5 biggest mistakes made by Jose Mourinho in his career
Jose Mourinho's machiavellian prince attributes have led him to immense success across Portugal, England and Italy. His trophy-laden career has seen him become one of the most defining coaches of the modern era, as an antithesis to Pep Guardiola.
The many highs of his career have seen dramatic lows, many of which are controversial and dramatic. Here, we rank five of Jose Mourinho's biggest mistakes over the course of his decorated career.
#5 Conspiracy theorist
For several instances in his career, Mourinho has found a way to shift blame past his team for their shortcomings. His criticism of referees and management has been constant and explosive, with the most infamous being accusing Barcelona of having a preference in the eyes of UEFA due to UNICEF being their shirt sponsor.
During his maiden tenure at Chelsea, Mourinho was fined €8900 for making false accusations about the referee for planning a conspiracy with Frank Rijkaard against his team. In charge of Chelsea in 2005, a controversial UEFA Champions League knockout tie against the Catalans led to Mourinho questioning referee Andreas Frisk publicly and calling into question his objectivism, leading to death threats against him and his family.
#4 Archaic tactics
"Parking the Bus" is now part of football vernacular and Jose Mourinho is largely associated with it. Introduced as a criticism, the moniker has followed Jose for the way he sets up his team to defend at all costs. At Inter Milan, his pragmatism was lauded and heralded, but across his spell in England, this has been branded "anti-football" for the little focus given to attacking football possession play. His decision to demand the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Eden Hazard to help out defensively has been unpopular and seemingly inhibited their creative talents.
In an era where attacking attractive football is the demand for entertaining supporters, Mourinho has unapologetically stuck to his style of neutralizing his opponents and catching teams on the counterattack.
At Real Madrid, he found a balance between attack and defense, as he won La Liga with a record points haul. At Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, however, his teams have struggled to break down well-disciplined opponents. While the approach wins trophies, as a neutral, his principles of play can be difficult to watch and appreciate.