“Please don’t call me arrogant, but I’m European Champion and I think I’m a special one.”
It is every Chelsea fan’s wish that Mourinho returns to Chelsea. Truth be told, he engineered the most successful period in Chelsea’s history. His love for the club cannot be disputed. He eats, sleeps and bleeds Chelsea. His maiden return to Chelsea looks as a real possibility, with him and the owner finalizing his ‘comeback’ contract details. With the many troubles off and on the field in recent seasons, the question of “Is he the right man to steer Chelsea back to the glory days?” cannot be wished away. This post’s main objective is to critically analyze how, if he returns, Mourinho will impact the club.
We all know the great deeds he has done in the various clubs he has managed. That is not disputable. We also know the bitter sweet tales in the same clubs he has managed. A sad fact that also cannot be ignored. It is my wish that at the end of this post, you will be able to correctly answer the query raised earlier on.
His period at FC Porto propelled him to his stardom status. After a disastrous start to 2002/2003 season, FC Porto hired him to transform their tidings and true to their belief in him, he did not fail them. He led them to the league title, domestic cup and EUFA Cup Final in his first season. He again led them to another league title but the most outstanding success was them winning the 2003/2004 Champions League Trophy. Without doubt you cannot underestimate his capabilities as a manager.
Chelsea came calling and without a second thought, he snapped up the chance of managing a top team in a more competitive league. Again, he replicated his success at Porto by winning Chelsea’s first league title in 50 years. He later on went and won all the major honors available in the English Football Season in the three seasons he was at the club. Under him, the club was propelled from a mere decent, average team to the most feared club in club football. Unfortunately, he could not bring his Champions League triumph to Stamford Bridge. He parted ways with the club in his third season under unclear circumstances amidst shock from every Chelsea fan worldwide.
His time at Inter Milan had similar happenings. Winning them back to back Serie A titles and the maiden Champions League Trophy. His treble winning season of the Scudetto, European and Domestic cups was the highlight of his successful time at Inter Milan. Again, he felt the urge of embarking on new challenges which prompted to him to leave the club at the end of the 2009/2010 season and join Real Madrid, the Spanish giants.
His stay at Real Madrid has been shadowed by the many off field woes than the on field success. In his first season, he won the club’s first Copa Del Rey since 1993 and threatened to end their fierce rival’s (Barcelona) dominance in Spanish football. He then managed to wrestle the La Liga title from Barcelona in his second season. Not only did he do that, but he also managed to garner a record 100 points and 121 goals in the process.
There’s no doubt what Mourinho can do given that everything else on/off field remains constant in his favor. In circumstances where the on/off field variables go against his wishes, hell break loose and the unspeakable happen. It would not be fair if I blindly ignore his off field woes that might have a bearing on a club’s season. I know I will piss quite a number of you who will bless me by reading this article. By doing so, it will enable us to accurately answer the query raised earlier on in this post.
If we closely examine all the number of seasons he has managed in the various respective clubs he has, none has gone past the 3-seasons mark. This is a worrying trend. This has a negative impact on the long term plans meant to be undertaken by the club he manages. It somehow shows how self centered he is as a manager disregarding the possibility of jeopardizing a club’s stability. Doubt me? Look at how Inter Milan and Chelsea have struggled after his departure, with the latter suffering the most.
“When I win I don’t stop and here (in Italy) I have won everything. I have won the Champions League with two clubs, I can do it with three.”
“My work here is done. I have made history with this club. I will find motivation in another big club. Playing against Barcelona in Spain? That would be a huge challenge.”
That is what he said prior to his move to Real Madrid. Does that sound like someone who cares about a club and its fans? To me, it sounds like someone who values personal glory than the well being of a club.
His off line woes have followed him everywhere he goes. He is in this perfect relationship with his ego that surpasses everything else. He envisions it to be the sole authority wherever he manages. In a club known for its player power and a dressing room full of egos, will we see a clash of the egos? When he left Chelsea, there were murmurs everywhere that his relationship breakdown with John Terry was one of the many reasons why he left. Again, isn’t this what is happening in Real Madrid?
“With me, Diego Lopez will always be ahead of Casillas. He’s better.”
“Pepe’s comments? It is very easy to analyze what he says. Pepe has a problem and his name is Raphael Varane.”
Those comments clearly show a chaotic dressing room with zero team spirit in it.
I am a strong advocate of the youth structure in every football club. Through this, so many young players’ dreams have been realized. I would cherish a situation where a club is able to recruit its personnel from the academy rather than spend millions elsewhere pursuing the greedy, expensive players the football world has to offer. Does Mourinho favor such a noble practice? Is he known for youth development in the various clubs he has managed? It is crystal clear that he favors assembling a totally new side whenever he goes to a new club. Uncle Roman resilience on providing funds to acquire new players was also touted as one of the many reasons why he left Chelsea. Rarely would you find him giving the benefit of doubt to the emerging talents present at a club’s youth academy. Correct me if I am wrong. If he still favors this trend, I fear for the young players working so hard to upgrade their football careers. Boy don’t we have quite a bunch of them at Chelsea?
