3 reasons Jose Mourinho couldn't succeed on his return to the Premier League
Almost 5 years ago, during his second spell with Chelsea, nobody would have dared to even imagine that Jose Mourinho would fail this miserably in the Premier League. A few years and three sacks later, it isn't surprising how drastically that opinion has changed.
Jose Mourinho was once the Chosen one and arguably one of the most sought-after managers in the world. However, after Tottenham fired him on Monday in the week of their League Cup final fixture, it is clear that his reputation in England has taken a hit.
We look at three reasons why Jose Mourinho has failed consistently in the last five years.
1. Failure to adapt
To understand how drastically football has changed over the past few years, all you have to do is study Jose Mourinho's managerial style. He was hailed as a lethal tactician not long ago and his terms were feared. Mourinho's teams utilized extremely defensive tactics and hit their opponents on with quick counter-attacks.
But modern football has adapted to this style of play. In an era of managers like Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola, there has been an elaborate re-structuring to how teams approach Premier League games. It is now about fine-tuning the players' skills and helping them adapt to multiple strategies.
Jose Mourinho expects his players to improvise, and in the current game, there is very little room for that because of the extensive tactics of rival managers.
2. Negative tactics
It was Jose Mourinho who popularized the strategy of 'parking the bus' more than a decade ago. That says a lot about how defense-oriented his teams were.
As this approach may have achieved results in the Premier League in the past, players and fans were willing to forgive Mourinho for his negative tactics. However, during his stints with Manchester United and Tottenham, these tactics have failed to bring the right results.
3. Relationships with players
Jose Mourinho having poor relationships with multiple star players in his team has been a reason for his downfall. Many consider this to be a deliberate plan to gain a psychological edge over the players. Mourinho has used this to his advantage while motivating his charges.
Whenever his skills as a manager have been questioned, the relationship between Mourinho and his players has suffered. This was exemplified best during his time at Manchester United. Even though his relationship with the players was relatively better at Tottenham, Mourinho still threw many players under the bus following poor results.