BY JAMES ROSS – FAN FUEL BLOGGER
The worst kept secret in soccer became reality earlier this week, as Jose Mourinho returned to the English club Chelsea which he defined as “one of his two great passions” (the other being Inter Milan). Mourinho, never at a loss for a great sound bite, reinforced his commitment to the Chelsea supporters by relaying “I am one of you” to the Chelsea fan base at his inaugural press conference. I doubt there was a dry eye in the house. Fortunately, no gouged ones either.
So, how will Mourinho fare during his second stint at Chelsea? It’s not an easy question to answer.
If one looks at the first time around, you’d have to expect rampant success. Chelsea were a very good team when JoMo took them over, but he quickly transformed the side into an intense, focused and hyper-professional unit. After his first two seasons, with back-to-back Premier League titles in his back pocket, it appeared Mourinho and Chelsea had displaced Manchester United as the dominant force in English soccer.
But owner Roman Abramovich was not on the same page as Mourinho, and when he brought in Ukrainian striker Andrei Shevchenko, as well as appointing director of football Avram Grant (both against Jose’s wishes) after the second season, the beginning of the end was near. Even though his third season lacked the league championship medal he’d obtained the previous two, Chelsea did win both the League and FA Cup, and looked to once again contend strongly for league honours the following season. Mourinho had had enough of Abramovich’s meddling, and he was gone on September 20, 2007, little more than three years since “the Special One” had arrived in London.
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So, after brief and successful stays at Inter Milan and Real Madrid, back to Chelsea Jose goes. I think, if one wishes to speculate how this trip on the carousel will play out, one must look at what, perhaps, didn’t go so well at Madrid.
Mourinho, when he signed on at Real Madrid, was given the daunting task of attempting to knock off high powered rivals Barcelona, who were looking like a virtually immovable force by the start of the start of the 2010 campaign. In three years since his hiring, Mourinho managed a Cop Del Rey title in his first season, a La Liga title in his second, and nothing to show from last season. While the successes were there, they were fleeting, and tarnished by the numerous incidents between Mourinho and either the fans, opposing coaches (see his cowardly eye gouge on then Barcelona assistant Tito Villanova) or star players like Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos. In itself, it’s difficult to ascertain how much of this volatility was of Mourinho’s own doing, and how much was just from being in the cauldron that is Real Madrid. Real president Florentino Perez has never been an easy man to deal with, and I suppose the two strong willed men were bound to step on each other’s toes hard and often during their time together.
So, now back to Chelsea. One must think that Mourinho had an elongated discussion with Abramovich about how things were going to have to be this time around. Jose almost certainly gave Abramovich an ultimatum on his propensity to interfere. I would find it highly unlikely Jose would accept going back to Chelsea unless he had Abramovich’s blessings to let Mourinho “do it his way.”
Mourinho could point to his successes at Inter Milan and Real Madrid as a continuance of what he started at Porto and had continued to extend at Chelsea. Mourinho certainly doesn’t try and do everything himself, but he also certainly doesn’t wish to be butting heads with a director of football he didn’t have a say in appointing, and playing a player he wasn’t interested in buying. I am quite certain Roman will stay out of Mourinho’s way this time at Chelsea, at least initially. As time progresses, and Chelsea’s results follow, one has to think that Abramovich will, in due time, second guess Mourinho again and begin to meddle. The pattern is clear, I think it is just a matter of “when” not “if.”
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In terms of player relations, I don’t expect Mourinho to have the issues he had with Ramos and Casillas. Real, again, is a unique entity, and while not all his ex-players have been huge fans of Jose and his methods, the number of great players who have worked under Mourinho that have gushed their praises (from Frank Lampard to Didier Drogba to Wesley Sneijder) speaks volumes as to his regard as a brilliant coach. It’s beyond dispute, really.
The only other aspect that Mourinho will continue to court, one way or the other, is controversy. From his own self-appraisals, to incidents like the eye gouge on Villanova, or to his media comments on referee Anders Frisk that resulted in the legendary referee quitting over death threats from Chelsea supporters, there never seems to be a shortage of non-football occurrences to keep things, shall we say, lively. With the English press waiting with bated breath, expect more controversies to follow in due time.
Success on the field? Tough to say. Chelsea have more competition now than they did during Jose’s first reign. Manchester City and United, alongside Arsenal and a surging Tottenham side, and the rebuilding project at Liverpool, and one could say the odds are stacked much higher this time. One thing I do expect from Mourinho is the landing of either Luis Suarez or Gareth Bale. Both are targets of his old employer Real Madrid, both are amongst the 10 best players on planet Earth right now, and it wouldn’t be hard to speculate the level of Mourinho’s delight at one-upping his old boss Florentino Perez in the transfer market.
The ride, at the very least, will be very interesting. The successes? One would have to be cautiously optimistic.