and possibly beyond.

The signings of Gallas and Srna would transform the defence completely. Srna would admittedly be pricey with Shakthar in such a healthy financial position, possibly in the region of 15 million Euros, but William Gallas’ contract with Arsenal expires in the summer, and the opportunity would be there for Milan to pick up a tremendous bargain if they declare their interest now. Obviously his preferred position is centre back, but he offers versatility and experience, and he could be the longer term replacement for Nesta centrally whilst filling in at right back next season to add some much needed solidity to that flank with Pato playing ahead of him.

Juan Manuel Vargas could add an incredible level of energy to the left flank, and could potentially be highly destructive in combination with the forward-thinking Dario Srna. Vargas offers goals, regular assists and also the added bonus of a high work rate – something Ronaldinho certainly does not offer in a fairly similar position right now.

In the bigger games, Leo could consider dropping either Pato or Borriello and playing Mancini on the right, should Milan decide to sign him permanently. Another option if Milan want to add depth on the wings is to approach the highly rated Milos Krasic of CSKA, who is also available on a free transfer at the end of the Russian season. Seedorf still has the ability to operate in this sort of position in small doses, and there’s also always the chance that Beckham could once again return for a third loan spell next season.

Finally, I would be looking to replace Pirlo within the next year or two. Whilst I’ve long been an admirer,  it’s now getting to the point where he’s slowly becoming too much of a luxury player, and almost acting as a burden if they do want to play a more fast-paced, free-flowing game. Marcelo Lippi has it right in the national team by playing him as more of an advanced trequartista, but unfortunately for Pirlo, Milan already have Ronaldinho who can operate in this role far more effectively. If you look at the deep-lying playmakers at the other top clubs using similar systems to the one I propose, such as Michael Carrick and Xabi Alonso, you’ll notice that they actually offer a high level of defensive cover, which Pirlo has never really been able to offer to quite the same extent, and certainly won’t be able to as he drifts into the dreaded thirties. This is obviously a highly specialised position, so the top players will come at a premium price, so it may be wise for Milan to look for a younger, less polished player who can be developed to play in this role for years to come. Stefan Defour, just 21 years old, at Standard Liege is an ideal candidate for this role.

The total price of these players would admittedly be rather significant, but unfortunately it’s a price Berlusconi will have to pay if Milan are to continue playing exciting, attacking football and bring success in doing so. What he has to decide now is if he’s content to continue playing second fiddle to Europe’s other giants, or if he’s genuinely ready to make a financial sacrifice (money which should by all logic be available following the sale of Kaka anyway) in order to help Milan climb from their knees and put on the show we’d all love to see at the Giuseppe Meazza.

Franco Baresi is one of the first names to come to anybody’s mind when you mention the Libero (or sweeper) position, simply because he was the on-field general and symbol of Arrigo Sacchi’s great Milan side in the late 1980s; a side that arguably boasted one of the greatest defences of all time. Bearing in mind that the libero position seems to have all but died at the top level of European football, it perhaps seems a little farfetched to compare Sacchi, the man who utilised this position almost like no one else in modern day football, with Jose Mourinho, who many believe to be fairly rigid, conservative and  conventional in his tactical systems. However, dig your snout just below the surface and you’ll soon begin to realise that the two aren’t as far apart in their ideals as you or I may first have first believed.

Whilst it is true that genuine Liberos are few and far between at present, there are growing murmurs that we are on the cusp of another period of free-moving, ball-playing central defenders being commonplace within the game. Gerard “Piquenbauer” Piqué’s free-roaming role this season at Barcelona can easily be used to demonstrate this, but Mourinho has been exploring the idea since the dawn of time…well, for a while anyway. At Porto and Chelsea, Ricardo Carvalho was afforded the freedom to charge merrily forward as he pleased, in the knowledge that he would have open space ahead of him and the protection of a defensive midfielder in behind. With a lot of defensive attention now being focused on restricting marauding full backs such as Maicon, Patrice Evra and Daniel Alves, Mourinho quickly recognised that there was room for central defenders to once again become an attacking influence in the game.

At Internazionale, however, he has taken the Sacchi influence to a whole new level. Christian Chivu was the first Inter player to operate in the ball-playing defensive role before Brazilian defender Lúcio was eventually signed to take over, presumably because of his extra pace and drive in possession, with Chivu moving out to left back. In a way, I see this as a tremendous tribute to Baresi, simply because Mourinho feels it takes two of his technically-gifted defenders to have the same sort of influence that Baresi did back in the 80s and early 90s, or at least that he’s really struggling to find the perfect player for that role. It is also worth noting that Inter are currently being strongly linked with Miguel Veloso from Sporting Clube De Portugal – a player who twenty years ago would almost undoubtedly have been used as a Libero, with his positional awareness, composed playing style, impressive vision and vast array of passing. Perhaps Mourinho believes he could develop into the perfect creative defender/sweeper.

