Mourinho can teach Benitez a thing or two about psychological warfare

Matt Hughes

There is more chance of Prince Harry being sent to negotiate a truce in Gaza, but if Rafael Benítez really wants to conduct a psychological war with Sir Alex Ferguson, the Liverpool manager should pick up the phone to another of his enemies, José Mourinho. If the former Chelsea manager were honest — and many would say that would be a first — then his best advice to the Spaniard would be to say nothing at all.

Mourinho is the only manager to have consistently got the better of Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, winning the championship in two of the three years they were direct competitors, a key to his success being a reluctance to get drawn into the Scot’s fabled mental confrontations.

Mourinho was smart enough to realise that if he were not engaged, he could not be unsettled. He made a deliberate decision to shower the United manager with praise, refusing to play Ferguson at his own game in the manner that Arsène Wenger, of Arsenal, and now Benítez have succumbed over the years. On the pitch, he won five of their nine competitive meetings.

With Inter Milan drawn against United in the Champions League, Mourinho was at it again yesterday, glad-handing at Old Trafford in an attempt to douse Ferguson’s fire. Benítez, a more natural diplomat, would benefit from following Mourinho’s example.

The phrase “player power” is generally used to describe the Machiavellian machinations of overpaid, pampered footballers, but it might be time to alter the definition. Even at the height of David Beckham’s influence as England captain, when he picked the hotels, suits and once pulled a face when asked to play at right back, the midfield player would not have dreamt of attempting to unseat the manager, as Kevin Pietersen, who resigned as England cricket captain last week, did by demanding the removal of Peter Moores as head coach.

Beckham may be daft enough to believe he can transform the ambivalence of the United States but at least his ego has its limits.

Mourinho’s charm offensive could lead to him replacing Ferguson at Old Trafford, but only if the powers that be at United suffer from a particularly virulent bout of collective amnesia. Mourinho is a brilliant tactician and has a proven track record at the highest level, as well as being an engaging personality when the mood takes him, but he has a habit of causing trouble wherever he goes. If such a young and ambitious club as Chelsea considered such sideshows too much trouble, United are unlikely to put up with them, either.

Comments

[yadda]

"I thing that mourinho is not good couch because he demonstrait at chelcea and he had a bad resoults"

Thanks for that contribution. Barely comprehensible yet utterly incorrect. Nice going.

[Joao Carvalho]

Its very easy to say taht Mourinho is not that good. If you had a chance to put your money where your mouth is, would you take it?
Mourinho is still very young...
When he comes back to England in a couple of years, you will have already forgiven what you just wrote.

[tracey]

"key to his success being a reluctance to get drawn into the Scot’s fabled mental confrontations."

Utter rubbish again, it was Fergie who was scared to attack him, because he knows Jose is a far cleverer and wittier man, even in his third language. When he tried at Porto, Mourinho humiliated him with his putdowns.

[Peter Amazed]

Are Chelsea the new Spurs?
Or are Spurs the old Chelsea?

[peter yiannis]

Mourinho was not long enough in the the PL to be classed as a great manager.Yes, he won 2 titles in 3 years with Abramovich,s millions, but i wonder how he would have faired had he stayed.
The way he won the titles does not in my opinion, put him in the Hall of Fame of great managers.
Ferguson ,Wenger certainly belong there.
He clearly built a very good Chelsea team that was difficult to beat,he is a meticulous tactician and very good at motivating and mind games.He is also has a strong and engaging personality and is certainly missed in the English game.
Building and rebuilding teams for the same club over a period of years is something we have not and may never see from him. That takes a very special talent and is the missing ingredient and what he lacks to be classed as a truly great manager.
He took over Inter Milan who are Champions of Serie A but i have watched them live here in Cyprus against A. Famagusta in the Cl and i was not impressed, they were very lucky to escape with a 3-3 draw. I also watched them live on tv Saturday at home to Cagliari and again they just scraped a draw.
If they play in this fashion against Man utd , they will get truly trounced.
I have heard Mourinho state that his dream is to win the title in Italy and Spain and then perhaps to manage Portugal.
Unless he wins the World Cup with Portugal or come back to England and prove he has what it takes to build and rebuild teams to win the P league a few times, over a longer period of time , without spending the insane millions he did with Chelsea, then in my opinion he will always be a great character, a very good manager but not a GREAT one ,like Fergie and Wenger.

[Rohan]

Mourinho definitely had the better of United during this time as well. United were in transition and he did what was needed to beat them more often than not. Fair play to him for that - you can only beat what's in front of you. But he does not have any lasting Indian sign against United or any other team, the Inter ties will prove this beyond all doubt. One final point of clarification - for those of you with short memories who point to Porto's win against United en route to winning the Champions League, go and watch the highlights. He was a Paul Scholes disallowed goal (incorrectly, for offside) and a last minute howler from the United goalkeeper away from being just another Carlos Queiroz.

[Rohan]

Mourinho is undoubtedly a good manager; people who state otherwise are being uncharitable. But this notion that he swept all before him while in England is nonsense - in the three years he was here, he was 2-1 in premierships won. In the year he was fired, Chelsea would probably have lost the premiership even if he had stayed. Unprecedented investment by Abramovich and the fact that his main opponents were in transition contributed as much to his success as did his own managerial acumen.

