Jose Mourinho could be betraying his work at Chelsea FC
By Travis Tyler
As Jose Mourinho takes the reins at Manchester United, you cannot help but feel that this new job could cause him to betray his own work at Chelsea FC.
Jose Mourinho, Chelsea FC’s greatest ever manager, will now be the manager of Manchester United. After a poor season that resulted in his sacking, Mourinho will now manage, for the first time since his days in Portugal, at a second club within the same league. And while this has happened before, it hasn’t happened since before Mourinho was “The Special One” and a European Champion.
This is, more or less, uncharted territory. Jose Mourinho’s legacy at Chelsea is already assured, and beyond tarnish in the eyes of many fans, but for the first time since he was a household name, he will be managing at a rival team to one of his former clubs.
Not just any club, but the club where chants of “stand up for the special one” rang from his first sacking in 2007 to today. He will now manage against the club that loves him and that he himself professed to love. And it is because of this that Jose Mourinho has now put himself into the position to betray his own work at Chelsea.
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If those words sound familiar, they should. In Jose Mourinho’s last rant since his second Chelsea sacking, he claimed that the reason the team lost to Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City was due to the players betraying his work in training. Now, I personally just believed that this was born out of frustration as well as not really being what Mourinho meant. If you listen to the interview, what he really meant to say was that they didn’t follow his instructions, which is not quite as extreme as betraying his work.
The press (and a fair few Chelsea fans) picked up on the word betray and took it to mean that the players intentionally gave up to get Jose Mourinho sacked. But betraying can also be unintentional, such as “betraying his feelings”. So, using Jose Mourinho’s own words and the meaning he probably meant, he himself is now betraying his work at Chelsea FC.
The world may be watching the Premier League next season for the revival of the Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho rivalry, but I imagine that just as many eyes will be on Mourinho’s interaction with Chelsea. Since he is now with a direct rival in the same league, almost everything he does at Manchester United could harm Chelsea.
A player has a choice between Chelsea and Manchester United, but chooses United after Mourinho gives them a personal phone call? That harms Chelsea. Mourinho’s United claim any points against Chelsea, or eliminate them from a cup? That harms Chelsea. Mourinho says anything at all that can be construed as negative about his former club? That harms Chelsea. Mourinho starts using high amounts of youth players despite not doing so at Chelsea? That harms Chelsea. Mourinho stays at United for years and years and years? That harms Chelsea.
Any success for Jose Mourinho will mean success for Manchester United, thus harming Chelsea either directly or indirectly. Not since his time at Porto has Jose Mourinho been so directly opposed to a former club, and everything he does will by hyper-analyzed by pundits and fans alike.
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Mourinho has only himself to blame. Whether he started it or not, as soon as he was available rumors swirled that he would become the next Manchester United manager. And while Jose Mourinho has an obligation to both his family and his career, the fact that he was so publicly linked to a rival club from the moment of his sacking hurts.
Mourinho is in a very exclusive group of world class managers that could go wherever they want when they become available. Ligue 1, the last of the top European leagues untouched by Mourinho, could surely have been a destination for him. A return to Inter Milan or Porto may have been below Mourinho’s desires, but both would have found a spot for him had he wanted it.
Jose Mourinho could even had said he wanted the Portugal or England national team jobs and he would have probably would have got one of them. But with all the options available to him, Jose Mourinho chose to go to Manchester United and put himself in the opposite corner to his former club.
Jose Mourinho will always be a Chelsea legend for what he accomplished there. But now any small thing he does at Manchester United that hurts Chelsea in anyway will slowly chip away at the work he did at Stamford Bridge.
He will never be reviled, and I’m sure the Chelsea fans will be singing his name at Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford louder than the Manchester United fans. But I can’t help but feel the Jose Mourinho will be betraying his own work for as long as he is the Manchester United manager.
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And while I wish I could be one of the Chelsea fans happy for Jose Mourinho, I cannot be. I will wish him luck, but I will not wish him success. Success for Mourinho will now be linked with success for Manchester United. As a result, as soon as any small harm is done, Jose Mourinho will be betraying his work at Chelsea FC.