The strange career of Jose Mourinho

"The Special One" returns to where it started

This time, Coach Mourinho will be Chelsea's opponent. He has just returned to lead Benfica - his first club, exactly a quarter of a century ago. Mourinho's brilliant coaching career began in September 2000, at Benfica. Mourinho, then Louis Van Gaal's assistant at Barcelona, was invited to Benfica to be assistant coach. Van Gaal advised: "Don't accept. Only accept if they invite you to be the head coach." Mourinho listened. In the end, he was invited to be the head coach, replacing Jupp Heynckes. Just 2 months later, Benfica changed presidents. Mourinho met with the new president and asked to extend his contract to prove that both sides trusted each other, otherwise he would resign. The request was not accepted. The next day, Mourinho resigned, after only 11 matches leading Benfica (including a win against rival Sporting Lisbon).

Sự nghiệp kỳ lạ của Jose Mourinho- Ảnh 1. — Coach Jose Mourinho returns to lead his old team Benfica after more than 25 years

At his new team, Uniao de Leiria (no name), Mourinho gathered the players and said before the first training session, in the 2001-2002 season: "You need to know that I am very good. I will be invited to a big team soon. But I need your help. Whoever believes in me will move with me to the next big team." Of course, Uniao was not strong enough to compete for the championship, but reached the highest position in the club's history that season. And the next season, Mourinho won the Portuguese championship, also won the UEFA Cup with... Porto. And with the players who "believed in him" at Uniao, such as Nuno Valente, Tiago, Derlei.

The rest of Mourinho's story is well known. He won the championships in Portugal, Spain, England, Italy, and the Champions League with two different clubs. He has won three European Cups. He has led all the big clubs: Porto, Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid, MU, Tottenham, AS Roma, Benfica...

Out of date, but Mourinho still has value?

It has been 20 years since Mourinho's nickname "The Special One" was mentioned over and over again. Is he outdated? If Mourinho's "outdated" is considered a major weakness, then this argument itself has been... outdated for many years. The evolution of modern football has forced even a brilliant figure like Pep Guardiola to realize his own obsolescence and have to change, from tactics to philosophy.

Mourinho started this season as head coach of Fenerbahce (Türkiye). Fenerbahce lost to... Benfica in the Champions League play-off round, causing Mourinho to be fired. Then Benfica lost to Qarabag (Azerbaijan) in the first round of Champions League matches. They fired coach Bruno Lage, and invited... Mourinho to replace him. Meaning: Benfica invited one of their "defeated generals", who was fired because of losing to them, to lead them.

Benfica fans are divided into two camps. One is excited. The other is critical, not only because of the story just mentioned, but because Benfica is preparing for elections. The current president is Rui Costa. Costa's main rival wants to hire Ruben Amorim (in case Amorim is fired by MU). Assuming Benfica change president after the election in October, will Mourinho resume his demand for a contract extension with the new president, as he did exactly 25 years ago?

Jose Mourinho is smart and cunning. And that is a quality that has not changed over time. Benfica fans can hope for this detail. Mourinho's intelligence can be used in competitions that do not play every week, such as the Champions League.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/su-nghiep-ky-la-cua-jose-mourinho-185250924224318305.htm