When Roma appointed Jose Mourinho as their new head coach back in May, it came as a surprise to many. Mourinho was joining on the back of a failed 17-month stint with Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur. However, Roma was quick to jump at the chance of appointing one of the biggest names in football management.
Currently, Roma is 6th in the Serie A point table, and he is doing a decent job for the team. But according to the standards that he has set in the past, Mourinho’s team is nowhere near it. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest managers of all time and is one of the most decorated managers ever. But, now he cannot convert teams into a dominant force as he did in the past.
Mourinho started his managing career with Benefica in Portugal. The brief spells with Benfica and Uniao de Leiria caught the eye of Porto, where the Portuguese made his name on the managerial circuit, winning six trophies, including two league titles and the famous 2003-04 Champions League triumph.
A switch to Chelsea then followed for “The Special One”, who made an immediate impact at Stamford Bridge, helping the Blues become the fourth team after Man United, Arsenal and Blackburn Rovers to win the Premier League, with a then-record of 95 points – one that has since been beaten twice by Guardiola, who notched up 100 and then 98 points in back-to-back seasons with Man City.
In 2008, the same year Guardiola started at Barcelona, Mourinho moved to Italy and joined Inter Milan. Clinching his first Serie A title in his first season was followed by perhaps one of the greatest achievements of his career, as he helped the Nerazzurri become the first Italian club to win the treble – Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League in 2009-10.
The following summer, Mourinho joined Spanish giants Real Madrid. He won the Copa del Rey in his first season, before finishing nine points ahead of Guardiola’s Barca side to win the La Liga title in 2011-12.
Mourinho managed to win the league title in each of his first full seasons at Porto, Chelsea, Inter and Real Madrid before the age of 51, an impressive feat that cannot be matched by Guardiola or Ferguson.
But after that, he was losing the magical touch that he had. With Manchester United, he had an unsuccessful spell, where was also part of some controversies with the players. Then he went to Tottenham Hotspur. But it was another failed attempt for the Portuguese manager. This marked the first time Mourinho had departed a club without winning a trophy since 2002.
The spell with Roma is looked at with much anticipation. He already told that the board of Roma have a project, and he will lead and bring success to the club.