5 matches that exposed Jose Mourinho's tactics

Jose Mourinho has long had this bravado about him. The Special One, the master tactician and sobriquets of similar ilk are now synonymous with the Portuguese manager. And to be fair to him, he has been able to walk the walk amidst all the talk with trophies aplenty to prove it.But there have been times, and this is true for every manager out there, when he has been played like a fiddle despite all his shrewdness. To quote Sam Allardyce from last season, Mourinho can be "out-tactic-ed" and "out-witted" despite all his technical and psychological gambits.While Sam Allardyce was unable to "out-tactic" Jose this time round losing 2-0 in the process, other managers have been able to outwit the Special One in the past and some have done so with aplomb. Here we will have a look at some matches that surely saw Jose Mourinho out-tactic-ed.

#5 Chelsea 0-0 West Ham, January 29, 2014

Mourinho was not very happy with West Ham’s tactics

Jose Mourinho was left huffing and puffing after a cold January London derby saw a resolute Hammers side containing his team and consequently forcing a drab goalless draw. While he was left questioning his opponent’s approach, even going on to term it as "19th-century football,” the match was seen as Chelsea getting a taste of their own medicine, and that too in their own backyard.

West Ham had 10 men behind the ball throughout the game, which is more commonly known as parking the bus and Mourinho did not see any inspiration coming from his team, and couldn’t do anything to aid them either.

The Portuguese is well known for his pragmatic style of play and for the ability to grind out results but here he was competing against a stout looking side that were spot on with their tactics on the day, as they absorbed pressure as an away side against the top dogs of the Premier League. It turned out to be a tactic that even the great master of tactics had no answer to.

The game garnered even more eyeballs due to the colorful post game 'pot calling the kettle black' sort of press conference where he loathed Sam Allardyce's tactics to which the West Ham boss eloquently replied "I don't give a s**te, to be honest".

#4 Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona, April 27, 2011

Jose Mourinho was not impressed with the explanation offered by the 4th official

The stage was set for an El Clasico semi-final in the Champions League and Mourinho was looking to stop the Barcelona juggernaut having already experienced a 5-0 thrashing at their hands earlier in the season. While he pulled out all the stops from the book to stop Barcelona's famed passing game, he ultimately saw his attempts go waste. One of his ploys that ultimately turned out to be pivotal in the loss was the use of Pepe.

Pepe with his tenacity was seen as the perfect man to counter the destructive creativity of Lionel Messi. While he had his task cut out with Messi to keep at bay, the Portuguese was unable to placate his inner mad hatter that has long had the notoriety of cropping up at the worst of the moments for club and country alike.

While the ploy helped initially making it a stop-start affair with both teams canceling each other, Pepe eventually did the obvious, as he got reckless and was red carded, thus handing out a big advantage to Barcelona.

It was pivotal as Messi now had some freedom and when he usually has freedom he is able to glide through the pitch which is exactly what he did, scoring one of the most memorable individual goals in Champions League history while Mourinho was unlucky not to have seen it from the dugout due to him getting ejected for his sarcastic applause of the referee’s decision to red card Pepe.

#3 Chelsea 1-3 Atletico Madrid, April 30, 2014

Diego Simeone’s Atletico got the better of Mourinho’s Chelsea

Chelsea were fortuitous enough not to get knocked out in the quarter-finals after a disastrous away performance against PSG which they were somehow able to salvage in the home leg. Atletico were a class apart last season and that showed when they met Chelsea in the semi finals. After a goalless draw in Spain, stakes were high for Mourinho's side to win the tie at Stamford Bridge. But it turned out to be a ruthless performance from the Madrid side that saw them overcome the master tactician.

Atletico had all the qualities that we relate with a Jose Mourinho side, the same defensive collectiveness, sturdiness when facing the opposition and a penchant to hit teams on the counter. They stuck to the plan and got their way in London, handing the Portuguese his worst defeat of the season at home.

While Jose with all the specialties was wary of how good his opponents were, fielding an extremely defensive line-up with a right back playing as the right midfielder and a defender in midfield, it was obviously his plan to churn out a result than to take the game to Atleti.

What followed was some great energy and a stout away performance from Atletico that made them look like the home side, ruling the roost in London. Following a 1-3 loss, Mourinho was left questioning the defensive collectiveness of his team though it was obvious that the issues were far more than that and the gulf in class far bigger than individual mistakes.

A spotless away performance that perhaps may even have had Jose applauding deep inside ultimately definitely led him to bring three of Atletico’s first teamers to Stamford Bridge that very summer to strengthen his Chelsea side.

#2 Borussia Dortmund 4-1 Real Madrid, April 24, 2013

Borussia Dortmund players revel in their 4-1 win over Real Madrid

The game was a blur for Mourinho as it was for most of the football aficionados who saw Real Madrid being put to the sword within the first hour or so of the two-legged semi-final. Playing the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, Real Madrid were up against the yellow wall of Dortmund. No doubt that the atmosphere was tremendous in the Westfalenstadion, but what no one knew was how it would conjure one of the greatest Champions’ League performances by a Polish striker.

Hardly an away performance one expects from a Mourinho team, the Madrid midfield and defense were nowhere to be seen, as they were caught on the break time and again, leaving Diego Lopez to face a barrage of Dortmund attacks mostly on his own.

A pulsating first half saw Dortmund taking the lead and Cristiano Ronaldo drawing Real level, but it was the second half blitzkrieg from the Pole Robert Lewandowski, who was supported ably by Dortmund's midfield and their well renowned gegenpressing that broke Madrid’s back.

The Spaniards were simply brushed aside by the tempo and tenacity of the German side and it was a bit strange to see a Mourinho side so ill-equipped and so short of ideas to retaliate at such a big juncture during the tournament. For many football pundits, this game signaled the end of Jose Mourinho’s failed Spanish inquisition.

#1 Barcelona 5-0 Real Madrid, November 29, 2010

A visibly dejected Jose Mourinho after the defeat to Barcelona

Jose Mourinho acknowledged that this game was his worst defeat ever. It was his first visit to Nou Camp as Real Madrid coach, the stadium where he made his name as the “Translator”, and it eventually turned out to be a disastrous return. Apart from the annihilation, the match also saw a darker side of Mourinho, that of a sour loser.

It was a footballing lesson for Mourinho at Nou Camp, who was quick to admit his side's lackluster display. Tactically speaking, the game was all about Mourinho’s hard instilled pragmatism buckling under the vivacious pass and move of the Catalan giants. It was unbridled pressure from a well drilled Barcelona side against a brittle looking Madrid side.

While Mourinho tried to weather the storm, not even his tactical prowess could salvage a situation that was getting out of hand very quickly. Barcelona coach Guardiola was quick to point out the difference between football philosophies on display stating how proud he was that the whole world had seen how they play football.