Pep or Mourinho? Who's the real 'Special One'?

Guardiola and Mourinho have been rivals for a long time now
Guardiola and Mourinho have been rivals for a long time now

Exactly a month ago, Jose Mourinho was sacked by Manchester United. The Portuguese manager who won three Premier League titles with Chelsea departed Old Trafford with three trophies including a Europa League title. Manchester United were having a below par season, struggling in the 6th position. The former Chelsea manager has won 25 major trophies in his managerial career. Even after a rough spell at Manchester United, he is still considered as one of the best managers in European football.

While Mourinho was having a rough spell at Manchester United, his old friend from Barcelona, Pep Guardiola is having a spectacular season with local rivals Manchester City. Pep joined Manchester City three years ago and went on to win his first Premier League title about a year ago. Pep has won 26 major titles as a manager, which is just one more than Mourinho has won. Both of them are excellent at what they do, but here is a look at who does it better.

Mourinho won his first Champions League trophy with FC Porto
Mourinho won his first Champions League trophy with FC Porto

Although Pep seems to be a much better manager than Jose Mourinho, the Portuguese is a tactical masterclass. There is no manager in the world who is as good as Mourinho when it comes to the tactical approach of the game. Mourinho won the Champions League title with FC Porto, where he had a quite average team.

Pep Guardiola needs a team to perform. In his first season in the Premier League, even after having a relatively above average squad, he struggled. It is when he invested heavily in his team that he was able to win the Premier League title. Mourinho, on the other hand, doesn’t need big players to win matches. Even though he was struggling a lot with his Manchester United team, he went on to win against probably the best team in Europe currently at their home in Turin.

Guardiola's armada of world-class players
Guardiola's armada of world-class players

Guardiola has never struggled much because he always had a good squad at his disposal. At Barcelona, he had Messi and Iniesta. At Bayern Munich, he had Robben and Lewandowski. And at Manchester City currently, he has Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne. So, wherever he has gone, he has had the best players in Europe at his disposal.

Mourinho, on the other hand, makes world class players. He is the main reason why John Terry and Frank Lampard are considered as legends of the game today. He is the reason why Chelsea fans worship Didier Drogba. And most importantly, he is one of the main reasons why Chelsea is quite a dominant side in the Premier League. He lay down a strong foundation for Chelsea to grow ahead, even after he left the club.

Mourinho has nurtured several legendary players at Chelsea
Mourinho has nurtured several legendary players at Chelsea

Five years ago, Mourinho managed to win against Liverpool even after playing an awful side at Anfield. Yes, Gerrard slipped, but Chelsea did not allow any clear goal scoring opportunity at any point in the match for Liverpool. Mourinho’s tactics managed to keep an attack consisting of Suarez, Sterling and Sturridge quiet at Anfield, which seemed quite impossible at the time. The side he played at Anfield was terrible in terms of quality and it looked like Liverpool were going to have an easy win against Chelsea, but a shocking loss took the title away from them.

Pep is a very respected manager all over the world for everything he has done. Pep’s style of play is extremely eye catching but even after all this, Jose is still considered as the ‘Special One.’

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and they do not necessarily represent the views of Sportskeeda.

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Edited by Aditya Hosangadi
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