As egos go, there are none much bigger than that of José Mourinho. Little is said of his time flirting with Inter Milan and Real Madrid even though he continued winning trophies with both clubs.
No, it is his two “marriages” to Chelsea for which, at present anyway, he is being remembered.
The second break-up was far more noteworthy than the first as it was brought about by a perceived breakdown in relationships with certain players and with the club outside the top ten for the first time in years. Mourinho was unceremoniously kicked out and Chelsea were soon to be in a new relationship with Antonio Conte.
This is all very well and good but Mourinho’s ego keeps getting in the way of the “happy ever after” ending.
Like a jilted husband who can’t accept that the kids have actually taken quite well to the new man, or that the whole family seems to like and accept him, José is at pains to point out that it was HE who made Chelsea the team they are today.
Where would they be without him? Probably around the same position as there have been other managers who have won Premier League titles and one who even managed to do what Mourinho couldn’t do and win the Champion’s League. So Chelsea would certainly have prospered without him, if maybe not to the same extent.
José has moved on now, of course, and is in a new relationship. He has now inherited a new bunch of kids and a much bigger family. If he wants them all to accept him then he has to refrain from having perpetual digs at his previous bedfellows.
Yes, he was the most successful manager in the history of Chelsea football club. We don’t need him to point this out in every moment of petulance. We don’t need him to fixate on an old flame because, if he does, he will lose sight and purpose of his objectives with the new one.
If Mourinho really wants us to think that Chelsea is just another club offering just another couple of challenges every season, then he has to stop behaving as though Stamford Bridge is the marital home out of which he was thrown and Chelsea is the wife who took everything whilst giving nothing in return.
The jobs at Inter Milan and Real Madrid were obtained on the back of his success at Chelsea so, in that regard, he has a lot for which to thank Roman Abramovich.
He was made one of the best paid managers in Europe by Abramovich so, again, he can have no complaints. And, finally, he is now the manager of Manchester United mainly because he has a proven track record in England, also achieved with Chelsea and thanks to Abramovich.
He has said that he wants to stay at Manchester United “for years“. There are a lot of fans who want the same. He is seen, by the majority, as the ideal manager to take United back to where they belong and is, somewhat splutteringly, showing signs that the beginnings of a new era of expectation are on the way. Some new signings should see a push for the title next season.
He must, however, concentrate solely on Manchester United. This is not a club where one eye can be cast on the performance of others. Sir Alex Ferguson was never really interested in what the opposition did, only on what his own team did.
He didn’t keep carping on about his achievements with Aberdeen which, in many ways, were better than those of Mourinho with Chelsea, as he didn’t have the same money available and was breaking up a much longer establishment in the Celtic-Rangers duopoly.
Fergie just got on with it and let the results speak for themselves. José Mourinho has to do the same.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 