The defensive woes of Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho and John Terry in 2006 – Those were the good ol’ days at Chelsea

It was the summer of 2004. Jose Mourinho arrived at Chelsea amidst widespread attention as the Portugese had recently led FC Porto to UEFA Champions League glory, winning the Primera Liga and the Portuguese Super Cup along the way. In his first ever press conference on English soil, Mourinho was an instant hit and was christened “The Special One” by the press. The Special One then began his conquest to justify the “Special” tag and in his first season at Chelsea, he guided them to Premiership success and victory over Liverpool in the League Cup.

Mourinho however, couldn’t replicate his Champions League success as his Chelsea side went down to what was dubbed as a “ghost goal” by Liverpool’s Luis Garcia in the Champions League semifinals. Chelsea set many a record, one of which was for the most number of points secured (95) by a club in the top flight of English football. This served as a platform for Mourinho to build on and the subsequent season witnessed Chelsea retaining their title.

Mourinho’s managerial spell at Inter Milan was also highly successful, culminating in them being the first Italian side to complete the Treble – the UEFA Champions League, the Coppa Italia and the Serie A. He continued to utilize the same success formula from Chelsea and Porto, the only difference being the personnel. Then came Real Madrid where some likened him to a Galáctico and in his third season, Mourinho achieved what he had been appointed for – the La Liga title finally came back to the Bernabeu.

All along, Mourinho had built sides that emphasized on defense and relied on counter-attacks and efficiency in front of goal to defeat opposition. He was unbeaten at home for a record 9 years (he is still unbeaten at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League), a mammoth record.

Mourinho’s sides were characterized by a typically solid defense, and an efficient midfield. Wastefulness was severely admonished by Mourinho. If his teams were to lose a match, it would be because the opponents had played better; not because of their own profligacy.

But of late, Mourinho’s sides have lacked the defensive intensity that is typically associated with a Mourinho side.

Chelsea have already conceded 17 goals in 15 games so far and it is not even half way through the Premier League campaign. To put that in perspective, Chelsea conceded only 15 goals through the course of Mourinho’s first season at Chelsea. In his last season for the Los Blancos, Real conceded a whopping 42 goals in La Liga, finishing runner-up to arch rivals Barcelona.

Here are possible reasons for Mourinho’s sides becoming increasingly porous at the back.

Off-field antics and club infighting

Jose Mourinho’s off-field antics have been well documented, but his reputation touched a nadir when he poked Barcelona’s then assistant coach Tito Vilanova in the eye during a scuffle at the end of the Spanish Super Cup in 2011. The Spanish media and public continued to lampoon him throughout his spell at the Spanish capital. To say that his antics didn’t have an effect on his wards would be a terrible understatement.

In 2005, he accused referee Anders Frisk of violating FIFA rules by meeting with Barcelona coach Frank Riijkard at half-time during a Champions League tie. This prompted him to be labeled as an enemy of football by the then UEFA referee’s chief Volker Roth. Mourinho’s initial press conferences involved him playing mind games with opposition managers but in the forthcoming years, his press conferences took a turn for the ugly, and mainly involved him making impromptu jibes at opposing players and managers; this having not mentioned the various instances where he would be sent to the stands and would be banned from the touchline for improper conduct.

His final season at Real Madrid was marred by infighting within the club, where he is accused to have brought about disrepute to the dressing room by dividing the players. Several top players were maligned, including club captain Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos. And it is hypothesized that many players contrived against him by reporting the issues to club president Fiorentino Perez which eventually led to Mourinho’s departure.

Pressure to perform

In all the clubs that Mourinho has served, the expectations have been sky high, except probably at Porto where his career was in the nascent stages. A trophy-less season at any club would mean that Mourinho would be managing with a knife pressed against his neck. Fiorentino Perez demanded a return for all the players being roped in and Roman Abramovich was being his usual ruthless self. The continuous pressure to perform at Real Madrid probably took its toll on Mourinho himself, and the title captured was immediately surrendered to Barcelona the next season.

Emphasis on playing attractive and attacking football

It is widely speculated that the reason for Mourinho’s ouster from Chelsea back in 2007 was club owner Roman Abramovich being dissatisfied at the playing style of Chelsea. Abramovich desired a style similar to that of Barcelona, involving slick passing and intricate play-making in the build up to a goal. But Mourinho was stubborn to accede to Abramovich’s demands as he preferred a defense-first mentality.

Mourinho once said “Look, we’re not entertaining? I don’t care; we win.”  The same could be said about Mourinho’s stint as Real Madrid coach. In his three seasons, Madrid notched up goal tallies of 102, 121 and 103 goals, but also conceded 33, 32 and 42 goals respectively. These numbers might not statistically seem bad for any team, but considering that Real Madrid were up against Barcelona in the title race, they had to tighten the noose at the back.

Personnel available at hand

During Mourinho’s heyday at both Chelsea and Inter Milan, he was blessed with defenders such as John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Walter Samuel, Lucio, Javier Zanetti – big names that spring to mind. And to protect them he had defensive midfielders such as Claude Makelele and Esteban Cambiasso who ensured defensive compactness. But the personnel at Real Madrid and the current crop of defenders that he has at Chelsea are a shadow of the names mentioned above. Pepe, and an aging Ricardo Carvalho, not to mention players such as Sergio Ramos and Fabio Coentrao, whose first instincts are to attack; these are the players that Mourinho had at Madrid.

This season at Chelsea, although John Terry has been inspired by the Portuguese’s return, he has failed to reproduce the form of old. Not to mention the enigmatic Brazilian David Luiz, whose penchant for losing possession has frustrated Mourinho. Gary Cahill does not look like the player he was at Bolton. Mourinho’s defensive concerns this season have primarily been the positioning of his defenders and the form of his goalkeeper Petr Cech. A Chelsea team that was once terribly difficult to break down is now leaking goals.