For some, he is an arrogant and insolent man, while for others, he is an amiable man. However you choose to see him, one thing that can hardly be disputed is that he’s a maverick and highly controversial.
When Jose Mourinho was unveiled a second time as a Chelsea manager, he labeled himself as the ‘happy One’ and his return was supposed to be the beginning of a Chelsea legacy. That phase of happiness lasted less than 1000 days as the dream of emulating his hero, Alex Ferguson was burst by a player rebellion.
Jose, the supposed master of pulling a team of players together in pursuit of a common goal had supposedly lost the dressing room and it is much easier to sack one man than 18.
Everywhere he’s gone, there have been tales of him usually conforming to his non-conformist style and almost always ends up blowing up – sometimes to his advantage and most times to his own impediment.
He has been accused of always trying to deflect attention whenever he feels teams are not up to scratch by either criticizing referees or even getting into fights with opposite managers. One thing that you cannot accuse him of, is a lack of passion.
When he returned to Chelsea for the second time, it was viewed with some level of skepticism by the neutrals, even though the Chelsea faithful were overjoyed with the return of their most successful manager.
Having won the Premier League in his second season in his second spell, it was seen by the Chelsea faithful that they finally have their answer to Sir Alex Ferguson – a manager that will run the affairs of the club for many years to come and winning trophies along the way.
A poor start to the following season meant his position at the club was no longer tenable and by December, the romance was over. Having already managed Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Chelsea (twice), it looked like the next biggest club he would manage would either PSG or Bayern Munich.
His usual controversial approach meant he wasn’t really an option for the precisely-run Bayern, with only the wealthy PSG looking like the only real option left. But Louis van Gaal’s implosion at Manchester United meant all hope wasn’t lost for the one-time ‘special one’.
It is believed in many quarters that his dream job has always been at Old Trafford. He is a big admirer of Sir Alex Ferguson and his longevity at United and having had very short successful spells at Porto, Chelsea (twice), Inter Milan and Real Madrid, he was now looking for an opportunity to build a legacy.
And while he has big-club experience obviously, this will arguably be his biggest job yet as failure could fatally undermine his credentials, while success may see him emerge as a legendary manager with a legacy.
However you choose to see it, one thing is clear and it is that Mourinho has risen from his fall last December and whether he will stay standing, well only time will tell.
His sojourn at Manchester United starts on Sunday against Leicester City in the Community Shield but do not judge the ‘Recovery One’ on this – it will be a long season.
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