Jose Mourinho is, without doubt, one of the best managers of the last two decades – perhaps even of all-time. However, it would be childish to pretend that Mourinho is still at the frankly game-changing levels that he produced from the early 2000s until about 2012. Since then, the marginal gains have dipped and Mourinho no longer seems to be quite the enigmatic leader and trophy machine that he once was. However, talk of him moving on from Tottenham Hotspur seems like quiet a leap. After all, the club sacked a modern legend in Mauricio Pochettino to bring him in – could they really sack him?
With much talk of his future collaboration with Spurs ending in the summer after a poor season, Mourinho came out fighting in his press conference. Across a 25-minute press conference on Tuesday, the Portuguese was quick to shoot down any notions that he wasn’t capable of keeping progress in the modern game. Indeed, he said at the end of the conference that ““I feel very confident and I believe we are going to improve and that I will be in Tottenham’s history for the good reasons and not for the bad reasons,” – strong words for a coach who clearly has not lost his self-belief nor his zeal for the game.
Is Mourinho right to bite back?
When you have achieved the success that he has, it is only right that you feel confident in your own ability. Mourinho, though, was very quick to bite back with intensity regarding talk of his future. When asked about whether he could turn things around and end a poor patch, he gave an illuminating answer to the question. Pressed on his suitability to the modern game, Mourinho said: “I want to know which coach at the end of his career can say everything was blue sky and never a little bit grey or cloudy or even dark.”
However, Mourinho was asked if the current run of form – the worst in his career – left him with any doubts, he said: “I think [this spell] just shows how beautiful my career has been.”
“I always feel that I work for the clubs, I work for the players, for the supporters. I always feel that I have to give them so much and the fact I’m giving them hard work but not the results is something that of course hurts me. It’s a great challenge for me because I believe I can give it. I gave it everywhere I have been and I want to do it and I’m more motivated than ever.”
For a coach who has built teams based on their incredible self-belief in the past, it is clear that Mourinho has not given up on his own ability just yet. Given his ability to grow and improve teams in the short-term before a long-term fall-off, though, there is concern that, already over a year into his reign, Mourinho has yet to ignite the Spurs team into the winning side expected.
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