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After two and a half years at the helm at Old Trafford, Jose Mourinho’s reign at Manchester United has come to the end. It continues the Portuguese manager’s record of struggling in his third season at clubs.
Despite his spell in Manchester, Mourinho is still up there as one of the most successful managers we have seen this century. He has won trophies all around Europe, and over the last decade, Pep Guardiola is perhaps the only man who can compare in terms of the level of success.
At Porto, he won the UEFA Cup, and then the Champions League in the 2003/04 season. A Portuguese club hasn’t won Europe’s biggest prize since.
He moved to England in 2004 to join Chelsea, and had an immediate effect, winning the Premier League in his first two seasons in charge. The first season saw Chelsea break the records for fewest goals conceded, and most points won.
In Italy with Inter Milan, he won a memorable treble in the 2009/10 season. This included the Champions League, which is probably his greatest achievement, given the weakness of Italian football at the time.
However, things have been a bit tougher since, and despite winning a few trophies with Real Madrid and Manchester United, things were not going well behind the scenes, and many people feel that he wasn’t the right man for either club.
But what is in no doubt, is that Mourinho has produced some memorable, and at times controversial, moments over the years. Here are ten unforgettable moments we have seen from the 55-year-old.
#1 Charging down the Old Trafford touchline
Over a decade before he took over at Manchester United, Jose Mourinho burst onto the scene at Old Trafford. Having taken Porto to the UEFA Cup title in the 2002/03 season, beating Celtic in the final, Mourinho set his eyes on the biggest prize of all. Having navigated their way through the Champions League group stage, Porto were drawn against Manchester United in the round of 16.
In the first leg, played at the Estadio de Dragao, Porto emerged 2-1 winners, with Mourinho clashing with Sir Alex Ferguson over the sending off of United captain Roy Keane. In the second leg, a Paul Scholes goal looked to be enough to send United through, before Costinha netted in added time, to send the Portuguese side through. Mourinho charged down the touchline to celebrate with his players in the corner, in turn creating the first iconic image of his career.
#2 “I think I’m a Special One”
By winning the Champions League at Porto, Mourinho convinced Roman Abramovich that he was the man to bring success to Chelsea. He was part of a summer of change in 2004, replacing Claudio Ranieri, with the likes of Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Paulo Ferreira, and Ricardo Carvalho also moving to Stamford Bridge.
But with Mourinho, it was his first press conference where he really made an impact. It started with him saying “We have top players, I’m sorry I’m a bit arrogant, we have a top manager.” But the memorable moment came later on when he said: “I’m European champion, so I’m not one of the bottle, I think I’m a special one.” From that moment on, he had his nickname in the press, and he became box office.
#3 Silencing the Liverpool fans
Mourinho during his Chelsea tenure
It didn’t take Mourinho long to reach his first final as Chelsea manager, making the Carling Cup Final in 2005, where they met Liverpool in Cardiff. The Reds took an early lead through John Arne Riise and held onto this lead until deep into the second half. The Blues’ equalizer came in the 80thminute, an own goal from Steven Gerrard, a man who had been regularly linked with a move to Chelsea.
Mourinho celebrated in his usual style, turning to the Liverpool fans, raising his finger and making a shushing motion. He was subsequently sent to the stands, from where he saw his side score twice in extra time to win his first trophy in English football. He later said that his gesture was aimed at the media, and not the Liverpool fans, but that seems rather unlikely.
#4 “Enemy of football”
What is a common theme throughout Mourinho’s career is an ongoing battle with Barcelona. Mourinho actually spent a number of years at Barcelona in his younger years, working as a translator for Bobby Robson, while he also played a role as a coach. But things turned sour with the Spanish club when he took his Chelsea side there in the Champions League round of 16 in 2005.
Chelsea lost the first leg 2-1, but the big story came off the pitch. Mourinho wrongly claimed that Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard had visited referee Anders Frisk at halftime, and said he wasn’t “surprised” when Didier Drogba was sent off. Mourinho was fined £8,900, and given a two-match touchline ban, while the head of UEFA’s referees committee, Volker Roth, declared that Mourinho was an “enemy of football”.
