HE WAS, at one time in his fascinating career, the face of coaching’s future. Call it pragmatism or maybe methodical and ultra-professional, but José Mourinho stumbled across a way of winning football matches and prizes that few have ever matched. The period between 2002 and 2012 was one of the most successful managerial decades in the history of the game – 16 trophies in 10 seasons. Pep Guardiola managed that feat between 2013-14 and 2022-23 but not even Sir Alex Ferguson achieved 16 in 10.
Mourinho’s style wasn’t to everyone’s taste, but when you win trophies and you’re a club that is unused to serial success, you turn a blind eye to any shortcomings. When he moved from Porto, where he had taken the club to extraordinary European triumphs, to join Chelsea, he created a ruthless and intense team that won two Premier League titles, two League Cups and the FA Cup in a three-year stretch. For fans of a club that had been one of football’s great underachievers, Mourinho had been sent from heaven to make full use of the Abramovich millions. Since then, Mourinho’s tactics have become rather passé and overtaken by the approach taken by Guardiola, Jürgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel. His CV is still impressive – Porto, Chelsea, Inter, Real, Manchester United, Tottenham and Roma – but his achievements have tapered off with just one trophy in seven years, the fledgling UEFA Conference League.
Roma are the latest club to sack Mourinho, despite that 2022 success in the Conference League against Feyenoord and sell-out crowds at home games. He has increasingly become the grouchy brother of Statler and Waldorf on the sidelines, continually throwing toys out of prams, gesturing, complaining and arguing. He missed 16 games due to suspensions, more than 11% of Roma’s games during his reign. But he was tailor-made for Roma and the fans realised that. In an age of short-termism, he was ideal to win some silverware for another club that historically, had flattered to deceive. Roma have won Serie A just three times and the Coppa Italia on nine occasions.
Mourinho’s golden decade
| League | Cup | Lge Cup | UCL | UEFA | |
| 2002-03 | Porto | Porto | Porto | ||
| 2003-04 | Porto | Porto | |||
| 2004-05 | Chelsea | Chelsea | |||
| 2005-06 | Chelsea | ||||
| 2006-07 | Chelsea | Chelsea | |||
| 2007-08 | |||||
| 2008-09 | Inter | ||||
| 2009-10 | Inter | Inter | Inter | ||
| 2010-11 | Real M | ||||
| 2011-12 | Real M |
The Roma sacking is said to have hit him hard and he disputed it with the owner and was close to tears as he left with the sound of fans cheering “Grazie, José”. He may have wondered what’s next for one of the modern game’s most discussed and divisive figures. He is unique in that he’s managed five of the world’s top 20 clubs and the others, including Benfica, Porto and Roma, are not too far behind. But the trajectory has been going downwards for a while, five trophies in 12 years and the last league title coming with Chelsea in 2015. Roma was a step away from the elite band he’d become accustomed to, but he seemed to [initially] acclimatise well at the start of his senior citizen phase as a coach.
Although he was sacked after two and half years, the mythical third season syndrome is just that. How many coaches last more than three years these days? Mourinho is no more temporary than a host of other managerial names. Despite the baggage, people still clamour for his services and doubtless there will be someone who wants to benefit from the instant gratification that comes with his appointment.
But it may have to be a path seldom trod for a coach with his track record. It is doubtful that job offers will come from a blue-riband club. For a start, he’s running out of options in that bracket and secondly, his reputation has taken a bit of a battering on and off the field. Success and the element of surprise do not last forever. Even the greatest names – and Mourinho is among them – discover their style has a lifespan.
There is talk of Newcastle United trying to lure him back to the Premier League, the one club outside the “big six” that could host such an ego. They have the money, the aspirations and the support base to attract Mourinho to St. James’s Park, but would it be right for a club building a long-term project. It may be a move that would kick-start trophy winning habits, but it would be a backward step in some ways, the recruitment of a huge name no longer as relevant as he once was. They’ve been seduced by big names before at Newcastle – Keegan, Dalglish, Gullit, Souness, Robson – and it didn’t yield any trophies.
At some point, Mourinho may head to one of football’s emerging markets, notably Saudi Arabia or United States Major League Soccer. You could imagine Inter Miami wanting someone like Mourinho to complement the ageing former Barcelona contingent in Florida, but surely the “special one” will resist a middle eastern league that is far from special. For sheer romance, Mourinho back at Porto would be a case of the return of the king and if club football is actually done with him, the national team of his home country would surely welcome him with open arms.
The story is not over, but José Mourinho may have to come to terms with the passing of time, something which every mature person has to deal with in their working life. We all end up as the old war horse in the corner, working for someone younger than ourselves. We have to realise that we are no longer part of the future, but at least Mourinho and his like can reflect on a career well spent, wherever he lays his hat next.
GAME OF THE PEOPLE 