Jose Mourinho believes greater support could have altered his Man Utd destiny
Jose Mourinho believes his time with Manchester United may have been more successful had he been given the same support and trust as current manager Erik ten Hag.
Mourinho is one of the most decorated managers to have graced the sport, having won domestic titles in England, Italy, Spain and Portugal, as well as two UEFA Champions League titles and the Europa Conference League.
Mourinho left Porto to join Chelsea in 2004 and won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup.
A move to San Siro was next for Mourinho, who led Inter Milan to a historic treble in 2009/10 - Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League.
At Real Madrid, Mourinho won La Liga and a Copa del Rey between 2010 and 2012. After returning to Chelsea, Mourinho then spent two-and-a-half years at Manchester United.
Almost a year after getting the sack from Manchester United, Mourinho was named Tottenham Hotspur manager in November 2019. However, after just 17 months in charge of the North London club he was once again dismissed.
Mourinho was named as the new AS Roma manager for the 2021/22 season, where he guided Roma to a sixth-placed finish in Serie A, just one place better than the previous season.
Mourinho arrived at Stamford Bridge with one of the biggest reputations in Europe after guiding Porto to shock glory in the Champions League in 2004.
During his time at Porto, Mourinho also won two league titles, a domestic trophy and a UEFA Cup. Mourinho branded himself 'Special One' upon his arrival at Chelsea. Speaking to reporters in 2004, he said: "We have top players and, sorry if I'm arrogant, we have a top manager... Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European champion and I think I'm a special one."
Under the ownership of billionaire Roman Abramovich, Mourinho recruited Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira at an excess of £100million.
His first season was a huge success. He won his first trophy against Liverpool 3-2 in extra time to secure the League Cup, but Mourinho was sent off from the touchline for signaling a gesture to the Reds fans. His rivalry with Liverpool continued later that season with Rafa Benitez's side eliminating Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Champions League with a controversial goal.
Chelsea ended the campaign as Premier League champions and, in doing so, won their first top flight title in 50 years with 95 points - a record tally at the time - and with the fewest goals conceded, 25.
Speculation began to mount over Mourinho's future during the 2006/07 campaign after rumours of a breakdown in trust between himself and Abramovich.
The signing of Andriy Shevchenko by the chairman left Mourinho less than impressed, who despite being pressured into selecting the £32.5million striker, started him in just 14 games that season. Shevchenko returned an underwhelming four goals.
Drogba, meanwhile, enjoyed his most prolific season since arriving from Marseille with 33 goals in all competitions. Chelsea would miss out on a third successive Premier League title - Mourinho's first season in five years without a league crown - but did win a domestic cup double, securing the League and FA Cups.
Mourinho parted ways with Chelsea in 2007/08 after a fallout with Abramovich. He would return in 2013/14, leading them to third position in his first season back.
During the next campaign, he won his third Premier League title at Stamford Bridge and added another League Cup to his trophy haul. However, Mourinho left by mutual consent in December 2015 after a poor start to the 2015/16 season.
The best of José Mourinho in the Premier League.pic.twitter.com/cgv8RKx9Hd
— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) April 19, 2021
Mourinho's tenure at Inter Milan grabbed the attention of Los Blancos after he delivered a historic treble in his second season. During his time at Inter (2008-10), Mourinho won two Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia and the Champions League.
Mourinho joined Madrid in 2010, replacing Manuel Pellegrini on a four-year deal. Mourinho got off to a rocky start, tasting the biggest defeat of his career in November 2010 as Real lost to Barcelona 5-0.
Sporting director Jorge Valdano criticised the performance and questioned Mourinho while Florentino Perez said it was the worst result in Madrid's history.
Despite missing out on La Liga glory in his first season, Mourinho did win the Copa del Rey, beating Barcelona in the final. He also took Madrid to their first Champions League semi-final since 2003.
During his second season, Mourinho received backlash for his involvement in the Supercopa de Espana final, where he poked the eye of Tito Vilanova - assistant to Guardiola and future successor at Barca - during a brawl in August 2011.
Mourinho enjoyed a successful season on the pitch though as Madrid won La Liga with a record points tally (100) and the most goals scored (109).
Mourinho signed a new four-year deal in 2012 but his third campaign would be his final one at Madrid after friction between him and the players escalated.
Mourinho was criticised for his behaviour towards club legend Iker Casillas, whom he refused to pick for first-team duties. Mourinho also fell out with Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo, questioning the latter's attitude after sarcastically stating how his compatriot "thinks that he knows everything and that the coach cannot improve him anymore."
