In Defense Of Mourinho's Tenure at Manchester United. (Part 1)
Jose Mario Dos Santos Mourinho Felix is different being to many and of course I understand opinions are meant to be different. To me, He is one of the greatest manager of all time. He is a Tactician, A Philosopher, an orator, well-Learned, Motivational Speaker, Psychologist, Father (Ask Micheal Essien about this) and most importantly arrogant to those who choosed to undermine what he has been able to achieved so far In his career and those trying to blocked his way in achieving success. Before talking about his time at United, I'll love to correct some of the misconceptions about him.
Jose Mourinho As A Manager
It's no more news that he started his career as a translator for Sir Bobby Robson after he was appointed as the new Sporting CP manager, He needed an English speaking coach as as an interpreter. Prior this time, he was a graduate of Technical University of Lisbon as a sport scientist, attended coaching courses held by the England and Scottish Football Association. He had also worked as an assistant manager at Estella Da Amadora and as scout For Ovarense. But it was his meeting with Bobby Robson in 1992 that begin to shaped his great knowledge of Football as he began discussing tactics and
coaching with Robson in his interpreting
role. Robson was sacked by the club in
December 1993. When Porto appointed him as
their head coach, Mourinho moved with him,
continuing to coach and interpret for players
at the new club this time as an Assistant and they won alot together, which later earned Robson big offer at Barcelona, With Mourinho following him again. Away from Robson or Van Gaal Influence, He rose from the position of Assistant Manager to become the new Manager at Benfica in the year 2000 to replace Jupp Heynckes. His reign,
however, appeared to be at risk after
Benfica's election turned against club
president João Vale e Azevedo , and the newly
elected Manuel Vilarinho said that he would
instate ex-Benfica player Toni as his new
coach. Although Vilarinho had no intention
of firing him immediately, Mourinho used the
victory over Sporting to test the president's
loyalty and he asked for a contract
extension. Vilarinho refused the demand
and Mourinho resigned from his position
immediately. He left the club on 5 December
2000 after just nine league games in
charge. Upon later reflection, Vilarinho rued
his poor judgement and expressed his
frustration at losing Mourinho. Jose later moved to União de Leiria and later Fc Porto as their new Manager on the January 23, 2002. Fast forward to 2002-2003 season Mourinho won his first Primeira Liga
with a 27–5–2 record, 11 points clear of
Benfica, the team he quit two years earlier.
The total of 86 points out of the possible
maximum of 102 was a Portuguese record,
until the 2015–16 season won by Benfica (88
points), since the rule of three points per win
was introduced. Mourinho also won the Taça
de Portugal , beating former club Leiria in the
final , and the UEFA Cup final against Celtic ,
both in May 2003. The following season witnessed further
successes: as he won the Portuguese Super Cup and Primera Liga although He initially lost the Uefa cup to Milan, with Andri Shevchenko solitary goal proved the difference, he also lost the Taca De Portugal to Benfica in may 2014, but two weeks later,
Mourinho won a greater prize: the UEFA
Champions League , with a 3–0 win over
Monaco in Germany, Porto first since 1987 (Record breaker). This earned him the move to Chelsea fc in England as he has already started having his blueprints all around Europe and even world. He won the league cup as his first trophy In England, defeating Liverpool (3-2 AET) in Wembley and later Under Mourinho, Chelsea secured their first
top-flight domestic title in 50 years, (Record Breaker) setting a
string of English football records in the
process, including the most points ever
achieved in the Premier League (95) and the
fewest goals conceded (15) all this in his first season. And went on to retain the league the following season, and some other trophies like the community shield, the F.A cup later which meant
that he had won every domestic trophy
available to a Premier League manager. Mourinho unexpectedly left Chelsea on 20
September 2007 "by mutual consent". On 2 June 2008, Mourinho was appointed the
successor of Roberto Mancini at Inter Milan
on a three-year contract, He won the Seria A title and Coppa Italiana in his first Season (Record Breaker). On 22 May 2010, Inter won the 2010
Champions League after beating Bayern
Munich 2–0, and in doing so became the first
