Jose Mourinho just watched helplessly. “This is the best picture of his fall.” The end of the legend

9 – the number of matches in 21 matches this season Serie A lost. The team from the Italian capital has not had such bad statistics for 43 years. This hole is due to, among others, team coach – once almost a miracle worker, today only a coach with a well-known name.

On Sunday, AS Roma lost 3: 4 at home despite leading 3: 1 in the 70th minute. Mourinho’s side, however, conceded three goals in seven minutes and instead of a spectacular, perhaps ground-breaking victory, suffered a painful defeat.

This game and the way Roma conceded three points is the best illustration of Mourinho’s fall. After all, a few years ago no one would have even thought that the Portuguese team could lose with a 3: 1 lead 20 minutes before the end of the match. We got used to Mourinho “killing” such meetings. On Sunday, however, he did nothing and watched helplessly as Juventus spectacularly return to the game – tells us Julian Kowalski, commentator on Eleven Sports.

In the giants, he did not live up to all expectations

Italy, specifically Roma, was meant to be the place where Mourinho would rebuild his reputation and career after his myth had collapsed painfully in England. The coach, who several years ago stabilized his position among the best professionals in the world in the UK, left the Premier League in April last year with the label of a loser, at odds with the entire community.

His slow fall was visible to the naked eye, because although he still won trophies after returning to the Mourinho Islands, he left scorched earth behind him everywhere. In his second term at Chelsea, the Portuguese won the Premier League and played in the Champions League semi-finals, but the club from Stamford Bridge quit, leaving him in 16th place in the league with a record nine defeats in 16 games.

It was similar at Manchester United, where Mourinho was to refer to the results achieved during the tenure of Sir Alex Ferguson. I ended up winning only the Europa League and the English League Cup. The Portuguese left the club after 17 rounds of the 2018/19 season, when he was 19 points behind the leader of the Manchester City league table.

At Tottenham, they said goodbye to him without regrets

At the end of his career in England was Tottenham. Tottenham, to which Mourinho did not fit at all at first glance. Because while fans from the north of London were enjoying the style with which Mauricio Pochettino’s team made it to the Champions League final and the Premier League top four, the club hired a coach from a completely different fairy tale as its successor.

Mourinho did not have to bet on young players, nor did he have to achieve spectacular victories. He was supposed to give the club the trophies they ran out of during Pochettino’s romantic tenure. Although the Portuguese started working completely out of style – relaxed, smiling, with distance to himself – he finished it like the previous two.

Characteristically, Tottenham sacked Mourinho six days before the English League Cup final. The Portuguese was supposed to give the club the trophies, but the club resigned before the decisive match to save any chances of this trophy. Because Mourinho would lead Tottenham to victory over City, no one believed.

“When experts said that the game of archaic football does not keep up with the trends, becomes bitter with time and makes the same mistakes in subsequent clubs, he replied:” I win “- after Mourinho’s resignation. “But that is no longer the case. The last myth of Mourinho is collapsing. For a season and a half at Tottenham, not only did he not win anything, but he did not even bring the team closer to major trophies. The season before his arrival Tottenham finished in sixth place, now he is seventh, almost without a chance for promotion to the Champions League “.

“Saying goodbye to the clubs tells the story of Mourinho the most. We know the stories from years ago, when a tough guy like Didier Drogba cried in the dressing room after learning that the coach was leaving Chelsea. We saw Marco Materazzi after the Champions League final, when he was crying in the sleeve of a Portuguese man. They sobbed for him also in Porto. In Madrid they said goodbye to the class, because although he did not win the coveted Champions League, he fought passionately with the best Barcelona in history. Nobody cries for Mourinho for several years. Neither at Chelsea, nor at Manchester United, nor at Manchester United. in Tottenham, now his layoffs give hope and faith that his successor will make better use of the potential. “

Eurofia, which quickly flew away

The return to Italy was supposed to be a new opening for Mourinho. After burning the land in England, where he was until recently considered the best coach in the world, the Portuguese returned to the country where his myth survived. Although the 58-year-old failed in the UK, Italy still remembered what he did to Inter Milan and how he successfully won the 2010 Champions League with him.

The relationship with Roma was supposed to be the perfect one, bringing benefits to both sides. This is because the coach on a serious turn has found a club that has not been able to live up to its own ambitions for years. Both sides had something to prove to the world.

