Mourinho - saying it as it is!

“Please don’t call me arrogant but I am European Champion and I think I’m a special one”

The famous words of Jose Mourinho at the Chelsea press conference in the summer of 2004 where he was unveiled as the pensioner’s new manager.  Like him or loathe him, Mourinho is an eccentric character and who will forget his dance down the touchline at Old Trafford earlier that year when his unfancied and almost unknown Porto side knocked the aristocrats Manchester United out of the Champions League on the away goals rule with a last minute equaliser.   Mourinho had arrived.

“I like this Mourinho guy.  He is a good looking guy.  He takes after me”

The words of the late Brian Clough who himself had broken down the barriers of the stereotypical manager in the English game.  Fullsome praise indeed.

Mourinho is a thoughtful but fearless character.  His abrasive style has helped all the teams that he has managed.

“I am Jose Mourinho and I don’t change.  I arrive with all my qualities and my defects”

Mourinho brought immediate and continued success to Chelsea during his five year reign and his legacy there could be best summed up as follows:

“I hate to speak about individuals.  Players don’t win you trophies, teams win trophies, squads win trophies”

Questions were asked originally as to whether Mourinho’s lack of experience as a player at the top level would come against him.  The old fox himself Alex Ferguson best answered this question when he said

“The marvellous strong personality of Mourinho bridges the gap between someone who was not a top player becoming a top coach”

And Mourinho made it clear in no uncertain terms that there were no outside influences in his team selection during his reign at Stamford Bridge:

“If Roman Abramovich helped me out in training we would be bottom of the league and if I had to work in his world of big business, we would be bankrupt!”

However, the sparkle that was so prominent during the majority of Mourinho’s reign at Chelsea began to turn to sourness towards the end.  It was best summed up in the following quote which summed up his frustration with the tightening of the transfer market purse strings:

"The style of how we play is very important. But it is omelettes and eggs. No eggs - no omelettes! It depends on the quality of the eggs. In the supermarket you have class one, two or class three eggs and some are more expensive than others and some give you better omelettes. So when the class one eggs are in Waitrose and you cannot go there, you have a problem."      

Addio England, Chiao Italy!  It was now time for a new challenge for the special one and how he took up that challenge with Inter Milan.  A treble of Seria A, Italian Cup and Champions League was as unexpected as it was historic.  The siege mentality at the Nou Camp in the semi final second leg against Barcelona and the dancing on to the pitch once more at the final whistle in jubilation with the water sprinklers going off around him.  Jose was a lot more than an interpreter in Catalunia now. However, his fractured relationship with the football authorities in Europe was highlighted at the end of that season with FIFA awarding him Coach of the Year for 2010 but UEFA awarded him nothing.

With nothing more to prove in Italy it was time for pastures new once more and the Real Madrid job gave him the opportunity to not only manage one of the most famous clubs in the world but also in his own words gave him “an opportunity to knock Barcelona off their perch”

“The moral of the story is not to listen to those who tell you not to play the violin but stick to the tambourine”

With a club like Real Madrid Mourinho had followed his words and was certainly reaching to play the violin.  And in 2012 he became the first manager to win league titles in England, Italy and Spain when his Madrid side broke Barcelona’s stranglehold on the La Liga title.  The perception now is that not winning the Champions League title with Real will be seen as a black mark against him.  With their passage to the semi finals almost guaranteed after their first leg victory over Galatassary, will they have a better opportunity of achieving this success than in the current campaign?

“The world is so competitive, aggressive, consumive, selfish and during the time we spend here we must be all but that.”

Mourinho has shown all these traits in his managerial career to date but when asked what his biggest strength is he stated defiantly “Love for my family.  That is the engine of everything”

“So I know all about the ups and downs of football, I know that one day I will be sacked.”

The saying goes that being forewarned is being forearmed.  And accepting that one day he will be sacked Mourinho, as only Mourinho can, defiantly answered the following question:

What keeps you awake at night?

Nothing – I sleep perfect!