As he walked into his first press conference in England, way back in 2004 there was an aura of inimitable arrogance about him. “… I’m sorry I am a bit arrogant, we have a top manager”, he said and then followed that up with the coup de grace “…again, please don’t call me arrogant, because what I am saying is true, I’m European Champion so I’m not one of the bottle. I’m a...” *slight pause* “...I think I am a special one.”
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The moniker has stuck to him ever since and the “Special One” has done some rather Special things over the years, including multiple domestic championships at Portugal, England Italy, and Spain – as well as two Champions League trophies.
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Over the past decade or so, he's been right at the top of the world's Managerial tree – and he might have been there all by himself were it not for a certain Josep 'Pep' Guardiola. The Catalan has been bossing it with Barcelona and Bayern, and these days he seems to have brought his own unique brand of total domination to Manchester.
Where it just so happens that his great rival is managing right across the town.
Last Saturday the two met in their first Manchester Derby, in a clash that was billed as one that would give a fair indication of where the Premier League title was heading to.
Over ninety minutes of a fairly tempestuous clash, it seems inclined towards ending up on the Blue side of town; Pep Guardiola outwitting his arch-nemesis in the first half, while matching him step-for-step in the second half as Mourinho went all-out to claw some points back at home.
Roy Keane, the talismanic ex-skipper of United, for one, was highly impressed with Pep – and as he is, blunt and to-the-point while speaking on ITV post-City's annihilation of Borussia Moenchengladbach.
“He said he’s a challenging coach - doesn’t look like he messes about,” Keane said. "I wouldn’t like to mess with him.”, which is high praise coming from someone who likes nothing better than messing with people.
He added "Two coaches in Manchester. Mourinho reckons he’s the special one, to me this guy is." He said that he especially admired the fact that Pep was brave enough to leave out/shift out big, established stars such as Yaya Toure and Joe Hart.
Also Read: Pep Talk - 08: Manchester Derby victory!
He doesn't think complacency – or Cityitis in common parlance- would be an issue this time around - "We’ve seen City have good stats before and they take their foot off the gas a little bit, but I don’t think it will happen under this guy."
Do you agree with Keane?