– Mourinho’s employment in Roma caused a lot of euphoria in the club environment. With his character and mentality of the winner, he was supposed to breathe new spirit into the club – says Kowalski. – It also had an impact on the fans themselves, who finally started to come to the stadium in large numbers, regardless of the opponent. Mourinho is the team’s ninth coach since 2011. The Portuguese was supposed to give not only results, but also the desired stabilization.

Mourinho started working for the new club promisingly, after three consecutive league victories. In addition, he added a certain promotion to the group stage of the UEFA Conference League, breaking Trabzonspor 5-1 on aggregate. The Portuguese spell, however, was broken very quickly.

Today, Roma have scored nine league defeats, most of them against the top teams: Inter, Milan (twice), Juventus (twice) and Lazio. In addition, the team recorded mishaps with teams that were much lower than 12th in the Hellas Verona league, 13th Bologna or 17th Venezia. To this must be added the compromising defeat of 1: 6 against Bodo / Glimt in the UEFA Conference League. It was the worst defeat in Mourinho’s career.

– To excuse the Portuguese, we can say that he is in the transition season and he will definitely have time to build the team in his own way. But it is also a fact that the euphoria about his return slowly began to evaporate. In his behavior in Rome, you can see more and more of the things that lost him in previous clubs – says Kowalski.

Great coach and too weak players

What things are we talking about? These are, for example, statements in which Mourinho takes no responsibility for failures. The division into an outstanding coach and too weak a team in the words of the Portuguese was particularly strong after the Sunday defeat with Juventus.

Fear crept into our game when we conceded a 3-2 goal, allowing Juventus to return to the game. It’s a matter of some psychological complexes of my players. For me, this close result was not a problem, but it was for them. The players have to find the right character, but some of them are too nice and too weak for that, said Mourinho.

And he added: – I thought I would have a little easier here. However, this group of players lacks personality. I would like to fulfill my contract, but will need help from the board of directors. Some players cannot get out of their comfort zone and are only satisfied with the fight for sixth place. After the match against Milan, I told the guys that they had to become like me.

– As always, Mourinho wants to bet on the players of his choice. He has already selected such a group in Roma, the rest he will look for on the transfer market – notes Kowalski. – The problem is that those on whom he is failing, and the Portuguese himself has not had a particularly good hand to reinforce recently. He spent a lot of money at Manchester United and Tottenham, but most of the players he brought in failed.

– Mourinho complains about the narrow squad and the small selection of players, but he burned part of the group with his critical statements after the match against Bodo / Glimt. After that game, the substitutes felt that they had no value for the Portuguese. It is not, however, that Mourinho did not have any quality among the substitutes. The Portuguese himself lightly handed Borja Mayoral or Gonzalo Villar to Getafe, who were not stars, but were able to give Roma an impulse during the term of the previous coach. The Spaniards, however, did not like Mourinho, who prefers to rely on raw workmen, drums such as Bryan Cristante, Gianluca Mancini or Carles Perez.

“There are not many positives and indications that it will be better”

A disrespectful approach to the players from the second plan not only led Mourinho to a dead end, but also limited him even more to one tactical plan. – The Portuguese has long ceased to be a flexible coach. Although he appealed to his players to be able to react to what is happening on the pitch, he has a big problem with it himself – says Kowalski.

And he adds: – Mourinho insisted on one way of playing and sticks to it no matter what. The Portuguese did not look at the players and their abilities, but now he is looking for players who will fit his philosophy. Mourinho does not have what, for example, Simone Inzaghi has earned success and respect in Lazio. The Italian entered the locker room, looked at the possibilities and chose the right tactics.

– This stubbornness made Mourinho cheated by almost all the coaches from the top Serie A. His Roma from stronger rivals only beat Atalanta, which for a moment gave hope to the fans from Rome. The defeats against Milan and Juventus, however, quickly killed these hopes. The problem is also that although Mourinho has been working for the club for several months, he still complains that his team has no character. Or is it his fault that he can’t inspire the band? – Kowalski wonders.

So what is the future of the Portuguese in Roma and is it definitely possible to say that his time at the highest level is over?

– Mourinho got a three-year contract and I suspect that he still has a lot of time to build a team. Will his mission be successful? I have a lot of doubts. So far, we do not see many positives and there are not many reasons to believe that it will be better. There is too much of “old” Mourinho in Roma, who was irritating in the UK. Italian patience may run out too. And then it is hard for me to imagine that the Portuguese would still find a job in the largest clubs in Europe – ends Kowalski.