Italian club to complete the treble inter's first CL in 35 years (Record breaker) with
Mourinho personally celebrating the second
Champions League title in his managerial
career. On 31 May 2010, Mourinho was
unveiled as the new manager of Real Madrid
after signing a four-year contract. Prior to Mourinho's arrival, Real Madrid had
underperformed despite paying record transfer
fees for Galácticos such as Kaká and Cristiano
Ronaldo. Their 2009–10 season was marked
by disappointments. On 20 April 2011, Mourinho won his first
trophy in Spanish football as Real Madrid
defeated arch-rivals Barcelona 1–0 in the
Copa del Rey final held at the Mestalla
Stadium in Valencia , ending Real Madrid's 18-
year-long Copa del Rey drought (Record breaker). On 2 May 2012, Real Madrid won 0–3 against
Athletic Bilbao to clinch the Liga title for the
first time in four years. On 13 May 2012,
Real Madrid defeated Mallorca 4–1 in their
last league match of the season, which set
records for most games won in a La Liga
season (32), most away wins (16), most
points obtained in any of the top European
leagues (100), improving the most goals
scored record they already had set earlier
(121) and finishing the season with the
highest goal difference (+89). Real
Madrid topped the league nine points clear of
runners-up Barcelona. He lost 3–2 to Barcelona in the first leg of the 2012
Supercopa de España , Real Madrid won the
return leg in Madrid 2–1. Real Madrid won the
competition on the away goals rule after a tie
of 4–4 on aggregate. This meant Mourinho
had won every domestic title available for a
manager in the Spanish top division within
two years. He became the only coach who
has won the national super cups in four
different European countries. This also
made Mourinho the first manager in history to
win every domestic title, the league
championship, cup, super cup and league cup
(if available) in four European leagues (Oh My Jose My Jose). He took Real Madrid to their furthest
advance in the tournament since the 2003
semi-finals, as the club was knocked out in
the 2004 quarter-finals, and then from 2005 to
2010 the club had suffered six consecutive
exits at the round of 16. In his last season in Madrid, Real Madrid reached the semi-finals of the
Champions League for the third consecutive
year under Mourinho's management. The club,
however, was defeated 4–1 in the first leg
away at Borussia Dortmund. In the second leg
at home, Real managed to score two goals in
the last 10 minutes, but the team could not
get the third goal that would have levelled the
aggregate score and sent them through on
away goals. Went back to Chelsea in 2013 and won the Premier League the next season and league cup against spurs. He had parted company with Chelsea in 2015 for the second time and went to Manchester United in 2016/2017 Seasons, Immediately winning the F. A Community Shield against Leicester city. Manchester United won 3–2 over
Southampton in the EFL Cup Final at
Wembley. With the victory, he became the
first United manager to win a major trophy in
his debut season. On 24 May 2017, Manchester United won the
Europa League courtesy of a 2–0 win over
AFC Ajax (Manchester United's first Europa cup trophy) . This was Mourinho's second
major trophy of his first season as
Manchester United manager. It also
maintained his 100% record of winning every
major European Cup final as a manager. Mourinho eventually left United on 18 December
2018 after some pure runs which for me wasn't his faults but the Overrated, bunch of hypocrite players and too business minded Executives.
Jose's Tactics and Pattern of Setting His teams up.
Mourinho has been noted for his tactical
prowess, game
management, and adaptability to
different situations. Mourinho formation isn't all about defending has its generally perceived, he is a very good tactician that believe in playing according to his strength and denying his opponents any opportunity of Playing to thier strengths. Imagine Maywhether and John Cena in a free for all fight, what do you think will happen? Cena will be trying to lift Maywhether for a smackdown while Maywhether must try to deny him with the sole aim of striking Cena with his fist, its not rocket science. I'll butress this point with his Jose's remark about Ajax, Mourinho talking about defeating the Ajax side in 2017 Europa Cupa final against united, He said: 'We gave
them the game that they didn't want to have,
they complained about long build-up, they
complained about [Marouane] Fellaini, about
physicality, they complained because they
couldn't cope. 'If you play against Ajax in the way they want to
play you have the risk that they are better than
you.
