By Alex Roberts
To know Mourinho is to know a person out of time. He’s now not the younger, charismatic supervisor that walked by the doorways at Stamford Bridge, and he can now not demand the issues he used to of his gamers.
He was introduced in to instil a successful mentality at Fenerbahçe, as typical, he can be there for an excellent time not a very long time. By the point of his appointment, Fenerbahçe hadn’t received a title for ten years, after all, now it’s 11, sorry for the spoiler.
As he at all times does, José demanding important enterprise be executed in the summertime switch window. Youssef En-Nesyri was their greatest deal, coming in from Sevilla for a reported price of €19.5 million.
Defensive reinforcements within the type of Diego Carlos and Çağlar Söyüncü have been signed completely, whereas Sofyan Amrabat, Allan Saint-Maximin, and Filip Kostić all joined on mortgage. When all was stated and executed, 13 gamers got here in.
Proper off the bat he was being a menace. Round 20 minutes into his first Süper Lig recreation he discovered himself getting on the mistaken facet of the referee, receiving a yellow card for, you guessed it, arguing with the match officers.
4 wins and one draw from his first 5 league video games was a formidable begin however he was nonetheless depressing. Incessantly moaning to the officers on the pitch and in press conferences got here to a head after their 3-1 defeat to Galatasaray in his first recreation in opposition to them as Fenerbahçe boss.
For his feedback after that recreation, whoever is in command of Galatasaray’s social media division determined to hit again, sharing a picture of a e-book with José crying on the duvet, titled ‘The Crying One’ in reference to his self-appointed ‘Particular One’ nickname.
Unmoved, he was again as much as his outdated methods of their subsequent recreation in opposition to Antalyaspor. Pissed off with the ref’s resolution to rule out Edin Džeko’s 76th minute strike, he determined to stage slightly protest, José fashion.
He positioned a laptop computer in entrance of one of many TV cameras, displaying a nonetheless picture of the build-up, presenting proof like a defence lawyer to a jury. The decide (referee) objected, nonetheless, and he obtained a reserving.
Two video games later, José got here up in opposition to his outdated membership, Man United, of their third Europa League recreation of the season, the competitors he received with the Purple Devils all the way in which again in 2016-17.
Domestically United have been struggling however on the continent, they have been wanting fairly good. Erik ten Hag’s facet took the lead by Christian Eriksen on the 15th minute earlier than En-Nesyri scored the equaliser simply after the break.
Shortly after, Fenerbahçe have been adamant they deserved a penalty when Manuel Ugarte collided with Vibrant Osayi-Samuel. Mourinho agreed and was despatched to the stands for his livid response.
He later provided a sarcastic spherical of applause for the match official, praising his “unimaginable” expertise for concurrently keeping track of each the sport and his personal touchline conduct.
Mourinho is legendary for fostering an ‘us in opposition to the world’ mindset amongst his gamers, invoking the ominous ‘they’ to maintain them on facet and get them to battle for one another as quickly as they step out on to the pitch.
The obvious method he does that is by his pressers. In early November, he picked up a one-game ban for insinuating the powers that be within the Turkish soccer federation and the Süper Lig have been conspiring in opposition to him.
“I blame the Fenerbahçe those that introduced me right here. They advised me solely half of the reality. They didn’t inform me the entire reality as a result of in the event that they advised me the entire reality, I wouldn’t come. However, with half of the reality and my boys, we battle opponents and the system.” He stated after their 3-2 win over Trabzonspor.
Quick ahead to February of 2025, José and his lads would face off in opposition to Galatasaray once more. For those who couldn’t inform by now, he hadn’t been too proud of the extent of officiating since attending to Türkiye, so he requested a international ref are available in for this one.
For some cause, Galatasaray and the Turkish FA indulged him and Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić took cost. The sport ended 0-0 but it surely wasn’t till after the sport it actually kicked off, with José on the centre of the drama.
In his post-match press convention, José, as soon as once more, closely criticised the usual of Turkish referees, telling reporters that the Galatasaray bench had been “leaping round like monkeys” referring to their response following an incident within the first half.
Issues obtained slightly heavy after that. Galatasaray took that remark as a racist comment, releasing an announcement that stated they might “provoke legal proceedings” in opposition to José, to which Fenerbahçe responded by saying the remark had been “intentionally taken solely out of context and distorted in a deceptive method.”
A number of of his former gamers got here out to defend him, most notably former Chelsea and Galatasaray ahead Didier Drogba. Ultimately, cooler heads prevailed, and nothing got here of the accusation.
Because the mud settle, he was quickly again at it. Whereas fielding a query following their shock 3-1 Europa League defeat to Rangers, that lasted over 50 seconds, he misplaced curiosity and pretended to go to sleep, pretend loud night breathing and every part. To be honest, that’s far too lengthy for one query, take notice future journos.
Working with José isn’t straightforward. former Fenerbahçe star, Elvir Baljic, claimed that a big majority (90%) of the gamers on the membership don’t want Mourinho to remain, Gamers like Fred and Anderson Talisca are reportedly sad with the group’s tactical strategy, and there was a “mutiny” within the final recreation of the season when Edin Džeko and Dušan Tadić refusing to play.
Now, it might appear he’s fallen out with Saint-Maximin. As of scripting this, he’s nonetheless the Fenerbahçe supervisor, however that might change at any given second, you by no means actually know with him. By no means change, José.
(Cowl picture from IMAGO)
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