Little captures the insanity of Jose Mourinho’s reduced
status at Chelsea better than the queue of continental superpowers scrambling to
offer him fresh employment.
Four consecutive league titles in two different countries, a Champions League
triumph at his first attempt, a swagbag of lesser trophies weightier than that
of most other coaches — no modern football manager has had such an impact so
quickly and Real Madrid, Internazionale and Milan value that appropriately. The
idea that Chelsea would wish to dispense with Mourinho’s services after the
first indifferent run of form of his two years in London (five games, one win,
four draws, no defeats) was described as “bonkers, madness” by the Fulham
manager Chris Coleman on Friday. Madness, though, is about to happen.
|
< ="text/">NI_MPU('middle');
|
The reasons are complex, yet in many ways are simply a
battle of wills: the world’s most accomplished football coach in dispute with a
man formerly the world’s most accomplished striker. When Mourinho sanctioned
Andriy Shevchenko’s £30m purchase from Milan last summer he believed he was
adding “a European champion” to his team. No matter that Roman Abramovich, the
club’s owner, was the driving force behind his friend’s transfer, here was an
experienced, intelligent winner, who would help convert Chelsea from Champions
League nearly-men to conquerors.
Instead Mourinho received an unfit millionaire, seemingly more interested in
enjoying his new life in London, his relationship with the club’s billionaire
owner, and messing around in training with the youth team. Goals came
infrequently, being substituted became a weekly occurrence. Though the coach
initially defended Shevchenko, hoping to rekindle the Ukrainian’s passion for
success, he ultimately despaired of the player, informing the club’s hierarchy
that a replacement was necessary for Chelsea to achieve their domestic and
European targets.
Their response shocked Mourinho. First he was told he would not be granted
the funds to buy the best available forward. Next, his proposal to exchange
Shaun Wright-Phillips for Tottenham’s Jermain Defoe was blocked. Finally, he was
informed that even the fallback solution of borrowing Milan Baros from Aston
Villa was not acceptable. Instead, the board instructed Mourinho to change his
attitude to Shevchenko, and use him in what they perceived as the “proper”
manner.
Worse was to follow. In a strategy meeting this month, Mourinho was offered
“help” with Shevchenko in the shape of a Russian-speaking Israeli coach,
supposedly capable of drawing the best from the striker. His current assistant,
Steve Clarke, would be sacked to make way for the newcomer.
There would also be a new central defender to cover for John Terry’s worrying
back complaint. Abramovich’s personal adviser on transfers, Dutchman Piet de
Visser, and the club’s director of scouting, Frank Arnesen, wanted to bring in
the Brazil international Alex, whom Mourinho had rejected Alex in the last
transfer window. The coach’s suggestions were turned down and the board told him
to take either a defender of whom they approved or nobody.
Mourinho’s response was still more dramatic. He told the meeting they could
sign who they liked but that he would not be managing them. If they wanted Alex,
then first they should pay off the full value of his £5.2m per annum contract
and find themselves a replacement coach. Chelsea deny any such discussions took
place, but, upping the ante further, Mourinho used his next press conference to
signal his discontent with the new transfer policy. Less well reported was a
pointed criticism of the lack of quality in the club’s reserve and youth ranks,
controlled since 2005 by Arnesen. “I am not as lucky as some other people
because I don’t have in the reserve team defenders with quality,” said Mourinho.
“I don’t have even a second squad from where to pick players.” Mourinho’s
relationship with Arnesen has deteriorated since the Dane tried to appoint the
Montenegrin Zeljko Petrovic as reserve team manager last year.
Mourinho’s camp claim Arnesen further upset the manager by recommending that
the club did not buy Micah Richards from Manchester City last summer. Scouted by
Arnesen’s predecessor as chief scout, Gwyn Williams, Richards had been made
aware of Chelsea’s interest and was stalling on a long-term contract at City.
As a £5m deal neared its completion, Williams was removed from his job.
Arnesen and De Visser then suggested that the club sign Khalid Boulahrouz from
Hamburg for £9m. Inside six months, the Dutch international was out of favour
and being described by Mourinho as “just a defensive right-back”.
Officially, as Chelsea’s chief scout and director of youth development,
Arnesen has always insisted that he has no responsibility for first-team
transfers. He declined to comment yesterday.
It will not be an issue for much longer. Mourinho is aware that Abramovich is
considering sacking him — although the Russian will not offer the full value of
his contract in compensation — and has sounded out potential replacements.
Didier Deschamps has been contacted three times, but is understood to be
reluctant to swap Juventus for the mayhem of Stamford Bridge. Juande Ramos, the
Seville coach, has also been approached. Guus Hiddink is already on Abramovich’s
payroll as Russia’s coach, but the 60-year-old is understood to be unsure as to
whether he wants the stress at this stage of his career.
While he awaits the owner’s next move, Mourinho has let his own agent, Jorge
Mendes, discuss job openings at other clubs. On Friday morning, Real Madrid were
offered Mourinho and Frank Lampard as a package for next season. Internazionale
have been negotiating with Mendes for well over a year. Mourinho will not get
involved in direct talks until his Chelsea career is ended — during the course
of the season if he is sacked, or at its end. He has resolved to win as much as
he can with his current squad, telling his team to ignore stories surrounding
the club.
Friends describe him as calm, quiet and concentrated on his job. “Chelsea is
not an easy place to work, but Jose is not afraid of these pressures,” said one.
“If they think he will run away, they don’t know him. If they think that with
this pressure he will break, they are mistaken.”
Abramovich cannot say he was not warned. In a club-organised group interview
in December, Mourinho was asked what he would do if the owner forced him to pick
a player.
“He would never do this,” Mourinho replied. “If he does this, it’s because he
doesn’t trust the manager. If he doesn’t trust the manager, he has enough money
to sack me, to give me my compensation, send me home and bring another one in.
The day he doesn’t respect me, just give me the cheque and send me home.”
Respect evaporated, Mourinho is awaiting payment.
