Stunned by Jose Mourinho’s gamesmanship skills
To every football fan, amateur or professional football player as well as every football punter - even the non-European bettors who place wagers at markets such as Malaysia bet online - the name Jose Mourinho goes hand in hand with success. He is the man orchestrating extraordinary achievements for top football clubs like Chelsea, Porto, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Manchester United and now Roma. He is the man who has led his players to the top, with his unique, creative, pragmatic, results-driven and charismatic leadership style, which however, has sometimes brought him to the forefront of the public’s attention not for necessarily good reasons. He is the man everyone’s speaking about when discussing talent and gamesmanship in football management.
Jose Mourinho made sports news headlines once again in the last days of 2023 when he was caught by cameras slipping a note to a ball boy, intended to provide tactical instructions to his goalkeeper Rui Patricio in the much-anticipated clash between Roma and Fiorentina. Patricio got the note, took some moments to process the instructions, and gave it back to the ballboy!
But, stop…let’s take some moments to process this ourselves!
In their last match against Fiorentina, Roma were left with 9 players, after Nicola Zaleski and Romelu Lukaku were sent off -in the 64th and 87th minutes respectively- as they were struggling to gain one more point. In a desperate effort to save the team, Mourinho’s known gamesmanship resurfaced, confirming everyone’s assumptions about his one-of-a-kind management approach.
Thinking that the only way to shield Roma against the opponents was to make last-minute strategic changes in the plan, he came up with the idea to pass the note to Patricio via the ball boy and make sure that his tactic would work magic for Roma. Regardless of the result, you’ve got to give it to him. He was being absolutely creative and dedicated to having it his way.
Well, that’s Jose Mourinho. It’s often a one-man show.
A show with incredible talent, unique management skills, undeniable leadership competencies and above all, extraordinary commitment to winning. He is charismatic in all the ways that a manager can be. Known as the Special One, he has stunned the world of football ever since he stepped up in Chelsea’s management and announced his plans for the Blues.
In his first press conference, he introduced himself as the “Special One”, a title that is now used by nearly everyone when referring to the Portuguese manager. And the truth is that this nickname suits him perfectly. He drove Chelsea to the top, getting them to win a total of eight trophies in his two spells at the club.
And it’s not only Chelsea. Mourinho is the only manager to have won all the big European trophies and the one person to have led so many different clubs toward success.
Despite his talent and charismatic leadership, Mourinho often breaks the news with his rather odd decisions and questionable tactics. Asking Alonso and Ramos to get sent off while Real Madrid was on the road to the 2010 UEFA Champions League was one such moment. Surprisingly, both players were told to do this to have their sheets clean through the knock-out stages.
Mourinho’s absolute commitment to accomplish wins is legendary by now. His dubious plan to hide in a laundry basket back in 2005 to avoid a touchline ban, while at the same time being able to stay close to his players and possibly give them instructions via the assistant manager Rui Faria wearing an earpiece. Chelsea played against Bayern Munich - a match that was meant to generate enormous viewership and sports betting interest for every betting site such as 1XBet - but everybody was getting more and more interested in seeing what would Mourinho do. And to everyone’s surprise, he decided to play hide and seek, by sneaking into the locker rooms and hiding in a laundry basket.
Last year, the public got to learn how Mourinho has moved around officials by having done an excellent job at learning all about rules and small things that can make all the difference. John Terry revealed that he and Gary Ghaill were told by the Portuguese manager to go down when the ball was delivered into the box, because if both were down they could not go off. The referee wasn’t even aware of that rule, so Mourinho gave him a headache, while he was driving his team to where he had in mind in the first place!
Well, that’s Jose Mourinho. The absolute manifestation of gamesmanship coupled with unparalleled creativity, questionable tactics, and strong dedication!
Published by Patrick Jane
05.01.2024