Mourinho - like a dead river

Men's Tears

At 2 p.m. on Tuesday, December 18 (London time), instead of conducting a training session at Man Utd's Carrington headquarters, Jose Mourinho sat drinking a cup of tea in the lobby of the Lowry Hotel. "He has just received notice of dismissal and is in the process of checking out," the newspaper reported.The Timesdescription. Mourinho stared blankly out the window, behind him was a violin, but no one played farewell cards, on the day the famous coach left his residence of the past two and a half years.

No one knows what Mourinho was thinking at that moment. But being fired was a foregone conclusion to a relationship that had been unstable from the beginning.

Let’s go back in time 5 years ago, when Alex Ferguson retired and Man Utd had to find a successor. On March 8, 2013, the world’s largest player management and agency, Gestifute, passed on a top secret piece of information: Mourinho was crying like a baby on the phone. The man who was considered the second most powerful man in the company, after the tycoon Jorge Mendes, was almost devastated.

The news that Alex Ferguson had chosen David Moyes as his successor sent shockwaves through Mourinho's mind. Gestifute has eyes and ears everywhere, they know things that the media doesn't know, not to mention Jorge Mendes has a close relationship with Old Trafford. Since breaking off his relationship with Mino Raiola, Ferguson has worked with Mendes the most in the player agent world.

For months, Mendes tried his best to do what Mourinho had asked him to do: recommend the "Special One" to Ferguson. Mourinho believed that the coaching position at Old Trafford was definitely his. He had caused trouble with almost every opponent in the Premier League, but Mourinho always spared Ferguson. When Mourinho's Real Madrid knocked Man Utd out of the Champions League in 2013, Mourinho was humble for the first time in his life when he declared: "Today, the better team was eliminated."

But in the end, Ferguson chose David Moyes - a coach who had never won a title in his career, but was a fellow Scottish national. On the nights of March 7 and 8, 2013, Mourinho could not sleep, constantly holding his phone to wait for the latest news. When he learned that Moyes was chosen, he cried like a child.

The signals were sent out before, but Mourinho ignored them all. Legendary Bobby Charlton, when asked if Mourinho was a candidate, replied: "A Man Utd manager is never allowed to do what he did (gouging Tito Vilanova's eyes and mocking him in a press conference). Mourinho is a good coach, but that's not enough to replace Ferguson." When asked more about the seemingly good relationship between Mourinho and Ferguson, Charlton said: "As far as I know, Ferguson doesn't really like Mourinho much."

Later, it was also known that David Moyes was not the first choice of Ferguson and the board of directors. The first position belonged to Guardiola, but Man Utd could not convince the person who had already found a comfortable position at Bayern Munich. That also means that when losing the number one target, Man Utd would rather choose Moyes than choose Mourinho.

Then, when Mourinho went to Chelsea and called himself "The Happy One", those closest to Mourinho knew he was lying. Ferguson's choice of Moyes left a scar on Mourinho's heart that was as big as when Barca chose an unknown Guardiola in the coaching world, and even bigger than appointing Mourinho, who was then the most sought-after coach in the world. Mourinho's pride was dealt two shocking blows. Those tears, that bitterness, the public almost did not know.

Another face

Why Barca and Man Utd did not choose Mourinho from the beginning, perhaps everyone understands too well. Besides his controversial personality, Mourinho is also pragmatic to the point of fanaticism. He has many years of breathing the atmosphere of attacking football at Barca, but did not absorb the philosophy of Johan Cruyff. That is because of an anecdote told over and over again about the young Mourinho, when he received the news that his father was fired on Christmas Eve.

The story goes that Mourinho was only 10 years old at the time, his father was so sad that he couldn't even swallow his food because he was fired by the local club. His livelihood and honor were lost on the night when every family should have been happy, that horrible memory made Mourinho afraid of failure. He read many books, from Sun Tzu's Art of War in the East to Machiavelli's "The Prince" in the West. Mourinho gradually became a villain in football, with the immortal philosophy that to win, one must first not lose. Mourinho's thinking is not constructive but critical, he always seeks to eliminate the opponent's strength, instead of promoting his own inner strength.

It is better to betray others than to be betrayed by others. Mourinho tries to force himself to be above all. He gets involved in political games and struggles for position. In front of the media, he shows an indifferent face. When he was in Madrid, Mourinho often let the players practice while he sunbathes shirtless to tan his skin to look... beautiful and manly. Mourinho lets his close friend Jorge Mendes move freely around Valdebedas like going to the market.

When Mourinho attended the recent 60th anniversary commemoration of the Munich disaster with Man Utd, he wore black shoes with white trim and a polo shirt underneath his club uniform. Members of the Man Utd board were shocked. But Mourinho always does what he wants. When Mourinho wanted his son Jose Mario Mourinho Jr. to sit next to him during the match against Swansea in April, he just let him sit on the coaching bench.

But whether arrogant or crazy, Mourinho has always been respected for his achievements. Now, the greatest strength that made him arrogant is gone. Mourinho has had a worse start to the season than David Moyes. His goal difference after 17 Premier League rounds is just a number. The former defensive mastermind now sees his team concede more goals than the second-to-last Huddersfield.

The previous times Mourinho was fired, his students more or less said goodbye. This time, everyone was almost silent. Even Paul Pogba was happy, with a photo of him smiling mysteriously on social media. It seemed everyone felt relieved, as the atmosphere in the dressing room became lighter. The teacher who once protected his students to the death is now a sacrificial lamb for the media to "burn". Mourinho is also starting to show signs of... aging, when he is busy talking about his past legacies.

In the classic movie Dark Knight, Harvey Dent has the classic line: "Either you die a hero, or you live long enough to become the villain."

Mourinho has probably lived too long and seen himself sliding down the path to becoming a football villain. It was 11 years ago when he was first fired by Chelsea. The opponents who used to create thrilling battles with him have now retired (Alex Ferguson), left their posts in pain (Arsene Wenger), and are even out of date and taking charge of small teams (Rafa Benitez). Around Mourinho, his effective assistants and brothers are no longer around. Andre Villas-Boas started his own business, had some success, and also suffered the bitter fruit of failure, and is now quitting his job to turn to racing. Rui Faria, his right-hand man for more than 10 years, has now started his own career. Mourinho is gradually becoming lost.

While the wind of change kept blowing, Mourinho tried to stay put, with an old mindset. When the Premier League spokesmen were young coaches, with trendy pressing football, Mourinho stood still before the times. Then one day, Mourinho realized he had become the people he had criticized: struggling like a welder (Ranieri) and losing so much that he became a specialist in failure (Wenger).

The 10-year-old boy's Christmas sadness fueled his dream of success, of making a name for himself and of being in control of his own destiny. Then, on Christmas 2015, Mourinho was fired by Chelsea for the second time. Right before Christmas this year, he was fired by Man Utd again. Tragic and classic like Greek mythology. This time he left, people don't know when he will return. Mourinho has fought the world before. But how will he fight, with fate and the inevitable elimination law of life?