How Special is Serie A?

All this talk about the death of Italian football must be rankling a certain Jose Mourinho.

After sitting out most of the previous season (perhaps polishing the Ferrari that Roman Abramovich gave him), the self-proclaimed Special One signed up for the top job at Inter Milan last summer.  At the time, the San Siro seemed like the perfect arena for his Hollywood-sized persona.  But the subsequent months haven’t exactly gone as hoped. Sure, he guided Inter to a fourth Scudetto, but he failed to make any headway in the Champions League, which was certainly the club’s top priority. And since then, he’s watched Italian football lose a lot of its panache – first, as Serie A’s most popular player hightailed it to Madrid… then, as the Italian national team  got thrashed by Brazil in the Confederations Cup… not to mention the fact that his own stars at Inter continue to be the subject of transfer rumours. The greatest personal affront, however, may be the fact that Mourinho was never really mentioned as a possible candidate for the coaching vacancy at Real Madrid. In our opinion, he would have been the perfect choice. The only person, in fact, whose celebrity could match that of the “galacticos” – and the only one who has the self-confidence to keep their egos in check. Of course, there’s always a chance he’ll end up in Madrid next summer – especially if Galacticos Part II doesn’t proceed as planned. But in the meantime, we all have to wonder: Is Serie A not special enough for the Special One?

Will the Special One be the next to wave goodbye?