José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix
GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional
football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian
Serie A club
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
* Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the British media, Mourinho is one of the most decorated managers ever and is widely considered to be among the greatest managers of all time.
After an uneventful career as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
in the
Portuguese leagues, Mourinho moved into coaching, first as an interpreter for
Sir Bobby Robson
Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswic ...
at
Sporting CP and
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...
, before gaining success as an assistant at
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
under both Robson and his successor,
Louis van Gaal. After impressing with brief stints at
Benfica and
União de Leiria, Mourinho returned to Porto as manager in 2002, winning the
Primeira Liga twice, a
Taça de Portugal, the
UEFA Cup and the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
, Porto's first European Cup title since 1987. That success earned him a move to England with
Chelsea in 2004. Marked by his
braggadocio
Braggadocio may refer to:
*Braggadocchio, a fictional character in the epic poem ''The Faerie Queene''
*A braggart or empty boasting
*Braggadocio (rap), a type of rapping
*Braggadocio (typeface)
Braggadocio is a geometrically constructed sans-s ...
during his early managerial career, Mourinho famously said "...''I think I'm a special one''", which came to be a renowned moniker for him. With the club, he won two
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
titles, an
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...
and two
League Cups in his three seasons at the club, before he departed in 2007 amid reports of disagreements with club owner
Roman Abramovich.
In 2008, Mourinho joined Italian club
Inter Milan
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...
, where he won
Serie A twice, including a European
treble of Serie A, the
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
and the UEFA Champions League in 2010, a first for an Italian club. This made him one of five coaches to have won the
European Cup with two clubs, and later that year, earned him the first
FIFA World Coach of the Year
The FIFA World Coach of the Year was an association football award given annually to the football coach who is considered to have performed the best in the previous 12 months. It was awarded based on votes from coaches and captains of internatio ...
.
Mourinho then moved to
Real Madrid, where he won
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...
in
2011–12 with a record points tally, becoming the fifth coach to have won league titles in four countries. He also won a
Copa del Rey
The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...
and a
Supercopa de España
The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...
.
Mourinho left Real Madrid in 2013 and rejoined Chelsea, where he won
another league title and
League Cup, but was dismissed in 2015 after a poor run of results.
Remaining in England, he was appointed at
Manchester United and
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
respectively, but his tenure at both clubs were relatively short-lived and ended in acrimonious fashion. Despite this, he won the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
,
League Cup and
FA Community Shield in his
first season with Manchester United, and led Tottenham to the final of the
League Cup. He was soon hired by Roma, leading them to win the
inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League — this made him the first manager to both reach and win the final of a major European competition with four different clubs, the third manager to have won
all three major European club competitions and the first to achieve the UEFA treble by winning the Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League and Europa Conference League.
He was named Portuguese Coach of the Century by the
Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) in 2015,
and was the first coach to spend more than £1 billion on
transfers. Due to his tactical knowledge, charismatic and controversial personality, and a reputation for prioritising results over attractive football, he has drawn comparisons, by both admirers and critics, with Argentine manager
Helenio Herrera.
Early life, playing career and education
Mourinho was born in 1963 to a large middle-class family in
Setúbal
Setúbal (, , ; cel-x-proto, Caetobrix) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2014 was 118,166, occupying an area of . The city itself had 89,303 inhabitants in 2001. It lies within the Lisbon metropolitan area.
In the t ...
(a suburb of the
Lisbon metropolitan area), Portugal, the son of José Manuel Mourinho Félix, who was known by the name
Félix Mourinho
José Manuel Mourinho Félix (12 February 1938 – 25 June 2017), known as Félix Mourinho, was a Portuguese football goalkeeper and manager.
Playing career
Mourinho was born in Ferragudo, Faro District, Algarve. He played 19 seasons as a prof ...
, and his wife, Maria Júlia Carrajola dos Santos. His father played football professionally for
Belenenses
Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000-seat Estádio do Reste ...
and
Vitória de Setúbal
Vitoria or Vitória may refer to :
People
* Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian
* Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer
* Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer
* Steven Vitória ...
, earning one cap for
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
in the course of his career. His mother was a primary school teacher from an affluent background;
her uncle funded the construction of the Vitória de Setúbal football stadium.
The fall of
António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar (, , ; 28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese dictator who served as President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 to 1968. Having come to power under the ("National Dictatorship"), he reframed the re ...
's ''
Estado Novo'' regime in April 1974, however, led to the family losing all but a single property in nearby
Palmela
Palmela () is a town and a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 62,831, in an area of 465.12 km².
The municipality is located in the Lisboa Region and Setúbal District, about south of Lisbon. The municipal holiday is 1 Ju ...
.
Mourinho wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and joined the Belenenses youth team. Graduating to the senior level, he left the club in 1980 to sign for
Rio Ave
Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlanti ...
, where he played for the reserve team, and in 1981, was joined by his father, who was named first team manager. There, he struck up a prolific partnership with veteran striker
Mário Reis. According to former teammate
Baltemar Brito (who would become an assistant to Mourinho early on his managerial career), the duo scored around 100 goals, with Mourinho netting forty-seven times.
In addition to playing for the reserves, Mourinho was usually tasked with scouting other teams for his father.
He was rarely selected by his father, but he made his debut for the club in the third round of the Taça de Portugal, in a 2–1 extra time win over
Salgueiros.
However, on the final day of the campaign against champions-elect
Sporting CP, a defender was injured in the pre-match warm up, so he was told to get changed. Club president José Maria Pinho, fearing the threat of nepotism, overruled the decision to do so; the incident saw the pair leave to join Belenenses in the summer. Mourinho mostly spent the season playing for the reserve team, and he played for the first team in the second round of the
Taça de Portugal against Vila Franca do Campo. With Belenenses 8–0 up at half-time, Mourinho came on as a second-half substitute and scored a hat-trick as the team won 17–0, which remains the club's biggest ever victory in the tournament.
When his father returned to Rio Ave, Mourinho did not go with him and continued to play in the lower levels of the
Portuguese football league system, first with
Sesimbra, and then for
Comércio e Indústria, where he finished his career. At the latter club, he was
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of the team and would save the life of a teammate who had gotten trapped in a car that had caught on fire. Mourinho decided that he lacked the requisite pace and power to become a professional and chose to focus on becoming a football coach instead.
His mother enrolled him in a business school, but Mourinho dropped out on his first day, deciding he would rather focus on sport, and chose to attend the Instituto Superior de Educação Física (ISEF),
Technical University of Lisbon, to study
sports science
Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...
.
After attending coaching courses held by the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
and
Scottish Football Associations, former
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
manager
Andy Roxburgh
Andrew Roxburgh (born 5 August 1943) is a Scottish former football player and manager currently serving as an administrator. Roxburgh's entire professional playing career was spent in the Scottish Football League. After retiring as a player, he ...
took note of the young Portuguese's drive and attention to detail.
Mourinho sought to redefine the role of coach in football by mixing coaching theory with motivational and psychological techniques.
Coaching career
After leaving his job as a school coach, Mourinho looked for a path into professional management in his hometown and became youth team coach at Vitória de Setúbal in the early 1990s. Later he accepted the position of assistant manager at
Estrela da Amadora
Club Football Estrela da Amadora (), sometimes just Estrela, is a Portuguese sports club (predominantly football) based in Amadora, northwest of Lisbon.
It's the successor of Clube de Futebol Estrela da Amadora, founded in 1932 and extinct in 2 ...
,
then was a scout at
Ovarense. Then, in 1992, an opportunity arose to work as a translator for a top foreign coach:
Bobby Robson had been appointed as the new manager of Lisbon club
Sporting CP and needed an English-speaking local coach to work as his
interpreter.
His presentation was on 7 July, alongside president
Sousa Cintra, manager Robson and
Manuel Fernandes.
Mourinho began discussing tactics and coaching with Robson in his interpreting role.
Robson was sacked by the club in December 1993. When
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...
appointed him as their head coach, Mourinho moved with him, continuing to coach and interpret for players at the new club.
The Porto team, consisting of players like
Ljubinko Drulović
Ljubinko Drulović (; born 11 September 1968) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a winger, and is a current manager.
He spent the most notable part of his playing career in Portugal, with stints at Porto and Benfica – ...
,
Domingos,
Rui Barros
Rui Gil Soares de Barros (born 24 November 1965) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, currently a manager.
He played with success in Portugal (at Porto), Italy – at Juventus – and France (t ...
,
Jorge Costa
Jorge Paulo Costa Almeida (born 14 October 1971) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a central defender, currently manager of Académico de Viseu.
Nicknamed ''Bicho'' (animal) and ''Tanque'' ( tank) by his colleagues and fans for ...
and
Vítor Baía, went on to dominate Portuguese football the following years. With Robson as head coach and Mourinho as his assistant, Porto reached the
1993–94 UEFA Champions League
The 1993–94 UEFA Champions League was the 39th season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier club football tournament, and the second season with the UEFA Champions League logo (it was adopted in the group stage and semi-finals, the res ...
semi-finals and won the
1993–94 Taça de Portugal
The 1993–94 Taça de Portugal was the 55th edition of the Portuguese football knockout tournament, organized by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). The 1993–94 Taça de Portugal began in September 1993. The final was played on 5 June 1 ...
, the
1994–95 and
1995–96 Portuguese championship Portuguese Championship (Portuguese: ''Campeonato Português'') may refer to:
* Campeonato Português de Rugby
* Portuguese Chess Championship
*Portuguese District Championships
See also
* List of association football competitions in Portugal ...
, and the 1994, 1995 and 1996
Portuguese Super Cup
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
, the latter with a
5–0 victory over
arch-rivals Benfica, in what proved to be Robson's last game at Porto before moving to
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, earning Robson the nickname "Bobby Five-O" in Portugal.
After two years at Porto, the duo moved again, joining Barcelona in 1996.
Mourinho and his family moved to the city of
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, and he gradually became a prominent figure of the club's staff by translating at press conferences, planning practice sessions and helping players through tactical advice and analyses of the opposition. Robson and Mourinho's styles complemented each other: the Englishman favoured an attacking style, while Mourinho covered defensive options, and the Portuguese's love of planning and training combined with Robson's direct man-management. The Barcelona attack was led by a prime
Ronaldo
Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People
Notable people known as Ronaldo include:
As ...
– whom Mourinho regards as the best player post-Diego Maradona. The partnership was fruitful and Barcelona finished the season by winning the
European Cup Winners' Cup, the
Copa del Rey
The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...
and
Supercopa de España
The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...
. Robson moved clubs the following season but this time Mourinho did not follow as Barcelona were keen to retain him as assistant manager.
The two remained good friends and Mourinho later reflected on the effect Robson had had upon him:
He began working with Robson's successor,
Louis van Gaal, and he learned much from the Dutchman's conscientious style. Both assistant and head coach combined their studious approach to the game and Barcelona won
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...
twice in Van Gaal's first two years as coach.
