Jose Mourinho – 2010, put up or shut up time.

Now I am not disputing Jose Mourinho is not a great manager and in the higher echelon of football managers across Europe and indeed the world. Heck by the end of his managerial tenure at various clubs, he might be called the greatest manager ever. Here is my debating point. What has he done to separate himself from the best managers since 2005?

Mourinho reached the elite level in emphatic style with back to back European trophies in 2003 and 2004 with Porto, winning both the UEFA Cup and the Champions League with relatively unfashionable Porto. But since then has he really kicked on as a manager? Roman Abramovich became tired of losing and being unsuccessful after just one season of his Chelsea revolution and appointed the hottest commodity in the management merry-go-round. Mourinho literally fell into his millions and was given dispensation to pull the trigger on many big money signings. 1st year at Chelsea was a successful one, bringing home the much needed 1^st Premiership title for over 50 years for Chelsea. Also Mourinho bagged a League Cup win but that was not really significant, although a trophy is a trophy. But since then it has gone a bit south for Mourinho. One more solitary league trophy during his tenure at Chelsea and a couple of FA Cup and League up wins could not satisfy or feed both Roman’s ego or his quest to spend even more money on an already expensive squad. Things ended bitterly for Jose early on in his 4^th season, getting the boot from Roman over reported disagreements over player selection. If you analyse his stint at Chelsea, it really did peak in the 1^st season and did not progress throughout the three years Jose was there.

At Inter he fell into a job coaching a team that had dominated the domestic scene for a few years and a team that was improving as their rivals were faltering and in transition modes. He instantly won the Italian league title, to add to his growing collection of European domestic league wins under his belt. Similar to his arrival at Chelsea, he was brought to Inter to bring home European glory to a perennial underachiever on the European stage. 1^st year in Europe ended in failure, succumbing to Manchester United in the last 16 round in relatively convincing fashion.

However this year, although locked in a tight battle with a rejuvenated AS Roma team for league honours, Mourinho is fighting on all three fronts, including Europe in hope of lavishing a distinct treble on Massimo Moratti and Inter. But it is the title assault on Europe that has everyone at Inter dreaming. After all they achieved domestic domination with Roberto Mancini and have arguably been spoilt in that case with the league successes. It is the hunger for the Champions League that makes Inter do rash decisions regarding issues such as managers. If Mourinho had not produced in Europe this year, people would be raising eyebrows on his credentials as ‘The Special One’ and indeed wondering if he has improved this Inter team from the days of Roberto Mancini. He has a chance to elevate himself from almost any other Inter Milan manager in history, unless your name is Helenio Herrera, the winning manager from Inter’s last success in the European Cup. The semi final games with Barcelona showed what a tactician Jose is and how he differentiates from other managers and the skills that set him apart. He took Lionel Messi out of both games, (Messi has not scored in seven games against Mourinho) and stifled Barca’s passing attack usually lead by Xavi. Especially in the 1^st leg, he knew how to hurt Barca’s defence and how to attack them in moderation without sacrificing too much defensively. Combined with a bit of luck and tactical genius, Inter progressed to the final in Madrid in May. Win the Champions League this year and he will etch his name in elite manager folklore and up with managers such as Sir Alex ferguson, which at Mourinho’s young age is unprecedented. They will go into the final against a robust Bayern Munich team as clear favourites, especially with the absence of Frank Ribery. Inter on the verge of making history in Italy, with Mourinho at the center of it all. Would he have it any other way.

2010 is certainly a year of put up or shut up for Jose Mourinho.