In the lead-up to the recent match between Manchester
United and Chelsea, many of the sports world’s headlines were dominated by the
rivalry between Manchester United head coach José Mourinho and his counterpart
at Chelsea, Antonio Conte.
However, once the match was completed, it was clear that
the question of who is the superior coach should really never have been a
question at all.
Despite falling behind to a first-half goal by Willian,
Manchester United were clearly the better of the two teams in terms of strategy
and coaching, as shown by how United’s backline restricted Eden Hazard and
Álvaro Morata, as well as by the fact that Jesse Lingard, who came on as a
substitute, scored the winning goal for United.
Conte is certainly a fine coach. He has achieved much at
both Juventus and Chelsea. There is no shame in being outcoached and
out-strategised by the greatest head coach in the history of football.
Yes, I went there.
You can throw any other name at me. Helenio Herrera.
Arrigo Sacchi. Alex Ferguson. Pep Guardiola. Jupp Heynckes. Carlo Ancelotti.
Bob Paisley. Rinus Michels.
I would still take José Mourinho over every single one of
those names.
You may say “he only has two Champions League titles”.
Of those names, only Paisley and Ancelotti have more, and
Paisley’s came before the 1999-2000 season, which marks the beginning of what I
consider the modern Champions League era.
This is because it was the first time after expansion of
the tournament to include non-champions from superior leagues that the
Champions League had its current 32-team format.
With regard to Ancelotti, José Mourinho led Porto and
Inter Milan, two underdog teams, to win the Champions League.
Ancelotti, as well as every other name I mentioned, won
with stacked teams expected to win it all.
Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010 were not among the
favourites to win the title at the beginning of the season.
I consider his triumph with Porto as the greatest
coaching performance in football history because of the strategic genius shown
throughout their campaign in their victories against, on paper, superior teams.
Mourinho has also revolutionised football strategy in a
way that only Guardiola, Herrera, and Michels can claim to have done.
His counter-attacking strategies, timely substitutions,
and ability to adapt his own team’s tactics to counter those of his next
opponent are unmatched in modern football.
He is often criticized for using “ugly” strategies,
playing too defensively, and not being conventionally “entertaining” (though
defensive-minded tactics can be just as entertaining to watch as
offensive-minded ones).
And yet, in spite of the criticism he receives, he holds
firm to his tactics, so much so that you can tell that a team is a Mourinho
team by their playstyle and setup, and this persistence in the face of his
detractors has given Mourinho tremendous success.
Eight league titles, two Champions Leagues, two Europa
Leagues, five national super cups, four national cups, and four side cups over
an 18-year coaching career.
Out of 871 games he has coached, he has won a staggering
570 and drawn 178.
Mourinho's teams thus average 2.17 points per
game.
That’s a number that would have placed him in a Champions
League spot in all four major leagues.
This is a career average, not a selection of peak
seasons.
Some criticise him for never staying for long at a club –
his longest time spent at one club is five years and nine months, which was at
Chelsea. Even then, it was over two stints.
But do we hold it against Diego Maradona for playing for
six clubs over his career? Or Ronaldo for playing for seven, including direct
rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid, as well as Inter Milan and AC Milan?
Furthermore, there have other great coaches who never
spent too long at the same club.
Sacchi’s longest tenure was at AC Milan: five years over two stints.
Guardiola’s longest was his four-year stint in charge of
Barcelona.
Hence, it makes no sense to hold Mourinho to a different
standard.
Now, it may not necessarily be the case that Mourinho
remains the greatest of all time for that much longer.
If Guardiola or Heynckes lead their teams to a Champions
League title soon, that would put them in the conversation.
But for now, they still rank behind the touchline wizard
from Setúbal, Portugal.
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