Being Jose Mourinho- A letter to my fans and critics

Dear all,

I’ve always wanted people to remember me just because I gave them a reason to be supremely ecstatic. A moment when they can feel sequestered from their daily hassles, only because a certain Jose Mourinho served them with a spectacle they’ll remember for a lifetime.

Of course, I’m not impeccably good with imparting my feelings to the fans around the world that have those magnanimous expectations from me, although I hope they’d know that I’m trying to achieve what they’ve always desired.

You know critics have always associated me with arrogance, rage and even animosity. They’ve always perceived opinions that would never speak about ‘what I am’ but will magnify every facet relevant to the things I do at work.  People will never understand the fact that what I do in front of the world is my work, and everything related to it, good or bad is just a projection of how things go on a workplace on a daily basis for every individual.

You can always strive for success but then that doesn’t give you a license to ignore failure. Someday you’re served with some improbable tasks in front of you or  at times even your most ambitious project crumbles into pieces right in front of you. What can you do then? Move on, as simple as that.

When I moved to Real Madrid, I always understood the magnitude of the challenge. But then I even had an obsession. The obsession to live that dream again, to beat Barcelona again. When I was preparing for the Champions League final with Inter, maybe I was still lost in the sheer ingenuity with which my boys applied themselves to beat the Catalan giants, whom I still consider as the benchmark for club football in the past five years. It was like I never wanted to let that battle to end.  At the end, we are the prisoners of our own desire, and I made up my mind that Madrid would be my next big project.

To be fair, I’d never thought of being a manager from an early age. What I knew was to be successful and my upbringing always taught me that it won’t be that easy. How I see the development of my footballing philosophy was that I never wanted to lose. The fear of failure was ingrained so much a part of my life, that my strategic mindset would subconsciously get affected due to it.

Media has always labeled my teams as defensive first, but I don’t care about it until it keeps me on to the path of victory. Winning for me, ugly or a splendid one will only be a victory. Nothing changes there. People who don’t achieve it in their lives, not even by using the unfair means love to criticize such victories.  In fact, I still don’t know why everyone feels that negative aura around me. Is it because I’ve achieved so many things in the most unexpected fashion? Or is it because I scaled those improbable heights in a very small time? I always hoped that jealousy wasn’t a reason, but the more I win the more its becoming obvious.

My players have been another source of inspiration for me. It’s intriguing to see players from different nationality routing for a similar cause. My work becomes so easier when I get to work with such matured professionals and as I always say it’s they who make it happen on the field. No matter what I feed into their brains, whatever analysis I come up with, it’s the players who materialize my efforts in front of the watching world, and I’m indebted to them for whatever they’ve done for me so far.

Fans always have been an indispensable part of my life. Luckily I have them in at least four countries now- Portugal, England, Italy and Spain. The roars, the dissent, everything you’ve presented me in these many years have made me what I am. To understand, that whatever I did was for the betterment of the club and at the end of the day, another attempt to bring back those glory days is what you all have done exceptionally well, and I can’t thank you enough for it. I still can’t imagine this game without the influence of the spectators. You have been the soul of the game, and even when I wasn’t at my best, I’ve always dedicated my work to that very soul of the game.

People still question that what would ever stop my managerial caravan on the European perimeters. Well, my answer remains simple enough. As long as I have challenges to knockdown, critics to answer, fans to be loved and an appetite to succeed, I’ll never back down.

Thanking you for everything,

Yours faithfully,

Jose Mourinho

Note: The above article is only a reflection of what Mourinho would like to say to his fans and critics across the globe, and is a work of fiction.

You may also like

http://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/04/09/five-reasons-why-real-madrid-will-not-win-the-league-this-season/

http://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/04/06/5-players-who-could-dominate-the-summer-transfer-window/