5 things we have learnt about Jose Mourinho over the years

Jose Mourinho first steps as a head coach came back at the start of the millennium at Benfica, and he has since forged a highly successful career that has seen him coach powerhouse clubs in four different countries and accumulate an impressive haul of trophies.

The current Manchester United coach has been in the spotlight for 17 years, in which time aspects of his approach and personality have become widely known.

Here are five things we have learnt about Jose Mourinho over the years.

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#5 He sure knows how to win trophies

Champions League Final - AS Monaco v FC Porto

Whatever accusations, legitimate or not, can be made about Mourinho’s behaviour and approach to the game, there can be no arguing with his record of winning trophies.

Two Champions League triumphs, two UEFA Cup/Europa League trophies and eight league titles across four different countries are the highlights of a 17-year career that has yielded 20 major trophies.

It could be argued that he has consistently manage clubs in advantageous positions, whether due to financial or institutional clout, but amongst currently active coaches, only Pep Guardiola (15 trophies in 10 years) offers a genuine challenge to that haul.

Even in what was generally an average campaign for Manchester United in the league last season, he still delivered two trophies: the EFL Cup and the Europa League.

#4 His teams are built around a strong defence

Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur - Capital One Cup Final

It is perhaps unfair to paint Mourinho is a solely defensive coach. For instance, his Real Madrid side wracked up an incredible 121 goals on route to the Spanish title in the 2011-12 season. But his sides have certainly always been built around a strong defensive set up.

That was particularly apparent during the early part of his coaching career. At Porto, his side conceded just 19 goals in 34 matches in his second and final season at the helm, while his Chelsea team who claimed the Premier League title in his debut campaign as head coach in the 2004-05 season remarkably only conceded 15 goals in 38 matches - 0.39 per match.

Over the course of the 13 full seasons he has completed at five different clubs, his teams have an average concession rate of just 0.76 goals per match. Only in his final season at Real Madrid has one of his sides ever conceded more than a goal per match.

And whenever his teams come up against other title contenders, he is more than happy to shut up shop and come away with a point or snatch a winner on the counter-attack.

#3 Three years at a club is his limit (so far)

Watch out for the third season syndrome...

Mourinho’s first spell at Chelsea was the only time he lasted more than three seasons at a single club and that experience ended just a month or so into his fourth.

Otherwise, there is a pattern to his trajectory at each club. The first season either brings instant success or is used as a building year, the second season always provides a league title and by the third, players and/or club management have become tired of his methods.

That drop off between the second and third season has been very clear in his last two jobs. At Real Madrid, his second season brought a league title success secured with 100 points and a +89 goal difference; his third, a second-place finish, with 85 points and a +61 goal difference. In his second spell at At Chelsea, a league title in 2014-15 was followed by his dismissal after nine defeats in 16 matches at the start of the following campaign.

Whether it is the intensity with which he divides to forge a siege mentality, the mental fatigue brought on by his regimented and systematic approach or his consistent politicking, relationships always seem to break down during his third season. It is probably for the best that his spells at FC Porto and Inter Milan both ended on the high of Champions League success at the end of his second campaign.

#2 He likes to control the narrative

Chelsea Press Conference

When Mourinho first arrived on British shores back in 2004, he seemed like a breath of fresh air in the otherwise fairly dull arena of Premier League coaches. He was more than happy to make controversial statements and never backed down from a verbal sparring session.

The Portuguese coach found it easy to get under the skin of his counterparts, while the media generally took his statements at face value, allowing him to control the narrative. There was always someone at fault when his sides fell to defeat: the referee, the conditions, the fixture scheduling or even the temerity of opponents unwilling to open up and leave space for his team to attack them on the break. Anyone but himself.

His act was not as easily swallowed in Italy nor by many in the Spanish press (Diego Torres was a particularly vocal critic), and by the time he returned to England in 2013, most of the shine had come off him. But there are still a select few within the British media who are happy to repeat his words as fact and place stories that paint him in a positive light or otherwise serve his interests.

#1 His teams make fortresses of their home stadiums

Manchester United v Manchester City - Premier League

Between February 2002, a month into his time at Porto, through to April 2011, at Real Madrid, Mourinho put together a run of 150 league home matches without defeat, encompassing 38 matches at Porto, 60 with Chelsea and 14 with Real Madrid. Sporting Gijon broke that run with a 1-0 win at the Bernabeu on 2nd April 2011.

A subsequent 45-match unbeaten streak on home territory, which started at Real Madrid and continued into his second spell at Chelsea, was brought to an end by a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Sunderland in April 2014.

His Manchester United side drew far too many of their home matches in his first year in charge last season but even so, at time of writing are still on a 21-match unbeaten run at Old Trafford in league play. Going away and winning against a Mourinho side is never an easy task.