'If I see for example Ajax play Barcelona or
Liverpool in the final, if they reach the final, I
think Barcelona and Liverpool can beat them
playing their own strength but when your quality
is not there you have to go to the strategic
point of view and give them what they don't
want.'
What type of a coach plays to his opponent hands, Judging by his previous works, you will understand Jose only gave all he had at United as majority of this guys wouldn't even be sitting in Guardiola's bench. Mourinho won the Primera Liga with Madrid and sets the records for most games won in a La Liga
season (32), most away wins (16), most
points obtained in any of the top European
leagues (100), improving the most goals
scored record they already had set earlier
(121) and finishing the season with the
highest goal difference (+89), which we all know wouldn't be possible by playing defensive football. He was able to achieved these feats based on the type of players he had, Infact The counter-
attacking system pioneered by Mourinho
continued, with its variations, to be used to
further success at Madrid by his successors
Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane. One of the key
aspects in Mourinho's-era at Porto was the
pressuring play, which started at the offensive
line, dubbed " pressão alta " ("high pressure").
The physical and combative abilities of the
teams' defenders and midfielders allowed
Porto to apply pressure from the offensive
lines and forced opponents either to concede
the ball or try longer, uncertain passes. Even Guardiola's Barca side had similar pattern of closing down the opponents, thereby forcing them make wrong choices and loose possession poorly. Mourinho later won the league with Fc Porto with total of 86 points out of the possible
maximum of 102 was a Portuguese record,
until the 2015–16 season won by Benfica (88
points). Have a good look at all the teams he had managed, see the type of tactics and Patterns used and you will understand that he always play according to talents at his disposal and wouldn't allow the opponents to play to their strengths (King of Antidotes). Instead of labeling his teams boring or too defending, change that to Winners and Champions because thats what they stood for and that's what Jose is known for.
Relationship with Players
As a human, I understand no one is perfect but calling him names he is not is one thing I wouldn't accept, I will only leave some quotes here by some of his past players and allow you to judge for yourself the type of person you think he is by the quotes.
“Jose came down to the dressing room to
say his goodbyes and gave a speech about
how proud he was and the relationships he
built with the players," sidwell told TalkSport .
“I looked around that dressing room and
there were tears coming from the players’
eyes.
“I’m talking Didier Drogba, John Terry, Frank
Lampard, you name it.
“There was not a dry eye in that room.
“Drogba was inconsolable.
“He went round and he embraced every
player one by one.
“I was only there for four or five months at
the time and I remember thinking, wow, this
is powerful.”
Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba says
manager Jose Mourinho "changed his life" by
signing him for the club and describes their
ongoing relationship as "something special"
Asked what sort of manager Mourinho is in the
dressing room, Essien said: “He will put his
arm around you — and he will smash things if he
needs to! “Jose is like a father figure to me.
“We still have a good relationship and we talk
every now and then.
“I’ll always be his No 1 fan. We have a good bond
and just clicked when I came to Chelsea.
“Even before I came to Chelsea, we talked ever
day. It just clicked when we met. The rest is
history.”
" I worked with Mourinho and I became
his friend as well," he explained to Goal. .
"He likes me a lot and I like him a lot as a
coach and as a person. He has put his trust
in me and in my work, and I was very grateful
to him. Willian
"Jose is the best manager I've been fortunate
enough to play under; he's brilliant, a real man-
manager, and he made us believe we could win
the league that season. Lampard
Mourinho was number one. His secret was to
make everyone feel like they were part of the
project.. Materazzi
"He kicked the fridge, kicked the television,
threw water. He killed everyone. I remember he
once killed Ronaldo after he scored a hat-trick.
"He said, 'Everyone says you are the best in the
world and you are playing badly. Show me you
are the best'. Cristiano took it. Ronaldo could
score a hat-trick but talk about the one he
missed." Adebayor
Ozil wrote: “You think two beautiful passes are
enough – you think you’re so good that 50 per
cent is enough?” Mourinho shouted. “What do you
want? To creep under the beautiful, warm
shower? Shampoo your hair? To be alone? Or do
you want to prove to your fellow players, the
fans out there, and me, what you can do? Mesut Ozil when revealing what Jose Mourinho
said to him in a bid to motivate him while he
bossed him at Real Madrid.
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