Jose Mourinho is currently raising a lot of eyebrows in the football universe due to controversial comments he made to the Portuguese newspaper Expresso.
“I’m terrible at picking teams,” the Portugal native said. “I always choose teams, as they say in England, in big trouble.”
“Inter was in big trouble, Real Madrid was in big trouble, Manchester United in big trouble, that is, always in big trouble.”
You’ll notice he left out a few clubs, including Chelsea, and of course Porto, where he truly cut his teeth and launched his career.
Before his three year spell at Porto, Mourinho briefly managed União de Leiria and Benfica as well.
His comments have been met with some scrutiny as it seems rather odd to refer to such giant clubs and worldwide known brands as “in big trouble.” Just last week we saw reports that named Real Madrid the most powerful football club brand in the world, and the same study showing Manchester United to be the most valuable.
So while there certainly were some issues at these clubs, and problems that needed to be fixed, they weren’t exactly “struggling” in the truest sense.
Jose Mourinho is certainly a brilliant tactician, and he sometimes uses press opportunities and interviews to play his mind games and build himself up. Mourinho has certainly enjoyed success everywhere that he has been, but the main purpose of these comments here seems to be another chance to build up his own individual brand.
If you buy into his narrative, then it looks like the self-ascribed Special One is truly a master at “rebuilding.”
You can make a pretty good case with that too, if you consider what has happened at United since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. It wasn’t until the 2016 FA Cup that the club claimed a trophy post Fergie. Also, Jose Mourinho inherited a side that often played ugly football under Louis van Gaal and finished outside UEFA Champions League qualification.
This past season, Mourinho became the first United boss ever to win a trophy in his first year on the job. He actually won two (EFL Cup, the first Europa League title in club history), or three, if you count the Community Shield as well.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes to WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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