Jose Mourinho

December 7th, 2007 | By: Matthew | 6 Comments »

Not a huge amount going on in the England camp at the moment – just lots of speculation about the new manager. The Times has a good piece today about why Mourinho is the best choice. Some highlights:

It all comes down to Mourinho’s colossal, almost ludicrous sense of self-esteem. That is his strength. It is also his weakness, of course…

The job has been discredited by the appointment and subsequent failure of the hapless Steve McClaren, “the reductio ad absurdum of England managers” in Brian Glanville’s telling phrase. Mourinho would restore, in an instant, prestige to the position and, by extension, to the team. Both would be special again.

If I am doing the job, it must be one of the most important jobs in the world: Mourinho would bring that attitude with him and, at a stroke, everything to do with the England team would be important, serious, requiring total commitment. After all, everything that relates to Mourinho’s vanity is important.

The England team would become, in an instant of time, a wonderfully sexy thing. The effect of this, at least at first, would be inspirational. It would be a complete and radical relaunch for the England football team: exactly what is needed.

Players are required to worship him, to do all they can to win his confidence. Could these methods secure England’s qualification for the World Cup of 2010? It would be surprising if Mourinho failed to pull it off. He has a capacity to win the loyalty of players at a profound level: very much a two-way street, as he established with his core players at Chelsea, his Untouchables. He can do hard slog; he can make a team who reliably beat the teams they bloody well ought to beat.

He is also, it would seem, too canny, and too caught up in himself, to get involved with the sort of job-hunting on-the-job that Eriksson went in for. Mourinho is never flattered when people court him. He expects it. Most vain people have a thick streak of insecurity, which is why they need flattering. Mourinho simply doesn’t notice flattery, he is too secure in his own view of himself…

I feel in my water that the FA will shy away from appointing Mourinho. There is something dangerous about him and anyone who employs him will have a few sleepless nights. And that is precisely why he should get the job.

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Comments

By Daryl | December 7th, 2007 at 2:32 pm

I especially agree with that last paragraph. The problem with the FA has been that they always make the safe choice, like McClaren. If there’s really the promised “root and branch” change then hiring Mourinho would be a clear sign that the FA is entering a new and braver era.

By A South Korean Coach for a South Korean Team - World Cup Blog | December 7th, 2007 at 3:02 pm

[...] after being screwed over by another Dutchman, Serbia fired a Spaniard and England have been nervously glancing in Jose Mourinho’s direction. So is the time of national team managers having the same [...]

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By Luis | December 7th, 2007 at 7:59 pm

Mourinho is going to ruin his perfect record by becoming manager of England. He will not be able to bring any glory to England, or the 2010 World Cup, because no matter how many talented players England have, they always underperform. England can only win a World Cup if it is on home soil, no other way, as has already been proven countless times. He will fail at South Africa, and like all the other England managers, incur the wrath of the English people. His perfect coaching career will be ruined, and he’ll have to go to a club like Manchester City like Sven-Goran Ericksson had to do. That’s why I think it would be better for Mourinho to coach Portugal after the Eurocup (Scolari already said he is leaving) or instead take over FC Barcelona (who’s interested) or AC Milan (also interested). If instead he takes the hardest post in the world, he is going to fail like McClaren, Erickson, etc, and his perfect record will be tainted.

By Daryl | December 8th, 2007 at 7:39 pm

That’s a really good point Luis.

I’d argue that Mourinho is the best man for the England job, but England isn’t the best job for Mourinho career wise. It’s got a tendency of spitting people out the other side as a shadow of their former selves.

By kasets | December 8th, 2007 at 9:15 pm

The same reason why Mourinho shouldn’t coach England applies to Portugal. He is to young and a NT manager is a semi retirement job. He would dearly miss all the action of league play along with champions league. I think of all the candidates Claudio Capello would be the best choice. He is in his 60’s and a proven champion on every level.

To say England can only win on home soil regardless of their talent, I think, is a cheap shot. That statement is obviously based on their sole victory of 1966. However, if you apply that logic than it’s fair to say Portugal will never win a world cup, based on their decades of play. Not fair to either country.

Lastly just a quick comment on how being Manager of England is the hardest job in football. I think it’s fair to say that managers of Italy, Brazil, Germany Argentina would have something to say on the matter.

By England Gambler | December 10th, 2007 at 5:24 pm

kasets I agree with a lot of your points. I’m not sure Mourinho would opt for the idea of not being able to coach the team day in day out. Personally I think he is using England as bait, pretending he wants the job and hoping another big team will come in with an offer before he ‘accepts’ it.

I do think it shows how hard it is to manage England, with Sven now succeeding at Man City – though to be fair he has been helped with the backing of a wealthy chairman and has been able to bring in decent players such as Elano.

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