Rome: Jose Mourinho knows he must come good on his pledge to make Inter Milan play fluid attacking football if their Serie A title defence, which starts at home against Bari, is to be successful.
The Portuguese coach promised eye-catching stuff when he arrived last year but his side frequently ended up relying on flashes of brilliance from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to make up for collective failings in his debut season at the San Siro.
This is no longer an option after the Sweden striker joined Barcelona in exchange for Samuel Eto'o in July.
"I think the most important thing for a team is a well defined philosophy of play and we can certainly say we have that," Mourinho told the club's TV channel.
"Without taking anything away from what we won in the past, last season we played some great games, but without much consistency."
Mourinho recognises that while Eto'o is as good a forward as Ibrahimovic, he is more in need of quality play around him to be effective.
"Ibrahimovic is better with the ball at his feet, Eto'o is better when the ball is in space," he said. "They are totally different players."
Mourinho is encouraged by what he saw in pre-season friendlies and in the Italian Super Cup in Beijing, when his side were unlucky to be beaten 2-1 by Lazio. But he concedes there is still lots to do.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, August 20, 2009, 17:28