Starting Eleven: Mourinho’s Magic Moments
Jose
introduces himself to the English game with a touchline sprint Vs Manchester
United
Jose Mourinho’s introduction to most English supporters was not whilst he was the manager of Chelsea football club. Arguably his finest moment at an English ground came when his Porto side turned up at Old Trafford for a Champions League Quarter Final, were absolutely pummeled by the home side but still managed to make it through. Many peoples endearing image of the Chelsea manager during that night in Manchester is when Porto scored their last minute equalizer and the suited manager ran down the touchline with joy, joining his players to celebrate their moment of glory in front of the Old Trafford crowd. If that did not make a name for the manager then going onto win the competition itself with the Portuguese minnows certainly did although he will long be remembered for his ability in one swift mood to annoy Alex Ferguson.
When introduced as the Chelsea manager, Jose creates his very own nickname
First press conference after signing on as Chelsea manager – Knowing what little we all did about the Chelsea manager, many expected to be his introduction to the English game to be as high profile as it was. In front of waiting journalists and supporters Mourinho provided the perfect quotation to sum up his personality and character. Describing himself as ‘not arrogant, but a special manager’ due to his European Cup win Jose won many supporters over with his attitude but also set himself up for many uses of his own words in the future.
Jose makes friends and angers Brian Robson against at the Hawthorns
Perhaps a summation of his time in English football would be a typical rant at a referee or a touchline argument with an opposing manager. Though he riled Ferguson with his antics as Porto manager, he upset another Manchester United legend during his first season as Chelsea manager by keeping his team in the changing room for five extra minutes at the Hawthorns which Brian Robson’s West Brom had Chelsea on the ropes. A furious argument broke out on the touchline and despite being separated by stewards the feud turned to a slanging match when a goal from Drogba won the game. Mourinho’s actions during his celebrations of the goal were not as memorable as those at Old Trafford but certainly annoyed as many people.
Jose breaks a very expensive monitor complaining about a disallowed goal
One of the last physical images Chelsea have of their manager may also sum him up in the eyes of many English footballs supports. On the touchline during what turned out to be his final league game as the blues manager, Mourinho became incensed by the referees’ decision to deny Chelsea what would have been a winning goal. Despite being ruled offside by the linesman, Jose was furious and demanded that the official be shown the replay he had of the incident on a monitor in the technical area. After some furious pointing and ranting at the referee, Mourinho slammed the expensive piece of equipment down on the floor and fumed in his post match interview that the linesman was clearly against Chelsea.
Jose wins his first trophy at The Millennium Stadium
Winning a trophy for the first time was always going to be a special moment for Mourinho who promised the blues fans success from the moment he joined. As fate would have it, Chelsea faced off against Liverpool, a team they would later be seemingly jinxed against in cup competitions. Despite the Reds taking an early lead, Chelsea fought back and were rewarded for their hard work when Steven Gerrard put through his own net. Extra time saw Chelsea come out on top and allowed the Portuguese manager to raise his first piece of silverware as a manager in England.
Jose delivers on a promise and claims the Premiership title against Bolton
The climax of the 2004/5 season saw Chelsea play some scintillating football on their way to claiming their first title in 55 years. The Portuguese manager delivered good on his promise of bringing the trophy to Stamford Bridge and with Arsenal and Manchester United stumbling at the final hurdle; it was down the Chelsea to beat Bolton if they wanted to win the League. With the Reebok Stadium, something of a difficult place to go for opposition, Chelsea proved exactly why they were on the verge of winning the Championship and claimed a 2-0 courtesy of Frank Lampard, before being able to hoist the title high in front of the watching eyes of the world.
Jose forces Manchester United to form a guard of honour
As Premiership champions like Manchester United know, winning the title back to back is a difficult thing to do, but Chelsea had the chance to copy the Reds in front of their home crowd in 2006. With the title all but won, thanks to another Frank Lampard inspired performance at Bolton, the league was all but wrapped up and needed the finishing touches of a point at Stamford Bridge against their closest rivals. Under significant pressure, Chelsea played some spectacular football winning by three goals to nil and leaving the Premiership in no doubt that they would be at the head of the pack looking to claim the Premier League title next season.
Jose’s European rivalry with Rafa Benitez
Presumable not too magic moments for Mourinho are the two struggles against Liverpool in the Champions League semi final. With two English clubs knowing that one faced a Champions League final in Istanbul, the first leg of the 2005 final was an extremely tense affair and resulted in a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge. In the return two weeks later the atmosphere was immense and the game had a completely different feel about it. Mourinho was, and still is, incensed about the ‘winning goal’ in that game by Luis Garcia, a decision which he feels was made by the Anfield crowds’ passion, not the referees’ certainty that the ball had crossed the line. The rest is history as the story goes as Liverpool went on to claim the Champions League. In 2007 Mourinho had a chance at revenge and winning the first leg at home the Blues felt confident but were forced to go to penalties in front of the once again vociferous Anfield crowd. Chelsea failed to hold their never yet again and were beaten 4-1 leaving Liverpool to set up a re-match with Milan and for Mourinho to claim that yet again he had undeservedly lost against Liverpool.
