5 jobs Jose Mourinho missed out on

#1 Barcelona

Louis van Gaal (left) allowed Jose Mourinho (right) to coach Barcelona B in the late 90s

Before Jose Mourinho could go about earning the title of the Special One, he was a translator at Barcelona under Sir Bobby Robson and then Louis van Gaal. But according to Barcelona legend Xavi, he was more than that.

Speaking with ESPN in 2015, he said: “He was excellent in his three years at Barca. They said he was a translator. Rubbish. He was the assistant coach, someone who understood the philosophy of Barca and who shared many of the same characteristics of Van Gaal. He was very respected by the players. He trained us sometimes alone at Barca B and he was excellent.”

Xavi was, of course talking about the late 90s when Mourinho was still in the good books of the Barca bosses. The relationship didn’t sour until 2008 when they were on the lookout for a manager and slighted their interest in favour of signing Pep Guardiola.

The Special One met with Johann Cruyff, an advisor to Barcelona, but despite his elaborate plans for the club, failed to impress the Dutch legend. His refusal to fall in line with the Barcelona way of football and cut back on his confrontational behaviour perhaps cost Mourinho the biggest appointment of his career.