Moments With Jose Mourinho The Enigma
Would you like me to lap dance for you? Jose Mourinho made
an appearance on Italian television show Chiambretti Night, shortly after his
move to Italy. As England manager Fabio Capello once found out, part of the
show involves a private dance from a scantily clad woman. Mourinho appeared to
find it difficult to stay awake for the performance.
Mourinho's first press conference in England, staged to
announce his appointment as Chelsea manager, was to both start the trend of
things to come and lay the foundations for his legend:
'Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European champion
and I think I'm a special one.'
Time to celebrate Before Mourinho was appointed as manager
of Chelsea, many English fans were already aware of his existence - especially
Manchester United fans. In charge of Porto, his team came to Old Trafford and
beat the odds by knocking United out of the Champions League thanks to a last
minute goal. As Costinha bundled the ball home, Mourinho set off on a wild run
down the Old Trafford touchline to celebrate.
Le Professor? Non. Le Voyeur 'I think he is one of these
people who is a voyeur,' Mourinho famously said of Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger
in October 2005. 'He likes to watch other people. There are some guys who, when
they are at home, have a big telescope to see what happens in other families.
He speaks, speaks, speaks about Chelsea.'
Winning the title After Mourinho's assertion that he was the
'Special One', the Portuguese wasted no time in proving the doubters wrong. In
his first season as Chelsea boss, he led the club to their first league title
in 50 years. He would go on to win the league title again the following season
as well as the FA Cup, two League Cups and one Community Shield during his time
in charge.
Omelettes and eggs 'It is omelettes and eggs. No eggs - no
omelettes! It depends on the quality of the eggs.' Mourinho was explaining in
his own special way the issue of money drying up at Stamford Bridge. He
continued: 'In the supermarket you have class one, two or class three eggs and
some are more expensive than others and some give you better omelettes. So when
the class one eggs are in Waitrose and you cannot go there, you have a
problem.'
Pressure ....We're told that football managers are under
constant pressure. But Mourinho didn't agree: Pressure? There is no pressure.
Bird Flu is pressure. (The press laugh) No, you laugh, but I am being serious.
I am more worried about the swan then I am about football.
Terrier threat Mourinho was arrested and cautioned in 2007
after allegedly refusing to allow police to quarantine his pet dog. He
reportedly rushed home from an awards ceremony after he was tipped off by his
wife about what was going on. Upon returning home, eyewitnesses claimed he
freed the animal from the health officials, rushed out into the street and
encouraged his pet to run off. He then told them, 'I've sent my dog to St
Tropez.'
Out with the laundry. This story is unproven, but the
audacity of it if it is true makes it worth recounting. Mourinho was banned by
Uefa from having any contact with his Chelsea players during the 2005 Champions
League quarter-finals. To get around this, it's alleged that Mourinho sneaked
into the ground early and gave both the pre-game and half-time team-talks.
While the game was in play, Mourinho watched from the dressing room and relayed
instructions to assistant Rui Faria, who it's suggested was wearing an earpiece
- covered by a suspiciously large hat (pictured). After the game Mourinho was
reportedly wheeled out of the stadium in a laundry basket.
Sssshhhh... Mourinho bagged his first trophy for Chelsea
with a Carling Cup triumph over Liverpool. But at the time almost as much was
made of his gesture to Liverpool fans as was Chelsea's 3-2 win. When Steven
Gerrard scored a late own-goal to send the match into extra-time, Mourinho
turned to the Liverpool fans, who had been barracking him all game, and put his
finger to his lips as if to suggest 'be quiet'. Mourinho later claimed he was
gesturing towards the press but no-one believed him.
On the bus Following a 0-0 draw with Tottenham Hotspur,
Mourinho quipped:
'As we say in Portugal, they brought the bus and they left
the bus in front of the goal.'
Melons Mourinho apparently liked using food as an analogy
for his thoughts, as he proved when discussing his youth players at Chelsea:
'Young players are a little bit like melons. Only when you
open and taste the melon are you 100 per cent sure that the melon is good.
Sometimes you have beautiful melons but they don't taste very good and some
other melons are a bit ugly and when you open them, the taste is fantastic. For
example, Scott Sinclair, the way he played against Arsenal and Man United, we
know the melon we have.'
Rijkaard and the ref 'When I saw Rijkaard entering the
referee's dressing room I couldn't believe it. When Drogba was sent off I
didn't get surprised.'
This quote from Mourinho caused a storm. The Chelsea boss
was suggesting that Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard had paid a visit to the
dressing room of referee Anders Frisk during half-time of their Champions
League encounter. It was a hugely damaging statement that led to a two match
ban for Mourinho, saw him labelled the 'enemy of football' by Uefa's head of
referees, and led to the retirement of Frisk who was receiving death threats
following the match.
Chin up!
An enduring image of Mourinho was his gesture to Chelsea
fans that they keep their 'chin up' following a draw to Arsenal that ended
their hopes of another league title. His strength in the face of defeat was
another feather in his bow.
It's the president When Mourinho when asked by a Ghanaian
journalist if he ever phoned Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to see how he was,
the Portuguese replied:
'Would you phone the president of Ghana?'
Bonjourno Mourinho showed no signs of letting up after his
move to Italy. Much like his introduction to England, he captivated the press
at the first opportunity. In his opening press conference he spoke fluent
Italian (something he claimed to have learned in three-weeks 'because I'm very
intelligent'). And following one awkward question, Mourinho paused before
delivering a classic piece of Milanese slang: 'Non sono un pirla' - 'I'm not a d**khead'.
The room exploded in laughter and brought Mourinho his first round of applause
on Italian soil.
Take him down Mourinho's popularity waned during his time in
Italy, when his constant jibes at officials, managers and referees antagonised
just about everyone in Italy, including his own fans. A notable episode
involved the Special One performing a 'handcuffs' gesture after seeing Inter's
Walter Samuel and Ivan Cordoba sent off and Samuel Eto'o booked in a match with
Sampdoria. He received a three-game ban.
Leaving on a high Despite the mutual disharmony between Mourinho
and Italy in general, after completing an unprecedented treble with Inter Milan
last season, a shared respect was formed. Mourinho would leave Inter shortly
after their Champions League triumph, declaring:
'My work here is done. I have been very happy at Inter but
not in the world of Italian football because I don't like all the comments from
presidents, coaches and papers. But I will always like Inter. I want to thank
Italian football because I have become a better coach for it.'
Comments
Post a Comment