What continually drives people like José Mourinho to succeed? It isn’t money. Alright, in the early days of their career it IS money but, after the initial successes have eliminated the need to ever work again, what becomes the motivating factor?
It is a question asked of many of the world’s richest people and, in a lot of cases, it is STILL money. The quest to be the richest in the world, the additional power that even more money brings with it. These are forces which have been known to propel the wealthy to even greater things.
Generally not, however, where top football managers are concerned.
In the case of José Mourinho, (and a few others), it is the burning desire to be the best.
One thing Mourinho has in common with Pep Guardiola is his football manager hero – Sir Alex Ferguson, another who reached the “mortgage paid” stage many years ago. He would arrive at the training ground in Carrington at 7:00am and, more often than not, be the last one to leave.
He would sit in cold dugouts at lower league grounds in the middle of winter to watch United struggle to overcome inferior opposition in one of the cup competitions. Why? What sort of masochistic behaviour is this?
Again, it comes back to wanting to be the best. Ferguson’s original motivation on arriving in Manchester was to dethrone Liverpool as kings of the northwest. Along with achieving this goal came wealth. but it was never the deciding factor when Fergie first took the job. In fact he came very close to being fired in the early years!
So Mourinho has now tasted success at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid. He has won the league title in four countries and has now reached the pinnacle of his career. He HAS to succeed at United.
When he was fired by Chelsea people were saying that he had lost the plot, that the players no longer respected him and didn’t listen to him. Some of this may be true but going back to a previous life very rarely has a happy outcome. It appeared that his return to Chelsea was more through a sense of duty rather than a longing to be there. Reading between the lines he never looked really happy while managing Chelsea for the second time but, in fairness, Mourinho rarely looks really happy.
Now is his chance to prove himself yet again. He is at one of the biggest clubs in the world. He has been at others and had success, he needs to do it again. He does not want to be remembered as a failure at Old Trafford because, if he is a failure, it will be remembered far more than any of the many years of success he enjoyed at other clubs.
Failure would see him fired and treading a downhill path to the lesser clubs. He would be seen as having failed at his last two clubs and this would make potential employers wary of appointing him.
This, however, is not the reason he needs to succeed. No, he needs to succeed because he wants to stay at Manchester United for “many years“. The only way this will materialise is if he wins trophies and does so by playing attractive football. These are not immediate requirements but will need to be implemented in the relatively short term.
It is not true to say that José Mourinho is drinking at the Last Chance saloon just yet but, not only is there nowhere to go after Manchester United, there is nowhere he would want to go after Manchester United.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 