Not since Brian Clough has the British footballing press had a successful manager like Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho who is as good in the media room as he is in the dugout.

Jose has recently blanked the media for ten days as he was in a mood over the coverage Diego Costa received after Chelsea’s League Cup victory over Liverpool. Well today he came out and spoke and the Daily Mail thought it was such a big news story that they printed the full transcript of the press conference.

When Jose left Chelsea after his first stint in charge during the 2007/08 season many of Britain’s journalists seemed to enter a mourning state. Within a year; the paper, broadcast and web media were almost campaigning for any top English team to hire the Portuguese manager.

Why? 

Because he gives them fantastic quotes as well as winning football teams.

For crying out loud, this was the man who proclaimed he was the ‘Special One’ during his day in the Chelsea job, back in 2004. That saying has followed the fifty-two year old throughout his career and will be with him until he retires. In fact, it’ll probably be his epitaph! He wouldn’t want it any other way

His words cause mirth and merriment with certain teams fans (including from his own fans), some believe everything he says and his statements causes anger and resentment from other quarters.

Even Sir Alex Ferguson (The English Premier League’s most successful manager) didn’t have the PR skills Mourinho has. The great Scot will be remembered for two sayings; ‘Squeaky bum time’ and ‘Fergie time’. Not really poetic or remarkable and he didn’t even say the second one!

Arsene Wenger on the other hand is now more known for being the bumbling fool struggling with his jacket instead of being the coach that created the ‘invincibles’.

Mourinho’s words can have many layers and can give the press various stories in one comment.

Just look at his words when he was discussing Frenchmen Kurt Zouma and Raphael Varane…

“I think the French Federation should write me a letter to thank me because I think they have now the best two young central defenders in the world.”

Now both youngsters worked under Jose. At Real Madrid he gave Raphael his debut and he’s now overlooking Kurt’s development at Stamford Bridge.

We can’t doubt that these two defenders are fantastic talents and that Mourinho has had an extremely positive impact on their careers.

I actually think he, along with Chelsea, have actually managed Zouma perfectly so far. They signed him on a deal this time last year and were happy for him to spend the remainder of the season at Saint-Étienne, where he could get more playing time under his belt in Ligue 1.

Then Jose brought him into the ‘Blues’ first team squad when Kurt arrived in London during the summer. But instead of throwing him right into the mix, Mourinho let Zouma sit on the bench and watch the English game from close up and study Captain John Terry and English international Gary Cahill.

Once Cahill was found wanting against Liverpool because of his lack of pace and a drop in confidence then Mourinho flung Zouma into bear pit and watched him flourish as a defensive gladiator. His handling of the twenty year old has been sublime and the same happened at Real with Varane.

Fans of French football and of the youth set-up in France will be up in arms as Jose Mourinho seems to be sitting back and taking all the credit for these two wonderful talents. Obviously the players themselves, their previous coaches and clubs deserve huge credit too.

But Jose was just making a throw away comment.

Or was it? 

Well not if you are writing the news.

‘Mourinho talks up potential Varane partnership with Zouma‘, ‘José Mourinho (Chelsea) : “La FFF devrait me remercier pour Zouma et Varane”‘and ‘Mourinho: I deserve thanks for producing Real Madrid’s Varane and Chelsea ace Zouma‘.

All these headlines sprung up within hours of Jose’s presser this afternoon.

So as you can see his words carry weight and people will look at them and come up with their own stories like the potential Varane transfer for example (That story is a click magnet for online fans).

My conclusion?

Well he is bigging up the two players, both of whom he has worked with. The Portuguese manager is extremely loyal to his players, both past and present. It gives them (Zouma in particular) a huge boost in morale. It does show Raphael Varane that he’s thinking of him but that doesn’t necessarily mean he will sign the youngster.

But lets not forget that it’s also a way for Mourinho to cement his own legacy as a great coach. Yes he could let the results speak for themselves but that isn’t Jose’s way. He loves to remind everyone about his credentials.

I love him for it, as does the press but please don’t take everything he says so seriously. The Portuguese maestro loves nothing better than a wind up, well apart from winning trophies.

Posted on February 6th, 2015 by scott
Filed under: Article