Let me start by stating the glaringly obvious, Jose Mourinho is a brilliant football manager and has been so for a very long time. His track record of excellence at various top clubs in various top leagues in Europe cannot be understated. This article does not serve to call into question his brilliance but to point out some of his "less desirable" qualities that I think have been a big contributory factor in Chelsea's rather spectacular fall from grace this season.
We all know the situation; Chelsea, English league champions but 6 months ago are struggling mightily this season by their own lofty standards after suffering a number of unexpected defeats. To put the struggle of both team and manager into context: Chelsea have already lost more league matches this season than they had the last 2 combined and we are only 11 games in. Add to that Chelsea have lost 3 home league matches already this season, which is truly remarkable when you consider that Mourinho-led teams have lost a total of 3 home games in the last 13 seasons! The plight of the blues has left everyone scratching their heads as to the root cause.
For me the man responsible is certainly Jose, he is at the heart of this and what irks most though is you'd be hard pressed to find a shred of evidence to suggest the man himself thinks he is at fault for any of this. He typically and cynically has blamed his players, opposing managers tactics and last but not least match officials / the FA for his teams defeats. At no point has the Special One come out and said he or his team weren't good enough without some sort of excuse about the referee. But there in lies the problem...
If you have followed football closely and you know anything about Jose Mourinho you will know this: The man is a winner and he is box office. His whole persona is geared around being a winning coach and his track record proves it. He often carries an "us against the world" mentality where he sees anyone who isn't on his side as against him. Above all, he is not a man too shy to blow his own trumpet and its his bravado as well as his provocative nature that makes him box office material. Seldom does Jose Mourinho leave his powder dry when it comes to press conferences and that is why the hoards from Fleet street love him. He practically writes headlines for them at times. Although his style can rankle, his less appealing qualities are tolerable particularly as his teams are always so successful.
(It also should be noted that those same qualities both on and off the pitch that have made him a media darling in the UK made him very unpopular with the Italian media, who he himself has sited as one of the reasons he left Inter Milan after leading them to an unprecedented treble. In Spain he also left Real Madrid under a cloud after falling out with high profile players and officials alike.)
As I have already stated, you cannot argue with the man's track record of success. He's gone from club to club and had an almost immediate impact through his brand of efficient, effective football combined with his charm and man management skills. He consistently is able to get the best out of players. It also has to be said that crucially has never really been one to build a club around him in the way a Wenger or Ferguson have. He's never built multiple teams with a single club while promoting youth prospects. Mourinho has always been about the here and now when it comes to his management style. Maybe the fact that his time with any team or league is often transient allows him the freedom in his own mind to say whatever thing (good or bad) that comes into his head. This might help to explain why he often speaks in such callous terms regarding rival managers. The list of petty and churlish remarks directed through the media to the likes of Wenger, Benitez, Pellegrini, Guardiola and Ranieri are well documented.
The special one has also had his fair share of run-ins with opposing coaching staff, his own coaching staff and his own players through out the years. His time at Real Madrid was littered with high profile squabbles. In the interest of being balanced I will say that Real Madrid is easily the most politically complex of clubs with a number of huge egos from the dressing room to the board room that need to be assuaged. Alongside this there is also the small matter of delivering results in style for the demanding fans at the Santiago Bernabeu, which makes this a tough task for any manager. But with all that said I cannot think of any previous Real Madrid coach who's had as many public spats with players as Jose. The combustible nature of his personality and his burning desire to win must be linked within the man himself, why else is there such glory and chaos wherever he decides to bring his coaching talents to?
No matter what drama he brings, Mourinho has always brought success alongside it, that is until now. But rather than dampen down the chaos and outward rage in order to focus on his team's shortcomings he has increased the level of scrutiny on himself and his club with yet more incendiary comments and accusations than ever before. It started with his dealing with club doctor Eva Caneiro who he has been accused of constructively dismissing from the club and is being sued. Then there was almost yearly "campaign" mantra brought about after his team lost to Southampton at home where he suggested that match officials are "scared" to give decisions to Chelsea both in the premier league and in Europe. He has routinely blamed match officials for poor results, including his most recent defeat at home to Liverpool, all the while having been critical of some of his key players publicly. But crucially he has never come out and said something to the effect of "we just didnt do enough to win today, our opposition was better and we must improve". Those kinds of comments would have left us focussing on what was wrong with his team, but Mourinho made it all about himself while taking none of the blame.
The simple fact is for someone always so keen to extol his own virtues and successes, the special one has been reluctant to accept any let alone the bulk of the responsibility. In my opinion he needs to. Once he does so, maybe the burden of expectation and pressure will be lifted from the shoulders of his players, who by and large have been trying really hard for him. What is also noticeable is the way the spirit of the team, something that has been a Mourinho hallmark is sorely missing. It is often said that Mourinho's antics are a smoke screen, used to take the pressure off his players / team by grabbing the spotlight, but those moments were usually in periods of success. Now he is enduring the worst spell of his career he needs to turn the tables by taking full responsibility of the performances of his players and accepting the mistakes the match officials make. The question is, will he learn his lessons in time or will he keep blaming everyone else except the man in charge? For Chelsea to get back on track the sideshows have to stop.
