18 THE PREM ERAone of the first examples of him using
the media ahead of an important game,
although he would later protest. He later
claimed: “I had no idea those words
would take on the gigantic proportions
that theydid. What I wanted to do
was boost my players’ morale, not
disparage Benfica’s players.”
Mourinho held discussions about
a possible return to Benfica halfway
through his year at Leiria. But the
presence ofJesualdo Ferreira as the
Lisbon club’s assistant coach proved
too big a stumbling block. Instead, Porto
president Manuel Pinto da Costa was
able to consolidate a long-standing
interest in hiring Mourinho.
Mourinho had impressed Pintoda Costa with a PowerPoint presentation
of his plans. It was the first incarnation
of his “bible”, a document that he drew
up during the summer after he left
Barcelona.
According to Mourinho: “It has never
been and never will be published. It’s
my training file, where I keep all the
directives for my work. It contains the
objectives and methodologies for my
practice, and how to achieve these.
“If I had to give it a title, it would be:
‘The evolution of my training concepts’.“In1990 I didn’t think about training
the way I did in 2000. Priorities have
changed over the years. I have got
into the habit of taking down notes
every day, be they related to training
or simply my own thoughts.
“It was the collection of all
these notes that gave rise to the file
I mentioned. After I had drawn it up,
I was definitely ready to be a coach.”
At Porto, his blueprint for success,
with two players for each position, finally
came to fruition. His bold statement at
his first press conference as manager- “We’ll be champions next year” –
proved prophetic.
One of the lessons learned from his
brief time at Benfica was the need to
enter a club on his own terms. This was
especially apparent at Internazionale,
where Mourinho timed his arrival in
2008 to perfection.
Mourinho arrived in post-calciopoli
Serie A, where Inter were the only
major team not to have been affected
by the crisis.Juventus were down in
the dumps, so the main fault line of
Italian club football – between Inter
andJuventus – was not as important
as it had been.
Despite 20 years of investment by
Massimo Moratti, Inter were still the
perennial losers – providing Mourinho
with the perfect backdrop.
Mourinho’s fine command of Italian
was apparent from the off. In his first
press conference, he responded to
one question by saying: “I understand,
but I’m not stupid”, using the Milanese
slang word “pirla” for stupid. The locals
laughed but many seasoned hacks were
left scrambling for their dictionaries.
His histrionics on the touchline went
“Theysayweparkthebus. down well with Italian crowds, who alsoThatwasnobus,thatwasanaeroplane”
Mourinho on his tactics against Barcelona
Starting out...
Mourinho in the
Benfica dugoutImpact...Mourinho won two Premier League
titles during his first spell at ChelseaEl Clasico...the clashes
between Real Madrid
and Barcelona were
particularly toxic
under Mourinho