He had taken Porto as far as he could so moved on to Chelsea. The only trophy to elude him at Stamford Bridge was the Champion’s League but, when he left, he was still young enough to be able to return one day to win it, (or so he probably thought).
Inter Milan proved to be a relatively easy challenge during which he even managed to come up with a way of beating Barcelona over two legs in the Champion’s League and go on to win it. This was when Barcelona were the best team in the world.
At Real Madrid he started to fall out with people. This is not too difficult in Spain where the presidents of clubs have far too much input on which players are bought and sold and even the players will hold press conferences where they discuss, amongst other things, the manager! Apparently, when things weren’t going swimmingly, certain players decided that it was because Mourinho had never played the game at a high level, despite his successes at Porto, Chelsea and Inter.
Having decided that a change was needed Mourinho agreed to go back to Chelsea. Going back is never a good idea and it was to prove the case with this move. Having won the Premier League in his first season back, the Madrid Mourinho re-surfaced and he started to fall out with some of the players. He was never destined to win the Champion’s League with Chelsea!
The only aspect which Mourinho needed to brush up on was his man-management. He seemed to think that it was OK to publicly criticise some of the big name players when he had a point to prove. What he has now realised is that a club president or owner will always find it easier to replace one manager than five or six players.
Now Mourinho is where he always dreamed he would be. He knows himself that there is only one way to go should he leave United and that is in a downwards spiral. He is talking now as though he realises this and also appears to have calmed down……slightly!
He is more respectful and, when the occasional rant threatens to surface, he seems to be able to get it under control pretty quickly.
He still manages to moan and gripe about all things with which he disagrees but, in this respect, he is no different to Sir Alex Ferguson who was also quite famous for his arguments with officials and officialdom.
He is now at a club where boredom is not an option. As soon as a trophy is won it is time to move on. The challenge, which will probably never be met, is to eclipse Fergie’s record. Although it may never be met, at Manchester United, the manager is expected to at least try and glorious failure will be acceptable occasionally. Inglorious failure, as Louis van Gaal and David Moyes found out, will not be tolerated.
The only part of managing Manchester United with which Mourinho still has to come to terms is living in Manchester. Whilst a much better and nicer city than London will ever be, it is understandable that his wife and children have settled down south as that is where they have spent most of their time in England.
His kids are now virtually grown up and would only be a two hour train ride away so it only remains for his wife to move to Manchester and find a house.
The fact that this has not yet happened is testament to the insecurity of a Premier League football manager. He obviously doesn’t want to uproot family if it is only for the short term. The way United are performing at present augers well for the future. With two or three additions in the Summer transfer window it could easily auger very well for the future. Welcome to Manchester Senhora Mourinho.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 