Mourinho Vows To Take Calcio Back To The Top

Mourinho said in The Sun: “At the moment there’s no doubt the most powerful league in Europe is the Premier League – but I will try to contribute for my new country for my new league to become top.”

Few could dispute the Special One's claim given the recent dominance of English clubs on the European stage. Three of last season's Champions League semi-finalists hailed from the Premier League, with Manchester United eventually defeating Chelsea to take the title.

Meanwhile, Serie A is currently attempting to work its way out of a slump caused by the Calciopoli scandals of 2006. Although the likes of AC Milan - CL champions in 2007 - have performed well on the continental front, domestic front-runners Inter and Roma have failed to make much of an impact over the past few seasons.

Many still believe the quality of football in Italy is superior to that in England, and that may be true; but the fact remains that calcio's once-glamorous image has been gravely tarnished by off-field dramas.

Combined with ongoing concerns over crowd violence and the Premier League's financial boom, Serie A's slip down the pecking order was inevitable in Mourinho's eyes.

Change

“I think for a few years the Italian clubs were the destiny of the best players in Europe and for different reasons things change,” the former Chelsea manager continued.

“Italian football lost players, lost quality – I don't say lost passion because the passion is in the Latin hearts – but lost a little bit of trust.

“There was a bit of violence, Juventus in the second division, other teams losing points and this kind of stuff – it was not good for their credibility.

“They lost ground to the Premier League, which was coming up and up and up and up with a great financial power.

“There was also very positive influence from so many top players from other countries in the Premier League, mixed with the passion of the English players, mixed with the passion and the tradition of English football. I think that was like a turning point.”

Top Three

Hence, over the past two seasons or so the title of 'world's best league' has been a two-horse race between the Premier League and Spain's La Liga.

Mourinho added: “The Spanish league was always and will always be a very technical one more than a tactical one, with the beauty of the game always present and always with two giants of world football – Barcelona and Real Madrid – always in the top of the attention.”

England, Italy and Spain are the traditional components which make Europe's top-tier triumvirate, due to a combination of monetary muscle and unique stylistic traits.

And Mourinho believes that, no matter which boasts the top spot, these three leagues belong to an unbreachable bracket at the very summit of domestic football.

“We have three top leagues – the English one, Calcio Serie A in Italy and La Liga in Spain,” he said.

“For different reasons, but especially because of the financial point of view, these are the three best leagues and overall this is where everyone wants to be. That’s the reality.”


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