Exploding the Mourinho Myth

Before tomorrow’s Champions League final I can guarantee that someone will try to tell you that Jose Mourinho’s success is down to his defensive football. A charge often levied against him at Chelsea and revived in light of Ancelotti’s men scoring a record breaking 103 goals this season. Compared to the total football of Wenger’s Arsenal or the dominant Manchester United of Alex Ferguson, Mourinho is exposed as an unadventurous Portuguese evolution of dour catenaccio. Or is he?

Taking league data from his completed seasons in charge (i.e. where he was manager for the whole season) at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Mourinho’s teams average 1.85 goals a game. In his 14 seasons at Arsenal, Wenger averages 1.77 goals a game, winning the league in 97/98 with just 68 goals. Sorry Man United fans, Alex Ferguson is no better. He has averaged 1.76 goals a game since the inception of the Premier League in 1993/4. For once the “lies damn lies” are not in the statistics.

So how did we conjure this straw man? It always seemed strange to me to label a manager “defensive” whose team was orchestrated by attacking talent. Mourinho's Chelsea combined the pace and jinking wing play of Duff and Robben with the power of Drogba and support of the marauding Lampard, a system he replicated at Inter with Milito, Eto’o, Sneijder and Pandev, the latter two being truly gifted technical players.

I think the misconception is down to a combination of factors: firstly Mourinho’s teams are always brilliantly organised and have tremendous defensive records. In the 2005/6 season Chelsea only conceded 15 goals, the next year only 19. Maybe we thought it impossible to keep so many clean sheets whilst still threatening in attack.

Secondly Mourinho’s sides always play direct football rather than a shorter passing style. The playmaker in the middle always distributes the ball quickly, and sometimes long, so that the wide men can attack full backs one on one and get in behind the opposition defence.

Lastly I think it is the virus that runs through so much football analysis: plain old lazy journalism. It is easy to label a team with an epithet and repeat it continuously because the pundit hasn’t the required insight to say anything more interesting.

Either way, watch the Champions League final tomorrow with more attentiveness that usual. Admire the neat segues of Mourinho’s defensive lines, one going out to meet his man and then slotting back into the bank of five when the ball is passed on. But also look out for the vision of Sneijder, the creativity and thunderous shot of Pandev and the pace and lethal finishing of Milito and Eto’o.

And if they win, make sure you acknowledge one of the greatest European Cup victories of all time, from a side that has met Barcelona 4 times and knocked out Chelsea on their way to Madrid.

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