Diego Forlan has revealed that when he arrived at Inter, the club's players and officials simply could not stop talking about Jose Mourinho.

The current Chelsea boss was in charge of Inter from 2008 and 2010 and made a big splash with the Italian club, which culminated in the Portuguese leading the Nerazzurri to an unprecedented Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League treble in his final season.




Mourinho was succeeded by Rafael Benitez, though the former Liverpool boss was gone by the time Forlan landed at the club in 2011.

 


And the 35-year-old striker admits that when he joined Inter, the topic of conversation at the club never strayed far from Mourinho, a man who was loved by all at the Nerazzurri.

"I have never been at a club where the players talked so much about a previous manager as they did about Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan", Forlan wrote in a column for The National.

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"I arrived only a year after he had left but the club worked through four managers in little over a year. Mourinho had left Inter as the treble winners: champions of Europe and Italy’s league and cup, but none of his predecessors came close to matching his achievements.

"It was not just the players who loved him, everyone at the club did. I was told that the door was always open for his return."

Forlan admits he was surprised to hear Mourinho dominate conversation at a club of which he was no longer in charge, but believes players just long to work with the Portuguese tactician due to how he treats them.

"For so many players to speak so well about a manager is a surprise but players want to work for Mourinho.

"Not only does he win trophies players feel he supports them, protects them from pressure and shields them from criticism by taking it on himself.

"He defends his players publicly, even if he speaks differently to them in private. It is not a problem that he has a big personality – that can be good taking attention away from the players."

Inter have slumped since Mourinho left the club and have not managed to win Serie A since his departure in 2010. Earlier this season they turned to the man Mourinho replaced, Roberto Mancini.

 


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