I was born ready: Jose Mourinho, like cult hero
Jack Burton, is ready for a challenge - and that may mean a return
to England
Speculate on the return of Jose Mourinho to English
football and one phrase crops up constantly. Whether the talk is of
Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United or Arsenal, you hear
that Jose is up for it.
He is up for anything in England, it seems, providing the
position involves a reasonable budget and a shot at the biggest
prizes. He is up for trying to collect the first title of the
Premier League era at Anfield, or attempting to maintain a period
of unprecedented dominance at Old Trafford.
He is up for adding the cutting edge to the work of Arsene
Wenger at Arsenal, or bringing Sheik Mansour's lavish project to
fruition at Manchester City. He is Jack Burton in John Carpenter's
cult classic Big Trouble In
Little China. 'You ready Jack?' asks his friend Wang Chi. 'I
was born ready,' Jack says.
Not that Jack is a conventional hero. He is something of a
blowhard, actually. In his mind he is Indiana Jones, in reality he
is a truck driver inadvertently embroiled in a mythical Chinese
underworld, who messes up as often as he succeeds. Some think this
of Mourinho, too. That he is all talk, a lot of hot air. They never
get past the superficialities. They see only personality clashes,
boasts and bravado. They are wrong.
If Carlo Ancelotti wins the league this season, it will have
taken Chelsea four managers and the best part of three years to get
back to where Mourinho took them in his first season. At Porto, his
Champions League win was the most unexpected of the modern era. And
if he has failed to repeat this achievement at Inter Milan, despite
winning the title twice, well, join the club. Inter have had 33
coaches since 1965, and none of them have done it. Mourinho is far
more talented than his detractors believe and, like Jack Burton, he
has an ear for a good line, too.
'I'm a reasonable
guy, but I've just experienced some very unreasonable things.'
The consensus is that Mourinho is increasingly tired of Italian
football. When an English newspaper suggested this, quoting
Mourinho lovingly on the subject of the English game, he issued a
lengthy statement claiming misrepresentation. There was a little
more to it, however.
Mourinho certainly did give an interview to a respected English
football writer for use in a book on Sir Alex Ferguson. The meeting
was cordial and Mourinho was very open, discussing Ferguson as
friend and adversary. After the interview, however, he contacted
Ferguson out of politeness and Ferguson requested he withdraw
co-operation.
This put Mourinho in an invidious position and, in deference to
a fellow manager, whose support he will need if he is to stand any
chance of working at Manchester United, he asked the journalist to
strike their conversation from the record. What cannot be known is
whether Mourinho was aware that part of the interview was intended
for use as a newspaper feature. He says not.
He is, however, no fool and if he wanted to publicly announce he
would welcome a return to English football, he succeeded, even if
the price was an awkward 24 hours in Milan and the hasty issue of a
statement claiming he had been duped (making it look as if the
problem was rogue reporting, rather than disloyalty to his
employer).
So what is it about Italy that Mourinho does not like? The
football, to begin with, which he is said to find much less
compelling than the Premier League. He also believes the Italian
media favours native managers and is harsher in its dealings with
Inter Milan because he is an outsider.
This week, he rejected the criticism his club received for
losing to Barcelona in the Champions League by hinting AC Milan got
away lightly after losing at home to FC Zurich in September, as did
Juventus when beaten 2-0 last month by a Bordeaux team that had
already qualified.
Mourinho has also clashed with players, not least Mario
Balotelli, and Massimo Moratti, the owner, is said to be
unimpressed. 'No problem,' Mourinho sneered. 'I read that my
replacement has already been found, but if I am sacked I will be
back in work within a week.' Yes, but where?
'Everybody relax.
I'm here.'
There are three main options: Manchester United, when Ferguson
decides to retire; Manchester City, if Mark Hughes fails to deliver
Champions League football this season; and Liverpool, if domestic
performances continue to mirror the failure in Europe.
Some argue Arsenal should be included on this list were Wenger
to go a fifth season without a trophy, but to appoint Mourinho now
would require a 180-degree turn in club policy. (Although if Wenger
did leave, the chances of finding a manager who would run Arsenal
in his style would be as good as impossible, and a change of
direction under the charismatic Mourinho would be an inspired
decision.)