The question is, though, why is it so important to the self-confessed special one (and Sacchi before him) for his defenders to influence football matches with the ball at their feet? The same answer applies to both managers – they want to physically dominate the midfield area. AC Milan primarily used Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit to aggressively press and overrun opposition midfields, which then allowed the likes of Baresi and Van Basten a greater level of freedom to dictate the flow of the game either side of the midfield. At Inter, it is the likes of Esteban Cambiasso, Thiago Motta, Dejan Stankovic, Javier Zanetti and Sulley Muntari who are expected to fulfil a similar pressing role when selected. It has often been a criticism of Mourinho that he’s too keen to sign big midfield destroyers in favour of the more cultured option, but there you have the clear reason for this – he feels there is very little need for them.

Ahead of such a physical, nullifying midfield, it is absolutely vital that the centre forward is able to hold the ball up and create chances out of very little. Van Basten was the ultimate prototype for modern centre forwards with incredible awareness, devastating power and a highly impressive knack of popping up with breathtaking volleys and drives from range. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Internazionale’s pride, talisman and inspiration until his recent move to Barcelona, seemed to fit that description almost down to the tee. He may be a player that divides opinion amongst many, but the way he carried Inter, at least domestically, cannot be denied even by the harshest of cynics. His basic attributes and abilities resemble those of Van Basten closely, whether he utilises them as effectively or not. In parallel to the task of matching Baresi’s influence with both Chivu and Lúcio, it’s taken not only the goalscoring efforts of Samuel Eto’o and in particular the highly impressive Diego Milito to replace Ibrahimovic, but also the creative influence of the Dutch playmaker behind them, Wesley Sneijder. Ibra was more than just a goalscorer – he was able to operate as a lone targetman, a playmaker or on-the-shoulder striker whenever required.

The similarities between Sacchi and Mourinho actually stretch beyond the tactics they implement, although these further similarities can still be linked to the systems as well. Just like Sacchi’s great team, Mourinho is now building an imperious, solid, consistent and highly stubborn side at Inter as they look set to stroll to another Serie A title despite the best efforts of an AC Milan side inspired by a revitalised Ronaldinho. Should Inter win the league again this year, and you have to imagine they will following their second comfortable win over their Milan rivals this season, they will have won five Serie A titles in a row – something which has only ever been achieved once before in Italy, by Carlo Carcano’s legendary Juventus side of the 1930s. This record has not been built on a foundation of dazzling free-flowing football, but rather the old Milanese mentality of “We shall not be beaten or intimidated”. Purists may not be convinced, but whilst Inter continue to win titles, the Nerazzurri following will be prepared to sacrifice attacking football as they gradually claw away at Juventus’ total of twenty seven Serie A titles (Inter currently have seventeen).

An especially interesting fact is that neither Sacchi nor Mourinho had particularly spectacular playing careers. In fact, they barely even scratched the surface of the world football scene, and you’d do well to even find someone outside of their respective home towns who can honestly claim to vividly remember them as footballers. Mourinho had a short, modest paying career in Portugal with Rio Ave (a club his father coached at the time), Belenenses and Sesimbra but never did he threaten to make a genuine impact at any of these clubs. Sacchi, meanwhile, had spent the majority of his playing days with Italian amateur side, Fusignano CF. Indeed; it is true that many of today’s top tacticians have come from pretty uninspiring playing backgrounds, from Sir Alex Ferguson to Guus Hiddink, and Unai Emery to Walter Mazzarri. The common theme is that these coaches are genuine students of the game, often with a solid education in the game outside of their playing career, and develop a passion for the deeper, more intricate side of football long before they even approach the typical retirement age for a footballer. To quote Sacchi himself, “A jockey doesn’t have to have been born a horse“.

The one key difference between the two coaches’ sides is the relative gulf in quality in key areas. Baresi to Lúcio, Van Basten to Ibrahimovic and perhaps to a lesser extend, Rijkaard to Cambiasso – whilst Mourinho employs players who fulfil similar roles, their inferior quality, particularly in midfield, is the one thing holding them back from regularly challenging for the European Cup. Their domestic record of late has been astonishing (in an admittedly troubled time for Italian football), but Inter aren’t yet the finished article by any means, and will have to continue to progress if people are to mention them in the same sentence as Sacchi’s great Milan side more often.

Photo credit: Joker_milanoo