[Mark]

Mourinho is a good tactician and gives payers real belief. However, he cames to Chelsea when they were buying just about every good player available and Ranieri had already created the core of a team that was seriously challenging for the league. Furthermore, I think the only reason that there were no mind games in the 2 seasons Chelsea won the league was because Utd were so poor in those seasons. As soon as they were challenging again the mind games started, and Ferguson, as usual, came off better and another rival was seen off.

[David]

Marc Melander? What drivel you spew! For your information, the 1st CL semifinal clash with Liverpool, Robben was returning from injury and rather than risk his career by playing him for 90mins, the manager saw fit to leave him on the bench and only bring him on when he was needed. Sad we didn't win that game. But anyone wld struggle to breakdown a whole team whose sole aim is defending a 'phantom goal'.
About Mourinho's tactical ability, his track record in England and indeed any where in Europe speaks for itself.
Take Benitez for instance, winnimg a cup game, which is what the CL & FA Cup are, is much easier on the day than motivating a team for a whole season's run. Jose, Arsene & SAF have all done it in this country. Heck, even Dalglish did it.
Blaming Jose for Chelsea's failed youth policy is rather unfair. Reason being that the billionaire was ill-advised by his 'advisors' that getting Frank Arnesen was the right move in developing the academy. It wasn't. Arnesen has done nothing whatsoever apart from enriching himself.
I for one hope 'the billionaire' was on his yacht yesterday regretting the decisions he has made concerning the club. It does scare me where Chelsea is going to end up in the near future. I doubt it will be like Leeds, but the future isn't as rosy as it seemed even 5 years ago.
Mourinho should've been left to run the club, just like Arsene, SAF and even Benitez are left to do at their respective clubs.
Lost chance, hopefully not lost cause.

[frank fasi]

As a MU fan i have this to say - I believe that Jose was given a decree on how to 'run' chelsea. Obviously, Roman did not want to wait (in Sir Alex's case) 4 years for their first honors or 7 years for their first league title. He wanted instant success. With that, Jose obviously did not have the luxury of waiting for other John Terrys from the youth set-up to make the step up to the senior team. While credit goes to Ranieri for signing the likes of Gallas, Cech, Lampard, Joe Cole, Eidur and Makalele (i hope i got the facts right), Jose selected the best players from Ranieri's squad that he wanted to keep while handing Roman his wishlist that included Drogba, Essien, Cashley Cole, Carvalho, Ferreira (remember him?). I cant for the life of me remember who signed Robben. The fact is Jose bought players to add to an already good team and implemented his managment style and philosopy. He instilled a strong team spirit and advocated effective but at times dour football. And why not? Roman wanted success first and foremost. On that note he certainly delivered.

[Mike]

Yeah, this seems like an example of finding brilliance in everything Mourinho did based on the fact that he had success in two of those three seasons.

You could just as easily argue that he succeeded based on a well executed and unprecidented spending spree carried our mostly by Ranieri, that his most capable opponents were in a rebuilding phase, and that once he took over the squad declined year by year until he saw the writing on the wall and left.

The truth is somewhere in between but if you ask me, Mourinho's strenghts are tactics and team spirit not the media nonsense.

Oh, and just as Arsenal thrashed AC Milan or United repeatedly humiliated Roma, the Inter / United match will continue to indicate that the Serie A is well off the pace.

[Pack Rat]

Yes Miguel, just look at Chelsea. I agree, winning the prem was a great achievement. Many people (like Benitez now) have tried to buy success and failed, so fair play to Jose for what he did then. But now, Chelsea have aging players, no youth, no future. Mourinho has no legacy. Five years from now Abramovich will have long since moved on and Chelsea will be Spurs. Or Leeds.

[ALLI JIMOH]

Like him or hate him, no manager was able to get the better of Mourinho in his three years in England, of the top four teams in England, he defeated Wenger, Benitez and Ferguson individually more times than their combined efforts at defeating him at least as far the premiership was concerned. if he won the champions league wth Porto (while dusting Manchester United in the process)i wonder what else h needs to qualify as a good coach. as a Chelsea fan i really wish he were back in the saddle

[Miguel de Mattos, Lisbon Portugal]

I have no idea where José will end up IF he ever decides to coach in England again - but are you all serious when you state that he is NOT a good manager? Come on you guys are you just ignorant or jelous of what he has achieved in his life? As a reminder just look at Chelsea!!! Miguel deMatttos,Lisbon Portugal

[Pack Rat]

No Mourinho at OT please - for England's sake as well as manu's and football's. How many players at Chelsea came through the youth ranks? One, (JT) who has nothing to do with Jose. How many promising England players went to Chelsea and dropped off the radar? Wright-Phillips, Bridge, Parker, probably more. At least SAF, Wenger, and Benitez (I hope) help to bring on players for the national team.

[tulea daniel]

I thing that mourinho is not good couch because he demonstrait at chelcea and he had a bad resoults

[Marc Melander]

Mourinho is not a brilliant tactician at all. He inherited a great Chelsea team built by Ranieri. He was outwitted by Benitez every time the teams met in any significant games (twice in the latter stages of the CL and once in an FAC semi. Every time he opted to start with a diamond formation instead of width - which any fool knows is the way to beat Liverpool especially with Robben in the form of his life in the first CL game. In my opinion Mourinho was sterile in his tactical approach - and that's one of the main reasons his Russian boss got rid of him.

[Les]

He is a successful manager but only with boring teams and tactics. Even the most rabid United hater must admit it's a team that does play with flair.