Van Gaal saw that his number two had the promise to be more than a skilled assistant. He let Mourinho develop his own independent coaching style and entrusted him with the coaching duties of
Barcelona B
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...
.
Van Gaal also let Mourinho take charge of the first team (acting as Mourinho's assistant himself) for certain trophies, like the
Copa Catalunya, which Mourinho won in 2000.
Managerial career
Benfica
The chance to become a top-tier manager arrived in September 2000 when Mourinho moved up from his role as
assistant manager at Benfica to replace manager
Jupp Heynckes after the fourth week of the
Primeira Liga.
The Benfica hierarchy wanted to appoint
Jesualdo Ferreira
Manuel Jesualdo Ferreira (born 24 May 1946) is a Portuguese football manager. He is currently the manager of Zamalek in the Egyptian Premier League.
In a managerial career of over forty years, he was in charge of all of his country's Big Three ...
as the new assistant coach, but Mourinho refused and picked
Carlos Mozer, a retired Benfica defender, as his right-hand man instead.
Mourinho was highly critical of Ferreira, whom he had first encountered as his teacher at ISEF and later lambasted the veteran coach by stating, "This could be the story of a donkey who worked for 30 years but never became a horse." Only weeks after being given the job at Benfica, Mourinho's mentor, Sir Bobby Robson, offered him the assistant manager's role at
Newcastle United. Such was Robson's desperation for Mourinho to join him he offered to step down after two years in charge and hand over the reins to Mourinho. Mourinho turned the offer down and said he knew Robson would never step down at the club he loved.
Mourinho and Mozer proved a popular combination, enjoying a 3–0 win against
rivals
A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...
Sporting CP in December.
Their reign, however, appeared to be at risk after Benfica's election turned against club president
João Vale e Azevedo
João António de Araújo Vale e Azevedo (born 17 May 1957) is a Portuguese former lawyer who was the 31st president of sports club S.L. Benfica.
In relation to his three-year club presidency, he was convicted of embezzlement, document forger ...
and the newly elected
Manuel Vilarinho said that he would instate ex-Benfica player
Toni
Toni, Toñi or Tóni is a unisex given name.
In Spanish, Italian, Croatian and Finnish, it is a masculine given name used as a short form of the names derived from Antonius like Antonio, Ante or Anttoni.
In Danish, English, Finnish, Norwe ...
as his new coach.
Although Vilarinho had no intention of firing him immediately, Mourinho used the victory over Sporting to test the president's loyalty and he asked for a contract extension.
Vilarinho refused the demand and Mourinho resigned from his position immediately. He left the club on 5 December 2000
after just nine league games in charge. Upon later reflection, Vilarinho rued his poor judgement and expressed his frustration at losing Mourinho:
União de Leiria
Mourinho found a new managerial post in July 2001 with
União de Leiria.
During his time at União de Leiria, the team was on a run contesting places as high as third and fourth. After a 1–1 draw against
Santa Clara on 20 January 2002, Mourinho recorded eight matches unbeaten in the league (six wins, two draws) since 25 November 2001. And the team was in fourth place, one point ahead of
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...
, one point behind of
Benfica and six points behind the top of the league table.
[ ] Mourinho's successes at Leiria did not go unrecognised and he caught the attention of larger Portuguese clubs.
Porto
Mourinho was then hand-picked by Porto to replace
Octávio Machado on 23 January 2002.
At this time, Porto was in fifth place in the Liga (behind
Sporting CP,
Boavista, União de Leiria and Benfica), had been eliminated from the
Taça de Portugal and was in last place in their
UEFA Champions League second group stage. Mourinho guided the team to third place that year after a strong 15-game run (including 11 wins) and gave the promise of "making Porto champions next year".
He quickly identified several key players whom he saw as the backbone of what he believed would be a perfect Porto team: Vítor Baía,
Ricardo Carvalho
Ricardo Alberto Silveira de Carvalho (; born 18 May 1978) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
Carvalho began his career at Porto, where he had loan spells at Leça, Vitória de Setúbal and Alverca, b ...
,
Costinha,
Deco,
Dmitri Alenichev
Dmitri Anatolyevich Alenichev (russian: Дмитрий Анатольевич Аленичев; born 20 October 1972) is a Russian football coach, former player and politician.
Club career
Despite being a Spartak Moscow fan, Alenichev debuted ...
and
Hélder Postiga. He recalled captain Jorge Costa after a six-month loan to
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...
. The signings from other clubs included
Nuno Valente and
Derlei from União de Leiria;
Paulo Ferreira from Vitória de Setúbal;
Pedro Emanuel
Pedro Emanuel dos Santos Martins Silva (born 11 February 1975), known as Pedro Emanuel, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played mainly as a central defender, currently manager of Saudi Arabian club Khaleej FC.
In his 16-year professional c ...
from Boavista; and
Edgaras Jankauskas and
Maniche, who both had been out of contract at Benfica.
2002–03 season
During the pre-season, Mourinho put detailed reports of the team training on the club website. The reports were filled with formal vocabulary, as, for instance, he referred to a jog as an extended
aerobic exercise. One of the key aspects in Mourinho-era Porto was the pressuring play, which started at the offensive line, dubbed "''pressão alta''" ("high pressure"). The physical and combative abilities of the teams' defenders and midfielders allowed Porto to apply pressure from the offensive lines and forced opponents either to concede the ball or try longer, uncertain passes.
In 2003, Mourinho won his first
Primeira Liga with a 27–5–2 record, 11 points clear of Benfica, the team he quit two years earlier. The total of 86 points out of the possible maximum of 102 was a Portuguese record, until the
2015–16 season won by Benfica (88 points), since the rule of three points per win was introduced. Mourinho also won the
Taça de Portugal, beating former club Leiria in the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
, and the
UEFA Cup final against
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foo ...
, both in May 2003.
2003–04 season
The following season witnessed further successes: he led Porto to victory in the one-match
Portuguese Super Cup
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
, beating Leiria 1–0. They lost, however, the
UEFA Super Cup 1–0 to
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
, with
Andriy Shevchenko scoring the solitary goal. The team was dominant in the
Primeira Liga and finished the season with a perfect home record, an eight-point advantage and a 27-match unbeaten run that ran from the start of the season until early April, when they lost to
Gil Vicente; they secured the title five weeks before the end of the season. Porto lost the
2004 Taça de Portugal Final to Benfica in May 2004, but two weeks later, Mourinho won a greater prize: the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
, with a
3–0 win over
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
in Germany. The club had eliminated
Manchester United,
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
and
Deportivo de La Coruña and their sole defeat of the competition came against
Real Madrid in the group round.
In the first leg between Manchester United and Porto, United manager
Sir Alex Ferguson confronted Mourinho after
Roy Keane received a red card for stamping on Vítor Baía. In the second leg at
Old Trafford, Porto were on the verge of an away-goals defeat when Costinha scored a goal in the 89th minute to win the tie. Mourinho flamboyantly
celebrated the goal by leaving his dugout, fists punching the air as he sprinted down the sideline near to his celebrating players – this dramatic celebration is regarded as the moment when Mourinho announced himself to the game. Mourinho's Porto win over Ferguson's United was a preview of his move to the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
managing
Chelsea, where the two men would enjoy a competitive but respectful relationship. In 2005, after Chelsea clinched the Premier League title, Ferguson had his players form a guard of honour at Chelsea's next game at Old Trafford, a favour that Mourinho returned in 2007 at
Stamford Bridge after Ferguson's squad were confirmed league champions.
Liverpool offered their managerial position to
Rafael Benítez and Mourinho instead accepted a large offer from Roman Abramovich and pledged his immediate future to Chelsea.
Chelsea
On 2 June 2004, Mourinho moved to
Chelsea on a three-year contract, after a £1.7 million compensation package was agreed with Porto, making him the first Portuguese manager in the Premier League.
In a press conference upon joining the English side, Mourinho spoke on Chelsea's credentials, stating, "We have top players and, sorry if I'm arrogant, we have a top manager", before adding,
This comment resulted in the media dubbing him "The Special One", and his
braggadocio
Braggadocio may refer to:
*Braggadocchio, a fictional character in the epic poem ''The Faerie Queene''
*A braggart or empty boasting
*Braggadocio (rap), a type of rapping
*Braggadocio (typeface)
Braggadocio is a geometrically constructed sans-s ...
was widely recognised during his early managerial career. Mourinho recruited his backroom staff from Porto, consisting of assistant manager
Baltemar Brito, fitness coach
Rui Faria
Rui Filipe da Cunha Faria (born 14 June 1975) is a Portuguese football coach, known for his work with football manager José Mourinho for 17 years.
Biography
Early life
Faria was born in Balugães, a tiny parish of Barcelos in Portugal. L ...
, chief scout
André Villas-Boas and goalkeeping coach
Silvino Louro. He retained
Steve Clarke, a long-serving former player at Chelsea, who had also performed an assistant managerial-type role under previous managers at the club. In terms of spending, Mourinho carried on where his predecessor
Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023.
Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in ...
left off, as, bankrolled by Roman Abramovich, he spent in excess of £70 million in transfer fees on players such as
Tiago (£10 million) from Benfica,
Michael Essien (£24.4 million) from Lyon,
Didier Drogba (£24 million) from
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
,
Mateja Kežman (£5.4 million) from
PSV, and Porto pair Ricardo Carvalho (£19.8 million) and Paulo Ferreira (£13.3 million).
2004–05 season
Under Mourinho, Chelsea built on the potential developed in the previous season. By early December, they were at the top of the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
table and had reached the knock-out stages of the
Champions League.
He secured his first trophy by winning the
League Cup against
Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
3–2 (
AET) in
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...
. Towards the end of the match, Mourinho was escorted from the touchline after putting his finger to his mouth in the direction of Liverpool fans, as a response to taunts directed towards him whilst Liverpool were leading, before the equalising goal.
Chelsea met Barcelona in the Champions League round of 16, a highly contested match where the Blues lost away in the first leg 2–1 but advanced on aggregate, winning at home 4–2. In the quarter-finals against
Bayern Munich, Mourinho who was banned from attending the stadium, waited in the dressing room before the match to talk to his players, then he hid in a laundry basket to leave the stadium. Later on, he missed the chance of back-to-back Champions League successes when Chelsea were knocked out of the competition by a controversial goal in the semi-finals by eventual winners Liverpool.
Under Mourinho, Chelsea secured their first
top-flight domestic title in 50 years, setting a string of
English football records
This article concerns football records in England. Unless otherwise stated, records are taken from the Football League or Premier League. Where a different record exists for the top flight (Football League First Division 1888–1992, and Premie ...
in the process, including the most points ever achieved in the Premier League (95) and the fewest goals conceded (15).
