Tryst with controversy – Mourinho’s Top 10 controversial moments

Love or hate him, the charisma exuded by Jose Mourinho can never be disputed. His football acumen may have evolved over the years and so may have his man-management skills ever since he began his career as a “gaffer” at Benfica in 2000, but Mourinho, the man remains the same. Quick retaliation, tongue-in-cheek remarks, absolute mockery of opponents, mind games with other managers and continuous excoriation of referees shall all be a part of the legacy that the Portuguese leaves behind when he draws the curtain on his career.

Jose Mourinho – Not a stranger to controversy

Mourinho has never been a stranger to controversy, right from his first press conference at Chelsea that earned him the “special” tag. From then on, controversies have followed Mourinho faithfully, during his spells at Inter Milan and while at Real Madrid. Mourinho has thus become one of the most polarizing persons that football has seen in recent times, with many willing to overlook his antics for the prowess he exudes as a manager, while those against him have become inured to his constant whimpering.

Here is a look at 10 of the most outrageous things Mourinho has said or done (in no particular order) in his 13 year managerial career.

Poking Tito Vilanova in the eye

The venue was the magnificent Camp Nou and the stage was set for a high octane game of football that would decide who laid their hands on the 2011 Spanish Super Cup. Arch rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona faced off in the second leg of the final, with the first leg ending with honors shared at 2-2.

Barcelona went on to triumph 3-2 in what was an enthralling game which took an uglier side towards the conclusion. After Marcelo had badly fouled Francesc Fabregas towards the end, the two dugouts came to blows with each other with Jose Mourinho also involved big time. In an incident that escaped the eyes of many, including the referee, Mourinho is filmed to have gouged the eye of Barcelona’s then assistant manager Tito Vilanova by sticking out a finger, who reacted by pushing Mourinho.

“Pito” Vilanova

Mourinho and Vilanova seem to have patched up now

If his actions weren’t enough, Mourinho added fuel to the fire during the press conference that followed the match. When queried about the incident, Mourinho replied to the press saying that he did not know who “Pito” Vilanova was, “Pito” being slang in Spanish for penis. The whole sequence of incidents, poking and press conference put together, tarnished the image of Mourinho in Spain. Vilanova went on to become Barcelona head coach and under his tutelage Barcelona won the 2012-13 La Liga.

“Zeru tituli”

It was during one of his press conferences in his first season in Italy as he tried to deride his other Serie A counterparts. His attempt at Italian backfired as he incorrectly pronounced “zero titoli”, meaning zero titles as “zeru tituli”. Mourinho was referring to the fact that Carlo Ancelotti and Luciano Spalletti, the then managers of AC Milan and AS Roma, would end the season with no silverware while he had already won the Italian Super Cup and his Inter on course for another scudetto. This phrase became widely popular and was extensively used by the fans during the celebrations that followed Inter’s triumph of the Serie A in 2009.

Role exchange with Roman Abramovich

Jose Mourinho with Roman Abramovich and then chief executive Peter Kenyon

During his first spell at Chelsea, a journalist once queried Mourinho as to whether Abramovich had a say in the team selection at Chelsea. Mourinho came up with an absolute genius of an answer in his usual tongue-in-cheek style. This was his reply:

“If Roman Abramovich helped me out in training we would be bottom of the league and if I had to work in his world of big business, we would be bankrupt!”

This quote was remarkably subtle by Mourinho’s standards. But the inner meaning reflected strongly. In other words, Mourinho was attempting to indirectly indicate the repercussions if Abramovich were to interfere with Mourinho’s working style. Way to go, Jose!

Special One

The name Jose Mourinho is synchronous with the word “special”. If one was to wonder how and where it all began, it was on his first press conference on English soil and his first as Chelsea manager. These were his exact words:

“Please don’t call me arrogant, but I’m European champion and I think I’m a special one.”

This set a precedent for his rants in the future during media interactions.

Dropping Juan Mata

Jose Mourinho – What role does he envision for Juan Mata?

The Spanish international was in the form of his life, having been Chelsea’s best player of the season for two years in a row. But he was in for a rude shock when Mourinho announced that Oscar was his first choice number 10 and that Mata would have to increase his defensive work rate if he wanted to be in the starting eleven.

Jonas Olsson – A Mickey Mouse player

Stamford Bridge was on the verge of being breached and Mourinho’s unbeaten record at home in the Premier League was about to come to an end only for referee Andre Marriner to point to the penalty spot in what was effectively the last kick of the game.

West Brom were denied a famous victory and Steve Clark was aghast. But things took a turn for the ugly when a scuffle erupted in the tunnel that led to the dressing rooms. Guess who was involved? Yes, Jose Mourinho. Mourinho reportedly called Jonas Olsson, West Brom vice-captain “a Mickey Mouse player” in the ugly bust-up.

Secretly meeting with Ashley Cole

“Look at my haircut — I am ready for the war,” said Jose Mourinho back in 2006. Not so coincidentally, Ashley Cole sported a similar haircut and soon became a Chelsea player. But unbeknownst to Arsenal, Mourinho along with Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon met in secret with Ashley Cole while he was still an Arsenal player. Mourinho was ruled to have breached Premier League rules and hefty fines were imposed on both parties.

The “second” yellow

During the penultimate group stage match against Ajax in the 2010 UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid were in cruise control, comfortably leading 4-0. With the knockout stages looming, Mourinho asked two of his premier players Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos, to pick up a second tactical yellow that would rule them out of the last group stage match. This would ensure that they would be available for the knockout stage matches as they would have already served their one match suspension. Mourinho was fined £33,500 by UEFA for his actions.

Marginalising players at Real Madrid

Mourinho’s last season at Real Madrid was one to forget

In his final season at Real Madrid, the club was plagued by a lack of unity. Iker Casillas, who twice represented Spain at the Euros and was also in goal for the La Rojas in the 2010 World Cup, was infamously dropped by Mourinho. It is reported that the club was divided into two factions – Madridistas and Mourinistas, those loyal to the traditional Madrid players and those loyal to Mourinho. This brought disrepute to the club and led to Mourinho’s unceremonious exit from Real Madrid.