The Jose Mourinho versus Antonio Conte feud has reached Notorious B.I.G. versus Tupac Shakur level tension. It’s the Premier League manager version of the east coast versus west coast hip-hop beef from the 1990s. In his latest “diss track” on Tuesday, Conte refused to escalate the row any further, but he also refrained from trying to make peace, and he certainly did not apologize for what has been said.
Their feud has been widely criticized by the international football community, and deemed bad for the game. While some believe the Chelsea boss is winning the war of words, others believe the United manager has gotten the upper hand so far. Most just believe that both men are losers in this situation.
Fabio Capello, the legendary manager of some of the biggest clubs over the course of his career and current head coach of Jiangsu Suning, says that both men are “out of their minds.” He also believes that Conte might not have really known what he was up against here in verbally sparring with Mourinho.
“I think Conte didn’t realise who he was up against,” said Capello in an interview with Sky Sport Italia.
“It’s the Chelsea shirt which winds coaches up. Remember how wound up Mourinho got when he was Chelsea manager? Conte’s just doing what Mourinho used to do. We all remember Mourinho on his knees in the middle of the field, running wild after his side won.
In addition to articulating the polarizing power of the Chelsea brand/crest, Capello also said that he’s surprised by how far this back and forth has been taken.
“They’re completely out of their minds,” said the man who represented SPAL 1907, Roma, Milan and Juventus as a player.
“I never thought it could get this far. But remember, when you wind Mourinho up, he’s very clever in these debate situations. Maybe once again he just wants to divert the attention from his team.”
The former manager of Real Madrid, Milan, Juventus and England also said that he would have never gone after Mourinho in the same manner that Conte has attacked the former Chelsea boss, simply because you would be dealing with the lost in translation factor.
“You’ve got to have a very good grasp of English,” Capello continued.
“I would always want a trusted interpreter with me because your words in English could be interpreted in a different way. But confronting Mourinho is very dangerous. I think Mourinho is getting a bit nervous. I know him very well.”
“The gap (between first place Manchester City and second place Manchester United) is very big and this can make him nervous. But I’ve got to say that Manchester City have been spending £200-250 million every year.
“In the end, they’re bound to build a decent side.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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