2005–06 season
Chelsea started the next season well: they defeated
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...
2–1 to win the
2005 FA Community Shield and topped the Premier League from the first weekend of the
2005–06 season. Chelsea beat rivals Manchester United 3–0 to win their second consecutive Premier League title and Mourinho's fourth domestic title in a row. After the presentation of his championship medal, Mourinho threw his medal and blazer into the crowd. He was awarded a second medal within minutes, which he also threw into the crowd.
2006–07 season
The
2006–07 season saw growing media speculation that Mourinho would leave the club at the season's conclusion, due to alleged poor relations with owner Roman Abramovich and a power struggle with sporting director
Frank Arnesen
Frank Arnesen (born 30 September 1956) is a former Danish footballer and sporting director at Dutch football club Feyenoord. Arnesen was the Director of Football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and was Sporting Director ...
and Abramovich advisor
Piet de Visser. Mourinho later cleared doubts regarding his future at Stamford Bridge, stating that there would only be two ways for him to leave Chelsea: if Chelsea did not offer him a new contract before the expiry of his current deal in June 2010, or if Chelsea were to sack him.
Didier Drogba had the highest scoring season of his career that year and this led to his newly signed strike partner
Andrey Shevchenko to be dropped from the starting line-up towards the end of the season by Mourinho. Notably, in the
Champions League semi-final match against Liverpool at
Anfield
Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 ...
, Shevchenko was not even included on the bench. The other high-profile arrival besides Shevchenko was German captain
Michael Ballack, a free agent from
Bayern Munich who was signed to strengthen the midfield. The Icelandic striker
Eiður Guðjohnsen departed the club for Barcelona.
Despite the unrest, Chelsea won the
League Cup again by defeating Arsenal at the
Millennium Stadium. The possibility, however, of the quadruple was brought to an end on 1 May 2007 when Liverpool eliminated Chelsea from the Champions League on penalties at Anfield, following a 1–1 aggregate draw. Days later, Chelsea drew 1–1 with Arsenal at the
Emirates Stadium
The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. It has a current seated capacity ...
, which secured the Premier League title for Manchester United. This was Mourinho's first season without a league title win in five years. Mourinho led Chelsea to a 1–0 victory against Manchester United in the
2007 FA Cup Final, winning in the first final to be played at the rebuilt
Wembley Stadium. This was his first FA Cup win which meant that he had won every domestic trophy available to a Premier League manager.
There was, however, to be further friction between Mourinho and Abramovich when
Avram Grant
Avraham "Avram" Grant ( he, אברהם "אברם" גרנט; born Avraham Granat; ) is an Israeli professional football manager. He has spent the majority of his career coaching and managing in Israel, winning a number of national league and cup ...
was appointed as director of football, despite objections from Mourinho. Grant's position was further enhanced by being given a seat on the board. In spite of these tensions, the 2007–08 transfer season would see the departure of Dutch winger
Arjen Robben to Real Madrid and the arrival of French midfielder
Florent Malouda from Lyon.
2007–08 season
In the first match of the
2007–08 season, Chelsea beat
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
3–2 to set a new record of 64 consecutive home league matches without defeat. Despite surpassing the record set by Liverpool between 1978 and 1981,
the start to the
2007–08 season was less successful than previous starts. The team lost at
Aston Villa and followed this with a goalless draw at home to
Blackburn Rovers. Their opening game in the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
saw them only manage a 1–1 home draw against the Norwegian team
Rosenborg BK in front of only 24,973 (an almost half-empty stadium) which included an unimpressed owner Roman Abramovich.
Mourinho unexpectedly left Chelsea on 20 September 2007 "by mutual consent", although there had been a series of disagreements with owner Abramovich.
The Chelsea board held an emergency meeting and decided it was time to part with their manager. Mourinho left as the most successful manager in Chelsea's history, having won six trophies for the club in three years. He was also undefeated in all home league games. Avram Grant succeeded Mourinho as Chelsea manager but failed to win any trophies in his year in charge and would be sacked at the end of the 2007–08 season. Grant's squad managed to reach the
final of the Champions League (something Mourinho failed to achieve in his three years at Chelsea), reach the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
of the League Cup and maintained the unbeaten home streak at Stamford Bridge. Grant's Chelsea also finished second in the Premier League.
Inter Milan
On 2 June 2008, Mourinho was appointed the successor of
Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team.
As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Sam ...
at
Inter Milan
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...
on a three-year contract and brought along with him much of his backroom staff who had served him at both Chelsea and Porto. He chose
Giuseppe Baresi
Giuseppe Baresi (; born 7 February 1958) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a defender or as a defensive midfielder. He currently works as a technical assistant at Inter Milan. Baresi spent the majority of his 18- ...
, a former Inter player and ex-head coach of their youth academy, as his assistant. He spoke solely in
Italian in his first press conference as Inter boss, claiming to have learnt it "in three weeks". Mourinho stated that he only intended to make a few major signings in the summer. By the end of the transfer window, he had brought three new players to the side: Brazilian winger
Mancini (€13 million), Ghanaian midfielder
Sulley Muntari for a reported €14 million and Portuguese winger
Ricardo Quaresma for a cash/player exchange fee of €18.6 million plus young Portuguese midfielder
Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA ...
.
2008–09 season
In his first season as Inter head coach, Mourinho won the
Supercoppa Italiana, beating
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
* Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
on penalties, and finished top of Serie A. Inter, however, were eliminated 2–0 on aggregate by Manchester United in the first knock-out round of the
Champions League, and he also failed to win the
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
, losing 3–1 on aggregate to
Sampdoria in the semi-finals. As
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...
was beginning to push the larger clubs in top leagues to play more homegrown players, Mourinho regularly played 18-year-old Italian forward
Mario Balotelli and promoted academy defender
Davide Santon to the first team permanently, installing an Italian contingent into a team previously composed of mostly foreign players. Both teenagers played a part in the ''
Scudetto''-winning season and played enough games to earn their first senior trophy.
Despite his domestic successes in winning the ''Scudetto'' by a 10-point margin, Mourinho's first season in Italy was viewed as disappointing by some Inter fans, as the club failed to improve on the performances of his predecessor Roberto Mancini in the Champions League. Inter put in a series of lacklustre group stage performances that included a shock 1–0 home loss to
Panathinaikos and an away draw with Cypriot minnows
Anorthosis Famagusta. Inter qualified, however, for the knockout stages of the Champions League but failed to make it to the quarter-finals after being defeated by Manchester United.
On 16 May 2009, Inter mathematically won the Serie A title after runners-up Milan lost to
Udinese. This loss left the ''Nerazzurri'' seven points above their crosstown rivals with only two games remaining. They would eventually finish 10 points clear of Milan.
2009–10 season
On 28 July 2009, Mourinho was reported to have shown interest in taking over at Manchester United when Alex Ferguson retired. He was quoted as saying, "I would consider going to Manchester United but United have to consider if they want me to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson. If they do, then of course."
Adriano
Adriano or Adrião is the form of the Latin given name ''Hadrianus'' commonly used in the Italian language; the form Adrian is used in the English language. Notable people with the name include:
* Adriano Banchieri, Italian composer, music theo ...
left Inter in April 2009, and the exit of the Brazilian striker was followed by the Argentine duo
Julio Cruz and
Hernán Crespo. Legendary Portuguese attacking midfielder and veteran
Luís Figo
Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a one ...
retired. Figo was on the verge of leaving Inter under Mancini due to a lack of playing time, but in his final season Mourinho used him frequently. Mourinho signed Argentine striker
Diego Milito
Diego Alberto Milito (born 12 June 1979) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently a sports manager.
Milito began his club career in Argentina with Racing Club in 1999, and later moved to Italian ...
, who fell just one goal short of winning the top scorer award with
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
, as well as
Thiago Motta and
Wesley Sneijder, to bolster the midfield. Perhaps his most notable signing of the summer of his second season was a swap deal of
Zlatan Ibrahimović in exchange for Barcelona's Cameroonian striker
Samuel Eto'o and a reported £35 million. This transfer was the second most expensive in the history of the transfer market, after
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pl ...
moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid earlier in the summer. Eto'o got off to a promising start with Inter by scoring two goals in the first two matches of the season.
Ricardo Quaresma's signing from Mourinho's old club Porto was viewed as a missing link in the Inter squad, but his play disappointed the club and led him to be loaned out to Chelsea midway through the season, ironically Mourinho's other former club. Mancini also failed to dominate in the midfield and addressing these shortcomings in the transfer market became a priority for Inter. Inter's lack of a creative playmaker, or ''trequartista'', had been blamed for the Champions League failure. In an attempt to deal with this issue, Inter signed Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder from Real Madrid.
Inter struggled in their first two matches of the new season. The team lost the
Supercoppa to Lazio 2–1 and drew 1–1 with newly promoted
Bari
Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Ital ...
at the
San Siro
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums ...
. Mourinho's team improved dramatically after that, however, as he built a formidable midfield with Sneijder at the heart of it and the likes of new signing Thiago Motta and veterans
Javier Zanetti and
Dejan Stanković. Inter went on to score more than 30 goals before the end of November, thrashing
derby rivals Milan 4–0, with new signings Diego Milito and Motta both scoring, and hammering Genoa 5–0, the largest margin of victory in the Serie A that season. Mourinho was sent off in the December ''
Derby d'Italia
The Derby d'Italia ( English: Derby of Italy) is the name of the football derby between Internazionale of Milan and Juventus of Turin. The term was coined back in 1967 by Italian sports journalist Gianni Brera. It is the equivalent of Spain' ...
'' away fixture after he sarcastically applauded the referee for what he felt was a dubious free-kick given to Juventus and Inter went on to lose 2–1, courtesy of a
Claudio Marchisio
Claudio Marchisio (; born 19 January 1986) is an Italians, Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder.
A product of the Juventus F.C. Youth Sector, Juventus youth system, he spent a large portion of h ...
winner in the second half.
Mourinho achieved what was hailed as one of his career highlights after Inter managed to progress to the
Champions League quarter-finals by defeating his former team Chelsea in both legs (2–1 win at San Siro, then followed by a 1–0 win at Stamford Bridge).
His difficult relationship with young striker Mario Balotelli and the team's loss of form that led Inter to achieve only seven points in six games (with three of those games, including a shock 1–3 defeat at the hands of Sicilian minnows
Catania
Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also b ...
, happening during Mourinho's ban) were heavily criticised by the media and pundits.
