Portugal’s young coaches don’t follow Jose now... he is a manager frozen in time
IF Jose Mourinho cannot manage to reinvent himself in the next few years, he may cease to be the idol of young Portuguese coaches. For years, he was regarded as the best in the world, the model to follow, but for perhaps the first time in his career, people are starting to doubt him.
Despite his recent sacking by Monaco, Leonardo Jardim has plenty of admirers here in Portugal. So, too, do Paulo Fonseca, of Shakhtar Donetsk, and Everton’s Marco Silva. The perception of Mourinho now is very different from when he was at FC Porto, during his first spell at Chelsea and at Inter Milan.
What has made some in Portugal turn up their nose at today’s Mourinho is that he is increasingly involved in controversy, especially with his players. Younger coaches do not appreciate this. This is why they are studying the likes of Jardim and Fonseca more closely these days.
They wonder why Mourinho is so stubborn. Sometimes, when you watch his teams, it is as though he has stagnated, become frozen in time. The tactical side of the game has evolved so much since he won so many titles with Porto, Chelsea and Inter, but he continues to believe that his way of working is the best.
There’s that stubbornness again. Particularly at United and during his second spell at Chelsea, he has struggled to get his teams playing expansive, attractive football.
Luckily for Mourinho, there is still one very significant member of the Portuguese football community who still believes in him: his agent Jorge Mendes, one of the most powerful operators in the world game.
It is an open secret that the Old Trafford board did not buy the players that Mourinho asked for this summer, but Mendes worked with United and the manager to try to get them and continues to try for the January market. If Mendes did not believe Mourinho would succeed at Old Trafford, he would not have taken these steps. Indeed, when Mourinho was wavering during the summer — there was even talk of a move to Paris St Germain after they dismissed Unai Emery — Mendes was a key influence in persuading him to stick with United. And now Mourinho wants to stay in Manchester. His dream is to win the Premier League and Champions League with the club he considers the biggest in the world, alongside Real Madrid. I believe he has no intention of resigning and that he will do everything he can to stay, including acting more calmly on certain issues, such as his relationship with Paul Pogba, in order to keep the board happy.
Were he to leave United, it is clear that Portugal’s big three — Benfica, Porto and Sporting Lisbon — would welcome him back with open arms, but coming back home is not currently in his plans: to go back now would be to admit he had failed.
Before he returns to Portugal, I believe he still dreams of working again at Real Madrid and in Italy. I hope he does return to this country, but only in charge of the national team and in several years’ time.
I must confess I am still proMourinho. I still believe in his work. I am not a fan of his style of play and I think he has to change it, but I believe in his leadership qualities — and I am sure Mourinho the leader can still take United to many titles.