Jose talking a good game in his pre-match press conferences
If there was one thing that Jose Mourinho knew how to do it was a press conference. Many managers may hide their feelings during pre match sparing with the media, but as soon as he appeared in England the Portuguese manager bucked the trend with an endless number of witty and entertaining lines of wisdom which enlightened every journalist and column writer’s day. There seemed never to be a dull moment when Jose was around and pulling no punches it was always obvious exactly what he was thinking.
Jose’s clashes with his former club Barcelona
As a former employee of the club, you would be forgiven for thinking that returning to Barcelona, Jose Mourinho would be given a heroes welcome, you would be wrong. Before the drama of 2005, Barcelona supporters were not best pleased with their former translator for the manner in which he left the club and they certainly were not happy when he accused their manager Frank Rijkaard of ‘influencing’ their 2-1 defeat in the quarter finals. Although Chelsea won the second leg tie and went through on aggregate, it was obvious that a rivalry between two great clubs was beginning to build. The following season they met again, this time in the first knockout phase and with Mourinho accusing Lionel Messi of playacting to get Asier Del Horno sent off, he became even more unpopular and graceful as ever in defeat Mourinho described Barcelona as a club with ‘no morals’.
Jose shows his sensitive side by apologizing to Paul Jewell after Wigan’s first game in the Premiership
One moment of Mourinho magic which will live long in the memory of Chelsea and Wigan supports was that of the Portuguese manager consoling his opposite number at the start of the 2005 season. Following their promotion to the Premiership, Wigan came up against Chelsea at the JJB on the opening day of the season and had the majority of play in their first Premiership game. Sadly for the Latics a goal never came and just as they thought they were clinging on for an impressive point, Hernan Crespo stole all three for Chelsea with a wonderful curling shot in the final minute. After the game Mourinho was seen chatting with Paul Jewell and said afterwards that he told the Wigan boss that his side deserved to win the game and that they were destined for an impressive season.
Jose Mourinho’s introduction to most English supporters was not whilst he was the manager of Chelsea football club. Arguably his finest moment at an English ground came when his Porto side turned up at Old Trafford for a Champions League Quarter Final, were absolutely pummeled by the home side but still managed to make it through. Many peoples endearing image of the Chelsea manager during that night in Manchester is when Porto scored their last minute equalizer and the suited manager ran down the touchline with joy, joining his players to celebrate their moment of glory in front of the Old Trafford crowd. If that did not make a name for the manager then going onto win the competition itself with the Portuguese minnows certainly did although he will long be remembered for his ability in one swift mood to annoy Alex Ferguson.
When introduced as the Chelsea manager, Jose creates his very own nickname
First press conference after signing on as Chelsea manager – Knowing what little we all did about the Chelsea manager, many expected to be his introduction to the English game to be as high profile as it was. In front of waiting journalists and supporters Mourinho provided the perfect quotation to sum up his personality and character. Describing himself as ‘not arrogant, but a special manager’ due to his European Cup win Jose won many supporters over with his attitude but also set himself up for many uses of his own words in the future.
Jose makes friends and angers Brian Robson against at the Hawthorns
Perhaps a summation of his time in English football would be a typical rant at a referee or a touchline argument with an opposing manager. Though he riled Ferguson with his antics as Porto manager, he upset another Manchester United legend during his first season as Chelsea manager by keeping his team in the changing room for five extra minutes at the Hawthorns which Brian Robson’s West Brom had Chelsea on the ropes. A furious argument broke out on the touchline and despite being separated by stewards the feud turned to a slanging match when a goal from Drogba won the game. Mourinho’s actions during his celebrations of the goal were not as memorable as those at Old Trafford but certainly annoyed as many people.
Jose breaks a very expensive monitor complaining about a disallowed goal
One of the last physical images Chelsea have of their manager may also sum him up in the eyes of many English footballs supports. On the touchline during what turned out to be his final league game as the blues manager, Mourinho became incensed by the referees’ decision to deny Chelsea what would have been a winning goal. Despite being ruled offside by the linesman, Jose was furious and demanded that the official be shown the replay he had of the incident on a monitor in the technical area. After some furious pointing and ranting at the referee, Mourinho slammed the expensive piece of equipment down on the floor and fumed in his post match interview that the linesman was clearly against Chelsea.