On 6 April 2010, José Mourinho became the first manager in history to take three different teams to the semi-finals of the Champions League (this record was equalled by Bayern Munich manager Louis van Gaal a day later) after Inter managed to overcome
CSKA Moscow 1–0 in Russia in the second leg of their quarter-final tie, which ended 2–0 on aggregate. Wesley Sneijder's goal in the sixth minute proved the difference in a match played in laid-back style. This marked the first time in seven years that Inter managed to make it to the semi-finals of the competition. On 13 April, Inter continued their good season, having managed to reach the
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
final, for the first time under Mourinho, by beating
Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...
1–0 away (2–0 on aggregate).
On 28 April 2010, José Mourinho reached the Champions League final for the second time in his career after Inter beat holders Barcelona 3–2 on aggregate, despite losing 1–0 at
Camp Nou (which Mourinho called "the most beautiful defeat of my life"). This brought Inter back into a
European Cup final 38 years after their last (a defeat by
Ajax). Mourinho was involved in a brief scuffle with Barcelona goalkeeper
Víctor Valdés while attempting to join in the Inter celebrations. Mourinho afterwards stated that "anti-Madridismo" had motivated the Barça fans, suggesting that they were obsessed with reaching the final and winning the tournament in their arch-rival's home ground. ''
Marca'' proclaimed that Mourinho had passed the test to become the next head coach of Real Madrid, as their fans celebrated the elimination of Barcelona.
On 2 May, after a 2–0 away win at Rome against Lazio, Inter almost secured the Serie A title. On 5 May 2010, the team won the Coppa Italia, defeating Roma
1–0, and on 16 May 2010, Inter beat
Siena
Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...
1–0 to secure the domestic
double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
, accomplishing the feat of winning all trophies available for a manager in the Serie A.
On 22 May 2010, Inter won the
2010 Champions League after beating Bayern Munich 2–0, and in doing so became the first Italian club to complete the
treble, with Mourinho personally celebrating the second Champions League title in his managerial career.
The day after having won the Champions League, Mourinho said that he was "sad, as almost for sure it's my last game with Inter". He then added that "if you don't coach Real Madrid then you will always have a gap in your career".
After days of discussions between Real Madrid and Inter, a
world-record-breaking compensation package was successfully agreed on 28 May 2010, and Mourinho was consequently released by Inter.
Real Madrid
On 28 May 2010, it was confirmed that Mourinho would take over from
Manuel Pellegrini at the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. On 31 May 2010, Mourinho was unveiled as the new manager of Real Madrid after signing a four-year contract, and became the 11th manager at the club in the previous seven years.
Mourinho was appointed sporting manager as well as first-team coach, and he was referred to as a ''
Galáctico'' (a term more often used for star players instead of coaches).
Prior to Mourinho's arrival, Real Madrid had underperformed despite paying record transfer fees for ''Galácticos'' such as
Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo. Their
2009–10 season was marked by disappointments such as ''
Alcorconazo'', a shock
2009–10 Copa del Rey round of 32 defeat to
Segunda División B team
Alcorcón
Alcorcón () is a city and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. as of 2020, it had a population of 172,384.
Geography
The municipality, largely flat, lies at an average altitude of 711 metres above sea level, with the h ...
, and elimination from the Champions League by Lyon in the round of 16, though they finished second in
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...
with a club record 96 points.
By the end of the transfer window, after the
2010 FIFA World Cup
, image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg
, size = 200px
, caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
, Mourinho had brought four new players to the squad: the Germans
Sami Khedira (€13 million) and
Mesut Özil
Mesut Özil (, ; born 15 October 1988) is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Süper Lig club İstanbul Başakşehir. Özil is known for his technical skills, creativity, passing skills, and vision. He can ...
(€15 million), Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho (€8 million) and Argentine winger
Ángel Di María (€25 million plus €11 million on incentives).
2010–11 season
On 29 August 2010, Real Madrid drew 0–0 at
Mallorca in Mourinho's first
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...
game as manager. When asked about all the missed opportunities against
Levante in
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...
and
Auxerre in the Champions League, Mourinho said, "One day some poor rival is going to pay for the chances we've missed today." The following match at the Bernabéu ended with a 6–1 victory over Deportivo de La Coruña. The following league games confirmed Mourinho's statement, defeating
Málaga
Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most po ...
4–1 and
Racing Santander 6–1.
On 29 November 2010, Mourinho's Madrid were defeated in his first ''
Clásico'' encounter against Barcelona. The match, held in Camp Nou, ended 5–0 to the hosts, with Real Madrid director
Florentino Pérez regarding it the worst game in the history of Real Madrid. Sporting director
Jorge Valdano also criticised Mourinho for his "inability to bring a major correction to the game" and "not leaving his bench for the
ajorityof the match". When asked by a media reporter, however, Mourinho refused to call the loss a "humiliation".
On 30 November 2010, Mourinho was fined £33,500 for appearing to instruct
Xabi Alonso and
Sergio Ramos to attempt to receive a tactical second yellow card in the 4–0
Champions League win against Ajax. He was also banned for two Champions League matches, the second of which is suspended for three years. On 22 December 2010, Mourinho won a match by the widest margin in his career, winning 8–0 against Levante, also of La Liga, in the first leg of their quarter-final of the
Copa del Rey
The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...
.
On 20 April 2011, Mourinho won his first trophy in Spanish football as Real Madrid defeated arch-rivals Barcelona 1–0 in the
Copa del Rey final held at the
Mestalla Stadium in
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
, ending Real Madrid's 18-year-long Copa del Rey drought. It was also Real's first trophy since their 2007–08 La Liga title. One week later, the two teams met again in the first leg of the semi-finals of the
Champions League, Real Madrid's furthest progress in the tournament since the
2003 semi-finals, as the club was knocked out in the 2004 quarter-finals, and then from 2005 to 2010 the club had suffered six consecutive exits at the round of 16. At the Bernabéu, Real's
Pepe was dismissed in the 61st minute and Mourinho was sent to the stands for protesting; afterward, Barça's
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the g ...
scored two late goals to take control of the tie. The second leg at Camp Nou finished 1–1, which eliminated Real from the tournament.
2011–12 season
On 7 December 2011, Real Madrid defeated Ajax with a 3–0 scoreline and concluded the Champions League group stage with six victories, becoming the fifth team in Champions League history to accomplish the feat. The victory was the team's 15th consecutive win to equal a
club record set 50 years earlier, in 1961.
On 21 April 2012, Real Madrid won 2–1 against Barcelona in ''El Clásico'' at Camp Nou, extending their lead in
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...
to seven points with four matches remaining. This was the first victory for Real Madrid in La Liga against their archrivals since 2008 and the first overall at Camp Nou since 2007. Also, in this match Real Madrid broke the record for most goals scored in the championship, with 109. Barça manager
Pep Guardiola conceded the title to Real Madrid.
Mourinho's side advanced to the
semi-finals of the Champions League for the second consecutive year. The first leg away finished with a 2–1 win to Bayern Munich. In the second leg at home, Real Madrid took a 2–0 lead from two Cristiano Ronaldo goals but Bayern's Arjen Robben (a former Real player whom Mourinho previously managed at Chelsea) converted a penalty to level the aggregate score at 3–3, and Madrid was eliminated in the shootout with Ronaldo, Kaká and Ramos all failing to convert their spot kicks. Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes said that Mourinho "came to the dressing room to congratulate my players and coaching staff after the game. It was very noble".
On 2 May 2012, Real Madrid won 3–0 against
Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. They are known as ''Los L ...
to clinch the Liga title for the first time in four years. On 13 May 2012, Real Madrid defeated Mallorca 4–1 in their last league match of the season, which set
records for most games won in a La Liga season (32), most away wins (16), most points obtained in any of the top European leagues (100), improving the most goals scored record they already had set earlier (121) and finishing the season with the highest goal difference (+89). Real Madrid topped the league nine points clear of runners-up Barcelona.
2012–13 season
On 22 May 2012, Mourinho signed a new four-year contract to remain as Real Madrid manager through to 2016. After losing 3–2 in Barcelona in the first leg of the
2012 Supercopa de España
The 2012 Supercopa de España was a two-legged Spanish football match-up that took place on 23 and 29 August 2012 between the champions of 2011–12 La Liga, Real Madrid, and the winner of the 2011–12 Copa del Rey, Barcelona. Barcelona and Real ...
, Real Madrid won the return leg in Madrid 2–1. Real Madrid won the competition on the
away goals rule after a tie of 4–4 on aggregate. This meant Mourinho had won every domestic title available for a manager in the Spanish top division within two years. He became the only coach who has won the national
super cups in four European countries. This also made Mourinho the first manager in history to win every domestic title, the league championship, cup, super cup and league cup (if available) in four European leagues.
Real Madrid reached the semi-finals of the
Champions League for the third consecutive year under Mourinho's management. The club, however, was defeated 4–1 in the first leg away at
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...
. In the second leg at home, Real managed to score two goals in the last 10 minutes, but the team could not get the third goal that would have levelled the aggregate score and sent them through on away goals.
In the post-game press conference after the second leg with Dortmund, Mourinho hinted that the
2012–13 season with Real Madrid would be his last, saying, "I am loved by some clubs, especially one. In Spain it is different, some people hate me, many of you in this
ressroom."
Mourinho's fraught relationships with Sergio Ramos and club captain
Iker Casillas (a popular player whom Mourinho sidelined in 2013) caused divisions between fans in the "Mourinhistas" and "Madridistas" (the more traditional Real Madrid fans) camps.
His relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo became difficult because, according to Mourinho, the player "maybe thinks that he knows everything and that the coach cannot improve him anymore", so was unwilling to accept constructive criticism. Mourinho was also criticised for controversial incidents, including poking
Tito Vilanova (then assistant coach at Barcelona) in the eye during a brawl, continual complaints about refereeing bias, clashes with journalists and Real officials, and frequent hints that Barça received favourable treatment from UEFA.
Following the
2013 Copa del Rey final loss to
Atlético Madrid on 17 May, Mourinho called the 2012–13 season "the worst of my career". Three days later, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez announced Mourinho would leave the club at the end of the season by "mutual agreement", a year after signing a contract extension to 2016.
Return to Chelsea
On 3 June 2013, Chelsea appointed Mourinho as manager for the second time, on a four-year contract. Mourinho told Chelsea TV, "In my career I've had two great passions – Inter and Chelsea – and Chelsea is more than important for me." "It was very, very hard to play against Chelsea, and I did it only twice which was not so bad." "Now I promise exactly the same things I promised in 2004 with this difference to add: I'm one of you." On 10 June 2013, Mourinho was officially confirmed as Chelsea manager for the second time at a press conference held at Stamford Bridge.
2013–14 season
Mourinho's first competitive game back in charge of Chelsea ended in a 2–0 home victory against
Hull City on 18 August 2013. On 30 August Mourinho faced defending
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
winners
Bayern Munich in the
UEFA Super Cup, which was his second as a manager. Despite taking the lead Chelsea lost to Bayern on penalties as
Romelu Lukaku saw his decisive penalty getting saved by Bayern keeper
Manuel Neuer. Following the loss to Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich he said, "They take the cup and the best team lost. Even with ten men we played fantastically. Pride is OK but we lost."