After the last debacle, when Ferguson gave advance notice of his
retirement and his team took six months off to celebrate, the date
of the next managerial vacancy at Manchester United is unknown.
Ferguson has shown no desire to stand aside just yet - and why
should he? - yet Mourinho would make an excellent successor.
It is going to take a brave man to follow Ferguson and there
will be very few with the confidence to embrace this challenge.
What is interesting is whether United are prepared to see Mourinho
go elsewhere - particularly to their greatest rivals, Manchester
City or Liverpool - and work in opposition, or whether the fear of
this could accelerate discussions with Ferguson. The height of
foolishness would be to miss out on Mourinho now, only for Ferguson
to retire in six months time with the prime candidate
unavailable.
Particularly if Mourinho is trying to do for City what Ferguson
did for United: namely knock football's most consistently
successful club off their perch. United are now where Liverpool
used to be. Like Ferguson, Mourinho at Manchester City would turn
the humbling of his supposed superiors into his personal crusade.
Indeed, he seems made for such a challenge, as Ferguson was - he
achieved something similar with Aberdeen in Scotland, up against
Celtic and Rangers. Mourinho's character suggests he would contrive
to do this while nursing a substantial budget and pretending the
world is against him; as Ferguson did.
Much depends at which point Abu Dhabi tires of waiting for
Hughes to turn City around. There are few signs of impatience so
far, yet a two-month sequence of drawn Premier League matches
cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely. End this with a run of
three wins and the crisis may pass; end with three defeats and
tough questions can be expected, perhaps as early as January.
Hughes is a straight-shooter. He will know that Manchester City
will be expected to achieve a top-four finish this season,
considering the level of investment and with Arsenal and Liverpool
in such erratic form.
He will also be aware that, in the eyes of Sheik Mansour and
those advising him, the appointment of a coach such as Mourinho
would be a greater draw to the best footballers in the world, and
signal serious intent.
And then there is Liverpool, Mourinho's first choice,
apparently. Like a great boxer, this is a man who fights with an
eye on his place in history. Liverpool may have money worries,
cowboys at the reins and a team in need of an overhaul, but they
also have immense history and a 19-year itch that badly needs
scratching.
The obstacle is that there is no appetite for dismissing Rafael
Benitez, the manager, not in the boardroom and certainly not
beyond. Maybe this would change if the season turned into a
bust-on-all-fronts but, despite his track record, Mourinho is not a
popular figure on Merseyside and the owners will be reluctant to
further raise levels of animosity.
He would be a hard sell, as would a squad that has come up short
too many times already this season. It is not feasible that
Mourinho could outstrip the achievements of Benitez without greatly
improving these resources. So there could be a sticking point.
'This is
gonna take crackerjack timing, Wang.'
Isn't it just? Next week, Inter Milan have a home game against
FC Rubin Kazan, the champions of Russia, that needs to be won to be
certain of progressing to the last 16 of the Champions League. If
Inter do not go through, there is a strong feeling in Italy that
Mourinho's tenure could end, even seven points clear in Serie A.
Win and he should be safe, although there is speculation over what
would happen were Inter's resolve tested by an approach from an
English club.
If anything is to be done before the summer, however, it must be
timed to perfection in the hiatus between the break in the Italian
season - Inter's last game is December 20, at home to Lazio - and
when it reconvenes on January 6, or certainly before the first
knock-out round of the Champions League, beginning February 16.
Synchronisation with the European transfer window may be important,
too.
'You can go
and rule the universe from beyond the grave, or check into a psycho
ward, whichever comes first.'
So this becomes a game of who blinks. If Manchester City are
panicked by the recent flat-line and make a move sooner rather than
later, are Liverpool, or even Manchester United, prepared to sit
idle and watch it happen?
There is a world of difference between Mourinho parked safely in
Milan, a random pairing in the Champions League away and Mourinho
ensconced down the road having a crack at the title on behalf of
another club.
And make what you will of this. Before writing, I spoke to a
number of people who claim insight into Mourinho's mindset. I said
I was working on a column about the possibility of his return to
English football. 'I'd get that in sooner rather than later,' one
told me. Mourinho is ready, have no doubt of that. And so are
we.