In case any of us dare forget, Jose Mourinho enjoyed a great record at Stamford Bridge during his time at Chelsea and not even I would dismiss that. How long would he have kept it up if he’d stayed? Well we’ll never know because with our form looking as dodgy as Mourinho’s relationship with Roman Abramovich, a swift exit saved him from having to really test himself.
So, he left with his record and his ego intact, to be hailed a hero forever more – and no-one rates him more highly than he does himself. Because back to face the supporters he obviously has so much respect for, Mourinho declares “I don’t feel the reactions from the crowd. I will just sit there and play my game. But I don’t hide that Chelsea are a very important part of my life. Everybody knows Mourinho doesn’t lose at Stamford Bridge. My record is unbeatable. It is amazing – we were so strong for such a long time. Nobody had ever won the title in their first year. But I went down in history.”
And weren’t we lucky to have had such a selfless manager? Of course Chelsea were a big part of his life, he had it bloody made. Walking into the sort of side Claudio Ranieri had put together and given whatever money he wanted on top. Not many managers get that sort of luxury. Of course he won the bloody title, but then I’d suspect from that position even my mother would have come close, except she might have played a more attacking game.
Don’t get me wrong, as an impact manager, he had what it took to walk in and make the players come together as a real team. He told them they were better than anyone else around them until they believed in themselves as much as he did. Of course there was a price to be paid for thinking they were above everyone else – usually in the form of get-togethers with the FA – but it was a relatively small price to pay eh?
Even the lack of attacking prowess was ok at the time, people only said we were boring because they were jealous of us winning, right? I mean, who needed to see us being adventurous enough to score more than we had to? And as for the Champions League, well that would have come in the end, wouldn’t it? Or would it?
Because whilst Mourinho can big his record at Chelsea up as much as he likes, Michael Ballack shows the former Special One isn’t the only one with a dig up his sleeve, stating “Jose won two League titles, that is why he is so popular here. But that is history and now we have a new coach, with new players. This competition is the one we couldn’t win until now. That is why we are so hungry. To have a coach who has won the Champions League twice is why we look up to him, why we listen to him and that’s why he is here.”
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Blue is the colour