On 29 January 2014, following a 0–0 draw at home to
West Ham United, Mourinho described the Hammers as playing "19th century football", saying, "This is not the best league in the world, this is football from the 19th century," and, "The only
therthing I could bring was a
Black and Decker to destroy the wall."
On 19 April 2014, Mourinho suffered his first ever home league defeat as Chelsea manager in a 2–1 loss to
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
at Stamford Bridge. He consistently played down Chelsea's title chances throughout the season and referred to it as a transitional season, slowly moulding his squad and most significantly dropping (and eventually selling) Chelsea's player of the year of the two previous seasons,
Juan Mata. Chelsea went on to finish third in the
2013–14 Premier League, four points behind champions
Manchester City, and was eliminated in the semi-finals of the
2013–14 Champions League by
Atlético Madrid.
2014–15 season
Chelsea started their
2014–15 Premier League
The 2014–15 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the ...
campaign with a 3–1 victory against
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...
on 18 August at
Turf Moor. This match marked the first competitive action for new signings
Diego Costa
Diego da Silva Costa (, ; born 7 October 1988), commonly known as Diego Costa, is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Spain national team.
Costa began his football care ...
,
Cesc Fàbregas and
Thibaut Courtois, the latter starting in goal after a three-year loan spell at Atlético Madrid. Didier Drogba also made his return appearance to the Chelsea squad, coming off the bench in the second half.
On 24 January 2015, Chelsea were knocked out of the fourth round of the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...
with a
surprise 2–4 defeat to
League One side
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
Th ...
, ending their hopes of a potential
quadruple. Mourinho described the defeat as a "disgrace".
On 1 March 2015, Chelsea defeated
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
2–0 in the
League Cup final to claim their first trophy of the season, and Mourinho's first trophy since returning to Chelsea. On 11 March 2015, Chelsea were knocked out of the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
round of 16 after losing to
Paris Saint-Germain on away goals.
On 3 May 2015, Chelsea were crowned Premier League champions after beating
Crystal Palace with three games to spare. Mourinho was subsequently named as
Premier League Manager of the Season, with Chelsea losing just three matches all season.
2015–16 season
On 7 August 2015, Mourinho signed a new four-year contract with Chelsea that would have kept him at Stamford Bridge until 2019. On 29 August, Mourinho reached his 100th Premier League home match at Chelsea, which ended in a 2–1 loss to
Crystal Palace. Chelsea started the
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...
by picking up just 11 points in their first 12 games in the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
. They also went out of the
League Cup to
Stoke City on penalties on 27 October.
On 17 December 2015, after losing 9 of 16 Premier League matches, Chelsea announced that they had parted company with Mourinho "by mutual consent". The club went on to state, "The club wishes to make clear Jose leaves us on good terms and will always remain a much-loved, respected and significant figure at Chelsea."
Manchester United
2016–17 season
On 27 May 2016, Mourinho signed a three-year contract with Manchester United, with an option to stay at the club until at least 2020. On 7 August 2016, Mourinho won his first trophy, the
FA Community Shield, beating reigning Premier League champions
Leicester City 2–1. Mourinho was victorious in his first Premier League game as United boss, winning 3–1 away to
AFC Bournemouth on 14 August 2016.
On 11 September 2016, Mourinho lost his first
Manchester derby as a manager in a 2–1 defeat to Manchester City; this was also his eighth loss against his rival manager while with Real Madrid, former Barça manager
Pep Guardiola.
On 23 October 2016, Mourinho made his first visit back to Chelsea with Manchester United since leaving in December 2015. The match ended in a 4–0 defeat which left them six points off the top of the table. Mourinho won his second Manchester derby as a manager on 26 October 2016 in a 1–0 victory at Old Trafford in the
EFL Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...
.
Juan Mata scored the only goal of the game in the 54th minute, with the victory being Mourinho's fourth against Guardiola (four wins, six draws, eight losses).
Following the charges made by the FA over Mourinho's comments about referee
Anthony Taylor, Mourinho once again got into trouble with a referee on 29 October when he was sent to the stands by
Mark Clattenburg during the 0–0 home draw against
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...
. On 29 January 2017, despite a 2–1 second leg loss away to
Hull City, Mourinho's United reached the final of the
EFL Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...
by virtue of a 3–2 aggregate win. Manchester United won 3–2 over Southampton in the
EFL Cup Final at Wembley. With the victory, he became the first United manager to win a major trophy in his debut season.
On 24 May 2017, Manchester United won the
Europa League courtesy of a 2–0 win over Ajax.
This was Mourinho's second major trophy of his first season as Manchester United manager. It also maintained his 100% record of winning every major European Cup final as a manager.
2017–18 season
upMourinho during a UEFA Champions League pre-match press conference with United in September 2017
Mourinho strengthened his side further in the summer of 2017, with the signings of Belgian striker
Romelu Lukaku, defender
Victor Lindelöf
Victor Jörgen Nilsson Lindelöf (born 17 July 1994) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Manchester United and captains the Sweden national team. Mainly a centre-back, he can also play as a right-back.
Linde ...
and midfielder
Nemanja Matić. United made a strong start to the season before a difficult winter schedule widened the gap between them and city rivals
Manchester City.
Mourinho was criticised for Manchester United's Champions League exit to
Sevilla at the last-sixteen stage, which resulted in a surprise twelve minute rant from Mourinho defending his United career.
Manchester United finished second in the table after a 1–0 home defeat to
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...
, finishing nineteen points behind Manchester City. United also lost the
2018 FA Cup Final to Mourinho's former club
Chelsea after an Eden Hazard penalty sealed a 1–0 win for the Blues.
2018–19 season
After a poor start to the 2018–19 season which saw Manchester United lose two of their opening three league games for the first time in 26 years, including a 3–0 home loss to
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
– the heaviest home defeat of his career – an animated Mourinho demanded "respect" from critical journalists and held up three fingers (one for each Premier League trophy he had won as coach), adding: "I won more Premier Leagues alone than the other 19 managers
n the leaguetogether."
At his next press conference four days later, he said: "I am the manager of the one of the greatest clubs in the world but I'm also one of the greatest managers in the world."
At the end of a Manchester United league game at Mourinho's former club Chelsea on 20 October 2018, Mourinho was involved in a tunnel incident. With Chelsea's
Ross Barkley
Ross Barkley (born 5 December 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Nice.
Barkley began his professional career at Everton in 2010. After loan spells at Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United he ...
scoring a 96th-minute equaliser, a Chelsea coach, Marco Ianni,
celebrated the goal by running across the Manchester United bench and clenching his fists close to Mourinho's face.
An incensed Mourinho leapt up and attempted to chase Ianni down the tunnel, with security intervening. As he sat back down, some Chelsea fans repeatedly (and loudly) started chanting against Mourinho.
At full-time, Mourinho walked over to United fans and applauded, and on his way back to the tunnel he held up three fingers towards Chelsea fans, reminding them he won three Premier League titles for the club.
After starting the
2018–19 season with just seven wins in the first 17 Premier League games, leaving Manchester United 19 points behind the league leaders, Mourinho was sacked by the club on 18 December 2018.
Tottenham Hotspur
On 20 November 2019, Mourinho was appointed as the manager of Tottenham Hotspur on a four-year contract, replacing the sacked
Mauricio Pochettino
Mauricio Roberto Pochettino Trossero (; born 2 March 1972) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the head coach of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain.
Pochettino played as a central defender and be ...
.
2019–20 season
On 23 November 2019, Mourinho managed his first match with Tottenham Hotspur in a 3–2 away win against West Ham United. He later sparked media attention on 26 November 2019, when he claimed that
ball boy Callum Hynes 'assisted' Spurs' second goal in a 4–2 win over
Olympiacos
Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a numbe ...
in the
Champions League. In the
Champions League round of 16, Tottenham Hotspur lost both matches to be defeated 0–4 on aggregate against
RB Leipzig.
Mourinho recorded his 300th win in English football when Tottenham beat West Ham United 2–0 on 23 June 2020. He secured his first ever win as a manager at
St James' Park on 15 July 2020 when Tottenham defeated Newcastle by a scoreline of 3–1. However, Mourinho finished his first season with Tottenham Hotspur at sixth position in the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
.
2020–21 season
On 4 October 2020, Mourinho managed Tottenham Hotspur to a 6–1 win against his former club Manchester United at Old Trafford. A 2–0 victory over Arsenal on 6 December 2020 put Tottenham on top of the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
and meant Mourinho was only the club's second manager to win his first two North London derbies. However, a last-minute 2–1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield saw them drop to second place, three points off the top.
On 10 February 2021, Tottenham were knocked out of the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...
, losing 5–4 after
extra time to
Everton in the quarter-finals; this was the first time since 2010 that a José Mourinho-led team had conceded five goals in a match. On 23 February 2021, Tottenham lost 1–0 to
Chelsea, marking the first time in his career that Mourinho had lost two consecutive home games. On 18 March, Tottenham lost 3–0 to
Dinamo Zagreb
Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinam ...
after extra time in the second leg of the
2020–21 UEFA Europa League
The 2020–21 UEFA Europa League was the 50th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 12th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
Villarreal defeated Manchester United in ...
round of 16, being eliminated from the competition 3–2 on aggregate.
On 19 April 2021, Mourinho was sacked by Tottenham Hotspur after 17 months in charge of the club, days before the
EFL Cup Final against Manchester City. This marked the first time Mourinho had departed a club without winning a trophy since 2002. He was replaced by former
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
player
Ryan Mason
Ryan Glen Mason (born 13 June 1991) is an English professional football coach and former player. He became the interim head coach of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in 2021, becoming the youngest coach in Premier League history, at 29.
...
as interim manager.
Roma
On 4 May 2021, Mourinho was appointed head coach of
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
* Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
from the start of the
2021–22 season, replacing compatriot
Paulo Fonseca.
2021–22 season
On 19 August 2021, Mourinho managed his first match with Roma in a 2–1 away win against
Trabzonspor in the first leg of the
UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round. Three days later, he made his return to Serie A, after eleven years, managing a 3–1 home victory over
Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...
at
Stadio Olimpico. On 26 August, Mourinho secured qualification for the Europa Conference League, after overseeing a 3–0 home win against Trabzonspor in the play-off second leg. Mourinho reached 1,000 games as a manager in a 2–1 win against
Sassuolo on 12 September 2021. On 26 September
against Lazio, Roma lost 2–3, Mourinho became the first Roma manager to lose his first Serie A Roma's derby since
Luis Enrique
Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player.
