Ten years ago, on May 22, 2010, José Mourinho won his second Champions League with Inter. In the semi-finals, the tactical lesson against Barça de Guardiola has long been a reference. Ten years later, what remains of this memory? Is Mourinho still a benchmark? Interview with Nicolas Vilas, author of a biography on the technician.
Another life. Or almost. On May 22, 2010, Inter had an exceptional hat-trick by dominating Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in Madrid. All while having dropped the great Barça of Pep Guardiola in the semi-final. Ten years later, the Italian giant has gently gone back to sleep and is trying by all means to wake up.
Ten years later, José Mourinho saw his star gradually fade. Between his criticized style of play, his underperformance in the Champions League and a new generation which puts him in the shade, the Portuguese seems to be in the hollow of the wave. Real trend or simple sequence? Elements of response with Nicolas Vilas, journalist and author of “Mourinho, behind the Special One”, a book which traces the genesis of a technician already in legend.
Premier League
When Mourinho had to sign in Liverpool
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On May 22, 2010, José Mourinho won a new Champions League with Inter. Ten years later, isn’t that the pinnacle of his career?
Nicolas Vilas: The ultimate, I don’t know. A career is so cyclical. Wherever he went, there were strong moments and weak times. In Porto, where he won everything, he also experienced disturbed episodes. But the circumstances are such that 2010 remains apart, for sure: it gives back the major European title to a club that has been chasing for years (1964-1965, editor’s note). But it’s kind of the case everywhere it’s gone, actually.
We still have the impression that he has never had the wind in his back as at that time …
N.V: The problem is that there is a change of opinion concerning him from Real Madrid. There is the snapshot of the Inter-Barça match where Eto’o is supposed to be sideways. But hey, on this match, Inter is reduced to ten early in the match… We are too inclined to caricature the transition from Mourinho to Inter at that. A single match, even if it is an event, cannot determine a coaching style.
- Quiz – Inter – Bayern 2010: Do you remember all the players in this C1 final?
Do you think Mourinho has had different tactical styles in his career?
N.V: Absolutely. Even within the same club, from one season to the next, he has never had the same way of playing. The 2003 Porto is really not the same as the 2004 Porto, which is less sexy and more pragmatic, more mechanical, according to all the people I interviewed. If I’m sincere, I’m not sure there is a “Mourinho style”. He just adapted.
You were talking about his time at Real Madrid: didn’t the duel with Guardiola, on all terrains, wear him out?
N.V: When Mourinho arrives at Real, his roadmap is clear: to end the hegemony of Barça. So he creates a team capable of countering the Catalans, which he sometimes manages to do brilliantly. But on the other matches, we cannot say that Real was not offensive. When we talk about coaching style, we always have to recontextualize.
An icy handshake in 2010 between Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho, symbol of the Barça-Real rivalry
Getty Images Credits
Isn’t the changeover also made during their respective visits to Manchester where the two spend a lot but only one manages to win definitively?
N.V: Again, take the context of Mourinho’s arrival at United. Post-Ferguson at Manchester United is completely missed. And who is the only coach to have won trophies during this period? Like it or not, it’s Mourinho. Admittedly, the style of play was disgusting, especially on the last matches. But the need for results necessarily pushed him to more pragmatism.
Ten years after his coronation at Inter, he is no longer spontaneously cited as a reference to the position of coach. Has it not been dated?
N.V: But Mourinho remains a reference, whether we like it or not. Ancelotti may be coaching Everton, but by what he has done in the past, he remains a benchmark. The temporality in football is special. It is often immediate memory that predominates. So Mourinho’s analysis that we’re going to have today, that a lot of people are going to have, is to summarize it in the style of Manchester United. Van Gaal had a horrible time in Manchester, but his exceptional coaching career cannot be summed up in this simple episode.
But Mourinho’s recent experiences do not particularly encourage optimism …
N.V: Yes, that’s right. Objectively and coldly speaking: he left Chelsea along the way, he left Manchester United along the way, he arrived in Tottenham along the way. These are not necessarily the things he used to get used to. Often, he embraced projects at the start of the season. He also remained a year without a club and I think that contributed to this idea of ”old-fashionedness” since some people may think that he was no longer wanted. In reality, he refused offers and took the time to choose his project.
Mourinho is also a magnificent media character. Is there a risk that we will remember this more than our sporting successes?
N.V: I don’t think so. One goes with the other. It’s something that characterizes him throughout his career, even in his life. From his first club, in Benfica in 2000, the famous “mind games” are one of his tools. Even if he did not have a great playing career and the coach-teachers were still very rare in big clubs, he unpacked everything from the start. He is not afraid of anyone and takes it out on anyone. It’s something that will follow him throughout his career. When he arrives at Chelsea, it must be remembered that he was the self-nicknamed “Special One”.
Can he afford it?
N.V: Players have built their reputation as bad boys, but as a coach … If you don’t have the results, you can’t register in “the legend”. He has this character trait there but we must not forget to say that there is a Mourinho with the cameras and another without. In the privacy of the locker room, all the people I interviewed say it, it’s really something else.
How can you quantify your heritage? Will it leave a lasting mark?
N.V: It already is. In Portugal, he has already inspired a lot of coaches. Because he managed to give credibility to the school of teacher coaches. Paulo Duarte was completely inspired, Villas-Boas worked with him. From a certain point of view, pragmatism and adaptability are primary qualities to have as a coach. And Mourinho is clearly from that school.
Champions League
Brazilian D4, editorial writer or ambassador: what has become of the heroes of Inter 2010?
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Champions League
Quiz – Inter – Bayern 2010: Do you remember all the players in this C1 final?
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