Mourinho is a great manager and wherever he goes next, will be the envy of so many football clubs around the globe. He has achieved so much within a short period in his managerial career. I pray that he comes back ‘home’ and brings back our smiley days. I also pray that everything works according to plan for the benefit of the club, fans and the manager.
KTBFFH.
Your article looks right only if you look at the flip side of it.. Now let me tell tou the other side of it.
His ego problem and fight with players: he is winning titles right left and centre.. R we gonna complain?? Who would you support?? The player or the manger who is winning you trophies??? This is something that I will never take as a negative.
Youth policy: lets be honest here.. Our youth system was nothing when he took over. He actually laid the foundation for us because of which we are now so proud of our youth players. Look at Varane and Callejon.. Mourinho gives chances to talent if they are worth it. And he will definitely do that at Chelsea.
Overspending on players: the only place where he spent money was at Chelsea because it was needed. Shevchencko was Roman’s buy. He won titles at Porto and Inter Milan with practically spending nothing.
Short term at clubs: You gave your quotes. Now let me give you one.. after winning the second league title, he said he loved Chelsea and wanted to stay here for another 10yrs atleast. The reason why he left was not lack of funds or player problems.. it was Roman’s interference in team matters and his stupid obsessive need to play barca style.
So my opinion is clear. Give Mourinho what he wants and he will give us what we need.. simple. Ive said this many times.. Mourinho was born for Chelsea like Sir Alex was for Man Utd. Give him the chance and he will create a similar legacy with Chelsea.
Finally like you said KTBFFH AND CTID
If the Youth policy was nothing when he came, where did John Terry come from?
M sorry… one player makes up a whole youth system??!!! R u ok??
Lovely article,for me, mou is a great manager,a great tactician but i dont think he is what we need.my fear is centered on the youth players,what becomes of them,our history with managers is haunting us now with managers not wanting to join the blues revolution,gus hindink would be a perfect manager for me,he is a winner,a disciplinarian and also has a history of nurturing young talents.
Guus is old, hence a short-term fix. Mou is a record breaker, I see him moving to the Ligue to join PSG with Anclelotti going the other way.
Both ways, Chelsea would lose out again, if he does come or if he doesn’t. Mou is a winner but he is also bent on rewriting managerial history which is bad for a young team like this new crop of Chelsea players. If he would comes, we win for a few years, then he jumps ship again.
l really appreciate your indept analysis but l would appreciate your article the more idf you can do more research and come up with another article on Morinho cus l think, there still some things we need to know about Mourinho. Above all, Mourinho is Man
great article about Jose,thata excertily what have been boardring me aswell,Jose is a great manager but my fear is what will become of the young talent we have in our team,Jos is someone who value esterblish payer to win title but i think if he is giving the chance he will transform our young talent to world class,i will love to have him back to chelsea.Atleas he gave mikel the chance and nobody new KING DD when he bought him and he wasn’t too old,and beside he was given the money to buy players when he was at chelsea.
you are right about the young talent and but the talent of kdb and ake chelobah vicent are just too good not to be used
Great article, but Like vaibhav kumble said, you are looking at it from one side. Mourinho spendings at Chelsea was a necessity back then, our youth setup if I recall never had the quality they have now. He bought players and laid a foundation for a proper youth setup, gave a young mikel a shot, believed in drog, made us a feared team in England and in Europe. The famous “mou can’t stay long like sir Alex” is bullcrap! Removing sentiment, if u analysis his time at the various teams he was/is at, you see each was of different circumstance. Mourinho left Porto to Chelsea for the “call of a big team”, Romans project was to make us the force in Europe for a long time, mou at the helm was the plan. Things ddnt go as planned, he ddnt leave Chelsea cause of adventure yall keep talking trash abt! Romans interference with the team is enough to drive anyone mad. The shevchenko buy? Anyone?! .
At inter, it was a project hire, a short term one obviously. It was never a long term stay. He achieved his project, he moved on.
Madrid: like I said, sentiments aside, 3 seasons on for Madrid, without this off field affair, mou was looking to extend his stay at madrid. Player power, clashing egos; yeah he is controversial and it a scare for our youth. But you can’t rubbish the fact that he brings in the spirit, the drive, determination, winning mentality. I read an article on here at the old guard winning mentality n fight; you can’t argue it was during the “mou days” that it was instilled? It was at its peak?!.
