The Manchester Derby post-game fracas could be Jose Mourinho's lifeline

Upon the match official's whistle, the Manchester Derby ended with the Sky Blues victorious against their city rivals Manchester United in a 2-1 win away from home. However, another battle took place behind the scenes, outside the teams' locker rooms.

Mourinho, agitated by City's loud celebrations post the win, went to the locker room demanding them to lower their voices and show some respect to the home team. What followed was known as it spread like fire across British newspapers.

Mourinho has a reputation of setting up the infamous "us against the world" vibe around the club he manages, convincing the players that media, referees, opposition's managers, and fans around the world want them to fail miserably. This galvanises his team into bouncing back from poor form by giving their utmost dedication on the field and showing their loyalty to the 'Special One.'

With Chelsea, the gaffer absorbed all the media's criticism aimed at the Blues by putting himself as the first line of defence. The accusations were mainly focused on how the Blues were buying their way to success, thanks to Abramovich's money. Chelsea players realised that their coach is isolating them from any type of pressure that grills any team subject to it; the psychological game worked wonders for Mourinho as the Londoners triumphed over Sir Alex Ferguson's United, winning the Premier League with a record 95 points.

Jose whilst at Inter

At Inter, the Portuguese was never far away from controversy as he often accused the Serie A referees of trying to sabotage's Inter's title-winning run. Jose, being a psychological expert, leveraged the series of events as an added motivation for his players to give their all on the pitch. What followed was the first Italian treble in the history of football, where Inter Milan managed to win the Seria A, Coppa Italia, and the Champions League.

However, Mourinho's psychological game reached its peak during his time with Real Madrid. Coinciding with Barcelona's golden era, Mourinho had one goal in mind: to stop FC Barcelona using any means necessary. After his appointment as Madrid's coach, El Clasico became an on-field battle, Real's players turned into game-breakers using their sheer physicality to gain an advantage over the technically excellent Blaugrana.

Mourinho managed to snatch the Copa Del Rey, La Liga, and the Supercopa De Espana in three separate seasons, meaning that his plan worked without taking into consideration the damages done. El Clasico scenes were extremely bad for the football image in Spain, bringing back memories of the civil war during General Franco's reign. That's the magnitude of Mourinho's game, purely "destructive psychology".

Real Madrid stopped Barca's domination

Currently, with Manchester United, Mourinho is definitely in a tough position. After a good start in the opening month of the season, United are a staggering 11 points behind league leaders Manchester City. The Special One knows the team is suffering on a mental level; chances are being created but the finishing is weak, the players aren't in "the zone". All things considered, the Derby fracas can be the spark Mourinho was looking for during his time with the Red Devils. Using his wit and intelligence, he can convince his players into switching to "revenge mode" after City's presumably over-the-board celebrations post-game.

Is it the lifeline Mourinho was looking for? Will it be United's wake-up call ahead of the second half of the season? The answer remains ambiguous to-date, but one thing's for sure, Mourinho will surely look to regain his mojo using all weapons in his arsenal.