The Measure of Success

After three European trophies and seventeen domestic cups in four different countries over a span of the last eleven years, one can say that such an accomplishment makes for a Hall of Fame career. Well, that's if your name isn't Jose Mario dos Santos Mourinho Felix also known to many as "The Special One." In 2010 Mourinho was brought to Real Madrid from Inter Milan for one reason and one reason only: Win la Decima, the tenth Champions League trophy of Real Madrid successful history.

Three years later and three exits in the semi-finals, the Spanish media has turned their venomous attention on the only person whom they never liked in the first place. It's no secret that Mourinho's ways have rubbed the media the wrong way throughout the manager's stint at the Club, but their dislike for the man goes a bit deeper than that. The media in Spain feel entitled to dictate everything from coaches tactics and game plan to where the coach goes to dinner. Every move is scrutinized more closely depending, of course, on the results on the field. Mourinho is his own man. In his career he has never been persuaded by media perception of him about anything. Why start now? 

The media is responsible for the ouster of many managers before him. Case in point the current manager of Bayern Munich, Jupp Heynckes, who with Real Madrid was fired after winning the Champions League. Others like Manuel Pellegrini, who took Malaga to new heights of success, was also ousted by the media. It's no different with Mourinho. Which brings me to my point of how success is truly measured in this sport. In his three years at Madrid, Mourinho has led his team to three domestic cups. How many other managers have had this kinds of success? Roberto Mancini (EPL, FA Cup and Community Shield), Alex Ferguson (2 EPL and Community Shield) and Juventus manager Antonio Conte (2 Serie A, an Italian Super Cup) come to mind. If Jupp Heynckes wins the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund, he will overtake all the managers I mentioned with four cups in the last three years with two Bundesliga and a German Super Cup already in the bag. Yet Heynckes is being replaced at the end of the season by Pep Guardiola. 

We live in a new generation of soccer where a manager is no longer as good as his last trophy. That's not how things are done in the US at least. Continuity means a great deal in a country where sports is a year round business (NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL). Soccer in Europe at least has taken a turn for the worst. We have billionaire owned Clubs (Manchester City, Paris St. German, FC Anzhi Makhachkala, and FC Zenit Saint Petersburg) who spend ridiculous money on transfer to acquire a boat load of players like an art collection. We have clubs like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid who are in serious debt, but continue to spend borrowed money. When will this madness stop? Maybe the rest of the world need not look further than the two German clubs who are in the Champions League finals, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. These two clubs have achieved success by not spending massive amount of money, but by sticking to their principles of building from within and only using transfers to complete missing pieces. Borussia Dortmund's success of recent has been led by a young and motivated manager who understand the history and philosophy of the club.  

In Italian Serie A league, managers are ousted sometimes before the season even begins.  It could be a philosophical disagreement or a specific interview that the manager gave that displeased the owners. It's very strange and comical of the status of the once prestigious Serie A, who once housed successful managers like Arrigo Sacchi (retired), Giovanni Trapattoni (Rep. of Ireland), Marcello Lippi (Guanzhou Evergrande, China), Carlo Ancellotti (Paris St. German) and Fabio Capello (Russia). Where are they now? Not coaching in Italy. Coincidence? I don't think so! 



So now we hear that Mourinho is rumored to be going back to Chelsea FC at the end of the season where yet another impatient and unpredictable billionaire owner awaits his return. Since Mourinho's departure in 2007, Roman Abramovic has employed ten different managers which has resulted in six trophies of which only one is the Barclay's Premier League cup in 2009. It appears that Abramovich is finally ready to commit to one manager for a long-term relationship. Who better than the manager who brought the club world stage notoriety with the results on the field?  If so, Chelsea has the potential to dominate European football for as long as Mourinho decides to manage. At least we know that the British media as well as Chelsea fans will forever love him for it, which is something that he lacked in Madrid.