5 things we have learnt about Jose Mourinho over the years

#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.