MOURINHO’S MASTERPLAN
Manager was plotting Chelsea’s downfall in grudge match before he took Tottenham job
Mauricio Pochettino didn’t know it at the time, but he had already taken charge of his final game as Tottenham manager when Jose Mourinho settled in to deliver his verdict on chelsea from the television studio.
‘in the first weekend i was worried and i am still worried in the big matches,’ said Mourinho before Liverpool’s 3-1 victory against Manchester city on November 10. it would prove to be his last shift for Sky and a day when he said the title race was ‘done’.
He applauded Frank Lampard’s ‘really, really great work’ as chelsea boss but he noted: ‘ They lost twice against Manchester united, they lost against Liverpool at home and they conceded four against ajax. i am very, very curious to see chelsea in the next match at the Etihad to see if they found the empathy between the good football they play and the pragmatism the top teams must have, especially to play against the top teams.’
Jody Morris, Lampard’s assistant manager, could not resist biting back. He posted a video clip on instagram of him pretending to sob to Bitter Sweet
Symphony by The Verve. on Twitter he posted three crying- with- laughter emojis and a link to the punditry clip.
chelsea had just beaten Palace — a sixth win in a row in the Premier League — to move into third, but others at Stamford Bridge, particularly some of those familiar with Mourinho’s
modus operandi, winced. They knew he had been hoping for a reaction. Morris had supplied proof his words had struck the target. Mourinho was switching to combat mode, aware he would soon be in charge at Spurs.
initial talks would have preceded Mourinho’s appearance on Sky Sports at anfield and, by the time the Premier League returned from an international break, Pochettino was out and he was in. His first message was out there. His first trap had been set. Mourinho likes a target for his players, as Lampard will be aware, just as he likes to test the mental fortitude of his rivals.
His short-term aim was accomplished with wins at West Ham in his opening game and against olympiacos to qualify for the last 16 of the champions League. When Spurs beat Bournemouth on the last day of November, the same day chelsea were beaten at home by West Ham, he zoomed in on his former club. ‘We are going into a period with a lot of matches,’ Mourinho said. ‘You have the chance to put pressure on your opponent. We play chelsea at the end of December.
‘if the game was tomorrow we would play them with six points difference and it would be a fantastic situation to play them. But we play them at the end of December and we have to keep close, as close as possible.’
There was a bite from Morris and he wanted to reel them in. Lampard the manager is in his first Premier League campaign and his team contains players without experience in this sort of territory. can they handle the intensity? on the pitch they have risen impressively to the challenges, but how will they cope with the mind games? cracks are appearing.
‘We have to admit at the moment it is not good enough,’ said Lampard last Saturday after losing at home to Bournemouth, a defeat which enabled Tottenham to close to three points. There were 12 points between them when Mourinho took over but four wins in five games have propelled Spurs upwards as chelsea stumbled to four defeats in five.
There was more good news for Mourinho yesterday when centre back Toby alderweireld signed a new contact until 2023, tripling his wages to £150,000 per week.
Win tomorrow and Tottenham will go above chelsea on goal difference. Little wonder Mourinho has a glint in his eye. He can detect a personal triumph within a team success and the perfect response to those who wrote him off after Manchester united.
He left old Trafford at this stage of last season with united on 26 points and 19 points adrift of leaders Liverpool. Now, under ole Gunnar Solskjaer, united have a point less, three goals fewer and trail Liverpool by 25.
The impact of the manager is often overstated, especially in England where the board is usually silent and the players regularly gagged. The manager is often the only voice from within the club. Setting out to target chelsea made sense from a competitive angle but also came with a secondary benefit which was to show Tottenham fans there was no lingering sentiment for a club where he won three Premier League titles in two spells. ‘They sacked me,’ Mourinho said when asked why he joined a club he once said he could never manage. ‘i’m 100 per cent Tottenham now,’ he added yesterday.
He must have known he could not be freely embraced having led chelsea to unprecedented success. Slowly, he has been promoting the idea he is one of them, hugging the ballboys, celebrating the goals and victories with passion, sleeping in his Spurs pyjamas.
in Munich last week, in the final seconds of a sound defeat, the travelling Spurs fans sang loudly from high in the allianz arena. Mourinho turned his back on the game to admire their defiance. He nodded approvingly and when the final whistle went he applauded.
None of this is an accident. Nor even an impulse. Mourinho is all about the details. He is plotting. and he is good at it. He has been at it since the day he said he was worried for chelsea.