Photo courtesy of garycurneen.com
When Real Madrid were dumped out of the Champions League by Borussia Dortmund last week, Jose Mourinho was inevitably going to have to field questions not only about his future at Madrid, but also about his failure yet again to procure the trophy they so crave.
The self-aggrandizing Mourinho was brought, rather unceremoniously, back down to Earth during a press conference where he failed to address journalists directly and circumvented questions in an attempt to put a positive spin on the defeat.
The Spanish media were not amused and saw through Mourinho’s veiled attempts to promote himself. There were even signs that the “Special One’s” feathers were becoming ruffled and he was getting somewhat flustered by the incessant questioning.
The media demanded answers. They demanded to know why the expensively-assembled Madrid had fallen, once again, at the penultimate hurdle.
But why should Mourinho have to face such an inquisition? After all, this is the man who guided Porto and Inter Milan to the Champions League trophy, won the leagues with Chelsea and Madrid and brought a new brand of sexy soccer to the world. Surely, the intense scrutiny was a little too severe?
Actually, no.
The world’s highest-paid manager has to shoulder the majority of blame for the team’s recent failings in the Champion League, seeing as they were his players and he was the one who sanctioned the signings. Also, seeing as he’s being paid $15 million per year, the press are entitled to ask some difficult questions and the people have a right to wonder what went wrong.
There are rumors and whispers that Mourinho, once the golden boy of world soccer, may have lost some of his allure in recent years. Despite guiding Madrid to the La Liga title last year, he is viewed in some circles as a self promoter that can do no wrong regardless of falling short of expectations.
Mourinho used the press conference to attempt to defend his record at Madrid, but it’s just about indefensible seeing as he was bought in to win the Champions League and subsequently failed. Mourinho also openly flirted with Chelsea, thereby enraging the Spanish press further and forcing them to label him as a fantasist and a failure.
The word on the grapevine is that Chelsea will have to pay Mourinho £12 million a year to manage them, which won’t be an issue seeing as Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich‘s spending knows no limits. Yet from Mourinho’s perspective, returning to Chelsea has to be a massive risk.
Abramovich won’t be afraid to to wield the hatchet again on the Portuguese manager and should Mourinho fail again at Chelsea, it’ll cement the Spanish press’s assessment that he’s lost his allure.
Abramovich has a Champions League craving and Mourinho will be expected to deliver the trophy that eluded him in Madrid. For a manager who may have lost some of his special spark, that certainly is a big thing to ask indeed.
James Hilton is a soccer writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter , “like” his Facebook page or add him to your network on Google+