A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playing in several different positions, but usually played as ...
in 2011. On 21 October in a
Conference League game against
FK Bodø/Glimt
Fotballklubben Bodø/Glimt () is a Norwegian professional football club from the town of Bodø that currently plays in Eliteserien, the Norwegian top division. The club was founded in 1916 and is frequently referred to by its original club n ...
, Roma suffered a humiliating 1–6 defeat, Mourinho blamed the defeat on 'not having a very good squad', it was the first time that one of Mourinho's sides conceded 6 goals in one match.
Ten days later against Milan, Mourinho suffered his first home defeat in league games in Italy, before this match he was unbeaten in 43 matches in a row.
On 4 December against Inter, Roma was defeated 3–0, it was the first time in Mourinho's career that one of his teams was 3–0 down at half-time, he said after the match that Inter 'are stronger than Roma in normal conditions, in non-normal conditions, they are much stronger'. On 20 March 2022, Mourinho won his first ''Derby della Capitale'' after managing a 3–0 win over Lazio.
On 5 May, Mourinho guided Roma to their first European final since
1991 by beating
Leicester City 2–1 on aggregate in the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League, making him the first manager to reach the final of all three current major European competitions and the first manager to reach a major European final with four different clubs. On 24 May, Mourinho won his first title with Roma by defeating
Feyenoord
Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after i ...
in the
2022 UEFA Europa Conference League Final.
This was Roma's first trophy in 11 years, making him the third manager – after
Udo Lattek and
Giovanni Trapattoni – to have
won all three existing major European trophies, and the first to achieve the UEFA treble by winning the Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League, and Europa Conference League (in place of the defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup).
Manager profile
Tactics
Mourinho has been noted for his tactical prowess, game management, and adaptability to different situations. Teams under Mourinho's management typically demonstrate great defensive awareness as well as a quick transition ability with the ball through midfield, in particular down the flanks. A common feature of his teams is playing with three or more central midfielders, as Mourinho has stressed midfield superiority as crucial in winning games. As a Porto manager, Mourinho employed a diamond
4–4–2 formation, with his midfield – consisting of
Costinha or
Pedro Mendes as defensive midfielder; Maniche and Dmitri Alenichev as wide central midfielders; and Deco on the tip – acting as a cohesive unit rather than a collection of individuals,
providing Porto with midfield superiority while allowing the full-backs to move forward.
During his first two years at Chelsea, Mourinho employed a fluid
4–3–3 formation, having
Claude Makélélé
Claude Makélélé Sinda (born 18 February 1973) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently a youth coach and technical mentor at Chelsea, having formerly been the head co ...
play the role of deep-lying midfielder. This gave Chelsea a three-against-two midfield advantage over most English teams playing 4–4–2 at the time, and helped Chelsea win Premier League titles in 2004–05 and 2005–06. Mourinho explained:
Look, if I have a triangle in midfield – Claude Makélélé behind and two others just in front – I will always have an advantage against a pure 4–4–2 where the central midfielders are side by side. That's because I will always have an extra man. It starts with Makelele, who is between the lines. If nobody comes to him he can see the whole pitch and has time. If he gets closed down it means one of the two other central midfielders is open. If they are closed down and the other team's wingers come inside to help, it means there is space now for us on the flank, either for our own wingers or for our full-backs. There is nothing a pure 4–4–2 can do to stop things.
Andrei Shevchenko's signing forced Mourinho to switch to a 4–1–3–2 for the
2006–07 season. At Inter, he won his first Serie A title alternating between a 4–3–3 and a diamond and in his second season, the signings of Samuel Eto'o, Diego Milito, Wesley Sneijder and
Goran Pandev, along with that of Thiago Motta, enabled him to play a
4–2–3–1
In association football, the formation of a team refers to the position players take in relation to each other on a pitch. As association football is a fluid and fast-moving game, a player's position (with the exception of the goalkeeper) in a ...
formation, after initially using a 4–3–1–2 formation with little success in Europe, despite being effective domestically. In this formation, Cameroonian striker Eto'o was used out of position as a left-winger, and the 4–2–3–1 effectively became a pure
4–5–1 without the ball; the tactical switch proved to be effective in European competitions in particular, as Inter went on to win the treble that season.
As Real Madrid manager from 2010 to 2013, Mourinho utilised an even more flexible 4–2–3–1 formation, with Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira as holding midfielders, Mesut Özil as the attacking midfielder, and Cristiano Ronaldo and Ángel Di María flanking
Karim Benzema as the lone striker.
This formation allowed for rapid counter-attacks, with the four attackers being able to play any of the four offensive positions.
Consequently, Benzema would often drop deep to act as a false 9, thus creating space for Cristiano Ronaldo to make runs off the ball into the centre from the left flank and get on the end of passes. In the
2011–12 season, Madrid won La Liga nine points clear of second-placed Barcelona, breaking many records, including points collected (100) and goals scored (121).
In all of Mourinho's three seasons at Madrid, the team consistently reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. The counter-attacking system pioneered by Mourinho continued, with its variations, to be used to further success at Madrid by his successors Carlo Ancelotti and
Zinedine Zidane.
Mourinho is praised for his quick reactions to a game's events.
In a
2012–13 Champions League round of 16 second leg encounter with Manchester United at Old Trafford, and with Real Madrid losing 1–0 and facing imminent elimination, United's
Nani was sent off for a harsh charge on
Álvaro Arbeloa
Álvaro Arbeloa Coca (; born 17 January 1983) is a Spanish retired footballer, currently manager of Real Madrid Juvenil A. He predominantly played as a right-back, and occasionally on the left side.
He started his professional career with Rea ...
. Mourinho quickly introduced
Luka Modrić and moved Sami Khedira to the right flank, where Manchester United had a numerical disadvantage due to Nani's red card. This forced United manager Sir Alex Ferguson to move
Danny Welbeck from the midfield to that flank, thus freeing Xabi Alonso, and two quick goals turned the game in Madrid's favour.
In the second leg of the
2009–10 Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, Motta's controversial sending off led Mourinho to sit deep and narrow in order to defend their lead from the first leg away from home, while Barcelona were allowed to control possession. Mourinho also used his left winger Eto'o as a makeshift left-sided attacking wing-back. Although Inter lost the second leg 1–0, they advanced to the final 3–2 on aggregate;
Mourinho later described the match as "the most beautiful defeat of
islife."
Mourinho is also renowned for always being well-informed about his next opponent and tactically outwitting other managers in games. In a
2004 Champions League knockout stage home game between Porto and Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United, Mourinho had already asserted that United's weakness was on the flanks, especially on the left where
Quinton Fortune
Quinton Fortune (born 21 May 1977) is a South African professional football coach and former player, who played as both a midfielder and a defender. His career began in Europe and after stints with Tottenham Hotspur, Mallorca and Atlético ...
was protected by
Ryan Giggs. The central pairing of Maniche and Deco targeted that flank with their threaded passes, and Dmitri Alenichev wreaked havoc. He set up
Benny McCarthy's equaliser in the first half, then with United focussed on defending the left, Porto switched to the other side, where McCarthy was able to beat
Gary Neville
Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit and former player. He is also a co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. After retiring from football in 2011, Neville went into punditry and was a comm ...
and
Wes Brown to score the winner.
Mourinho is also acknowledged for his attention to detail, organisational planning and in-game communication. In a
2013–14 Champions League knockout game against Paris Saint-Germain, when Chelsea needed one goal within 10 minutes to progress, he played a risky 4–1–2–3 in the last quarter, which led to
Demba Ba
Demba Ba (born 25 May 1985) is a former professional footballer. He serves as the chairman of National Independent Soccer Association side ASC San Diego.
He made his first-team debut with French team Rouen in 2005 before moving to Mouscron and ...
's winning goal. After the game, Mourinho said that his team had worked excessively on three alternative formations in training:
We trained yesterday with the three different systems we used, the one we started with, the one without rank Lampard and finally the one with Demba and Fernando orresin, and the players knew what to do.
When Ba hit the winner, Mourinho darted down the touchline "in celebration", but afterwards he said he was primarily running to tell Torres and Ba their positional instructions for the remaining six minutes of the contest, which is backed up by the pictures. Ba's job was to sit in front of the defence and mark
Alex
Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis.
People
Multiple
*Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people
*Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people
*Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple p ...
if he ventured forward, Torres' to man-mark
Maxwell
Maxwell may refer to:
People
* Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist
* Justice Maxwell (disambiguation)
* Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of ...
.
On 16 April 2017, Mourinho's Manchester United beat league leaders Chelsea 2–0. During the game, Mourinho instructed Ander Herrera to man-mark Eden Hazard. This tactic proved effective as Hazard, and Chelsea, were nullified for large portions of the game. A previously untested strike partnership of
Marcus Rashford and
Jesse Lingard also caused the Chelsea defence problems, with the former opening the scoring in the 7th minute. Mourinho's tactical organisation throughout the match drew praise within the footballing world.
Reception
Since the self proclamation in 2004, Mourinho is often nicknamed "The Special One".
He is widely regarded by several players and coaches to be one of the best managers of his generation and one of the greatest ever managers.
In 2010,
Pep Guardiola described Mourinho as "probably the best coach in the world".
Pundit Nicky Bandini praised Mourinho for his ability to motivate his players and a create a united team environment during Inter's 2009–10 treble winning season, noting that throughout the course of the season playmaker Sneijder went as far to say that he would "kill and die" for Mourinho, views which were later also echoed by the club's former striker Ibrahimović, who had worked under Mourinho the previous season, while
Dejan Stanković instead said that he "would have thrown
imselfinto a fire" for his manager.
Eto'o also praised Mourinho for his player management skills during their time at the club together, describing him as a "unique" head coach, who "...perfectly understood every player and the sentiments of the Inter fans. He knew how to combine these two things, he was perfect." Chelsea midfielder
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielde ...
has stated that Mourinho is the best manager he has ever worked for.
However, a plethora of Mourinho's tactical decisions have been met with criticism. Throughout his career, he has sometimes been accused of playing defensive, dull football to grind out results. In 2011,
Morten Olsen concluded that he doesn't "like his persona or the way he plays football negatively".
Additionally,
Johan Cruyff
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a p ...
stated that same year, "Mourinho is a negative coach. He only cares about the result and doesn't care much for good football."
Mourinho, along with his compatriot
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pl ...
, is credited with inspiring changing fortunes of Portuguese football in and .
