The so-called ‘Special One’ is perhaps the most famous coach in world football. Known for his combative charisma, huge trophy haul and unquestionable tactical knowledge, the Portuguese manager of Manchester United is one of the greats. However, is there a curse of Jose Mourinho haunting the veteran manager?

Having won an eye-watering 25 domestic and European competitions in his managerial career, the man is a proven winner. However, there are some fairly blatant weaknesses in Mourinho’s CV which have gradually grown and formed into a ‘curse’, several qualities which have prevented him from staying at one club for a sustained period of time, prevented him from forming a dynasty.

Curse of Jose Mourinho: Fact or Fiction?

Pragmatic Paralysis

A classic Mourinho team is a pragmatic one. A well-organised defence, defensive midfield and an attack littered with a couple of flair players. These teams get results by staying compact and controlling the game.

This form of play has its pros and cons. On the one hand, this pragmatic approach makes a team hard to beat and less likely to concede. On the other hand, it tends to stifle creativity and result in a lack of goals.

Pragmatism has been used by Mourinho throughout his whole managerial career and as shown by his trophy haul, it clearly works. Although winning trophies is all well and good, fans want more.

Nobody goes to a game of football hoping for a dull 1-0 win. Football is about excitement, emotion and, of course, enjoyment. As has been shown at Manchester United in the last year or so, the dull football isn’t good enough. It might get results, but this isn’t enough.

United used to play some of the most fearsome attacking football in the world under Sir Alex Ferguson. Times have changed and now the debate of trophies vs enjoyment rages across the country. But that debate can be discussed another day.

The pragmatism starts to grind on fans after a couple of seasons. They start to become bored of watching their team. Losing the fans is very dangerous for a manager. Mourinho seems to be very adept at doing just this through a variety of different measures.

Pragmatism grinds out results, for a time, before the players and the fans become sick of it and the rot starts to seep in. A potential example of this was the 3-2 loss to Brighton earlier this season. Maybe it was just a blip, and not the curse of Jose Mourinho, but when the fans are on your back a blip can become a sacking.

The Blame Game

Jose Mourinho can be: funny, wry, charming and cooperative when it comes to the media. He can also be: sarcastic, condescending, rude and accusative towards various people.

There seems to be an egotistical air around Mourinho where he believes nothing is his fault. This often comes through in media interviews before and after games. This season already, Mourinho has been keen to point towards Ed Woodward and the lack of transfers as a reason for failure.

Bear in mind that Mourinho has spent over £300 million assembling his current squad and this claim seems rather invalid. Mourinho seems to try and pass the buck to almost anyone, most famously when in his second spell at Chelsea he ranted at physio Eva Carneiro.

He blamed her for ruining his game plan when she ran on to treat a player. The incident gained worldwide attention and Carneiro quit, weeks before Mourinho followed her. The Eva Carneiro incident, whilst bizarre, shows just how far Mourinho will go to avoid taking the blame.

He finds scapegoats. Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial are the standouts at United. Shaw was heckled for his fitness whilst Martial was fined £180,000 for leaving pre-season to see the birth of his son.

These kinds of moves not only alienate the players (which they clearly do) but they also create a toxic atmosphere around the club, devoid of any positivity. Scapegoating and the failure to take any personal responsibility are more key factors which add to the manager’s downfall at clubs, the curse of Jose Mourinho.

Torrid Toxicity

A fully functioning football club needs a few things. A stable financial budget, good results on the pitch, backing from the fans and a good atmosphere around the club itself.

Through his pragmatically paralyzing football, Mourinho loses the backing of the fans. With his blame game he ruins the good atmosphere around the club. Through no one’s fault but his own, he eliminates two of the key pillars which hold up a successful football club.

The lack of positivity from a manager spreads like wildfire through the fans and the players, without hope success is not easily achievable. The negativity from Mourinho poisons clubs from the inside out, this looks to be currently happening at United.

Angry rants at press conferences, dejected responses to questions about title ambitions and finger pointing are already well underway for Mourinho this season. He is following his own blueprint for failure yet again. This is the curse of Jose Mourinho.

In order to reverse this trend, Mourinho would need to make vast changes to almost every aspect of his managerial skill set. He would have to try and play exciting football to re-ignite the enthusiasm of the fans. He would have to abandon his mind-numbing pragmatism and start attempting to win games in a beautiful way.

The stubbornness of the man means that this is not very likely, but if it were to happen it is likely that his fortunes may turn. For now, however, Jose Mourinho remains the pantomime villain in world football. Like him or loathe him, you’ll never change him.

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