ImagesGetty Images; PA; ShutterstockAbove left and right
Plotting Monaco misery
before becoming the
king of Europe in 2004
Left His touchline dash
at Old Trafford didn’t
endear him to Fergie
Below left Delivering
on his claim that Porto
would “definitely” win
the league in 2002-03“mOURInHO GAVE EVERYOnE COnFIDEnCE. IF
YOU GET GOOD PLAYERS BELIEVInG THEY’RE
GOOD, THEY’RE GOInG TO BE UnSTOPPABLE”
to the rest of the squad: they’d be punished for any mistake. From
that moment on, leadership had been achieved, and he could show
his talent as a football manager.”
On course for a second domestic title in a row, Mourinho recruited
teenage forward Carlos Alberto from Fluminense in January 2004,
ahead of the clash with Manchester United. “I was very young and
he made me feel comfortable in the group,” the Brazilian tells FFT.
“He asked which number I would like. I asked for No.10 and he said,
‘That number is taken, but you’ll wear No.19 – one plus nine is 10.
Take it and we’ll be champions together.’ I liked him from day one.
“Early in my time there, [defender] Jorge Costa told me that Jose
wanted to speak with me before a session. I went to the pitch from
the changing room, but some of my team-mates were hiding in the
tunnel and threw cold water on me. It was winter in Portugal – really
freezing! Mourinho had planned the joke with the rest of the group.
He was fun to be around.”
When the first leg against Manchester United arrived, the squad
were ready to get serious. Porto were playing their first European tie
at the newly-opened Estadio do Dragao, and two Benni McCarthy
goals gave the hosts a 2-1 victory. A smiling Mourinho held out his
hand to Alex Ferguson at full-time, but the Scot refused to shake it,
believing Porto play-acting had resulted in Roy Keane’s late red card.
Mourinho wasn’t afraid to snap back, even at a managerial legend.
“I understand why he is a bit emotional,” offered the 41-year-old.
“You’d be really sad if your team gets as clearly dominated as that,
by an opponent built on maybe 10 per cent of the budget.”
It prompted Ferguson to criticise Porto’s antics further, before the
second leg. “It was up to me to convince my players he was scared
of us,” Mourinho later said. “It was a psychological game between
two coaches. I had to show the players that I wasn’t afraid of him.”
The message reached his squad. “Mourinho was never intimidated
by anyone – so if it had to be Sir Alex, no problem,” explains Carlos
Alberto. “It’s like when you’re a kid and your father is a leader. You
look at him, he shows a strong personality, and you grow up to be
a confident person, knowing what you want and how to fight for it.
“That’s what Jose did for us in 2004. He would defend his players
until the end, no matter what. That episode with Ferguson gave us
a lot of confidence to beat United.”
And they did, Costinha pouncing on Tim Howard’s 90th-minute
mistake at Old Trafford to prompt Mourinho’s delirious sprint down
the touchline. “I’d been subbed, so I ran to join him,” says a smiling
Carlos Alberto. “What an unbelievable moment that was.”
The night before the second leg, Liverpool had expressed interest
in meeting Mourinho at a nearby hotel, as they considered options
for Gerard Houllier’s replacement. After Porto defeated Manchester
United, Chelsea showed interest. Two months later, Mourinho was
a European champion, thanks to a 3-0 win over Monaco in the final.
“That team had the face of Mourinho,” adds Carlos Alberto, who
scored in the final. “I don’t think we could have done it without him.”CHELSEA V S BARCELOn A 2005
“In 200 years, Barcelona have won the European Cup once; I’ve
been managing for a few years and I’ve won the same amount”With hindsight, a couple of clues gave it away that Mourinho was
lying. “Do you want to know the team?” he asked during his press
conference at the Camp Nou, a day before the first leg of Chelsea’s
last-16 tie against Barcelona, in his first season as Blues manager.
He was ready to give his performance.
“I can say my team and Barça’s team. Referee: Frisk. Barcelona:
Valdes, Belletti, Puyol, Marquez, Giovanni, Albertini, Deco, Xavi, Eto’o,
Giuly, Ronaldinho. Chelsea: Cech, Paulo, Ricardo, John Terry, Gallas
at left-back, Tiago, Makelele, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole... Drogba
i Gudjohnsen,” he added, pausing briefly before accidentally using
the Catalan word for ‘and’. This display was for Barcelona’s benefit.
The Barça team he predicted was spot on. Chelsea’s was a lie.
“It’s a good finish,” he said, springing to his feet and attempting to
march merrily out of the room, satisfied with his mischievous work.
It would have been perfect, if he hadn’t walked towards a broom
cupboard. The door wouldn’t open, and he had to turn around and
leave another way. Still, at least the plan worked.team talks, Mourinho would tell us how they would play. The way
he spoke was somehow different from everything I’d seen before.
Did I think he’d be a top manager? Yes. Honestly, I saw it coming.”
But Baia got a surprise eight months into Mourinho’s Porto reign,
when the keeper was suspended from the squad. “I was shocked,”
admits Baia. “I mean, we had an argument, but it was strategically
created by him, and that argument resulted in my suspension. He
knew me really well. One day, he provoked me, sure that I’d react.
“But now, I understand what he did. He was a young manager;
I was an experienced player who knew him very well. We actually
had a social relationship off the pitch. He wanted to show everyone
I wasn’t special; that I was just another member of the group. So,
he created that situation. It was a strategy, and it worked perfectly.
“A month later, he requested my presence in his office. He simply
asked if I wanted to play the next match, at Austria Vienna. I said
I was keen, and he told me to get ready for it. I came back as the
first-choice keeper, the position I had left a month before.
“Mourinho is a very, very intelligent man. He is a proper leader.
Even when he creates a situation, his only thought is to make the
team stronger. That episode was his emancipation as a manager.
He put me in a complicated position, but it left me full of energy to
prove there’d been a misunderstanding, and it was a clear message
FourFourTwo.com The Managers 79JOSE
MOURInHO