There are many fans that are desperate to see Jose Mourinho back in the home dugout at Stamford Bridge, where they argue he belongs and his affinity with the club is undeniable but there are those that believe that it may not necessarily be a good idea to go back and questions some aspects of Mourinho’s personality.
No one has forgotten Mourinho’s success in West London during his first stint, particularly the back-to-back Premier League titles he won with the Blues during his first two seasons in charge. But it would also be a mistake to forget that it all went sour for the self proclaimed ‘Special One’ and Roman Abramovich has long been held accountable for the man who made all the mistakes, but Rory Smith of The Times argues that the club are still suffering problems that Mourinho caused whilst at Chelsea.
Smith was speaking to BT’s Life’s a Pitch website and you can view the video here:
“I did an interview with Didier Drogba in Istanbul and his logic is that Mourinho is still close to the [Chelsea] players, he’s the man the fans want, he will calm things down.
“There is a huge amount of revisionism [about Mourinho at Chelsea], and in the media we’re probably about as guilty as the fans. When Mourinho left, he was just trouble – he was an incubus of discord throughout the club. He caused a lot of the problems that they’re now still paying for, in terms of empowering the players.”
He added:
“Absence has made the heart grow a lot fonder. José Mourinho is great copy for us [sports journalists], but largely he’s just a massive pain in the neck for everyone – especially the people he works for. Maybe he is the man to sort Chelsea out. But it comes at a price.”
I don’t think even the most ardent Mourinho fanatic can deny that there has definitely been an element of player power at the club, it’s been a problem from his reign and it has cost us ever since. The most obvious example was the case of Andre Villas-Boas, who was forced out of the club by the senior players that he was asked to phase out.
But it also happened to Luiz Felipe Scolari as he implied that certain individuals were unwilling to do things his way and Carlo Ancelotti was let down massively by his squad, who staged a miraculous recovery after suffering a ‘bad moment’ for months, and recently have I truly appreciated how big a mistake Chelsea made by not backing the Italian.
However, even though Jose may have started this culture at the club with the players he regarded as untouchables, the board have allowed it to continue, encouraged it and made things worse. So I think it would be harsh to hold Mourinho accountable for it alone. He may have even been a victim of player power himself as Claude Makelele suggested in his autobiography ‘Tout Simplement’.
Whether it’s his fault or not is irrelevant should he return as he would be in charge of stabilising the club, being a figure of authority and continuing the club’s vision. I’d like to think that Mourinho has learned some things since he went off on his travels and has the appetite for the job, we certainly know his hunger for success is endless but surely he yearns to do something long-term, develop talent and be part of a longer lasting legacy like his friend Sir Alex Ferguson?
I’m sure these sorts of things will be discussed between Abramovich, Mourinho and the Chelsea hierarchy should the Real Madrid boss be interviewed for the job, if he hasn’t already, but both sides will need to give assurances. Mourinho will naturally want more authority than any manager has enjoyed since he left, whereas Abramovich will not want to forsake player development and expansive football after investing so much into it. In fairness both sides would be right to make such demands as the manager must be an authority otherwise players can continue to walk all over them and we cannot waste our young talent or put the shackles on exciting players like Eden Hazard and Juan Mata, it would be criminal.
I have heard plenty of good for and against arguments in relation to Jose’s potential return, but I would like to know what your thoughts are on the matter.
Whatever! We are lost, and Jose’ is the light to guide us back to where we belong. KTBFFH!
Jose is coming home with some players and some players r leaving
The preening peacock doesn’t care about any of his clubs. He cares only for himself. He talks only of what “I won”, never of what “we won”. He is doing the same to Real Madrid now as he has done to all his clubs – showing no respect, looking ahead to his next move and playing up all the speculation in order to strengthen his hand. He has never had any desire or capability to stay at a club beyond his contract and seems to prefer using part of his contract period working towards a payoff. He talked of Abramovich not buying him good enough eggs for his omelets, when all the while Mourinho was choosing to buy rubbish like Jarosik, Del Horno and Kezman. Ranieri’s men, from Makelele to Lampard, Terry to Robben and Gallas to Cech etc etc, were the heart of that side, not Mourinho. If he comes back (which I’m hopeful he won’t), it will be great soap opera for sure, but he’ll disrupt again before he packs his bags again for Old Trafford in a year or two, no doubt with another payoff to smile about.
This is my worry, Sir Cecil
I just have a nagging feeling that it will all end in tears again and he’ll go off into the sunset, maybe to United as you suggested. I know both he and Ferguson avoid the possibility when asked if Mourinho will succeed him, but is it a case that they’re protesting a little too much?
don’t forget that Jose is human being that bound to make mistake, but he remain our man any day any time. For him to come back, life will definately come back to the stamford bridge, wacthing our darling club under high blood pressure would have be things of the past.
Jose don’t let us our head pain everyday, please look how you will turn back to your home team home club,… And don’t forget what you have told us last year, that you miss your home your house which is in London, and you miss your fans at Stamford Bridge. This is your right time. Please turn back to your home!!!!!
good work here,i must say you got everything right,Jose Mourinho is a good Coach but looking at Real Madrid team now will discourage you from getting him back,Real Madrid gave him every player he desire but the team attitude is fucked,is not all about buying big players their attitude on field and off pitch should be good as well,yes most problem today at #CFC Jose Mourinho caused it,he gave so much powers to players and again we should consider how long Mourinho will like to stay at the club,good or bad result,we need stability
he likes to spend big money on players then after three years he will leave the club,that’s not what we want, remember Financial fair play will soon be introduced,no more spending so much on players,can Mourinho groom talents without going for already made players?
again we have so much talents,youth players can he give them opportunity?Hazard and Mata might not like to play hard games as we know who Mourinho is really is,all this should be discuss before hiring him again
Thank you, Nicholas.
We’re always going to have to have an eye on Financial Fair Play and this is just one of the reasons the club has invested so much time and money into young players. The next manager simply has to make use of this. I’m not saying Jose won’t, but he’ll have to prove that he can because there’s no point scrapping all of our plans for a quick-fix.
I wouldn’t worry about player power if i was you — I know every time the phrase
comes up the english get the trembles, but scolari and avb deserved to be booted, they were simply trying to change something that wasn’t broken and didn’t need to be changed and the plans in their heads weren’t working because they didn’t suit the reality in front of them — Jose created a team that played a certain way and it was hard to change but i never saw a problem in that, after all it won us a shit load of trophies far more that City have won in a similar time scale — turned out the players were right to stay with what suited them and not some crazy idea floated by some blow-in on a mission. For chelsea’s sake i’m glad they did.
Nothing lasts forever in football and the reason why someone like Ferguson has lasted so long at United is because he’s the authority and the players serve the club, not the other way around.
But I do appreciate your opinion and we can only speculate as to what goes on behind the scenes.
Personally I would hate to see mourinho back his style of football is boring and he would want to spend big to win titles I would love to see players develop like in barca,bayarn etc my choice would be laudrup or in the future pochenttino from southhampton young coaches who play total football
Hopefully the rumours are true and the Special one will come back ! Some of the comments above talk about boring football…..Talk to me about his style of football when we won the league and scored most goals ! and won most points !
He is what we need and i have been going for over 40 years not a johnny come lately.
Come home Jose !
Ancelotti’s side broke a goal record but Mourinho’s title winning sides scored 72 in each season. We got the results we wanted but it wasn’t exactly easy on the eye, he’s the ultimate pragmatist and has been wherever he’s been.
Now, whilst there’s nothing wrong with that, it isn’t for everyone.