Blues boss Jose Mourinho snapped after a BBC reporter asked him about ‘third season syndrome’
Jose Mourinho faced the press in the usual pre-match media conference as Chelsea FC prepare to face off with Maccabi Tel Aviv in their opening game of the 2015/16 Champions League. While we covered much of what the Blues boss said in a previous article, one incident warranted a whole post of its own.
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With Chelsea struggling so far in this campaign (four points from five games, in case you haven’t heard) Ben Smith from BBC Sport questioned Mourinho over what he perceived as a recurring failure during the third season of a managerial spell throughout the Portuguese’s career.
"Smith: Do you believe that you still have all the qualities that made you such a great manager? A lot has been made of the third season in your time at clubs – what do you say to that?Mourinho: Look, my third season – in Porto, I didn’t have a third season. My third season in Inter, I didn’t have a third season. My third season at Chelsea the first time, I won the FA Cup and the Carling Cup, and I played the Champions League semi-finals. My third season in Real Madrid, I won the Super Cup, I lost the cup [Copa del Rey] final, and I went to the Champions League semi-finals. These are my third seasons…"
The reporter continued to press Jose for some sort of response that he evidently had embedded in his head, stating that the Chelsea boss knew ‘what I’m getting at’. Mourinho refuted his persistent questioning in a pointed manner.
"So click Google, instead of making stupid questions, click Google and try to find."
Frankly I have no idea where this ‘third season syndrome’ has come from. Mourinho did have a poor third campaign at Real Madrid in terms of materialistic rewards but the overall performance of the team (as he pointed out) wasn’t bad at all.
As a consequence of Chelsea’s terrible form so far this season, journalists are looking for a good tagline so that the crisis can be packaged in some marketable way. However, the worst thing about this is the reporter’s insistence on drawing out a statement from the boss for a question that didn’t really exist.
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Mourinho addressed the ‘third season syndrome’ and more or less shot it to pieces. Chelsea are having a shocking season, so why can’t people just say that? Why are they trying to make some circuitous link that makes no sense?
Furthermore, it is not exactly clear what Smith is ‘getting at’ either. If he is trying prod Mourinho on whether he is still as good as he once was, it’s a fruitless exercise. It is not as if the boss will openly admit that he no longer has what it takes at this level, be it the truth or not.
Having said that, the fact that Mourinho snapped is testament to the difficult spot Chelsea find themselves in. A question that would normally be brushed off with a shrug and arrogance-laden comment has instead forced the Portuguese to adopt a relatively aggressive tone.
In all fairness, I guess you have to congratulate Mr. Smith on forcing Mourinho to flip because that’s all these journalists seem to want.
Oh well.
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