#5 Celebrating on the Nou Camp pitch
In his second season with Inter Milan, Mourinho guided them to the semi-finals, where they were drawn with Barcelona. His side produced a superb performance in the first leg at the San Siro, winning 3-1.
The second leg was a much grittier, cagey game, with Inter reduced to ten men within half an hour thanks to Thiago Motta’s controversial sending off. However, despite Gerard Pique’s goal, Inter held on to win 3-2 on aggregate. At the full-time whistle, Mourinho charged across the pitch in the direction of the Inter fans, arms aloft, briefly grappling with Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes as he looked to join the celebrations. He later said it was “the most beautiful defeat of my life”.
#6 The eye-gouging incident
After going on to win the Champions League with Inter, Mourinho moved to Real Madrid, and to no one’s surprise, his most controversial moment came when his side faced Barcelona. There was no love lost between Mourinho and then-Barca manager Pep Guardiola, with a lot of comments made in the press regarding the pair’s relationship.
In a Spanish Super Cup tie in 2011, a touchline brawl broke out after a wild tackle by Marcelo on Cesc Fabregas, with both benches getting involved. In perhaps Mourinho’s darkest hour as a football manager, he walked over to the Barcelona bench and poked his finger into the eye of coach Tito Vilanova. The incident made him the villain in the Spanish press, and perhaps remains his most embarrassing moment as a manager.
#7 “Specialist in failure”
If Barcelona were his main rivals when he was in Spain, Arsene Wenger was his number one target when he was in England. During his first spell with Chelsea, he branded Wenger a “voyeur”, and he took things to the next level during his second spell with the club, when before their match in 2014, he called Wenger a “specialist in failure”. Chelsea won the game 6-0, equalling the biggest defeat the Frenchman suffered in his time in charge of the North London club.
Things got physical the next season and during a confrontation between the pair, Wenger shoved Mourinho, something that the Portuguese manager didn’t seem pleased with in his post-match interview, saying he didn’t understand why Wenger did it. He had the last laugh though, as his side ran out 2-0 winners, and went on to win the Premier League title.
#8 Denying Liverpool the title
In his first season back at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho had a side that he constantly said was the third best in the league. However, going into the final weeks of the season, his side was still in the hunt for the title, and they traveled to Anfield to play Liverpool, who knew that if they won their last four games, they would win the title.
Mourinho’s men produced an excellent defensive display though, and that, coupled with an unfortunate Steven Gerrard slip, saw Chelsea win 2-0, denying Liverpool their first ever Premier League title. In typical Mourinho style, he headed down the touchline towards the Chelsea fans after the second goal, punching the badge on his chest. At full time, he went down the tunnel shouting “they wanted the clowns”. He may not have won the title that season, but it will still be regarded as one of his finest moments.
#9 The three-finger salute
Right from the off in his third season at Old Trafford, things looked to be going wrong for Mourinho. In pre-season, he fell out with striker Anthony Martial, as the striker flew home from their tour in the USA for the birth of his son, and he squabbled with the board over transfers. He was also part of a poor start to the season, and that continued with a 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham.
Mourinho was defiant in his post-match press conference though. Asked about the performance, he held up three fingers to a journalist, and said: “Do you know what this means? What was the score? It means 3-0, but also three Premier League titles that I’ve won. I’ve won more titles alone than the rest of the managers in this league combined. Three titles for me, and two for the other 19.” He then left the room, shouting “respect, respect.”
#10 The scuffle at Stamford Bridge
Even though he bought great success to Chelsea in his time there, Mourinho has had a frosty relationship with his former side since joining United. There was a very public fallout with Antonio Conte, which also involved Mourinho taking offense at Conte’s actions during the Blues’ 4-0 win over United in the 2016/17 season.
The Red Devils looked like they had picked up a vital win at Stamford Bridge earlier this season, with an impressive double from Anthony Martial helping them come from behind to lead 2-1. However, with almost the last kick of the game, Ross Barkley fired in an equalizer. Chelsea assistant coach Marco Ianni celebrated the goal in front of Mourinho and appeared to taunt the United manager. He took issue with this, and a scuffle ensued in the tunnel. Ianni was later charged, and fined, by the FA.