Jose wins his first trophy at The Millennium Stadium
Winning a trophy for the first time was always going to be a special moment for Mourinho who promised the blues fans success from the moment he joined. As fate would have it, Chelsea faced off against Liverpool, a team they would later be seemingly jinxed against in cup competitions. Despite the Reds taking an early lead, Chelsea fought back and were rewarded for their hard work when Steven Gerrard put through his own net. Extra time saw Chelsea come out on top and allowed the Portuguese manager to raise his first piece of silverware as a manager in England.
Jose delivers on a promise and claims the Premiership title against Bolton
The climax of the 2004/5 season saw Chelsea play some scintillating football on their way to claiming their first title in 55 years. The Portuguese manager delivered good on his promise of bringing the trophy to Stamford Bridge and with Arsenal and Manchester United stumbling at the final hurdle; it was down the Chelsea to beat Bolton if they wanted to win the League. With the Reebok Stadium, something of a difficult place to go for opposition, Chelsea proved exactly why they were on the verge of winning the Championship and claimed a 2-0 courtesy of Frank Lampard, before being able to hoist the title high in front of the watching eyes of the world.
Jose forces Manchester United to form a guard of honour
As Premiership champions like Manchester United know, winning the title back to back is a difficult thing to do, but Chelsea had the chance to copy the Reds in front of their home crowd in 2006. With the title all but won, thanks to another Frank Lampard inspired performance at Bolton, the league was all but wrapped up and needed the finishing touches of a point at Stamford Bridge against their closest rivals. Under significant pressure, Chelsea played some spectacular football winning by three goals to nil and leaving the Premiership in no doubt that they would be at the head of the pack looking to claim the Premier League title next season.
Jose’s European rivalry with Rafa Benitez
Presumable not too magic moments for Mourinho are the two struggles against Liverpool in the Champions League semi final. With two English clubs knowing that one faced a Champions League final in Istanbul, the first leg of the 2005 final was an extremely tense affair and resulted in a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge. In the return two weeks later the atmosphere was immense and the game had a completely different feel about it. Mourinho was, and still is, incensed about the ‘winning goal’ in that game by Luis Garcia, a decision which he feels was made by the Anfield crowds’ passion, not the referees’ certainty that the ball had crossed the line. The rest is history as the story goes as Liverpool went on to claim the Champions League. In 2007 Mourinho had a chance at revenge and winning the first leg at home the Blues felt confident but were forced to go to penalties in front of the once again vociferous Anfield crowd. Chelsea failed to hold their never yet again and were beaten 4-1 leaving Liverpool to set up a re-match with Milan and for Mourinho to claim that yet again he had undeservedly lost against Liverpool.
Jose talking a good game in his pre-match press conferences
If there was one thing that Jose Mourinho knew how to do it was a press conference. Many managers may hide their feelings during pre match sparing with the media, but as soon as he appeared in England the Portuguese manager bucked the trend with an endless number of witty and entertaining lines of wisdom which enlightened every journalist and column writer’s day. There seemed never to be a dull moment when Jose was around and pulling no punches it was always obvious exactly what he was thinking.
Jose’s clashes with his former club Barcelona
As a former employee of the club, you would be forgiven for thinking that returning to Barcelona, Jose Mourinho would be given a heroes welcome, you would be wrong. Before the drama of 2005, Barcelona supporters were not best pleased with their former translator for the manner in which he left the club and they certainly were not happy when he accused their manager Frank Rijkaard of ‘influencing’ their 2-1 defeat in the quarter finals. Although Chelsea won the second leg tie and went through on aggregate, it was obvious that a rivalry between two great clubs was beginning to build. The following season they met again, this time in the first knockout phase and with Mourinho accusing Lionel Messi of playacting to get Asier Del Horno sent off, he became even more unpopular and graceful as ever in defeat Mourinho described Barcelona as a club with ‘no morals’.
Jose shows his sensitive side by apologizing to Paul Jewell after Wigan’s first game in the Premiership
One moment of Mourinho magic which will live long in the memory of Chelsea and Wigan supports was that of the Portuguese manager consoling his opposite number at the start of the 2005 season. Following their promotion to the Premiership, Wigan came up against Chelsea at the JJB on the opening day of the season and had the majority of play in their first Premiership game. Sadly for the Latics a goal never came and just as they thought they were clinging on for an impressive point, Hernan Crespo stole all three for Chelsea with a wonderful curling shot in the final minute. After the game Mourinho was seen chatting with Paul Jewell and said afterwards that he told the Wigan boss that his side deserved to win the game and that they were destined for an impressive season.