Media attention and controversies
Chelsea
Following a Champions League tie between Chelsea and Barcelona in March 2005, Mourinho accused referee
Anders Frisk
Anders Frisk (born 18 February 1963) is a Swedish insurance agent by trade and a former football referee. Frisk chose to go into early retirement from refereeing due to pressure from death threats made against him and his family. He is fluent ...
and Barcelona coach
Frank Rijkaard
Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard (; born 30 September 1962) is a Dutch former footballer and former manager who played as a defensive midfielder. Rijkaard played for Ajax, Real Zaragoza and AC Milan and represented the Netherlands national team side ...
of breaking
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
rules by having a meeting at half-time. Mourinho said that this biased the referee and caused him to send off Chelsea striker Didier Drogba in the second half. Frisk stated that Rijkaard had tried to speak to him but said that he had sent him away. The situation intensified when Frisk began to receive death threats from angered fans, causing the referee to retire prematurely. UEFA referees chief
Volker Roth
Volker Roth (born 1 February 1942 in Salzgitter) is a retired football referee from Germany. He is mostly known for supervising two matches in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. After retirement he became a referee's advisor for UEFA
Uni ...
labelled Mourinho an "enemy of football", although UEFA distanced themselves from the comment. After an investigation of the incident, Mourinho was given a two-match touchline ban for his behaviour and both Chelsea and the manager were fined by UEFA, though the body confirmed that it did not hold Mourinho personally responsible for Frisk's retirement.
On 2 June 2005, Mourinho was fined £200,000 for his part in the meeting with then Arsenal full-back
Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole (born 20 December 1980) is an English football coach and former player who is currently a first-team coach at Premier League club Everton. As a player, he played as a left-back, most notably for Arsenal and Chelsea. Cole is cons ...
in January of that year. The pair had met to discuss transfer terms while Cole was still under contract to Arsenal, which was in breach of the Premier League rules. His fine was later reduced to £75,000 after a hearing in August. Later that year, he labelled Arsenal manager
Arsène Wenger
Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...
"a voyeur" after being irked at what he saw as the latter's apparent obsession with Chelsea. Wenger was furious with the remark and considered taking legal action against Mourinho. The animosity died down, however, and the two managers made peace after Mourinho admitted that he regretted making the comment. In February 2014, Mourinho referred to Wenger as a "specialist in failure".
Inter Milan
Presentation
On 3 June 2008, during the press conference introducing him as new Inter manager, Mourinho spoke almost perfect Italian. When asked about how he would see players like
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielde ...
or
Michael Essien in Italian
Serie A, Mourinho realised that this was a way of making him speak about
Chelsea players, something he had refused to do in previous questions. Consequently, he replied "Ma io non sono pirla!" (
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
dialect for "I'm not stupid!").
Lo Monaco comments
After Inter defeated
Catania
Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also b ...
2–1 on 13 September 2008, the opponents' CEO Pietro Lo Monaco resented the fact that Mourinho had underlined Inter's superiority in the match, especially by saying that he could have played in goal for Inter. Lo Monaco stated: "Mourinho andrebbe preso a bastonate sui denti" (Italian for "Mourinho should be beaten on his teeth"). Lo Monaco later clarified that he did not mean to encourage violence, but that it was just a way of saying that Mourinho should shut up. When asked about Lo Monaco's statements, Mourinho replied that he did not know him, saying that he only knew other Monacos such as
the principality, or
Bayern Munich, known in Italy as Bayern Monaco.
Comparison with Mancini
On 9 November 2008, after Inter defeated Udinese 1–0 via a late
Julio Ricardo Cruz goal, Mourinho had a discussion with the journalist
Mario Sconcerti. As the Portuguese manager had underlined on the day before that he was collecting more points during his first
Serie A campaign with Inter compared to
Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team.
As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Sam ...
's first season, basically with the aim of defending his work, which media considered below expectations, Sconcerti invited Mourinho to avoid comparisons with the Italian manager, who could not respond directly. An annoyed Mourinho replied to Sconcerti asking for honest comparisons and emphasising once again that he was doing better than Mancini.
Wild celebration against Siena
On 20 December 2008, after
Maicon scored the late winning goal in a difficult away match against
Siena
Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...
, which ended 2–1,
Mourinho wildly ran in front of the tiers reserved to Inter supporters to celebrate, hugging the Brazilian himself. In the post-match interview, the journalist Maurizio Pistocchi showed his surprise for Mourinho's behaviour, which he considered exaggerated and possibly a lack of respect to Siena supporters. The Portuguese manager replied that he was used to that, recalling his iconic celebration in
Old Trafford in the second leg of the
Champions League round of 16 against
Manchester United in
2004, when his team eventually won.
The ''zeru tituli'' conference
On 3 March 2009, during a press conference, Mourinho pointed out that
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
and
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
* Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
would end the season with no honours and that
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...
had collected a lot of points thanks to referees' mistakes; he also accused Italian sport journalists of "intellectual prostitution" on their behalf, as they were focusing on a possible mistake regarding a penalty conceded to Inter against Roma instead of talking about the blatant failures of Inter's rivals.
His rant promptly became popular in Italy, especially regarding the "zero titles" quote used by Mourinho, and incorrectly pronounced by him as ''zeru tituli'' (in correct Italian it would have been ''zero titoli''), which was later extensively referred to by football journalists in Italy. It also became the title's catchphrase used by fans to celebrate Inter's 17th ''Scudetto'' later that season. The catchphrase was even used by
Nike to present the celebration shirts for Inter's Serie A title. After the
Coppa Italia final in May, fans of Roma's cross-town rivals
Lazio
it, Laziale
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
, the new Coppa Italia winners, wore shirts with ''Io campione, tu zero titoli'' ("I'm a champion, you have no honours") on it, quoting Mourinho's "zeru tituli" statement.
During the same press conference, Mourinho also directly attacked
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
* Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
manager
Luciano Spalletti and
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...
manager
Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023.
Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in ...
: the former as he was used to continuously releasing interviews, in contrast with Mourinho, who disliked that in spite of the fact that he was considered good at it; the latter as he never admitted that his team had taken advantage of referees' mistakes until Mourinho did that the single time Inter benefitted an offside goal against Siena.
Italy national team representatives
Mourinho once again sparked controversy in the summer with his argument with
Italy national team coach
Marcello Lippi. Lippi predicted that Juventus would win the ''Scudetto'' in the
2009–10 season, which Mourinho viewed as a disrespectful statement to Inter coming from a national team manager. Lippi responded by saying that it was just a prediction.
After the row with Lippi, he clashed with Italy captain
Fabio Cannavaro over Davide Santon's place in the Inter squad. Cannavaro had said that Santon might have to leave Inter to get regular playing time to gain selection for Italy in the upcoming
World Cup. Mourinho responded by saying that Cannavaro was acting like " a coach, a sporting director or a president".
Incident with Ramazzotti
After Inter drew 1–1 with
Atalanta
Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology.
There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily kno ...
on 13 December 2009, Mourinho attacked the ''
Corriere della Sera
The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015.
First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of I ...
'' journalist Andrea Ramazzotti, who was not allowed to stay near Inter bus according to the Portuguese manager. Actually, Ramazzotti had obtained the authorization from both Inter and
Atalanta
Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology.
There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily kno ...
press offices to attend players' interviews in that spot. Allegedly, Mourinho not only insulted the journalist but also grabbed him, thus causing huge controversy. Indeed, a lot of colleagues sided with Ramazzotti, defending the general right to report news without fearing to be attacked and considering the incident very serious. Subsequently, Inter President
Massimo Moratti phoned Ramazzotti in order to apologise to him. Furthermore, the Federal Prosecutor referred Mourinho "for having said, towards the sports journalist Andrea Ramazzotti, offensive remarks as well as for having grabbed his forearms". Inter was also referred for strict liability.
A few days after, Mourinho confronted the journalists in the press conference preceding the
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
match against
Livorno. The Inter manager explained his behaviour and denied he had physically assaulted Ramazzotti, admitting he had said offensive words he was not proud of. In addition, Mourinho admired the solidarity of Ramazzotti's colleagues and said that he wasn't supposed to apologize in public as the situation had not happened in public, trying to play down the incident itself.
Two draws in a row
After two away draws in a row against Parma (1–1 on 10 February 2010) and Napoli (0–0 on 14 February), Mourinho defended Inter's performances, stating that he was satisfied with collecting two more points on the road to the league title, despite those results not being positive themselves. In particular, the Inter manager used some sharp words regarding
Walter Mazzarri and
Aurelio De Laurentiis, Napoli's respective manager and President.
The handcuffs gesture
During the
Serie A game against Sampdoria on 22 February 2010, which ended in a 0–0 draw, with two Inter players being sent off in the first half, Mourinho was disappointed by
Paolo Tagliavento
Paolo Tagliavento (; born 19 September 1972) is a former Italian association football referee officiated in the Serie A and UEFA competitions; namely the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
Career Club
Tagliavento began refereeing in th ...
's refereeing. At the end of the first half, the Inter manager made a
handcuffs gesture towards a camera which was considered by the
Italian Football Federation as violent and critical of the refereeing performance, and caused a three-game ban against Mourinho. Further complaining happened in the second half, when the referee denied Inter a penalty, booking
Samuel Eto'o for diving instead, causing Mourinho to laugh ironically as a sign of complaint. All the supporters in
San Siro
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums ...
sided with Mourinho with a ''
pañolada'', a very unusual form of protest in Italy.
Parames statement
In February 2010, both Juventus manager
Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023.
Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in ...
and Napoli equivalent
Walter Mazzarri released some controversial comments about Mourinho: the former said that it was too easy to switch from Chelsea under
Roman Abramovich to
Massimo Moratti at Inter; the latter stated that he had won more than Mourinho in proportion. Despite Moratti's decision to order a press blackout for Inter following controversial refereeing decisions, Mourinho managed to reply to those managers through his spokesman Eladio Parames.
Real Madrid
In a 2010–11 Champions League match at Ajax in November 2010, late in the match when Real Madrid were leading 4–0, two Real Madrid players received late second yellow cards related to time-wasting. The result of this meant they were suspended for the final group match even though Madrid would come first in the group, but would benefit by entering the round of 16 without any accumulated yellow cards. It was suggested after an investigation by UEFA that this was a deliberate ploy under Mourinho's instruction via two players in a substitution. As a result, UEFA charged Mourinho along with the four related players with improper conduct regarding the dismissals. Although Mourinho denied the allegations, he was fined £33,500 and received a one-match Champions League ban.
On 17 August 2011, in the final of the
2011 Supercopa de España, Mourinho was seen gouging the eye of Barcelona's assistant coach Tito Vilanova during a brawl at the end of the game. After the game, Mourinho did not comment on the incident except to claim that he did not know who "Pito" Vilanova was, with "''pito''" being Spanish slang for penis.
Manchester United
On 23 October 2016, while Mourinho's Manchester United was trailing 4–0 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea manager
Antonio Conte
Antonio Conte (; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.