Controversy continued to follow with Mourinho questioning UEFA's relationship with major rivals Barcelona. Mourinho's last game as coach at the club was a defeat to fierce rivals Atletico Madrid in the 2013 Copa del Rey final.
After being fired by Chelsea, Mourinho replaced Van Gaal as Man United boss in 2016 on a four-year deal. His first move in the transfer market was to sign Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic - the former being a world-record fee at the time of £89.3million.
Mourinho won the Community Shield in his first game as manager and paid tribute to Van Gaal's contribution after their victory over Leicester City.
Despite finishing in sixth position in his first campaign, Man United won the League Cup and Europa League, which qualified them for the subsequent season's Champions League.
His next campaign saw the team finish second to Pep Guardiola's Man City and runners-up in the FA Cup after losing 1-0 to Antonio Conte's Chelsea. He described finishing second in the league as his "greatest achievement."
Unable to sign a defender during the summer transfer window in 2018, Mourinho expressed his dissatisfaction regarding United's inactivity to improve the squad.
A poor start to the season and a fractured relationship with executive vice chairman Ed Woodward resulted in Mourinho being fired in December 2018.
Appointed as Mauricio Pochettino's successor in November 2019, Mourinho guided Spurs to a top-six finish.
The 2019/20 season was documented on Amazon Prime in a nine-part series. It follows Mourinho and the team through the season, highlighting the highs, the lows, and his relationship with players and chairman Daniel Levy.
A heated discussion with defender Danny Rose in his office sparked a huge talking point amongst viewers and went viral on social media. Pochettino also features in the opening episode.
Mourinho's Spurs defeated Manchester United 6-1 in the 2020/21 season and the club later announced the arrival of former player Gareth Bale on loan from Real Madrid.
Thank you for everything Boss. A pleasure to have worked together. I wish you all the best for your next chapter. pic.twitter.com/n3MLECMdC1
— Harry Kane (@HKane) April 19, 2021
Despite reaching the final of the Carabao Cup, Mourinho was sacked on April 19, less than a week before the showpiece event at Wembley against Manchester City and with Spurs in seventh place in the Premier League.
Mourinho returned for his second spell in Italian soccer with AS Roma for the start of the 2021/22 Serie A season.
The Portuguese manager, who spent two seasons with Inter Milan between 2008 and 2010, replaced Paulo Fonseca who left the club after a 7th-placed finish.
4 - José Mourinho is the first manager to win a major European competition with four different teams (FC Porto x2, Internazionale, Manchester United & Roma). Special. pic.twitter.com/3xj5mjsfDm
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 25, 2022
Roma finished in sixth place in Serie A again in the 2023/24 season and reached the Europa League final in Budapest, where they lost 4-1 on penalties to Sevilla after a 1-1 draw.
On January 16 2023, Mourinho was sacked by Roma after the club won only one of their last five Serie A matches and slipped to ninth in the table.
Club owners Dan and Ryan Friedkin said: “We would like to thank Jose on behalf of all of us at AS Roma for his passion and efforts since his arrival at the club.
“We will always have great memories of his tenure at Roma, but we believe that an immediate change is in the best interests of the club.
“We wish Jose and his assistants all the best in their future endeavours.”
Mourinho is a Roman Catholic. Speaking about his faith in an interview with the Telegraph in 2015, he said: "Every day I pray, every day I speak with Him. I don't go to the church every day, not even every week. I go when I feel I need to. And when I'm in Portugal, I always go. But I can say the reality is I never go to the church to speak with Him about football. Never!"
Mourinho is worth a reported £100million. It is believed his first two years at Man United saw him earn around an estimated $30million in addition to his £20million compensation for being fired.
At Spurs, Mourinho is paid £15.5million per year. Mourinho reportedly got paid over £1.5million to appear on Russian broadcasting channel RT as an analyst for four days of work during the 2018 World Cup. He has also received lucrative payments to feature on beIN Sports alongside Richard Keys and Andy Gray.
In 2019, Mourinho was forced to pay more than £2.5million for tax fraud. In doing so, he avoided a 12-month jail sentence. Mourinho was accused of using offshore companies in New Zealand, the British Virgin Islands and Ireland whilst working for Madrid. Speaking about the ordeal, Mourinho said: "I left Spain in 2013 with the information and the conviction that my tax situation was perfectly legal.
In 2020, Mourinho returned to Instagram. This has proven popular amongst soccer fans, with more than one million people following his account. In a tongue-and-cheek response about his return to social media, he revealed it was because he was pressurised to promote his sponsors.
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