5 things we have learnt about Jose Mourinho over the years

#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.