Playing as a midfielder, Conte began his career at local club Lecce and later ...
waved up the home crowd, urging them to make more noise to support the team. At the end of the match, Mourinho shook Conte's hand and whispered into his ear, with media reports claiming Mourinho had accused Conte of trying to humiliate United with his actions. Both managers refused to confirm or deny the report, but Conte disputed claims that he was trying to antagonise Mourinho. Chelsea midfielder
Pedro supported Conte, claiming Mourinho's reaction was out of context. The two managers continued to trade insults in January 2018, with Conte calling Mourinho "a little man".
Roma
On 26 September 2021, after a loss to
Lazio
it, Laziale
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
, Mourinho blamed the
VAR and the referee for the result. On 24 October, in a goalless draw against Napoli, Mourinho was sent off due to frequent protests against the referee. On 31 October against Milan, the ''
Giallorossi'' coach was fined €10,000 for his 'ironic and disrespectful' conduct towards the match official after the final whistle.
On first of December, Roma lost an away game against Bologna. Angry about the referee's decisions, Mourinho confronted him after the match to discuss the match incidents. After the match, Mourinho gave a quick press statement in which he advised Roma's attacker
Nicolò Zaniolo to leave Serie A, hinting on presumed unfair treatment by the referees, Mourinho himself was given a yellow card for frequent protests.
On 5 February 2022, the referee disallowed a final minute goal for Roma against Genoa due to a supposed foul by
Tammy Abraham, Mourinho said about the incident "If that is a foul, the game is not the same. You have to change the name of football."
On 19 February against
Hellas Verona, Mourinho was red carded again after kicking the ball and making 'telephone gesture' toward the referee. Mourinho reportedly told the referee 'Juventus sent you'. He was given a two-match touchline ban by the Italian FA and fined 20,000 Euros following the incident.
Media
Mourinho signed up to cover the
2018 FIFA World Cup
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...
as an analyst on
RT. In 2019, he began hosting a show on the RT network called ''On the Touchline with José Mourinho'' which covered the
2019 UEFA Champions League. In August 2019, Mourinho joined UK broadcaster
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
as a pundit on their
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
coverage.
In collaboration with
DAZN, in 2019 Mourinho appeared in ''The Making Of'' series, a 3 part documentary which relives the significant games that helped define football's greatest modern icons. Mourinho was involved in the 2020
Amazon Prime sports docuseries ''
All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur'' (narrated by
Tom Hardy) during his spell managing the club.
In October 2022, Mourinho’s famous phrase “park the bus” was added to the
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...
. Mourinho had used this phrase to describe
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
’s negative, defensive tactics following a 0–0 draw with his
Chelsea side in 2004, stating ''“they brought the bus and left the bus in front of the goal as we say in my country”''.
Personal life
Mourinho met his wife Matilde "Tami" Faria, born in Angola, when they were teenagers in Setúbal, Portugal, and the couple married in 1989.
Their first child, daughter Matilde, was born in 1996 and they had their first son, José Mário Jr four years later. Mourinho, whilst dedicated to football, describes his family as the centre of his life and has said that the "most important thing is my family and being a good father."
He was selected as the ''
New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'' Man of the Year 2005 and was described as a man devoted to both his family and his work.
Mourinho has also been a part of social initiatives and charity work, helping with a youth project, bringing Israeli and Palestinian children together through football and donating his "lucky" jacket to
Tsunami Relief, earning £22,000 for the charity. Since his appointment in 2014, he acts as a Global Ambassador of the United Nations'
World Food Programme.
Widely known for his strong personality, refined dress sense and quirky comments at press conferences, Mourinho has experienced fame outside of football circles, featuring in European advertisement campaigns for
Samsung
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
,
American Express,
Braun
Braun is a common surname, originating from the German word for the color brown. The name is the 22nd most common family name in Germany. Many German emigrants to the United States also changed their name to ''Brown'' (''see Brown (surname)''). ...
,
Jaguar and
Adidas, amongst others. An unofficial biography of Mourinho, titled ''O Vencedor – De Setúbal a Stamford Bridge'' (The Winner – from Setúbal to Stamford Bridge), was a best seller in Portugal. However, Mourinho did not authorise the biography and attempted, unsuccessfully, to prevent the book from being published.
Mourinho was part of an unusual event in May 2007 when he was arrested for preventing animal welfare officials from putting his dog into
quarantine
A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...
. The dog had not been sufficiently inoculated but the situation was resolved after it was returned to Portugal and Mourinho received a police caution.
Mourinho is a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
, saying, "I believe totally, clearly. Every day I pray; every day I speak with Him. I don't go to the church every day, not even every week. I go when I feel I need to. And when I'm in Portugal, I always go." In April 2022, he expanded upon his faith and its relationship with his career, proclaiming: "People think football is my life, but no. There are more important things, including the relationship with God. For me, God is love." Apart from his native
Portuguese, Mourinho speaks
Spanish,
Italian,
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
to varying degrees of fluency. Mourinho was chosen to voice
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...
in a Vatican-approved Portuguese animated film marking the 2017 centenary of the apparition of
Our Lady of Fátima.
On 23 March 2009, Mourinho was awarded a doctorate ''
honoris causa'' degree by the
Technical University of Lisbon for his accomplishments in football.
In December 2011, he was named "Rockstar of the Year" by the Spanish ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' magazine.
Managerial statistics
Honours
Manager
Porto
*
Primeira Liga:
2002–03,
2003–04
*
Taça de Portugal:
2002–03
*
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira:
2003
*
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
:
2003–04
*
UEFA Cup:
2002–03
Chelsea
*
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
:
2004–05,
2005–06,
2014–15
*
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...
:
2006–07
*
Football League Cup:
2004–05,
2006–07,
2014–15
*
FA Community Shield:
2005
*
UEFA Super Cup runner-up:
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
Inter Milan
*
Serie A:
2008–09,
2009–10
*
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
:
2009–10
*
Supercoppa Italiana:
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
*
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
:
2009–10
Real Madrid
*
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...
:
2011–12
*
Copa del Rey
The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...
:
2010–11
*
Supercopa de España
The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...
:
2012
Manchester United
*
EFL Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...
:
2016–17
* FA Community Shield:
2016
*
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
:
2016–17
* FA Cup runner-up:
2017–18
* UEFA Super Cup runner-up:
2017
Roma
*
UEFA Europa Conference League:
2021–22
Individual
*
Onze d'Or Coach of the Year: 2005
*
FIFA World Coach of the Year
The FIFA World Coach of the Year was an association football award given annually to the football coach who is considered to have performed the best in the previous 12 months. It was awarded based on votes from coaches and captains of internatio ...
: 2010
*
IFFHS World's Best Club Coach
The IFFHS World's Best Club Coach is an association football award given annually, since 1996, to the most outstanding club coach as voted by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), an autonomous football federation ...
: 2004,
2005,
2010,
2012
*IFFHS World's Best Coach of the 21st Century 2001–2020
*
Premier League Manager of the Season:
2004–05,
2005–06,
2014–15
*
Premier League Manager of the Month:
November 2004, January 2005,
March 2007,
November 2020
*
Serie A Coach of the Year:
2008–09,
2009–10
*Serie A Coach of the Month:
August 2022
*
Panchina d'Oro Panchina d'Oro ( en, Golden Bench) is a yearly award given to the best Italian association football coaches of the Serie A. The Golden Bench is also awarded to the best men's Serie C and women's Serie A coaches as well as the best coaches in men' ...
:
2009–10
*
Miguel Muñoz Trophy:
2010–11,
2011–12
*
UEFA Manager of the Year: 2002–03,
2003–04
*
UEFA Team of the Year:
2003,
2004,
2005,
2010
*
World Soccer Magazine World Manager of the Year
''World Soccer'' is an English-language football magazine, published by Kelsey Media. The magazine was established in 1960 and is the oldest continually published football magazine in the United Kingdom. It specialises in the international foo ...
: 2004,
2005,
2010
*
World Soccer 3rd Greatest Manager of All Time: 2013
*
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
9th Greatest Manager of All time: 2013
* ''
France Football
''France Football'' is a French weekly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclusi ...
'' 13th Greatest Manager of All time: 2019
*
European Coach of the Year – Alf Ramsey Award: 2010
*
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given to the coach who was considered to have made the most substantive contribut ...
: 2005
*''
La Gazzetta dello Sport'' Man of the Year: 2010
*International Sports Press Association Best Manager in the World: 2010
*Prémio Prestígio Fernando Soromenho: 2012
*Football Extravaganza's League of Legends (2011)
*
Globe Soccer Awards Best Coach of the Year: 2012
*
Globe Soccer Awards Best Media Attraction in Football: 2012
*Portuguese Coach of the Century: 2015
*
PFA Portuguese Manager of the Year: 2017
*
LMA Performances of the Week: 2 December 2017 (Arsenal 1–3 Man.Utd), 7 April 2018 (Man.City 2–3 Man.Utd)
Others
*
Grand Officer of the
Order of Prince Henry
*''
Doctor Honoris causa'' – for his accomplishments in football from
Lisbon Technical University
Records
Guinness World records
*Former record holder for most points achieved in a Premier League season (95 points)
*Youngest manager to reach 100 Champions League games (49 years 12 days)
*Most games unbeaten at home in the Premier League (77)
*Fewest goals conceded in a Premier League season (15 goals)
*Longest football unbeaten home run by a manager (9 years)
Others
*Most Champions League titles with different clubs (two)
See also
*
List of English football championship winning managers
* "
José and his Amazing Technicolor Overcoat"
* ''
Special 1 TV
''Special 1 TV'' (formerly known as ''I'm on Setanta Sports'') is a satirical football television programme, produced by Blue Elf Productions and Caboom Entertainment.
The stars of the show are puppet caricatures of various football personalit ...
''
*
José Arrogantio, a character based on Mourinho in comedy series ''
Harry and Paul''
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mourinho, Jose
1963 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Setúbal
Portuguese Roman Catholics
Portuguese footballers
Association football midfielders
Rio Ave F.C. players
C.F. Os Belenenses players
G.D. Sesimbra footballers
Primeira Liga players
FC Barcelona non-playing staff
Portuguese football managers
S.L. Benfica managers
U.D. Leiria managers
FC Porto managers
Chelsea F.C. managers
Inter Milan managers
Real Madrid CF managers
Manchester United F.C. managers
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. managers
A.S. Roma managers
Primeira Liga managers
Premier League managers
Serie A managers
La Liga managers
UEFA Cup winning managers
UEFA Champions League winning managers
UEFA Europa League winning managers
UEFA Europa Conference League winning managers
FA Cup winning managers
Golden Globes (Portugal) winners
Portuguese expatriate football managers
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Expatriate football managers in England
Expatriate football managers in Italy
Expatriate football managers in Spain
Technical University of Lisbon alumni
Ambassadors of supra-national bodies
World Food Programme people
Association football coaches
Sporting CP non-playing staff
FC Porto non-playing staff