Football’s Greatest Teams: 2009/2010 Inter Milan
Jose Mourinho has managed a series of great teams throughout his managerial career, but the one team that stands out is the Inter Milan team of the 2009/2010 season.
During the 2009/2010 season Inter managed to become the 7th Italian team to win the Serie A, The Coppa Italia and the Champions League in one season.
When football fans think back to Mourinho in that season, they remember the semi final against Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, where Inter Managed to beat Barcelona 3–1 in the first leg despite just having 24% possession and Mourinho’s victory lap around the ground.
The second leg was a masterclass in defense and Mourinho’s side managed to let one goal in and won the tie 3–2 in aggregate.
Many considered Mourinho to be a defensive manager after this. But what fans fail to realize is that Inter in that season scored the most goals in the Serie A and conceded the least.
Mourinho’s Inter wasn’t just a team that stressed on defensive organisation, they were a team that could seamlessly transition from defense to attack in no time at all.
Mourinho lined up Inter in the formation of 4–3–2–1 or 4–3–1–2 depending on the opponent they were facing. As much as he like to play around with the midfield and the attack, the one thing that remained constant was the central defensive partnership of Lucio and Walter Samuel.
The center backs would usually lie back and allow the midfield to counter any immediate threats. This is where Estaban Cambiosso who played the role of CDM played an important part. The Argentine midfielder would provide defensive cover for Maicon,the right back who would make overlapping runs and also use his technical ability to get long balls out to the attack.
The midfield also had Thiago Motta, and Dejan Stankovic who played an important role in tracking back as well as supporting Wesley Sneijder.
In the attack, Mourinho played Samuel Eto’o and Goran Pandev as defensive wingers. These two players who were forwards, would often track back if the midfield felt overloaded and would provide the main goal threat during counters. Eto’o would often shift into the center to provide support to the lone striker Diego Milito
The main part of the midfield however, was Wesley Sneijder. The Dutchman who was at the peak of his career, played as a false 10 and would provide the through balls for Pandev, Milito and Eto’o.
What Mourinho excelled in was getting players to buy into his system. The three main transfers he made in that season were Pandev, Sneijder and Lucio and the same players became important aspects of why Inter played the way they did.
Although the best example of adoption into system was of Samuel Eto’o. The Cameroonian forward often played in the centre during his time with clubs such as Barcelona and in Mourinho’s system he outperformed as right winger contributing to some important goals.
The main aim for Inter with any match was to shut off teams as soon as they could, preferably in the midfield. They would also be comfortable with the opponents having the ball for more period and would wait for opportunities to switch play. The greatest example of this will always be the game against Barcelona, a game which shut down the hype of tiki taka and ushered in a new era.
