The best managers of all time: #13 - Jose Mourinho

#13 Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho has been one of the most colourful characters of our times. He’s divided supporters like no other manager has and the fans of his rival teams often left seething by his irreverence towards their team and manager. He’s never refrained from saying what he feels, and that’s not always a popular trait in an often diplomatic community.

But love him or loathe him, Jose Mourinho has been effective for the most part of his career, and simply knows how to get results. His antics have rarely been misplaced or without purpose. Whether it’s his efforts to demean the achievements of rival managers or his famous instructions to not water the Stamford Bridge playing turf for the visit of Barcelona in a crucial Champions League tie, his complete focus is on maximizing the chances of his team winning the game.

Initial foray into management

Mourinho’s first notable foray into what has become a stunningly successful managerial career would be as a translator for Bobby Robson at Sporting CP in the Primeira Liga. He would go on to build a great professional relationship with the famous English manager. Robson was great at man management and instilling the principles of attacking football and Mourinho would continually take on more responsibilities.

The Portuguese might have started as a translator but soon grew into a variety of roles that included taking training sessions, studying opponent tactics and organising defensive drills.

Mourinho would follow Robson to Barcelona, and would get an in-depth look at some of the best players in the world and play an instrumental role in the array of silverware that the team would pick up. Barcelona were sufficiently impressed by Mourinho’s contribution to get him to stay back as assistant manager under their next head coach Louis Van Gaal. Mourinho would continue to flourish but soon it became clear that he was now ready to lead his own team.

First head coach job and Champions League win with Porto

Mourinho led Porto to an unlikely Champions League win

‘The Special One’s’ spell at Benfica wouldn’t last long because of changes in the management but Jose’s spell at his second job with União de Leiria would make Portuguese football sit up and take notice. In the middle of the 2001-02 season, Mourinho would be appointed as the head coach of FC Porto. When he took over, Porto were in 5th position in the table and he would take them up to 3rd by the end, winning 11 of 15 Premiera Liga games.

His first full season with Porto would lead to resounding success. They would win the league title by 11 points, setting a points record in the process and also announce themselves on the European stage with a victorious run in the UEFA Cup. Ricardo Carvalho, Deco, Maniche, Nuno Valente and Costinha were already starting to flourish under Mourinho’s guidance and there was even more staggering success waiting for Porto in the next season.

Mourinho’s exuberant touchline run at Old Trafford remains an iconic moment in Champions League history, and it was a pivotal moment when his team really began to believe that they could win the much-coveted trophy. He would capture the league title again as well, and his profile as a manager had elevated too much for him to remain in Portugal.

Resounding success at Chelsea and Inter Milan

Chelsea and Roman Abramovich came calling and Mourinho would take the helm of a successful era at Chelsea. It wasn’t only the two league titles he won at Stamford Bridge but also about a certain ethos that he would lay down in his initial three-year spell at the club that cemented his legacy in the hearts of Chelsea fans. Mourinho played a big role in luring some fantastic players to the Blues, he was a manager that players would spew blood on the pitch for and everyone wanted to work with.

Eventually, Abramovich and Mourinho would fall out, and the latter would move to Italian giants Inter Milan. Though the Portuguese tactician would win the Serie A in his very first season, the Nerazzurri's early Champions League ouster would be seen as a disappointment.

It’s often Mourinho’s second year that gets the best results, though, and this time would prove no different. Inter Milan, backed by some astute transfers in the market and an already rock solid base had the squad to mount a successful champions league assault, but it was also Mourinho’s experience and unique tactical nous that would be decisive.

Inter’s biggest obstacle would be to try and get past reigning champions Barcelona in the semi-finals and they would win the first leg in spectacular style. Mourinho’s team were perfectly drilled to exploit the Catalan’s weaknesses at the San Siro and ran out comfortable 3-1 winners.

They would have to face an onslaught of Barcelona pressure in the return leg at the Camp Nou, but a 1-0 loss would send them to the final, and Milan into delirium. Inter would be the heavy favourites for the final against Bayern Munich, and would run out comfortable winners in the end.

Bittersweet experiences at Real Madrid and Chelsea

Mourinho would almost immediately accept Real Madrid’s offer to coach them after the Champions League final. His tenure there would often be hampered by an unpredictable boardroom balance at Real Madrid and his own eventual fallout with the Blancos dressing room but make no mistake about it, his La Liga win in 2011-12 is a great achievement given how strong the Barcelona side were.

Mourinho would eventually be dismissed from Madrid after an underwhelming 2012-13 season which he would call the ‘worst’ of his career. His tension with Madrid icons Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas and even supposedly frosty relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo would cement his fate.

His return to Chelsea was a surprise and seemed to usher in a new version of the man, calm and serene and seemingly ready to see out the rest of his career he had an extraordinary affection for. With a league title in his second season, it appeared that he might yet settle in at Chelsea for the long haul, but turbulence with the management and a disastrous start to his third season meant Abramovich had to fire him mid-season

Future with Manchester United

It’s common knowledge that Jose Mourinho finds himself in charge of a Manchester United team with frightening potential. He’s just about managed to handpick the players he wanted to take the United squad to another level, and his start in the Premier League is ominous. At 53 years old, Mourinho could possibly have decades ahead of him in management, and by the time he retires he will have surely catapulted even further up this list.