Abt gvin youth team opportunity, the quote abt varane n pepe looks controversial but something else can be gotten from it. “I give a 19 yrs old kid an opportunity to prove himself against a worldclass 31 yrs old!”. If the quality is there in a youth? Mou will definitely give Him a chance, you can’t expect him to field bunch of average talent all in the name of making a reputation for “giving young talents chance”. When criticising, touch every angle not restrict ur criticism to half.
Mourinho is to Chelsea as SAF was to united. Let’s all welcome him home, and stop wasting time criticising his ability. Trust me, it of no use.
I didn’t trash Mourinho. What I did was lay bare both sides of his managerial career; the good and the bad
Thanks Eniola.. but lets not get into an argument here. Its just opinions. We all can disagree sometimes.. 🙂
I think we need to sort out our immature club structure and then we Will be set for years to come.
MOURINHO IS GOOD BUT HE BUYS SUCCESS WHEREVER HE GOES. WHEN CRISTIANO RONALDO STARTED SCORING GOALS AND ROONEY MATURED A BIT, PLUS ALLOWING ROBBEN AND CRESPO TO LEAVE (PLAYERS THAT HE FOUND AT THE CLUB). ADDING THE LIKES OF KALOU INSTEAD, WE BECAME SECOND BEST AS OUR SQUAD BECAME POORER. AVRAN MANAGED TO GET CLOSER TO MAN U WITH THE .SAME PLAYERS, PLUS REACHING CHAMPIONS FINAL AND WAS UNLUCKY NOT TO WIN IT. MOUR NEVER MANAGED TO PASS RAFA IN CL QUARTERS. BASICALLY I WANT TO SAY IS THAT WITH THE CURRENT SQUAD I DOUBT IF MOUR WILL DO MUCH BETTER. IF HE BRINGS SOME OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD, THAN HE IS NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN DO IT AND WE AVOID HAVING THE ALL COUNTRY AGAINST US. WE ARE STILL PAYING WITH THE REFS WHAT HE CAUSED. JUST REMEMBER THE LAST GAME AS VILLA ONLY NEEDED A GOAL THE GAME HAD TO BE PLAYED ANOTHER 8MINS. REF WAS HOPING FOR ANOTHER “LIVERPOOL MOMENT”. STRENGTHEN THE SQUAD AND LET RAFA BRING STABILITY.
Gosh. Go easy on the caps lock. What I’m getting from you is that you will be content with if Rafa stays?
What in the world is this carlos talking abt?!!! Except Chelsea (where spending was required and Shevchenko was not his buy) where sid he buy success?!!! Porto??? Inter Milan??? Madrid?? Nowhere.. dont talk crap dude..
Mou is good. But I agree with the article writer. I love Mou, but honestly I dont want Mou cos of the above reasons & his playing style. Mou loves direct football and the likes of Mata and Oscar will not thrive under him. Look at what happened to Kaka. I’d prefer Klopp to be honest.
Can anyone remember what position we finished on the league and Champions league the year before Mou came? Did or did not Man U finished already behind Chelsea before Mou came? How much did we spend after that, to get the “Mour winning mentality”? wouldn’t Petr Cech (Ranieris buy) instead Cudicini, Robben (Ranieris buy) instead of Gonkjear, Drog instead of old Hasselbaink etc etc that MADE US JUMP FROM SECOND TO FIRST IN THE LEAGUE? It was all down to Romans money my friends like it is Man City’s money that gave the title to Mancini and FA Cup, PSG owners money that is giving Ancelotti the advantage. Inter were already champions of Italy twice before Eto Lucy Sneider and Co were added to a already wining side. in the end of the day money has been a factor in the so called wining mentality. Lets give Rafa a chance with the same players and money available to mou and we’ll see.. for those who mention Mikel and I include Kalou, Malouda etc it was when they came when the end of “mourinho winning mentality started. in the third year of Mour Era.
He would have left Chelsea in 2010 at least if his relationships wit h Abramovic had been good. But, now that he has won trophies in 4 different countries. its time for him to build a big legacy and stability at a club he enjoyed working in the most according to himself. He has a very close relationship with Sir Alex and would surely be motivated to do what Ferguson did at Man Utd. Stability breeds success. Its a rule of football and life not just Man Utd’s. Even If Jose decides to leave chelsea to experiance some other challenges, the style and organization needs to continue. The club should have an identity to continue this past decades success to the future. So, the replacement should be an ideal one not like Avram Grant the last time around.
Did u say jose doesn’t work wit youth
Are u sick………..hw old was Mikel,sidwell,sincarl,Kalou when he brought them 2 chelsea.Wat about Varane,Callejon,Nacho and Morata @ madrid.
And bout his ego,dat wat make him so special nd d@ why he is very reorganised.
Key word being –> ‘buy.’ The article talks about developing the youth in the academy, not buying already established young players.
Mourinho played counterattacking football with some of the world best players in Madrid. Disappointing.
Defensive approach to every match he plays. Too Cautious.
He is also egolistic in nature.